[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9180-9208]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2015


                             General Leave

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the further consideration of H.R. 4660, 
and that I may include tabular material on the same.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois). Is there 
objection to the request of the gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 585 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, 
H.R. 4660.
  Will the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) kindly take the chair.

                              {time}  1244


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 4660) making appropriations for the Departments of 
Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes, with Mr. Duncan of 
Tennessee (Acting Chair) in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.

                              {time}  1245

  The Acting CHAIR. When the Committee of the Whole rose earlier today, 
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Fleming) had 
been disposed of, and the bill had been read through page 25, line 2.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Gosar

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 23, line 24, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $8,000,000)''.
       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $8,000,000)''.
       Page 48, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $8,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Arizona is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment which 
seeks to bolster an important program in the Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act. This an amendment is 
fully paid for by cutting wasteful spending, and specifically takes $8 
million from the office space for the Department of Justice bureaucrats 
in order to bolster the prescription drug monitoring activities. This 
program is the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
  The gentleman, Mr. Rogers, is the chairman of the House 
Appropriations Committee, and he has spent years on the issue of 
combating prescription drug abuse in our great country. The problem is 
truly plaguing our streets, our youth, and our communities. 
Prescription drug abuse is contributing to addiction, health 
deterioration, and even untimely death amongst many of our friends and 
loved ones.
  Prescription drug abuse also fuels demand for other illicit drugs 
such as cocaine, methamphetamines, ectasy, and heroine, much of which 
flows over our southwest border and into my home State of Arizona, 
along with human trafficking, gunrunning, and murder. I have seen drug 
abuse all over my State, and I know I am not the only Member who has 
been affected by the rampant drug abuse in my community.
  As a dentist of 25 years, I am well aware of how easy it is and can 
be for doctors and patients to abuse the prescription drug system. With 
a background in chemistry and biology, I know how easy it can be for 
people, both young and old, to become addicted to these substances.
  The primary purpose of the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 
Program is to enhance the capability, the capacity, of regulatory and 
law enforcement agencies to collect and analyze controlled substance 
prescription data through a centralized database administered by an 
authorized State agency. States that have implemented prescription drug 
monitoring programs can collect and analyze prescription data much more 
efficiently than States where the collection of the prescription 
information requires the manual review of pharmacy files.
  It is this body's duty, through the annual appropriations process, to 
evaluate which programs are worthwhile and which ones are not. We must 
decide which programs should have their funding increased, which should 
be reduced, and which should have theirs zeroed out. It is not an easy 
job, but it is a job that each of us was elected to do.
  The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program has shown promising results, 
but we must not give up on it. It is easy to overlook these issues, but 
I think our families, our friends, and our future generations deserve 
it. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment.
  With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. I move to strike the requisite number of words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I accept the amendment and yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       In addition, for reimbursement of expenses of the 
     Department of Justice associated with processing cases under 
     the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, not to 
     exceed $7,833,000, to be appropriated from the Vaccine Injury 
     Compensation Trust Fund.

               salaries and expenses, antitrust division

       For expenses necessary for the enforcement of antitrust and 
     kindred laws, $162,246,000, to remain available until 
     expended: Provided, That notwithstanding any other provision 
     of law, fees collected for premerger notification filings 
     under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 
     1976 (15 U.S.C. 18a), regardless of the year of collection 
     (and estimated to be $100,000,000 in fiscal year 2015), shall 
     be retained and used for necessary expenses in this 
     appropriation, and shall remain available until expended: 
     Provided further, That the sum herein appropriated from the 
     general fund shall be reduced as such offsetting collections 
     are received during fiscal year 2015, so as to result in a 
     final fiscal year 2015 appropriation from the general fund 
     estimated at $62,246,000.

             salaries and expenses, united states attorneys

       For necessary expenses of the Offices of the United States 
     Attorneys, including inter-governmental and cooperative 
     agreements, $1,970,000,000: Provided, That of the total 
     amount appropriated, not to exceed $7,200 shall be available 
     for official reception and representation expenses: Provided 
     further, That not to exceed $25,000,000 shall remain 
     available until expended: Provided further, That each United 
     States Attorney shall establish or participate in a United 
     States Attorney-led task force on human trafficking.

                   united states trustee system fund

       For necessary expenses of the United States Trustee 
     Program, as authorized, $225,908,000, to remain available 
     until expended and to be derived from the United States 
     Trustee System Fund: Provided, That, notwithstanding any 
     other provision of law, deposits to the Fund shall be 
     available in such amounts as may be necessary to pay refunds 
     due depositors: Provided further, That, notwithstanding any 
     other provision of law, $225,908,000 of offsetting 
     collections pursuant to section 589a(b) of title 28, United 
     States Code, shall be retained and used for necessary 
     expenses in this appropriation and shall remain available 
     until expended: Provided further, That the sum herein 
     appropriated from the Fund shall be reduced as such 
     offsetting collections are received during fiscal year 2015, 
     so as to result in a final fiscal year 2015 appropriation 
     from the Fund estimated at $0.

      salaries and expenses, foreign claims settlement commission

       For expenses necessary to carry out the activities of the 
     Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, including services as 
     authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, 
     $2,326,000.

                     fees and expenses of witnesses

       For fees and expenses of witnesses, for expenses of 
     contracts for the procurement and supervision of expert 
     witnesses, for private counsel expenses, including advances, 
     and for expenses of foreign counsel, $270,000,000, to remain 
     available until expended, of which not to exceed $16,000,000 
     is for construction of

[[Page 9181]]

     buildings for protected witness safesites; not to exceed 
     $3,000,000 is for the purchase and maintenance of armored and 
     other vehicles for witness security caravans; and not to 
     exceed $11,000,000 is for the purchase, installation, 
     maintenance, and upgrade of secure telecommunications 
     equipment and a secure automated information network to store 
     and retrieve the identities and locations of protected 
     witnesses.

           salaries and expenses, community relations service

       For necessary expenses of the Community Relations Service, 
     $12,000,000: Provided, That notwithstanding section 205 of 
     this Act, upon a determination by the Attorney General that 
     emergent circumstances require additional funding for 
     conflict resolution and violence prevention activities of the 
     Community Relations Service, the Attorney General may 
     transfer such amounts to the Community Relations Service, 
     from available appropriations for the current fiscal year for 
     the Department of Justice, as may be necessary to respond to 
     such circumstances: Provided further, That any transfer 
     pursuant to the preceding proviso shall be treated as a 
     reprogramming under section 505 of this Act and shall not be 
     available for obligation or expenditure except in compliance 
     with the procedures set forth in that section.

                         assets forfeiture fund

       For expenses authorized by subparagraphs (B), (F), and (G) 
     of section 524(c)(1) of title 28, United States Code, 
     $20,514,000, to be derived from the Department of Justice 
     Assets Forfeiture Fund.

                     United States Marshals Service

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses of the United States Marshals 
     Service, $1,199,000,000, of which not to exceed $6,000 shall 
     be available for official reception and representation 
     expenses, and not to exceed $15,000,000 shall remain 
     available until expended.

                              construction

       For construction in space controlled, occupied or utilized 
     by the United States Marshals Service for prisoner holding 
     and related support, $9,800,000, to remain available until 
     expended.

                       federal prisoner detention

                     (including transfer of funds)

       For necessary expenses related to United States prisoners 
     in the custody of the United States Marshals Service as 
     authorized by section 4013 of title 18, United States Code, 
     $1,595,307,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, 
     That not to exceed $20,000,000 shall be considered ``funds 
     appropriated for State and local law enforcement assistance'' 
     pursuant to section 4013(b) of title 18, United States Code: 
     Provided further, That the United States Marshals Service 
     shall be responsible for managing the Justice Prisoner and 
     Alien Transportation System: Provided further, That any 
     unobligated balances available from funds appropriated under 
     the heading `General Administration, Detention Trustee' shall 
     be transferred to and merged with the appropriation under 
     this heading.

                       National Security Division

                         salaries and expenses

       For expenses necessary to carry out the activities of the 
     National Security Division, $94,800,000, of which not to 
     exceed $5,000,000 for information technology systems shall 
     remain available until expended: Provided, That 
     notwithstanding section 205 of this Act, upon a determination 
     by the Attorney General that emergent circumstances require 
     additional funding for the activities of the National 
     Security Division, the Attorney General may transfer such 
     amounts to this heading from available appropriations for the 
     current fiscal year for the Department of Justice as may be 
     necessary to respond to such circumstances: Provided further, 
     That any transfer pursuant to the preceding proviso shall be 
     treated as a reprogramming under section 505 of this Act and 
     shall not be available for obligation or expenditure except 
     in compliance with the procedures set forth in that section.

                      Interagency Law Enforcement

                 interagency crime and drug enforcement

       For necessary expenses for the identification, 
     investigation, and prosecution of individuals associated with 
     the most significant drug trafficking and affiliated money 
     laundering organizations not otherwise provided for, to 
     include inter-governmental agreements with State and local 
     law enforcement agencies engaged in the investigation and 
     prosecution of individuals involved in organized crime drug 
     trafficking, $515,000,000, of which $50,000,000 shall remain 
     available until expended: Provided, That any amounts 
     obligated from appropriations under this heading may be used 
     under authorities available to the organizations reimbursed 
     from this appropriation.

                    Federal Bureau of Investigation

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses of the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation for detection, investigation, and prosecution 
     of crimes against the United States, $8,356,857,000, of which 
     not less than $8,500,000 shall be for the National Gang and 
     Human Trafficking Intelligence Center, and of which not to 
     exceed $216,900,000 shall remain available until expended: 
     Provided, That not to exceed $184,500 shall be available for 
     official reception and representation expenses: Provided 
     further, That up to $1,000,000 shall be for a comprehensive 
     review of the implementation of the recommendations related 
     to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that were proposed in 
     the report issued by the National Commission on Terrorist 
     Attacks Upon the United States.

                              construction

       For necessary expenses, to include the cost of equipment, 
     furniture, and information technology requirements, related 
     to construction or acquisition of buildings, facilities and 
     sites by purchase, or as otherwise authorized by law; 
     conversion, modification and extension of Federally-owned 
     buildings; preliminary planning and design of projects; and 
     operation and maintenance of secure work environment 
     facilities and secure networking capabilities; $110,982,000, 
     to remain available until expended.

                    Drug Enforcement Administration

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses of the Drug Enforcement 
     Administration, including not to exceed $70,000 to meet 
     unforeseen emergencies of a confidential character pursuant 
     to section 530C of title 28, United States Code; and expenses 
     for conducting drug education and training programs, 
     including travel and related expenses for participants in 
     such programs and the distribution of items of token value 
     that promote the goals of such programs, $2,053,320,000; of 
     which not to exceed $75,000,000 shall remain available until 
     expended and not to exceed $90,000 shall be available for 
     official reception and representation expenses.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Cohen

  Mr. COHEN. I rise, Mr. Chairman, to greet my fellow Tennessean, and I 
have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 32, line 15, after the first dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $5,000,000)''.
       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $5,000,000)''.
       Page 47, line 21, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $5,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, first, I would like to express my appreciation 
for the career of Chairman Wolf, in particular, his cochairmanship of 
the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He has done tremendous work 
during his time in Congress on human rights issues that are of great 
import, and chairing that commission named for our great colleague Tom 
Lantos is impressive, and I thank you for that.
  The amendment I have before us would increase by $5 million the 
bill's funding for grants to address the backlog of sexual assault kits 
at law enforcement agencies. DNA analysis has been revolutionary in 
helping to catch criminals and prevent crimes from occurring in the 
first place, but this evidence does us no good if it remains untested 
and sits on the shelf in a lab somewhere. Despite progress over the 
last few years, the number of untested rape kits continues to number in 
the hundreds of thousands in our Nation. That is hundreds of thousands 
of victims whose assailants have never been brought to justice, left to 
prey on yet more women.
  A recent article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal highlighted the 
need to end this backlog once and for all. It described a serial rapist 
who was finally caught by the police in 2012. He could have been 
stopped nearly a decade earlier if only his first victim's rape kit had 
been tested. It was not, and instead he was able to and did attack five 
more women over the next 8 years.
  Missed opportunities like this happen all across our country every 
day. The trauma inflicted on victims of rape can be compounded when 
they know their assailants roam free while critical evidence goes 
untested.
  Sadly, I must say the city of Memphis leads the country in untested 
rape kits, with a backlog of over 12,000 built up over decades. The 
mayor and our city leadership have committed to addressing this problem 
and have devoted significant resources to eliminating the backlog, but 
they need our help. The estimates are that it would cost at least $6.5 
million to test each rape kit, far beyond the means of a city forced to 
tighten its belt in these difficult times and deal with our economic 
problems. This makes the Federal assistance essential.

[[Page 9182]]

  I appreciate the chairman's commitment to eliminating the backlog, 
and the funds in this bill are an important start. They put in $36 
million, $1 million more than I think the President recommended. It is 
merely a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed.
  This amendment would take $5 million from the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, which is a $2 billion agency that receives a $35 
million increase in this bill, even though their work product will go 
down because of the lack of need to enforce marijuana laws in States 
where it has been legalized or medical marijuana has been legalized. 
With the growing number of States in that category, DEA can and will 
shift its resources from marijuana and still have plenty of money to 
prevent prescription drug abuse, stop major heroin and cocaine 
traffickers and the other drug trade that they should make as their 
priority.
  DEA would barely notice these funds, but for a small investment we 
can make an even more significant cut in the rape kit backlog at law 
enforcement agencies. Women will be spared being raped, and justice 
will be served.
  I think the choice should be clear. We should stand with the victims 
of this most heinous crime that we know in this Nation and ensure their 
assailants are brought to justice.
  I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I have no objection to the amendment, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. This is an extraordinary and important amendment, and the 
issue is important not just in Tennessee, but throughout the country. 
So I also support the amendment, and I urge its adoption.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Cohen

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 32, line 15, after the first dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $18,000,000)''.
       Page 74, line 13, after the first dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $15,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, this amendment which I offer with Mr. Quigley 
of Illinois, who is a champion of equal access to justice, would 
restore the bill's cuts, devastating cuts, to the Legal Services 
Corporation.
  This Nation is justifiably proud of its legal system. In fact, when 
we visit with foreign folks or travel in foreign lands, the thing I 
hear most about America that they appreciate is our legal system. It 
can be impossibly complex, with a language all its own, unfamiliar to 
many people with its laws and procedures. It can be a bewildering maze 
even for highly educated people, even for lawyers.
  Now imagine that you are poor, uneducated, scared, and trying to 
navigate the legal system by yourself. Without legal representation, 
too many people are simply unable to vindicate their rights under the 
law. Think about victims of domestic violence who need protective 
orders from abusive partners, homeowners facing foreclosure--and indeed 
we have had too much of that in the last few years--or seniors who have 
been victimized by fraudulent lenders. Legal assistance is vital to 
ensure that these parties are treated fairly and made aware of their 
rights. That is why I have been a champion of Legal Services, which 
helps fund legal aid programs throughout the country.
  Unfortunately, this bill cuts $15 million from Legal Services 
Corporation, which will mean untold numbers of Americans will go 
unrepresented in court and unable to pursue justice. Even if this 
amendment passes and the funding is restored to the $365 million level, 
it will be a far cry from what is really needed.
  Consider this statistic, Mr. Chair. In 1995, the Legal Services 
Corporation was funded at a $400 million level. That is higher than it 
was last year and higher than it would be if this amendment passes, by 
$35 million. In today's dollars, that $400 million figure would be $600 
million, and all we are asking is to get it to $365 million.
  Unfortunately, we have cut our commitment to this program, and it is 
having serious consequences. Nationally, nearly 50 percent of all 
eligible potential clients are turned away because of lack of funding. 
In the Memphis area, Legal Services lost 5 percent of its funding due 
to sequestration. When you add in State and local funds lost over 
recent years because of budget cuts, its funding was reduced by more 
than $300,000, and its staff was reduced from 50 to 38.
  The attorneys do heroic work, but to further reduce its funding will 
have serious consequences for their ability to serve those in need. The 
rights we are guaranteed under the law mean nothing if they can't go to 
court to enforce those rights. With no money to hire a lawyer, no 
ability to navigate this system on their own, too many people are left 
without justice. Unless we ensure legal assistance, we effectively shut 
the courthouse doors to Americans who rely on attorneys to protect 
their rights.
  This amendment would increase funding for LSC by reducing funds for 
the Drug Enforcement Administration, a $2 billion agency that receives 
a $35 million increase in this bill. This does not intend to stop DEA's 
important work to prevent prescription drug abuse or go after heroin 
and cocaine traffickers, but they can do their work with the funds that 
will be in this bill after this money is given to Legal Services.

                              {time}  1300

  DEA would barely notice this loss of funds, but in the hands of Legal 
Services it would change the lives of thousands of people who need 
legal representation.
  We are still coming out of the Great Recession, and the disparity and 
wealth is greater than ever. So those people in the middle class, and 
those people who are poor particularly, which are greater than ever, 
have more and more and more need for Legal Services. It should not be 
cut at this time.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 
cosponsoring this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the amendment. 
The gentleman's amendment would cut the DEA by $18 million to pay for a 
$15 million increase for LSC.
  The DEA primarily targets high-level drug trafficking organizations, 
disrupting and dismantling them, attacking the economic basis of the 
drug trade and contributing to counterterrorism activities tied to and 
financed by drugs. It does not focus on low-level criminals nor on 
users.
  It has seen a huge challenge not only internationally but from the 
cartels. Every drug area in the Nation now is controlled pretty much by 
the Mexican cartels.
  Also, our funding level for LSC is $50 million above last year's 
House level. It is above the FY12 enacted level. The bill also includes 
an additional $43 million under the Violence Against Women program 
specifically for legal assistance for domestic violence victims. This 
amount is nearly 50 percent above the enacted level.
  Lastly, later today, we will likely consider amendments that 
significantly reduce or eliminate LSC. I plan to oppose those 
amendments that are

[[Page 9183]]

going to cut Legal Services. I oppose this amendment, and I ask for a 
``no'' vote.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Oregon is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chair, I rise to support the Cohen amendment. Legal 
aid programs are Federal, State, and private partnerships.
  In Oregon and around the country, legal aid offices work hard to 
diversify funding, but cuts from a number of sources, including Federal 
cuts in recent years, have severely impacted their ability to serve 
low-income families.
  Legal Services Corporation funds legal aid around the country, and 
they make a real difference for low-income and elderly Oregonians and 
Americans. Legal aid serves people with the most critical legal needs: 
food, shelter, medical care, income maintenance, and physical safety.
  In my State of Oregon, about 40 percent of the cases handled by legal 
aid attorneys involve helping victims of domestic violence and their 
families, protecting them from abuse. About 80 percent of legal aid's 
clients are women, most with children to support.
  Under current levels, legal aid is able to assist only a fraction of 
the eligible population. In Oregon, legal aid serves only about 20 
percent of the civil legal needs of eligible Oregonians.
  I was proud to work at legal aid. Early in my career I spent many 
years there, and I will never forget the people we were able to help. 
They desperately need legal assistance at a time in their lives when 
they can least afford it.
  Not low-income by choice--and that was the most poignant message 
about helping low-income people--most had unexpected medical bills, had 
lost a job, or lost a spouse. Legal aid helps real people.
  Today, I am here for people like Beth, who thought she had escaped 
her son's abusive father, only to have him turn up, kick in the door, 
and threaten her, all while she was pregnant. Legal aid was able to 
help her get a restraining order and custody of her son, who has asthma 
and only one kidney. Now Beth and her son are building safe and stable 
lives free from abuse.
  I am here for people like Jennifer, a stage IV cancer survivor and 
Oregon Health Plan member, who got a bill from a medical center for a 
procedure performed years earlier. They threatened to shut her off from 
seeing her doctor, and took actions clearly illegal under Oregon law. 
Legal aid stepped in, and she was able to continue her followup visits 
with her doctor without collection agency harassment.
  I am here for people like Natalie and her son, Zach, who has severe 
gastrointestinal disorder. When he was 3 years old, he was finally able 
to take food orally, but then Social Security cut off his disability 
benefits. Natalie tried to hire a lawyer but she couldn't afford the 
fees. Legal aid stepped in and got those benefits restored, giving Zach 
a better chance at a normal, active life.
  And today, I am here for people like Michael. He and his family lost 
everything in Hurricane Katrina and they came to Oregon to start over. 
Then the IRS penalized him for unpaid taxes. Legal aid helped him amend 
his tax return to fully account for his losses from Katrina, and 
instead of penalties, he was able to receive a refund.
  These are the faces of legal aid. They are real people who have real 
needs who need real help. They need access to justice.
  Low-income people can't just open up a phone book and pick out an 
attorney to take a case. These are not cases that lawyers take on a 
contingency fee basis. Lawyers don't help tenants who are wrongfully 
evicted on a contingency fee.
  The President has asked for $80 million more than what this bill 
provides for. This amendment asks for just $15 million in addition. It 
is the least we can do.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on the Cohen amendment, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, to establish justice, the Founders had 
embraced at the earliest moments the notion that access to our court 
system was a critically important, indispensable right of citizenship 
in our country. We had a Republican President, President Nixon, who 
created the Legal Services Corporation to provide access to our courts, 
notwithstanding the economic circumstances of Americans.
  Legal Services operates in each of our States, and we have a 
responsibility as we consider this bill to think about where the gaps 
in justice exist. The chairman has been extraordinarily helpful in 
trying to focus on this question. However, I think that in terms of the 
numbers as presented, I side more with the author of the amendment 
inasmuch as that DEA we are funding--and it is critically important in 
a city like my own and in communities all across our country--but we 
are funding DEA at $35 million above the request. That is after OMB, 
after DEA walked through their numbers, looked at the budget, 
ascertained what was needed. The committee's mark at the moment, the 
chairman's mark, would provide more than what was requested, whereas, 
when we look at Legal Services, it is $80 million shy of what was 
requested.
  So I think that if we are trying to balance the scales of justice 
here, the idea that thousands of active service military personnel have 
relied on Legal Services to protect their homes from foreclosure, to 
deal with other types of issues, that we have veterans who depend on 
access to community Legal Services or Legal Services as provided under 
this program, that the House at this moment should consider the author 
of the amendment and his point, which is that we should provide an 
additional--it is less than $20 million--is it $15 million?--for the 
Legal Services Corporation; and that in terms of the DEA we would still 
be funding it higher than the requested level, but we would be making 
sure that not only citizens could have access to the courts, but that 
Active Duty military and our veterans would have access to lawyers that 
they otherwise could not afford to protect their legal rights, given 
the fact that they wear or have worn the uniform to protect our due 
process rights.
  I stand in support of this amendment, and I hope that the House would 
vote in favor of it.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number 
of words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Texas is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me take this moment to thank the 
chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Wolf, for his longstanding service 
and commitment to so many issues that so many of us have worked on for 
such a very long period of time, helping the most vulnerable and 
helping those who often cannot help themselves.
  Let me associate myself with the remarks that have been made by the 
author of this amendment, and also the ranking member, Mr. Fattah, who 
spoke to the question of justice.
  Mr. Chairman, I have served on the reiterations of the Legal Services 
Corporation in my own community way before coming to the United States 
Congress.
  I am reminded of the early words of the Constitution that said that 
we organize to create a more perfect union. Then I matched that with 
our Bill of Rights that so many people, if they cannot recite all of 
them, they know issues like due process, right to a trial by jury, 
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of access and movement. 
All of those things are deprived to persons in many instances who 
cannot access the courts.
  I remember, in particular, my Gulfcoast Legal Services Corporation, 
which worked extensively on issues dealing with housing, for good 
hardworking people sometimes come up against a brick wall, a hard wall, 
where

[[Page 9184]]

they have done everything they could but they are facing eviction, they 
have come upon difficulty. There is relief for that eviction if they 
can get to the courthouse either to explain to their landlord or find 
some relief. Many have experienced housing discrimination, but they do 
not have access to the courts or to resources necessary to provide them 
with a lawyer to be able to address their injustice or their indignity.
  I too am a strong supporter of the DEA. I sit on the House Judiciary 
Committee. I was hoping that we could find some pathway to move forward 
in recognizing that the numbers of those needing Legal Services 
Corporation dollars is mounting.
  Lawyers in law firms have come to me who are members of the State Bar 
of Texas, the American Bar Association, and begged for the funding of 
the Legal Services Corporation. I believe that all of us on this floor 
have good intentions, and I know that we have a respect for the Legal 
Services Corporation.
  I am hoping we can find a way to work with the gentleman's amendment 
and support it because I am, in essence, providing the documentation 
that I have seen firsthand, where people have stood under the scales of 
justice emptyhanded. They were not balanced, they did not receive 
support, because they could not access the courthouse, a vital and 
important part of democracy in America.
  With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Tennessee 
will be postponed.


                    Announcement by the Acting Chair

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings 
will now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were 
postponed, in the following order:
  Amendment by Mr. Pompeo of Kansas.
  Amendment by Mr. McNerney of California.
  Amendment by Mr. Bridenstine of Oklahoma.
  Amendment by Mr. King of Iowa.
  Amendment by Mr. Cohen of Tennessee.
  Amendment by Mr. Cohen of Tennessee.
  The Chair will reduce to 2 minutes the time for any electronic vote 
after the first vote in this series.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Pompeo

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Kansas 
(Mr. Pompeo) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 129, 
noes 280, not voting 22, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 243]

                               AYES--129

     Amash
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barton
     Bentivolio
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Broun (GA)
     Burgess
     Byrne
     Carter
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Cook
     Cotton
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Farenthold
     Fincher
     Fleming
     Flores
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Graves (GA)
     Hall
     Harper
     Harris
     Hensarling
     Holding
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kline
     Labrador
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latta
     Lummis
     Marchant
     Massie
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     Meadows
     Messer
     Miller (FL)
     Mullin
     Neugebauer
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Olson
     Paulsen
     Perry
     Petri
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Pompeo
     Price (GA)
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (TX)
     Stewart
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Walberg
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Westmoreland
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (IN)

                               NOES--280

     Aderholt
     Amodei
     Barber
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barrow (GA)
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Benishek
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brooks (IN)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Cassidy
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Cole
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Daines
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     Davis, Rodney
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Denham
     Dent
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Duckworth
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellison
     Ellmers
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Frelinghuysen
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Granger
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Gene
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grijalva
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hanabusa
     Hastings (WA)
     Heck (NV)
     Heck (WA)
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Holt
     Honda
     Horsford
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Israel
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jolly
     Joyce
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kirkpatrick
     Kuster
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Long
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Marino
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McAllister
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meehan
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Murphy (FL)
     Murphy (PA)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     Noem
     Nolan
     Nunnelee
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Pocan
     Polis
     Posey
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Richmond
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (KY)
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Runyan
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Sinema
     Sires
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Southerland
     Speier
     Stivers
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (PA)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wagner
     Walden
     Walorski
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waxman
     Welch
     Wenstrup
     Whitfield
     Wilson (FL)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                             NOT VOTING--22

     Bera (CA)
     Campbell
     Capito
     Cleaver
     Dingell
     Edwards
     Esty
     Green, Al
     Hanna
     Hartzler
     Hastings (FL)
     Lankford
     Lewis
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Palazzo
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Thompson (MS)
     Waters

                              {time}  1344

  Mr. LUCAS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. NUNNELEE, Ms. 
CASTOR of Florida, Messrs. FLEISCHMANN, TIERNEY, RUSH, Ms. GRANGER, 
Messrs. GIBBS, AMODEI, CAMP, RICHMOND, and CRAMER changed their vote 
from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. BURGESS, ROONEY, FLORES, ROYCE, ISSA, YOUNG of Indiana, and 
ROTHFUS changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''

[[Page 9185]]

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


 Moment of Silence in Remembrance of Members of Armed Forces Who Lost 
 Their Lives on the Beaches of Normandy During the Allied Invasion of 
                              June 6, 1944

  (By unanimous consent, Mr. Michaud was allowed to speak out of 
order.)
  Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Chairman, the Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman 
Jeff Miller and I rise to ask that the House pause to remember the 
courageous sacrifice that our men and women went through when they lost 
their lives on the beaches of Normandy, France, during the Allied 
invasion of June 6, 1944.
  We request a moment of silence in honor of the brave Americans who 
were lost 70 years ago on D-day and the families who mourn their loss.
  The Acting CHAIR. All Members will rise for a moment of silence.


                   Amendment Offered by Mr. McNerney

  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, 2-minute voting will continue.
  There was no objection.
  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California 
(Mr. McNerney) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIR. This will be a 2-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 306, 
noes 106, not voting 19, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 244]

                               AYES--306

     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Barber
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barrow (GA)
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Benishek
     Bera (CA)
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Bonamici
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (IN)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Calvert
     Camp
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Cartwright
     Cassidy
     Castor (FL)
     Chaffetz
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cohen
     Cole
     Collins (NY)
     Cook
     Cooper
     Costa
     Cotton
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     Davis, Rodney
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Denham
     Dent
     DesJarlais
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart
     Doyle
     Duckworth
     Duffy
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gosar
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Gene
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hall
     Hanabusa
     Harper
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Heck (NV)
     Heck (WA)
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins
     Himes
     Honda
     Horsford
     Huffman
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hunter
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Jenkins
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jolly
     Jones
     Joyce
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kirkpatrick
     Kuster
     LaMalfa
     Lance
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Marino
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McAllister
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meehan
     Meeks
     Meng
     Messer
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     Noem
     Nolan
     Nugent
     Nunes
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Pittenger
     Pocan
     Poe (TX)
     Polis
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Richmond
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruiz
     Runyan
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salmon
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Schweikert
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Sinema
     Sires
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Speier
     Stivers
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Visclosky
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waxman
     Webster (FL)
     Welch
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (FL)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Yarmuth
     Yoder
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                               NOES--106

     Aderholt
     Amash
     Bachus
     Barton
     Bentivolio
     Blumenauer
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Brooks (AL)
     Broun (GA)
     Burgess
     Byrne
     Cantor
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Castro (TX)
     Chabot
     Clay
     Coffman
     Collins (GA)
     Conaway
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cummings
     DeSantis
     Doggett
     Duncan (SC)
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Farenthold
     Fleming
     Flores
     Foxx
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Grijalva
     Hensarling
     Hinojosa
     Holding
     Holt
     Hoyer
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Hultgren
     Hurt
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kline
     Labrador
     Lamborn
     Latta
     Long
     Lucas
     Lummis
     Marchant
     Massie
     McClintock
     McKeon
     Meadows
     Mullin
     Murphy (PA)
     Neugebauer
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Perry
     Petri
     Pitts
     Pompeo
     Rangel
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ryan (WI)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schakowsky
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Stewart
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tipton
     Velazquez
     Weber (TX)
     Wenstrup
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Woodall
     Yoho

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Campbell
     Capito
     Cleaver
     Dingell
     Esty
     Green, Al
     Hanna
     Hartzler
     Hastings (FL)
     Lankford
     Lewis
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Palazzo
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Waters


                    Announcement by the Acting Chair

  The Acting CHAIR (during the vote). There is 1 minute remaining.

                              {time}  1353

  Messrs. COLE, WESTMORELAND, PITTENGER, Mrs. ELLMERS, Messrs. LaMALFA 
and McCAUL changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                  Amendment Offered by Mr. Bridenstine

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Oklahoma 
(Mr. Bridenstine) on which further proceedings were postponed and on 
which the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIR. This will be a 2-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 340, 
noes 71, not voting 20, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 245]

                               AYES--340

     Aderholt
     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barber
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barrow (GA)
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bentivolio
     Bera (CA)
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Bonamici
     Boustany
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Broun (GA)
     Brownley (CA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Capps
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Cartwright
     Cassidy
     Castor (FL)
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Coble
     Coffman
     Cohen
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Cook
     Cooper
     Costa
     Cotton
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis (CA)

[[Page 9186]]


     Davis, Rodney
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Denham
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Gardner
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Gene
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Hahn
     Hall
     Hanabusa
     Harper
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Heck (NV)
     Heck (WA)
     Hensarling
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins
     Himes
     Holding
     Honda
     Horsford
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huffman
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson Lee
     Jenkins
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jolly
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (PA)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kirkpatrick
     Kline
     Kuster
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     Latta
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Maffei
     Maloney, Sean
     Marchant
     Marino
     Massie
     McAllister
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Meng
     Messer
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Mullin
     Murphy (FL)
     Negrete McLeod
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nolan
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paulsen
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Perry
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pingree (ME)
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Pocan
     Poe (TX)
     Polis
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Ruiz
     Runyan
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Sarbanes
     Scalise
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Schweikert
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Sinema
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Speier
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Tipton
     Tonko
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waxman
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Williams
     Wilson (FL)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                                NOES--71

     Amash
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Blumenauer
     Brown (FL)
     Capuano
     Castro (TX)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cummings
     Davis, Danny
     Deutch
     Duckworth
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Farenthold
     Foxx
     Frankel (FL)
     Fudge
     Garrett
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hinojosa
     Holt
     Hoyer
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Kelly (IL)
     Kind
     Labrador
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Long
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lummis
     Lynch
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Murphy (PA)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     O'Rourke
     Payne
     Rangel
     Richmond
     Rooney
     Roybal-Allard
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Schakowsky
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Sires
     Smith (WA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tsongas
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Welch
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--20

     Bilirakis
     Campbell
     Capito
     Cleaver
     Dingell
     Esty
     Green, Al
     Hanna
     Hartzler
     Hastings (FL)
     Lankford
     Lewis
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Palazzo
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Waters

                              {time}  1359

  Messrs. ADERHOLT, SHERMAN, and Ms. McCOLLUM changed their vote from 
``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                 Amendment Offered by Mr. King of Iowa

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
King) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes 
prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIR. This will be a 2-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 218, 
noes 193, not voting 20, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 246]

                               AYES--218

     Aderholt
     Amash
     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barber
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barrow (GA)
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bentivolio
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Broun (GA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Cook
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis, Rodney
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Duncan (TN)
     Ellmers
     Farenthold
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Hall
     Harper
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Hensarling
     Herrera Beutler
     Holding
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jolly
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Kelly (PA)
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kline
     Labrador
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     Latta
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Long
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Marchant
     Marino
     Massie
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Messer
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Mullin
     Murphy (PA)
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nugent
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Paulsen
     Perry
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Rahall
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Runyan
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schock
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Turner
     Upton
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                               NOES--193

     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Bera (CA)
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Denham
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Duckworth
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Fattah
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Grayson
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hanabusa
     Heck (NV)
     Heck (WA)
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Holt
     Honda
     Horsford
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Israel
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kirkpatrick
     Kuster
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McAllister
     McCollum

[[Page 9187]]


     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Michaud
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     Nolan
     Nunes
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Pingree (ME)
     Pocan
     Polis
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rangel
     Richmond
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Sinema
     Sires
     Smith (WA)
     Speier
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Tsongas
     Valadao
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waxman
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--20

     Campbell
     Capito
     Cleaver
     Dingell
     Esty
     Green, Al
     Hanna
     Hartzler
     Hastings (FL)
     Lankford
     Lewis
     McCarthy (NY)
     McIntyre
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Palazzo
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Waters


                    Announcement by the Acting Chair

  The Acting CHAIR (during the vote) (Mr. Marchant). There is 1 minute 
remaining.

                              {time}  1405

  Mr. SHERMAN and Mrs. KIRKPATRICK changed their vote from ``aye'' to 
``no.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Cohen

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Tennessee 
(Mr. Cohen) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the noes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIR. This is a 2-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 127, 
noes 282, not voting 22, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 247]

                               AYES--127

     Barrow (GA)
     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Braley (IA)
     Brownley (CA)
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carson (IN)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Deutch
     Doggett
     Duckworth
     Duncan (TN)
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Gibson
     Grayson
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Heck (WA)
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Honda
     Horsford
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lynch
     Massie
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Michaud
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Nadler
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Pingree (ME)
     Pocan
     Polis
     Quigley
     Richmond
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Sires
     Speier
     Takano
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Tonko
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Velazquez
     Waxman
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--282

     Aderholt
     Amash
     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barber
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bentivolio
     Bera (CA)
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Boustany
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (FL)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Carney
     Carter
     Cartwright
     Cassidy
     Castor (FL)
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Connolly
     Cook
     Cooper
     Costa
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis, Rodney
     DeFazio
     Denham
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Doyle
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Ellmers
     Enyart
     Farenthold
     Fattah
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gerlach
     Gibbs
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green, Gene
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grijalva
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Hall
     Hanabusa
     Harper
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Heck (NV)
     Hensarling
     Herrera Beutler
     Holding
     Holt
     Hoyer
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Israel
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jolly
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Kelly (PA)
     Kilmer
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kirkpatrick
     Kline
     Kuster
     Labrador
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     Latta
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Long
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Marchant
     Marino
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McAllister
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Messer
     Mica
     Miller (MI)
     Mullin
     Murphy (FL)
     Murphy (PA)
     Napolitano
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nolan
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Pascrell
     Paulsen
     Pearce
     Perlmutter
     Perry
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rokita
     Rooney
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Ruiz
     Runyan
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Sinema
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Southerland
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Swalwell (CA)
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Titus
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Vela
     Visclosky
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                             NOT VOTING--22

     Campbell
     Capito
     Cleaver
     Dingell
     Esty
     Green, Al
     Hanna
     Hartzler
     Hastings (FL)
     Lankford
     Lewis
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Palazzo
     Rangel
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ryan (OH)
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Waters


                    Announcement by the Acting Chair

  The Acting CHAIR (during the vote). There is 1 minute remaining.

                              {time}  1409

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Cohen

  The Acting CHAIR. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Tennessee 
(Mr. Cohen) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the noes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIR. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIR. This is a 2-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 173, 
noes 238, not voting 20, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 248]

                               AYES--173

     Bass
     Beatty
     Becerra
     Bera (CA)
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brownley (CA)
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardenas
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings

[[Page 9188]]


     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Deutch
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Duckworth
     Duncan (TN)
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Engel
     Enyart
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Fattah
     Foster
     Frankel (FL)
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Garamendi
     Garcia
     Gerlach
     Grayson
     Green, Gene
     Gutierrez
     Hahn
     Hanabusa
     Heck (NV)
     Heck (WA)
     Higgins
     Himes
     Hinojosa
     Holt
     Honda
     Horsford
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jolly
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan Grisham (NM)
     Maffei
     Maloney, Carolyn
     Maloney, Sean
     Massie
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Michaud
     Miller, George
     Moore
     Moran
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Negrete McLeod
     Nolan
     O'Rourke
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Pingree (ME)
     Pocan
     Polis
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Richmond
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Serrano
     Sewell (AL)
     Sherman
     Sires
     Smith (WA)
     Speier
     Stivers
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Tsongas
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Waxman
     Welch
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth
     Yoder

                               NOES--238

     Aderholt
     Amash
     Amodei
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barber
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barrow (GA)
     Barton
     Benishek
     Bentivolio
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Black
     Blackburn
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bridenstine
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Broun (GA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burgess
     Bustos
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cantor
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Chabot
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Conaway
     Connolly
     Cook
     Costa
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Daines
     Davis, Rodney
     Denham
     Dent
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Ellmers
     Farenthold
     Fincher
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fleming
     Flores
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallego
     Gardner
     Garrett
     Gibbs
     Gibson
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Griffin (AR)
     Griffith (VA)
     Grijalva
     Grimm
     Guthrie
     Hall
     Harper
     Harris
     Hastings (WA)
     Hensarling
     Herrera Beutler
     Holding
     Hoyer
     Hudson
     Huelskamp
     Huizenga (MI)
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurt
     Israel
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan
     Joyce
     Kelly (PA)
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kinzinger (IL)
     Kirkpatrick
     Kline
     Kuster
     Labrador
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     Latta
     LoBiondo
     Long
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
     Lummis
     Lynch
     Marchant
     Marino
     Matheson
     McAllister
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meehan
     Messer
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Mullin
     Murphy (PA)
     Neugebauer
     Noem
     Nugent
     Nunes
     Nunnelee
     Olson
     Paulsen
     Pearce
     Perry
     Peters (CA)
     Peters (MI)
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pittenger
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Pompeo
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Rahall
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Ribble
     Rice (SC)
     Rigell
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rokita
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Royce
     Ruiz
     Runyan
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (WI)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scalise
     Schock
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shea-Porter
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Sinema
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Southerland
     Stewart
     Stockman
     Stutzman
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tipton
     Turner
     Valadao
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walorski
     Wasserman Schultz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IN)

                             NOT VOTING--20

     Campbell
     Capito
     Cleaver
     Dingell
     Esty
     Green, Al
     Hanna
     Hartzler
     Hastings (FL)
     Lankford
     Lewis
     McCarthy (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Mulvaney
     Palazzo
     Rangel
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Shuster
     Slaughter
     Waters

                              {time}  1415

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Chairman, I rise for the purpose of engaging in a 
colloquy with the gentleman from Virginia, Chairman Wolf, and the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Keating).
  NOAA's habitat restoration programs yield substantial, long-term 
economic value and help create jobs, not only along the Jersey Shore, 
but among all coastal areas throughout this Nation. It is my 
understanding that the fiscal year 2015 Commerce-Justice-Science 
appropriations bill provides $25 million for habitat conservation and 
restoration, including sustainable habitat management, but it appears 
that no funding is specifically designated for the fisheries habitat 
restoration.
  As you move forward with this bill, I ask that you try to fund NOAA's 
fisheries habitat restoration programs and thereby allow NOAA to 
continue supporting community-based restoration and provide expertise 
to the natural resource damage assessment restoration efforts. 
Fisheries habitat restoration directly supports the volunteer 
rebuilding of sustainable fisheries and recovery of these federally 
listed species.
  Mr. KEATING. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. LoBIONDO. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KEATING. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey and also the 
gentleman from Virginia for addressing this important matter. I agree 
with my colleagues that habitat restoration programs are vital to 
coastal areas, including Massachusetts, and elsewhere throughout this 
country. In March, I led a letter with over 70 cosigners to the 
Appropriations Committee supporting funding for this important program.
  NOAA's coastal programs serve as the front lines of defense in the 
fight to keep our communities resilient, create domestic jobs, and 
promote local economies while benefiting fish and wildlife and 
improving coastal ecosystems.
  Further, each public-private partnership directly creates jobs and 
benefits local and regional coastal economies that generate more than 
half the Nation's GDP. These projects are improving lands that will 
benefit and be able to filter pollutants from storm water runoff, 
control flooding after storm events, provide vital nursery habitat for 
fish and shellfish, and create nesting and foraging habitat for coastal 
birds. The resulting clean water and more abundant habitats will 
benefit local economies by improving land values, supporting commercial 
fishing, improving tourism, and creating new business, and they also do 
beneficial work to enhance recreational opportunities.
  I stand with my colleague from New Jersey in urging for adequate 
funding for NOAA's fisheries habitat restoration programs in order to 
allow NOAA to continue supporting community-based restoration programs 
that create jobs and help protect fragile communities like the ones in 
my district.
  Mr. WOLF. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. LoBIONDO. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentlemen from New Jersey and Massachusetts. I 
recognize the importance of NOAA's restoration programs, especially the 
community-based restoration program, and we will work to address your 
concerns as the bill moves forward toward conference with the Senate.
  Mr. LoBIONDO. I thank the chairman. I thank Mr. Keating.
  Mr. FATTAH. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. LoBIONDO. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, this is extraordinarily important, and I 
want to share that I also am interested in seeing what we can do. Our 
support of these coastal communities is vitally important. Woods Hole 
and its work in

[[Page 9189]]

your great State, and the work of NOAA, have made a vital difference, 
and I share the chairman's concern on this matter, and we will work 
together on this issue.
  Mr. LoBIONDO. I thank the chairman, I thank my colleagues, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Polis

  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 32, line 15, after the first dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $35,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to join my colleague from 
Georgia (Mr. Broun) to offer this bipartisan and commonsense amendment.
  The underlying CJS appropriations bill provides $2.42 billion for the 
Drug Enforcement Administration's salaries and expenses. That is $35 
million above last year's--fiscal year 2014--enacted level and above 
the President's budget request.
  The report says the increase will ``help DEA offset its necessary pay 
and non-pay base costs'' and will also ``support DEA's growing 
enforcement workload.''
  Again, a mysterious $35 million above and beyond what the agency 
requested that Congress is adding without any description of where it 
is even going that means anything besides bureaucratic gobbledygook, as 
if we have all the money in the world to hand out to every agency above 
and beyond what they want at a time of deficits, Mr. Chairman, when 
this body, like the American people, needs to tighten our belts and 
where we can try to save money. And here is an opportunity to save $35 
million.
  I have noticed that this same $35 million has been targeted by other 
Members of this body for their project that is important to their 
district. Why don't we just add it to the deficit reduction account? 
What has the DEA done to deserve a $35 million raise when many 
Americans are not getting raises? At a time when agencies across the 
board are being asked to tighten their belt, why are we singling out 
the DEA for receiving funds above what the DEA itself requested in the 
President's budget?
  The DEA has demonstrated time and time again that it can't 
efficiently manage the resources that it already has. It is diverting 
funds to ridiculous things like impounding industrial hemp seeds which 
have no narcotic content, intimidating legal marijuana businesses in 
States like mine, and wasting money on marijuana infractions that are 
legal in States where they occur.
  If they simply refocus those resources, frankly, Mr. Chairman, we 
should be talking about cutting their budget to better meet their 
limited scope. Instead, we are giving them a raise?
  Although legal under federal law, the DEA recently seized and 
impounded harmless, non-narcotic industrial hemp seeds in Kentucky. To 
be clear, industrial hemp is an agricultural commodity, not a drug. 
Don't they know this?
  In testimony before a committee of this body, DEA Administrator 
Michele Leonhart refused to acknowledge that drugs like heroin and 
cocaine are worse or more addictive than marijuana. This is the head of 
our chief Drug Enforcement Agency? This is the type of thinking that 
leads to this kind of continued misappropriation of tax dollars.
  Examples like these demonstrate that the DEA doesn't have a growing 
enforcement workload--other than in their own minds--but rather the DEA 
has simply allocated its enforcement workload in pursuit of misguided 
priorities. When they should be focused on prescription drug abuses, 
and on the rising heroin problem, they continue to focus on harmless 
seeds that have no narcotic content to the point of actually impounding 
them. Is that what they are using this over $35 million more of 
taxpayer money for?
  This amendment will ensure that DEA will have to tighten their belt 
just like agencies from DOD to the Department of Education. They have 
the money they need to complete their mission. We don't need to 
increase our deficit to fund misguided and misinformed priorities.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
simple, commonsense amendment that simply strikes $35 million from the 
DEA's budget, returns the DEA budget to the same funding levels as 2014 
and the same funding levels as the President's budget.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. The reason the numbers are what they are, there was an 
indiscriminate cut by the administration of $75 million. Secondly--and 
I know the gentleman from Colorado didn't mean this--but you kind of 
just blew off the DEA agents. A number of DEA agents have died--a 
number of DEA agents died in Afghanistan. A number of DEA agents have 
risked their lives for us here.
  The head of the DEA is a career civil servant who was a city of 
Baltimore police officer who has given her life to law enforcement for 
the last 30 years. So I don't think you meant it, but if I were a DEA 
agent somewhere back in some remote area maybe watching C-SPAN in 
Afghanistan, where there is a number of DEA agents who are risking 
their lives when we are in a very safe community surrounded by 
policemen, but maybe they are in Kabul right now where there were just 
some killings the other day--
  So, I oppose the amendment. DEA is striving to cope with significant 
challenges. There is surging heroin. We have increased heroin. Members 
of Congress have come up, the committee has tried to address their 
needs--heroin Midwest, heroin Virginia, heroin all over, heroin, 
heroin. The DEA is dealing with that. The trafficking of prescription 
drugs, we just increased money for prescription drug abuse because it 
has the number one impact on young people.
  DEA is the line of defense. DEA is the one that is fighting the 
Mexican drug cartels. Every community in the United States, the drug 
operations are impacted by the Mexican cartels, and it is the DEA that 
is doing this. This bill tries to help.
  Also, it helps DEA out of the impact that they will hit with regard 
to sequester. So, I urge a ``no'' vote for the amendment.
  Mr. POLIS. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.
  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from Virginia.
  The DEA folks on the ground in Afghanistan deal with opium and heroin 
production, not marijuana. My remarks were with regard to marijuana.
  In addition, with regard to the head of the DEA, she may, in fact, 
have been a fine line officer and cop on this beat, but she is a 
terrible agency head, and she has repeatedly embarrassed her agency 
before this body in committee.
  Mr. WOLF. Let me say she has not embarrassed herself before the body. 
If this institution is going to go criticizing people who have served 
us that way, I think she has done an honorable job. I think she has 
represented the DEA well.
  Also, I think there has been an effort by some in the administration 
to attack her in a way, it almost reminds me of the Nixon 
administration. I was in the Nixon administration. They had policies 
whereby they would go after civil servants and career people--I think 
some of the things that have been done against her. So I think this is 
a very bad amendment.
  If you want to allow the cartels to come in--you can't just take $35 
million and say it has no impact on the agents that are working and 
giving their life and sacrificing their life in Afghanistan. This is a 
bad amendment, and I urge a ``no'' vote.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

[[Page 9190]]

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. It is said that you need to be able to hold opposing, 
competing views all at once, so here we go.
  First of all, I think that the DEA is one of our extraordinary law 
enforcement agencies under DOJ. I think the Attorney General has done a 
great job, and I definitely believe that the administrator of DEA has 
done a great job rounding up cartel members and doing all kinds of 
work, interfacing with Interpol in its efforts.
  So on one level, I disagree with my colleague in his 
characterization. However, I also agree that the $35 million plus-up 
over the requested amount is too large, which is why I supported and 
will support the notion that some percentage of those dollars should go 
into legal services versus going to an agency that didn't need it or 
request it, so I don't think we should be plussing it up by $35 
million, notwithstanding the fact that I don't agree with the 
gentleman, in terms of their performance, per se, on a host of issues.
  Now, I think that the gentleman is really concerned about the 
underlying question about his home State and States similarly situated, 
and I agree with him there that the State has made a different decision 
and that there should not be unnecessary harassment relative thereto, 
but if we are going to repeal prohibition every 100 years or so--we did 
alcohol in 1933--maybe we are at the moment where we are going to do 
something similar on marijuana.
  It does not mean, however, that we think every illegal narcotic in 
the world should be available without penalty or punishment for every 
single person who might desire it. So the country is trying to make 
some decisions, and we have to kind of parse through this as we work 
forward.
  So I rise to say that I don't support the amendment in which we would 
take this $35 million and put it into what is called deficit reduction. 
I suggest that the 41,000 veterans who are able to fight off 
foreclosure and other challenges by using legal services last year, 
those dollars should go to legal services, so that our veterans can 
have the legal services that they need in order to interface with our 
civil court system and to have the rights that they fought for 
protected.
  So I think the House will be able to work its will. I hope that we 
vote against this amendment and that we support the effort to put these 
dollars into legal services and that we continue to hold high the great 
courage and sacrifice of our law enforcement agencies as they fight 
crime here and abroad.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise to engage in a colloquy with my 
chairman.
  Mr. WOLF. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CULBERSON. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to read, just briefly to the House, 
some of the names that are on the Wall of Honor of DEA agents who have 
given their life for our country, and I will put the whole list in the 
Record:
  Special Agent James Terry Watson, June 21, 2013; Special Agent 
Michael E. Weston, October 26, 2009; Special Agent Chad L. Michael, 
October 26, 2009; Special Agent Forrest N. Leamon, October 26, 2009; 
FBI Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks, November 19, 2008; Special Agent 
Thomas J. Byrne, August 30, 2008; Task Force Officer Jay Balchunas, 
November 5, 2004; Special Agent Donald C. Ware, October 12, 2004; 
Special Agent Terry Loftus, May 28, 2004; Telecomm Specialist Elton Lee 
Armstead, March 18, 2003; Diversion Investigator Alice Faye Hall-
Walton, March 1, 2001; Special Agent Royce D. Tramel, August 28, 2000; 
Pilot Instructor Larry Steilen, September 25, 1998; Special Agent Shaun 
E. Curl, December 12, 1997; Special Agent Kenneth G. McCullough, April 
19, 1995; Carrie A. Lenz, April 19, 1995; Office Assistant Carrol J. 
Fields, April 19, 1995; Rona L. Chafey, April 19, 1995; Shelly Bland, 
April 19, 1995; Special Agent Frank S. Wallace, Jr., August 27, 1994; 
Special Agent Juan Vars, August 27, 1994; Special Agent Meredith 
Thompson, August 27, 1994; Special Agent Jay W. Seale, August 27, 1994; 
Special Agent Frank Fernandez, Jr., August 27, 1994; Special Agent 
Richard E. Fass, June 30, 1994; Detective Stephen J. Strehl, November 
19, 1993; Special Agent Becky Dwojeski, October 21, 1993; Special Agent 
George D. Althouse, May 28, 1992; Special Agent Alan H. Winn, August 
13, 1991; Special Agent Eugene T. McCarthy, February 2, 1991; 
Investigator Wallie Howard, Jr., October 30, 1990, and the list goes 
on.
  I will put the whole list in the Record. This is to make up for what 
happened in sequestration. These people are literally giving their 
lives. We will also insert into the Record with regard to the 
helicopter crash that took the lives of those agents. For those 
reasons, I strongly oppose the amendment.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Reclaiming my time, I join the chairman in strong 
opposition to this amendment. The last thing we need to do is take 
resources away from our men and women in uniform on the front line 
defending us, enforcing our laws.
  The date that the chairman mentioned, April 19, 1995, it is important 
to remember that was the Oklahoma City bombing, when a lot of law 
enforcement officers lost their lives in Oklahoma City. I urge all 
Members to oppose this amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, this has been an interesting discussion. I 
want to join Chairman Wolf in commending the DEA agents who have lost 
their lives, most of which I am sure lost their lives way before 
sequestration and whose lives would have been lost--they are good men 
and women, but it is not because we didn't give them enough money.
  When we are cutting other areas of the government and we just saw 
legal services getting cut by $15 million, why are we giving DEA $35 
million more?
  They just did a book here, ``The Dangers and Consequences of 
Marijuana Abuse.'' I don't know how many of these were published, but 
it is almost a comic book when you read it.
  They go so far as to have a section--and I love pets, I miss my cat, 
and I miss my dog--but they have a section that pets are also at risk. 
More dogs are being poisoned by marijuana.
  They are really going to the bottom line, to try to find some 
rationalization for their work that they are protecting pets, and these 
pets are in areas where marijuana is not legal.
  They also have a section in here about other consequences of 
marijuana use, and that is where they get the pet section. Then they 
have this section here, and they have this whole area about somebody 
breaking in and stealing cash from a marijuana dispensary and saying it 
is a problem.
  Well, sure, it is a problem, just like people break into liquor 
stores and rob them. The reason they do is because there is a lot of 
cash money there, and the Federal Government hasn't allowed the 
marijuana dispensaries to use credit cards. Because of the fact that 
they have to use cash, they attract robbers and burglars.
  That is not something that the marijuana causes. That is something 
that the government causes by requiring there to be a lot of cash 
there, and that is independent of the fact that it is marijuana. That 
is listed under other consequences of marijuana use.
  That is not a consequence of marijuana use. That is a consequence of 
the government not allowing those people to use credit cards and, 
instead, having large amounts of cash on hand.
  The director there has embarrassed herself time after time after 
time. She is the last supporter of the failed war on drugs. She refuses 
to accept the fact that President Obama said that alcohol has more 
damage to consumers than marijuana. She questioned the President on 
that, and she is wrong.
  She also questioned mandatory minimums and thinks mandatory minimums 
are still the right thing to do. I

[[Page 9191]]

think most all of us know mandatory minimums are a colossal failure and 
waste of time. It is $30,000 a year to put people in jail.
  She criticized Mitch McConnell. Senator Mitch McConnell criticized 
her because they went and confiscated hemp seeds in Kentucky that were 
there for study. They are out of control, and the $35 million 
additional that we are intending to give them is throwing money away. 
It is not going to have anything to do with DEA agents being killed. In 
fact, it might save some.
  The fact is that we have to prioritize where we spend our moneys, and 
this is not a spot. If we want to put that money into education, if we 
want to put it into health care, if we want to put it into other areas 
that are important--and probably the $35 million should go to the 
National Institutes of Health where we could find a cure for cancer or 
diabetes, find treatments for stroke or illnesses that deal with heart 
disease, AIDS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, that is where money needs to 
go.
  That is money that saves American people's lives, and giving money to 
DEA is not going to save a DEA agent, and more DEA agents are going to 
die from heart disease and cancer and diabetes and Parkinson's and AIDS 
than die because they have been shot, and that money would be better 
spent to save them by putting it into NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, and 
finding treatments and cures for the diseases that will kill us all, 
but we are not doing NIH, we are doing DEA. That is a mistake.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BYRNE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Alabama is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. BYRNE. Mr. Chairman, I was going to submit an amendment today 
regarding surveys on the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, but 
instead, I rise to engage Chairman Wolf in a colloquy.
  I am pleased that the committee has recognized in its committee 
report the shortcomings of current methods used by NOAA fisheries to 
conduct stock assessments, specifically affirming the inadequacy of 
generated data, infrequency of surveys, and the insufficient use of 
independent research in developing these stock assessments.
  However, I am inclined to stress that further efforts must be taken 
to address the agency's faulty data. In the Gulf of Mexico, for 
example, stock assessments meant to provide data for the Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Council's Reef Fish Management Plan, which includes 
the red snapper, do not include data retrieved from reef structures on 
which these fish live and thrive, nor do they acknowledge that reef 
structures, both natural and artificial, are even relevant to 
conducting stock assessments.
  I have personally spent time with scientists from the Gulf Coast, 
including scientists from the University of South Alabama and the 
Dauphin Island Sea Lab and have seen for myself the overabundance of 
fish which live on these reefs, of which there are 17,000 off the coast 
of Alabama alone.
  Last Friday, Congressman Scalise and I went out and fished in the 
Gulf of Mexico. It took us 45 minutes to go out. We fished for 15 
minutes and caught our limit, and it took 45 minutes to go back. Those 
reefs are absolutely filled with fish.
  Today, stock assessment data provided by NOAA fisheries has proven 
unreliable, and it has helped result in a broken management system. 
Just in March of this year, the United States District Court for the 
District of Columbia found that the NOAA survey process and the data is 
totally insufficient. That was a finding of a court in a court case.
  In my district, we will experience, as a result of that, a 9-day red 
snapper season this year, starting June 1 and ending June 9, despite 
the fact that these fish are so abundant it is difficult to catch 
anything else.
  In short, current stock assessments generated by NOAA fisheries lack 
the ability to adequately determine whether overfishing has occurred or 
to inform fishery managers how to prevent overfishing from occurring in 
the future.
  I join the committee in calling for greater accountability over NOAA 
fishery stock assessments. It is simply insufficient, and they are not 
being responsive to the needs of the fisheries.
  If NOAA fisheries are to receive a Federal appropriation at all for 
scientific data collection, it must prove that it will vastly improve 
the methods with which it conducts stock assessments, including taking 
into account the relevant habitats and biological features of the stock 
in question, and produce a stock assessment that can truly account for 
our fishery resources.

                              {time}  1445

  I appreciate the gentleman's attention to this matter, and I thank 
him for his time.
  Mr. WOLF. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BYRNE. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. WOLF. I appreciate the gentleman's concern, and we will continue 
to work on this. I thank the gentleman for his comments. We will work 
on this in an appropriate way for the people of your region.
  Mr. FATTAH. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BYRNE. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. FATTAH. I also will work on behalf of the red snapper.
  Mr. BYRNE. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Michigan is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Chair, first I would like to register my concern and 
support over the issues raised by Mr. Polis. The question on the 
amendment that he offers has not to do with much of the policy, but the 
fact that we have to make budget decisions that are based on 
priorities. I think he is correct to raise the question as to whether a 
$35 million plus-up is the proper priority when compared to the other 
competing interests that we are all trying to facilitate.
  With that, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis).
  Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. Chair, very clearly there are two issues here. Why are we 
plussing up an agency above their own request level for a vague 
bureaucratic purpose--that is question number one--when other agencies 
are being cut? That is what this amendment addressed. However, there 
has been a lot of discussion on the floor about some of the wasted 
efforts in DEA. I wanted to address the very moving testimony that my 
colleague from Virginia gave with regard to names of the brave agents 
of the Drug Enforcement Agency that have given their lives in service 
to this Nation.
  I would like to inquire of him: How many of those whose names he 
read, who gave their lives, would be alive today, with their families 
today, if it weren't for the failed Federal policy of prohibition with 
regard to marijuana?
  I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Virginia if he has an 
answer.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Michigan controls the time.
  Mr. POLIS. I am happy to further yield to the gentleman from 
Virginia.
  How many of those agents would be alive today with their families?
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Michigan controls the time.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chair, I would like to know if anybody in this body 
can answer the question and tell the surviving husband, the surviving 
wife, a 10-year-old child who lost their father to a failed Federal 
policy, how many of those agents would be alive today if it were not 
for the failed Federal policy on prohibition.
  Does anybody have an answer?
  I thought that might be the case, Mr. Chair.
  Mr. KILDEE. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Arizona is recognized for 5 
minutes.

[[Page 9192]]


  Mr. GOSAR. I would like to speak on the amendment, and I yield to the 
chairman.
  Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentleman.
  Four agents have died since 2009. Four agents have died since 2009.
  Mr. GOSAR. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chair, I would like to submit the full list of DEA 
agents who gave their lives to keep our communities safe.

       Agent Stafford E. Beckett, March 22, 1921; Agent Charles 
     Archie Wood, March 22, 1921; Agent Joseph W. Floyd, May 17, 
     1922; Agent Bert S. Gregory, October 25, 1922; Agent James T. 
     Williams, October 16, 1924; Agent Louis L. Marks, October 24, 
     1924; Agent James E. Brown, June 7, 1928; Agent James R. 
     Kerrigan, December 27, 1928; Agent John W. Crozier, November 
     16, 1934; Agent Spencer Stafford, February 7, 1935; Agent 
     Andrew P. Sanderson, September 23, 1944; Agent Anker M. 
     Bangs, September 24, 1950; Agent Wilson M. Shee, December 12, 
     1957; Agent Mansel R. Burrell, December 19, 1967; Agent 
     Hector Jordan, October 14, 1970; Officer Gene A. Clifton, 
     November 19, 1971; Special Agent Frank Tummillo, October 12, 
     1972; Special Agent George F. White, March 25, 1973; Special 
     Agent Richard Heath, Jr., April 1, 1973; Special Agent Emir 
     Benitez, August 9, 1973.
       Detective Gerald Sawyer, November 6, 1973; Investigator 
     Leslie S. Grosso, May 21, 1974; Special Agent Nickolas 
     Fragos, August 5, 1974; Secretary Mary Keehan, August 5, 
     1974; Special Agent Charles H. Mann, August 5, 1974; 
     Secretary Anna Mounger, August 5, 1974; Fiscal Assistant Anna 
     Pope, August 5, 1974; Spvr Clerk-Typist Martha Skeels, August 
     5, 1974; Clerk-Typist Mary Sullivan, August 5, 1974; Special 
     Agent Larry D. Wallace, December 19, 1975; Special Agent 
     James T. Lunn, May 14, 1976; Special Agent Ralph N. Shaw, May 
     14, 1976; Special Agent Octavio Gonzalez, December 13, 1976; 
     Office Assistant Susan Hoefler, August 16, 1986; Special 
     Agent William Ramos, December 31, 1986; Special Agent Raymond 
     J. Stastny, January 26, 1987; Special Agent Arthur L. Cash, 
     August 25, 1987; Detective Terry W. McNett, February 2, 1988; 
     Special Agent George M. Montoya, February 5, 1988; Special 
     Agent Paul S. Seema, February 6, 1988.
       Special Agent Everett E. Hatcher, February 28, 1989; 
     Special Agent Rickie C. Finley, May 20, 1989; Investigator 
     Joseph T. Aversa, March 5, 1990; Investigator Wallie Howard 
     Jr., October 30, 1990; Special Agent Eugene T. McCarthy, 
     February 2, 1991; Special Agent Alan H. Winn, August 13, 
     1991; Special Agent George D. Althouse, May 28, 1992; Special 
     Agent Becky L. Dwojeski, October 21, 1993; Detective Stephen 
     J. Strehl, November 19, 1993; Special Agent Richard E. Fass, 
     June 30, 1994; Special Agent Frank Fernandez, Jr., August 27, 
     1994; Special Agent Jay W. Seale, August 27, 1994; Special 
     Agent Meredith Thompson, August 27, 1994; Special Agent Juan 
     C. Vars, August 27, 1994; Special Agent Frank S. Wallace, 
     Jr., August 27, 1994; Shelly D. Bland, April 19, 1995; Rona 
     L. Chafey, April 19, 1995; Office Assistant Carrol J. Fields, 
     April 19, 1995; Carrie A. Lenz, April 19, 1995; Special Agent 
     Kenneth G. McCullough, April 19, 1995.
       Special Agent Shaun E. Curl, December 12, 1997; Pilot 
     Instructor Larry Steilen, September 25, 1998; Special Agent 
     Royce D. Tramel, August 28, 2000; Diversion Investigator 
     Alice Faye Hall-Walton, March 1, 2001; Telecomm. Specialist 
     Elton Lee Armstead, March 18, 2003; Special Agent Terry 
     Loftus, May 28, 2004; Special Agent Francis J. Miller, March 
     5, 1977; Special Agent Robert C. Lightfoot, November 23, 
     1977; Special Agent Thomas J. Devine, September 25, 1982; 
     Special Agent Larry N. Carwell, January 9, 1984; Detective 
     Marcellus Ward, December 3, 1984; Special Agent Enrique S. 
     Camarena, March 5, 1985; Deputy Sheriff James A. Avant, July 
     24, 1986; Investigator Charles M. Bassing, July 24, 1986; 
     Investigator Kevin L. Brosch, July 24, 1986; Special Agent 
     Donald C. Ware, October 12, 2004; Task Force Officer Jay 
     Balchunas, November 5, 2004; Special Agent Thomas J. Byrne, 
     August 30, 2008; FBI Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks, November 
     19, 2008; Special Agent Forrest N. Leamon, October 26, 2009; 
     Special Agent Chad L. Michael, October 26, 2009; Special 
     Agent Michael E. Weston, October 26, 2009; Special Agent 
     James Terry Watson, June 21, 2013.

  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Colorado 
will be postponed.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chair, I rise to engage in a colloquy.
  Mr. Chair, there is a situation right now that you and I have 
discussed several times already involving a former U.S. marine 
imprisoned in Mexico for making a wrong turn at the U.S.-Mexican border 
while in possession of three legally owned firearms.
  Andrew Tahmooressi endured two combat tours in Afghanistan. He was 
meritoriously promoted to sergeant on the battlefield, a high honor for 
any serviceperson; and he, like others returning from war, has been 
diagnosed with posttraumatic stress. That is why he was in San Diego, 
so he could seek therapy at the high-level institutions we have for 
that disorder in San Diego.
  For 2 months now, Andrew has been in jail in Mexico. He has been 
mistreated. We found out yesterday he had been beaten. He had been 
chained to the wall and beaten by his Mexican imprisoners. He has been 
threatened; and he has been looking for a way out since that night he 
was pulled over in secondary screening, he acknowledged his mistake and 
disclosed his firearms and wanted to come back to America. That was not 
good enough for Mexican authorities, and the legal proceedings in 
Andrew's case are only just beginning.
  My problem, Mr. Chair, is that the State Department, beyond the 
consulate in Tijuana, has done nothing. Our Justice Department has done 
nothing, despite numerous appeals from me and a growing list of others, 
including yourself.
  Mr. Chair, I know that we agree that Andrew served with honor and 
distinction, and an all-hands-on-deck approach is owed to him in 
return. I hope we can continue working together to ensure this Federal 
Government is doing all it can for Andrew. I hope you can weigh in also 
with the Department of Justice, encourage their coordination with the 
Department of State and urge greater action to support Andrew's legal 
defense.
  Mr. WOLF. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HUNTER. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentleman for his efforts on this. I want to 
personally tell you that I appreciate it.
  I also appreciate the fact that Greta Van Susteren was down there. I 
watched one of the interviews. It is painful to watch, to see how a 
United States citizen--I appreciate the gentleman's service, too, in 
the Marine Corps. I know you were in Fallujah. Your dad was very proud 
of what you had done. I know you have to have a feeling for this, but 
why we cannot get someone out.
  We will do everything we can to work with you, to help you. We will 
call the Attorney General's Office tomorrow. I will try to talk to Mr. 
Holder, who I know will be very sympathetic and help to see what we can 
possibly do to get the gentleman out. I thank the gentleman. We will do 
anything you ask us to do.
  Mr. HUNTER. Thank you.
  Mr. FATTAH. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HUNTER. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. FATTAH. I also would like to join in in whatever we can do from 
our side to help in this matter so they can come to a positive 
resolution.
  Mr. HUNTER. I thank the gentleman, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chair, my initial intention was to offer an 
amendment today, but after consultation with both the offices of the 
chair and the ranking member, I now rise for the purpose of entering 
into a colloquy with Chairman Wolf and with Ranking Member Fattah.
  Seven years ago when the House considered reauthorization of the 
America COMPETES Act, I offered an amendment at that time with my 
colleagues, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Congressman Jerry 
McNerney, to correct a longstanding inequity at the National Science 
Foundation.
  Unlike their counterparts of the Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving 
Institutions

[[Page 9193]]

have not benefited from a specific program at the NSF to provide them 
with the grants for research, curriculum, and infrastructure 
development. The amendment corrected this inequity, requiring the NSF 
to create a separate program for HSIs. It was adopted and it became law 
at that time. To this day, the NSF has not implemented the programs as 
codified in law and funding has yet to be provided.
  Hispanic-Serving Institutions serve the majority of nearly 2 million 
Latino students enrolled in college today. My district alone has about 
10,000 students attending Hispanic-Serving Institutions offering 
degrees in the field of science.
  Without access to targeted grants, HSIs have difficulty increasing 
the ranks of Latinos in the STEM fields, where they have been 
historically underrepresented. We must ensure the Latinos, the youngest 
and fastest-growing ethnic group in our Nation, are prepared with the 
knowledge and skills that will contribute to our Nation's future, 
economic strength, security, and global leadership.
  I would like to work with Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Fattah to 
aim for a dedicated stream of funding at the NSF to support STEM 
education programs at Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
  At this time, I would be pleased to yield to Ranking Member Fattah.
  Mr. FATTAH. Let me thank the gentleman from the great State of New 
York, and I pledge to him that I would be more than willing to work 
with him to increase the number of Latino or Hispanic students who 
pursue STEM education and in support for Hispanic-Serving Institutions 
through the National Science Foundation.
  I pledge to work with you on this matter.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Thank you, Mr. Fattah.
  I would also like to yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  Mr. WOLF. Thank you.
  I want to thank Mr. Crowley for raising this issue. Mr. Serrano, I 
think, also raised it at one of the hearings, and also Mr. Diaz-Balart. 
I will do everything I can to work with you and see if we can deal with 
this.
  Thank you for raising the issue.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the chair and the ranking member for agreeing to 
work towards this funding stream, and with that, I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

          Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

                         salaries and expenses

       For necessary expenses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
     Firearms and Explosives, for training of State and local law 
     enforcement agencies with or without reimbursement, including 
     training in connection with the training and acquisition of 
     canines for explosives and fire accelerants detection; and 
     for provision of laboratory assistance to State and local law 
     enforcement agencies, with or without reimbursement, 
     $1,200,000,000, of which not to exceed $36,000 shall be for 
     official reception and representation expenses, not to exceed 
     $1,000,000 shall be available for the payment of attorneys' 
     fees as provided by section 924(d)(2) of title 18, United 
     States Code, and not to exceed $20,000,000 shall remain 
     available until expended: Provided, That none of the funds 
     appropriated herein shall be available to investigate or act 
     upon applications for relief from Federal firearms 
     disabilities under section 925(c) of title 18, United States 
     Code: Provided further, That such funds shall be available to 
     investigate and act upon applications filed by corporations 
     for relief from Federal firearms disabilities under section 
     925(c) of title 18, United States Code: Provided further, 
     That no funds made available by this or any other Act may be 
     used to transfer the functions, missions, or activities of 
     the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to 
     other agencies or Departments: Provided further, That the 
     Federal Building at 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC, 
     headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
     Explosives, shall hereafter be known and designated as the 
     Ariel Rios Federal Building.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Kildee

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 33, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $15,000,000)''.
       Page 63, line 22, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $23,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Michigan is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment. I represent Flint, 
Michigan, and Saginaw, Michigan, two cities that have dealt with 
significant violence. There are cities across the country that are 
plagued with extreme violence and are unable themselves, these 
communities, to deal with the challenges, simply having the resources 
to deal with the sorts of crime that they are seeing every day.
  On occasion, the ATF has been able to provide support to these 
communities through their Violent Crime Reduction Partnership program, 
so-called ``surge.'' What my amendment would do would be to provide an 
additional $15 million to the ATF's budget to conduct additional surge 
operations in America's most violent communities.
  As I said, there is a high correlation between communities 
experiencing serious violence, high rates of murder and other violent 
crime, and cities that are experiencing enormous problems, significant 
financial stress, such that they simply don't have the resources to 
deal with the tidal wave of violence and in fact, in many cases, see 
the loss of police and prosecutorial capacity. This amendment would 
address that by allowing ATF to utilize the additional funding to 
support those communities, those most violent communities. It makes a 
difference. It pays off.
  In 2012, when a surge was executed in my hometown of Flint, the 
murder rate, the homicide rate, was cut in half for that period. In 
Oakland, California, we saw violent crime go down, in just a 4-month 
period, by 14 percent.
  These programs do work, because what they do is that they support 
those local law enforcement officials, local prosecutors to make cases 
against the most violent offenders. It is really an important thing.
  The offset--and I know this will rankle some. I know the chairman is 
particularly concerned about this, as is the ranking member. I 
completely understand it. The offset comes from the NASA exploration 
fund.
  I understand and I support the work--don't get me wrong--and the 
important priority that this Congress places on the work that NASA is 
doing in this regard. From my perspective, I think it is important that 
we keep, for this conversation, a sense of priority and proportion.
  In the case of NASA's budget for exploration, we see a $191 million 
increase over what was requested.

                              {time}  1500

  I understand if we could do that, and if we could do that and still 
deal with the other priorities I would be all for it. But when I see my 
hometown and other cities like it literally seeing their kids die 
because we don't have adequate resources to deal with the violence, it 
seems to me reasonable to take a small portion of a very large increase 
in funding to an important program--don't get me wrong, a very 
important program--but to take a small portion of an increase in order 
to support this kind of work that the ATF is doing when, if I could 
turn to the ATF and say: use your increased budget to fund this, I 
would certainly be willing to say that.
  But in this case, what we see is the ATF with a modest reduction over 
what was being proposed, what was requested, and the budget within NASA 
that I am addressing seeing $191 million added. It is a question of 
competing important priorities, I understand.
  Where I live and where I come from, it is very difficult for me to 
find a higher priority than getting resources to help make cases 
against the bad guys who are killing kids on the streets of America's 
most violent cities.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman raises a good point. I am going

[[Page 9194]]

to oppose the amendment--and I will get into it--but we will be glad to 
work with them to see what we could. Because I think when you have--and 
Mr. Fattah knows--when we have had different areas, we will be glad to 
meet with you and ATF to get them to do this.
  The budget really hasn't been cut. It is flat. I think they are $1 
million off. This is the only agency that didn't get a big hit in 
sequestration.
  But the reason I oppose the amendment--and I will get to your issue 
at the end--is it would take a reduction from NASA's commercial crew. 
You have seen the stories where Putin said, and the head of their space 
program, their general, said: If we want to get their space station, we 
are going to have to use a trampoline.
  Funds for this program are critical to allow NASA to name the 
development schedule and to end our reliance on the Russians so we can 
get up there. Right now we pay them roughly $60 million a ticket almost 
to get up there.
  Less funding would mean fewer development testing activities being 
carried out, which in turn will put pressure on the overall program.
  So for that reason, I oppose the amendment and ask for a ``no'' vote. 
But I would say, let's talk after this and we can have a meeting with 
you and Mr. Fattah and myself with the ATF and see if we can get them, 
as we have in some communities, to kind of focus like a laser beam on 
your community because, rightly so, your people ought to know they can 
live in safe areas. We will be glad to do that no matter what the 
outcome of the amendment is.
  But I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment because of where he takes 
it from and what the impact would have on the commercial crew.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, early one morning, I went over and visited 
the ATF and met with Todd Jones, the administrator, and met a large 
number of his critical leaders there at the agency. They are doing an 
extraordinary job under difficult circumstances.
  The chairman points out that they have had success where they have 
been able to focus. I would be willing to work with the gentleman on 
his area of concern to try to get some focus.
  But to deal with his broader point, it is true that we need to be 
doing more to make the lives of Americans safer. We have 1,000 marines 
off the coast of Libya today because we are going to evacuate 
Americans. We have had eight or so hearings, and we have a new 
investigation, over the tragic attack that took place that took the 
lives of our Ambassador and three others in Libya.
  But we saw a shooting right here in America over the weekend in 
California, and you won't see a big clamor here for us to have hearings 
or to do a lot. And we do need to rebalance these issues. We need to be 
doing more. It is our responsibility to do more to protect the American 
people not just when they are abroad but here at home. The ATF and 
these other agencies play a critical role.
  This amendment, its offset is problematic. I would hope, as the 
chairman said, that we can work with you on this so that we can try to 
provide more resources to ATF and not necessarily take it away from 
this particular activity in terms of what we have to do in terms of a 
commercial crew.
  I hope that the gentleman will find a way to work with us on this 
rather than proceed forward with a vote. He would have my pledge that 
we would work with him and the chairman as we go forward into 
conference.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).
  The amendment was rejected.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Gosar

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 33, line 4, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced 
     by $6,000,000)''.
       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $6,000,000)''.
       Page 48, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $6,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Arizona is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to stand with veterans 
throughout the country and offer a simple amendment that seeks to 
bolster funds in this act for the Veterans Treatment Court initiative.
  My amendment pays for this modest increase for this critical 
initiative by reducing funds for salaries and expenses from the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by $6 million. The 
Bureau's salaries and expenses were increased by $21 million from 
fiscal year 2014 levels, with a proposed appropriation of $1.2 billion 
overall on this bill for the agency.
  My amendment redirects funds from the bureaucrats in the mismanaged 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency to a worthy 
treatment program for our Nation's veterans.
  Veterans Court promotes sobriety and recovery through coordinated 
local partnerships among community corrections agencies, drug treatment 
providers, the judiciary, and other important community support groups. 
Veterans Treatment Courts have been extremely successful since they 
were first created in 2008 by a Buffalo judge to combat the growing 
number of veterans appearing before the court who were addicted to 
drugs and alcohol, as well as suffering from mental illness.
  Many of our Nation's heroes returning from combat are traumatized due 
to the associated violence and pressure of war and often cope with such 
feelings with substance abuse. They need focused treatment and a 
helping hand, and these courts provide such an avenue.
  The alternative to funding the Veterans Treatment Court initiative is 
jail. I think we would all agree that providing treatment for our 
veterans through a community partnership at the local level is a far 
better option.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the 
passage of my commonsense amendment and this worthwhile program.
  With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I have no objection to the amendment, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I want the House to take note that we have 
increased this account already in last night's action, so this would be 
duplicative. Plus, it would take away funds from the agency that we 
were just referring to, that is Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. It 
doesn't make sense for us to take money away from this agency at a time 
when we need to be providing more resources to it.
  Therefore, I will stand in opposition to this amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                         Federal Prison System

                         salaries and expenses

                     (including transfer of funds)

       For necessary expenses of the Federal Prison System for the 
     administration, operation, and maintenance of Federal penal 
     and correctional institutions, and for the provision of 
     technical assistance and advice on corrections related issues 
     to foreign governments, $6,865,000,000: Provided, That the 
     Attorney General may transfer to the Health Resources and 
     Services Administration such amounts as may be necessary for 
     direct expenditures by that Administration for medical relief 
     for inmates of Federal penal and

[[Page 9195]]

     correctional institutions: Provided further, That the 
     Director of the Federal Prison System, where necessary, may 
     enter into contracts with a fiscal agent or fiscal 
     intermediary claims processor to determine the amounts 
     payable to persons who, on behalf of the Federal Prison 
     System, furnish health services to individuals committed to 
     the custody of the Federal Prison System: Provided further, 
     That not to exceed $5,400 shall be available for official 
     reception and representation expenses: Provided further, That 
     not to exceed $50,000,000 shall remain available for 
     necessary operations until September 30, 2016: Provided 
     further, That, of the amounts provided for contract 
     confinement, not to exceed $20,000,000 shall remain available 
     until expended to make payments in advance for grants, 
     contracts and reimbursable agreements, and other expenses: 
     Provided further, That the Director of the Federal Prison 
     System may accept donated property and services relating to 
     the operation of the prison card program from a not-for-
     profit entity which has operated such program in the past, 
     notwithstanding the fact that such not-for-profit entity 
     furnishes services under contracts to the Federal Prison 
     System relating to the operation of pre-release services, 
     halfway houses, or other custodial facilities.


               Amendment No. 8 Offered by Ms. Jackson Lee

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 34, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced 
     by $500,000)''.
       Page 38, line 2, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $500,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Texas is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, again, let me offer my appreciation to 
Mr. Wolf and Mr. Fattah for leading this appropriations legislation.
  Commerce, Justice, Science--Commerce, Justice, Science--the reason I 
say it in that way is because many of us are on the authorizing 
committee that is impacted greatly by the appropriators. I sit on the 
Judiciary Committee and have sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee and 
now sit on Homeland Security, which has a very, very important 
commitment to fighting human trafficking.
  Just a few weeks ago, on March 20, in Houston, Texas, we held a field 
hearing on human trafficking. Interestingly, the day before, 115 people 
were found in a stash house, women and children, all compounded, living 
in dire and devastating conditions. The witness testimony was 
overwhelming.
  I know the leadership that both the chairman and ranking member have 
given to this issue. I want to thank them for their funding of the 
Violence Against Women Act, as it has grown to provide more resources 
for those who are impacted by domestic violence, but also by human 
trafficking.
  My amendment is very straightforward. In the testimony given to us by 
law enforcement officers, one of the local law enforcement officers--in 
fact, local sheriff--indicated the importance of providing local law 
enforcement officers the training needed to ensure that these victims 
who are traumatized will be willing to testify against a perpetrator, 
and the perpetrators are vile, they are vile. This has become one of 
the largest businesses in this Nation, billions of dollars, human 
trafficking and sex trafficking. It is an ugly thing to say, but in sex 
trafficking the product can be used over and over again, as interpreted 
by the person who has the business.
  Houston has been known to be called the epicenter of human 
trafficking, sex trafficking. But it is a scourge on this Nation.
  My amendment strengthens the ability by providing a half a million 
dollars to the Violence Against Women Act. It strengthens the ability 
of State and local law enforcement to identify, apprehend, and 
prosecute domestic child traffickers by requiring the Attorney General 
to make available the training and education that will empower them to 
gain the cooperation and active assistance of victims of human 
trafficking, who would otherwise refuse for fear of reprisal.
  This, in fact, as I indicated, was clear in all testimony that was 
given and explained by those who were victims who were witnesses in 
this hearing and others.
  Just recently, in the Border Security markup, I added an amendment to 
address the question of human trafficking resources in another agency, 
Department of Homeland Security. But trafficking in humans, and 
especially domestic child trafficking, has no place in a civilized 
society. In fact, it has been called ``modern day slavery.''
  Those who engage in this illicit trade should be prosecuted to the 
fullest extent of the law. We need the cooperation of victims. 
Sometimes they are scared. There are various resources, such as visas 
for nonimmigrant persons who are fearful of their present condition.
  That means we need to ensure that State and local law enforcement 
agencies have the tools, resources, and the training necessary to 
identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals who ruthlessly traffic in 
children and young persons.
  I think it is important that Commerce, Justice, Science is involved 
in this particular area and covers this particular area. As I said, my 
amendment would cover the education on the availability of certain 
nonimmigrant visas for victims trafficked who cooperate in the 
investigation or the prosecution of the crime which the individual was 
a victim of.
  So, in essence, this helps the victims. It gives them time, it gives 
them the ability to understand. It starts sometimes with local law 
enforcement. In the instance of these 115 persons in Houston, the 
arrest came, the notice came, or the call came to the local law 
enforcement, who later called ICE and others.
  I would hope that this amendment would be passed because it, again, 
adds to our commitment to eliminate human trafficking, and it commits 
us to recognizing the vileness of child trafficking and sexual abuse of 
these individuals who come and the repetitiveness of this. In the 
instance of Houston, 99 were men; 16 were women, one of whom was 
pregnant; and 19 were juveniles. This happens over and over again.
  The Jackson Lee amendment does strengthen the idea of making sure we 
are linked to local law enforcement, and that we are committed not only 
in the Federal system but we are committed in the system that we are in 
locally.
  Let me conclude, Mr. Chairman, by indicating that I hope that my 
colleagues will support this amendment.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. Chair, let me offer my appreciation and thanks to Ranking Member 
Fattah and to Chairman Wolf for their work on this legislation and 
decades long commitment and advocacy on behalf of victims of crime, 
especially child victims, who are the most vulnerable and innocent 
victims.
  Trafficking in humans, and especially domestic child trafficking, has 
no place in a civilized society. Those who engage in this illicit trade 
should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
  That means we need to ensure that state and local law enforcement 
agencies have the tools, resources, and training necessary to identify, 
apprehend, and prosecute criminals who ruthlessly traffic in children 
and young persons.
  And one of the most effective resources in bringing criminals to 
justice is the cooperation and assistance of their victims.
  Perpetrators of crime know that they are more likely to evade 
detection and punishment when their victims refuse to assist or 
cooperate with law enforcement. That is why they make it a point to 
instill fear in their victims--for their own safety or that of family 
and loved ones.
  My amendment strengthens and complements the bill by providing 
another tool in law enforcement's arsenal to tip the balance in favor 
of victims.
  The Jackson Lee Amendment will help ensure that: The U.S. Attorney 
General shall provide training for State and local law enforcement 
agencies on the immigration law that may be useful for the 
investigation and prosecution of crimes related to trafficking in 
persons, including education on the availability of certain 
nonimmigrant visas for victims of trafficking who cooperate in the 
investigation or prosecution of the crime of which the individual was a 
victim.
  In 2007, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence 
Protection Act

[[Page 9196]]

(VTVPA), which created the T-Visa, and reserved it for those who are or 
have been victims of human trafficking.
  The Nonimmigrant Status (``T-Visa'') protects victims of human 
trafficking and helps law enforcement by allowing victims to remain in 
the United States to assist in the investigation or prosecution of 
human traffickers.
  Unfortunately, many victims of crime and victims of human trafficking 
are unaware of the existence and availability of this temporary relief.
  And that is in part because many local and state law enforcement 
officers are not fully aware of the legal requirements governing this 
relief.
  The Jackson Lee Amendment is intended to help fill this information 
gap by providing the informational resources to local law enforcement 
who will be able in turn to share that information with the victims.
  On March 20, the Homeland Security Committee, of which I am a senior 
member, held a field hearing in my home city of Houston on ``Combating 
Human Trafficking in Our Major Cities.''
  It was a fitting venue because, regrettably, Houston is the human 
trafficking capital of the United States.
  Ninety-nine were men, 16 were women, one of whom was pregnant, and 19 
were juveniles.
  All of them had been kidnapped or smuggled into the United States.
  Who knows what those women and children may have faced had they not 
been rescued and the perpetrators caught?
  The Jackson Lee Amendment strengthens the bill by strengthening the 
hand of state and local law enforcement in combating the scourge of 
human trafficking.
  By helping them, we will catch more human trafficking criminals. And 
we help rescue and save children from becoming victims.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee Amendment.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, the gentlelady makes a very powerful case, 
and I think she is absolutely right. I support the amendment. I will 
accept it.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. I enthusiastically support the chairman's decision to 
accept it.
  I thank the gentlelady from Texas, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  The amendment was agreed to.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Delaney

  Mr. DELANEY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 34, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced 
     by $1,000,000)''.
       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000)''.
       Page 49, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DELANEY. Mr. Chairman, my amendment increases funding for Pay for 
Success within the existing evidence-based Justice program account by a 
modest $1 million.
  While it is a modest number, it does increase the account by 5 
percent, which we think is important, and we think it is important for 
two reasons--first, as it relates to the merits of the program; but, 
secondly, as we think the government should be embracing the Pay for 
Success framework across all aspects of government services. We believe 
this for three reasons.
  First, the Pay for Success model has been proven--and we believe it 
will continue to prove out--that it delivers a better service to our 
citizens. It does that by encouraging innovation and best practices 
within government.
  The method it uses to do that is a unique partnership model within 
which the government partners with the private sector or with the 
philanthropic sector in developing specific programs that are designed 
to have better outcomes at lower costs. That is the first reason we 
like the Pay for Success model.
  The second reason we like the Pay for Success model is that the model 
encourages the development of better metrics and of the better tracking 
of outcomes, which encourages creativity and the advancement of best 
practices within the government sector.
  The third reason that we like the Pay for Success model is that it is 
very taxpayer friendly. By definition, under a Pay for Success 
framework, the government is only paying when certain predetermined 
outcomes are, in fact, delivered.
  In addition to putting the government in a position in which it is 
only paying when outcomes are, in fact, met, it also encourages, 
through the process of the development, not only more effective 
methods, but more cost-effective methods.
  For all of these reasons, we encourage Pay for Success generally 
across government services. In this particular program, we think the 
additional $1 million, while modest, will encourage the development of 
innovative programs that are designed to reduce the burdens on our 
prisons. I encourage the passing of my amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I have no objection to the amendment, and I support the 
amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Chair, I rise today to speak in favor of the amendment 
offered by my colleague Congressman Delaney.
  This amendment would increase funding for Pay for Success programs 
within the Department of Justice to reduce recidivism and improve 
reentry services for individuals returning to their communities after 
incarceration. It shifts funds from the federal prison system to 
support these programs because if we can reduce recidivism, we will 
reduce the number of people in our criminal justice system.
  The Pay for Success model allows the government to use limited 
resources wisely. We can invest in innovative social programs intended 
to improve lives while only paying for those that actually make a 
difference.
  The United States releases 700,000 prisoners every year. Most of 
these individuals struggle to find a job or a place to stay. Within 
three years, two-thirds of them are back in prison. We need to do more 
to help them turn their lives around and stop this vicious cycle, but 
we also need to ensure that our efforts are effective. This amendment 
will help us do both.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Delaney).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                        buildings and facilities

       For planning, acquisition of sites and construction of new 
     facilities; purchase and acquisition of facilities and 
     remodeling, and equipping of such facilities for penal and 
     correctional use, including all necessary expenses incident 
     thereto, by contract or force account; and constructing, 
     remodeling, and equipping necessary buildings and facilities 
     at existing penal and correctional institutions, including 
     all necessary expenses incident thereto, by contract or force 
     account, $115,000,000, to remain available until expended, of 
     which $25,000,000 shall be available only for costs related 
     to construction of new facilities, of which not less than 
     $76,000,000 shall be available only for modernization, 
     maintenance and repair, and of which not to exceed 
     $14,000,000 shall be available to construct areas for inmate 
     work programs: Provided, That labor of United States 
     prisoners may be used for work performed under this 
     appropriation.


                   Amendment Offered by Mr. Connolly

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 35, line 21, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $2,200,000)''.
       Page 35, line 24, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $2,200,000)''.
       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000)''.
       Page 48, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.

[[Page 9197]]


  Mr. CONNOLLY. I want to thank Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Fattah 
and their staffs for working with me and my staff and with other 
Members on a bipartisan basis to support this and similar amendments.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment would increase funding for Veterans 
Treatment Courts by $1 million. It does not cut the Census Bureau, 
however, to do it. With the additional funds provided by the amendment, 
a total of $6 million would be available for Veterans Treatment Courts 
in fiscal year 2015.
  Our Nation's heroes are returning home from more than a decade of 
war, including from the longest war in American history, in 
Afghanistan. Upon their return, they bear the visible and the invisible 
wounds of deployment.
  Substance abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain 
injury--various disabilities--and various mental health disabilities 
can lead our returning heroes often down a difficult and lonely road in 
their attempts to transition to civilian life.
  Twenty percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from 
posttraumatic stress disorder or from major depression. One in six 
battles with substance abuse. Left undiagnosed or untreated, these 
illnesses can result in an encounter with the justice system. Worse 
yet, these illnesses can also lead to suicide, which veterans commit at 
twice the rate of the civilian population.
  Fortunately, specialized Veterans Treatment Courts are being 
developed across the country to assist veterans who do find themselves 
in the justice system and who suffer from substance addiction or mental 
health disorders, so that they can alter their courses and find the 
assistance they deserve. The first such court was established in 
Buffalo, New York, in 2008.
  Virginia, which is my home State and that of the distinguished 
manager of the bill, is home to the six largest veterans' populations 
in the United States, with nearly 850,000 veterans, a large number of 
whom live in my district and in that of Mr. Wolf's, the distinguished 
manager.
  I am pleased that, locally, our State and local leaders in Fairfax 
County have had preliminary conversations about creating their own 
Veterans Treatment docket, and that is great. We have 76 veterans in 
our local detention centers today--that is just in Fairfax County--more 
than half of whom are there for nonviolent violations. Of course, those 
are just the veterans who have self-identified themselves as veterans.
  Clearly, we need to look at our intake process to ensure we are 
identifying these veterans who are in need of assistance. By bringing 
veterans service organizations, State veterans services departments, 
and volunteer mentors into the courtroom, Veterans Treatment Courts 
promote community collaboration and can connect veterans with the 
programs and benefits they have not only earned, but need.
  Having a veteran-only court docket ensures that everyone--from the 
judge to the volunteers--specializes in veterans' care, and the 
involvement of fellow veterans allows the defendant to experience the 
camaraderie to which he or she became accustomed in the military 
itself.
  We know this model works, and it is our hope that this amendment 
provides Veterans Treatment Courts with some of the resources they are 
going to need in order to help veterans who fall into the justice 
system get back on the right track and transition back into the society 
they swore to defend, as we swore to protect them when they came home.
  Mr. Chairman, finally, let me take a moment of personal privilege to 
congratulate my friend and colleague, Frank Wolf, on shepherding what 
is probably his last appropriations bill in the Congress.
  Frank has been a leader on gang prevention in our community, on 
transportation--the Silver Line going to Dulles Airport--and on human 
rights all across the world.
  Our community and Congress are very grateful for his service and 
especially for the integrity he brings to this institution. I am proud 
to call him a colleague. I am even prouder to call him my friend. I 
will miss him.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the gentleman's 
amendment.
  As he stated better than I could, as more veterans return from 
combat, we are seeing their increased involvement in the justice 
system. The committee established the Veterans court program in fiscal 
year 2013, and it has increased its funding.
  I thank the gentleman for offering an amendment. I urge an ``aye'' 
vote for it.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                federal prison industries, incorporated

       The Federal Prison Industries, Incorporated, is hereby 
     authorized to make such expenditures within the limits of 
     funds and borrowing authority available, and in accord with 
     the law, and to make such contracts and commitments without 
     regard to fiscal year limitations as provided by section 9104 
     of title 31, United States Code, as may be necessary in 
     carrying out the program set forth in the budget for the 
     current fiscal year for such corporation.

   limitation on administrative expenses, federal prison industries, 
                              incorporated

       Not to exceed $2,700,000 of the funds of the Federal Prison 
     Industries, Incorporated, shall be available for its 
     administrative expenses, and for services as authorized by 
     section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, to be computed 
     on an accrual basis to be determined in accordance with the 
     corporation's current prescribed accounting system, and such 
     amounts shall be exclusive of depreciation, payment of 
     claims, and expenditures which such accounting system 
     requires to be capitalized or charged to cost of commodities 
     acquired or produced, including selling and shipping 
     expenses, and expenses in connection with acquisition, 
     construction, operation, maintenance, improvement, 
     protection, or disposition of facilities and other property 
     belonging to the corporation or in which it has an interest.

               State and Local Law Enforcement Activities

                    Office on Violence Against Women

       violence against women prevention and prosecution programs

       For grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other 
     assistance for the prevention and prosecution of violence 
     against women, as authorized by the Omnibus Crime Control and 
     Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) (``the 1968 
     Act''); the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 
     1994 (Public Law 103-322) (``the 1994 Act''); the Victims of 
     Child Abuse Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-647) (``the 1990 
     Act''); the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the 
     Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-
     21); the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 
     1974 (42 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.) (``the 1974 Act''); the Victims 
     of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Public 
     Law 106-386) (``the 2000 Act''); the Violence Against Women 
     and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public 
     Law 109-162) (``the 2005 Act''); and the Violence Against 
     Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-4) (``the 
     2013 Act''); and for related victims services, $425,500,000, 
     to remain available until expended: Provided, That except as 
     otherwise provided by law, not to exceed 5 percent of funds 
     made available under this heading may be used for expenses 
     related to evaluation, training, and technical assistance: 
     Provided further, That of the amount provided--
       (1) $195,000,000 is for grants to combat violence against 
     women, as authorized by part T of the 1968 Act;
       (2) $25,000,000 is for transitional housing assistance 
     grants for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, 
     stalking or sexual assault as authorized by section 40299 of 
     the 1994 Act;
       (3) $3,000,000 is for the National Institute of Justice for 
     research and evaluation of violence against women and related 
     issues addressed by grant programs of the Office on Violence 
     Against Women, which shall be transferred to ``Research, 
     Evaluation and Statistics'' for administration by the Office 
     of Justice Programs;
       (4) $10,000,000 is for a grant program to provide services 
     to advocate for and respond to youth victims of domestic 
     violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; 
     assistance to children and youth exposed to such violence; 
     programs to engage men and youth in preventing such violence; 
     and assistance to middle and high school students through

[[Page 9198]]

     education and other services related to such violence: 
     Provided, That unobligated balances available for the 
     programs authorized by sections 41201, 41204, 41303 and 41305 
     of the 1994 Act, prior to its amendment by the 2013 Act, 
     shall be available for this program: Provided further, That 
     10 percent of the total amount available for this grant 
     program shall be available for grants under the program 
     authorized by section 2015 of the 1968 Act: Provided further, 
     That the definitions and grant conditions in section 40002 of 
     the 1994 Act shall apply to this program;
       (5) $50,000,000 is for grants to encourage arrest policies 
     as authorized by part U of the 1968 Act, of which $4,000,000 
     is for a homicide reduction initiative;
       (6) $29,500,000 is for sexual assault victims assistance, 
     as authorized by section 41601 of the 1994 Act;
       (7) $31,000,000 is for rural domestic violence and child 
     abuse enforcement assistance grants, including as authorized 
     by section 40295 of the 1994 Act;
       (8) $11,500,000 is for grants to reduce violent crimes 
     against women on campus, as authorized by section 304 of the 
     2005 Act;
       (9) $42,500,000 is for legal assistance for victims, as 
     authorized by section 1201 of the 2000 Act;
       (10) $4,250,000 is for enhanced training and services to 
     end violence against and abuse of women in later life, as 
     authorized by section 40802 of the 1994 Act;
       (11) $16,000,000 is for grants to support families in the 
     justice system, as authorized by section 1301 of the 2000 
     Act: Provided, That unobligated balances available for the 
     programs authorized by section 1301 of the 2000 Act and 
     section 41002 of the 1994 Act, prior to their amendment by 
     the 2013 Act, shall be available for this program;
       (12) $5,750,000 is for education and training to end 
     violence against and abuse of women with disabilities, as 
     authorized by section 1402 of the 2000 Act;
       (13) $500,000 is for the National Resource Center on 
     Workplace Responses to assist victims of domestic violence, 
     as authorized by section 41501 of the 1994 Act;
       (14) $1,000,000 is for analysis and research on violence 
     against Indian women, including as authorized by section 904 
     of the 2005 Act: Provided, That such funds may be transferred 
     to ``Research, Evaluation and Statistics'' for administration 
     by the Office of Justice Programs; and
       (15) $500,000 is for a national clearinghouse that provides 
     training and technical assistance on issues relating to 
     sexual assault of American Indian and Alaska Native women.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Gallego

  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       On page 38, line 2, after the dollar amount, insert: 
     ``(increased by $2,500,000)''.
       On page 39, line 23, after the dollar amount, insert: 
     ``(increased by $2,500,000)''.
       On page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert: 
     ``(reduced by $2,500,000)''.
       On page 45, line 9, after the dollar amount, insert: 
     ``(reduced by $2,500,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. I, too, want to start by thanking Chairman Wolf for his 
service and by wishing him the best of luck on his next steps after 
retirement.
  I would also like to take a moment to thank Representative John 
Culberson and Representative Cory Gardner for their help on this 
amendment and for making this effort bipartisan.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment seeks to add additional revenue to the 
Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking 
Assistance Program. It is a rural program that enhances the safety of 
children, youth, and adults who are victims of domestic violence or who 
are victims of stalking or of dating violence or of sexual assault.
  Frankly, in rural areas across the 23rd District and in much of the 
country, domestic violence shelters survive on grant programs of 
various kinds, and money like this is the lifeblood of many of these 
shelters.
  This amendment provides additional revenue to keep those shelters 
open and operating and protecting these victims of crimes, victims who 
so desperately need protection.
  It also adds additional revenue to the Violence Against Women 
prevention and prosecution programs, which are programs that also help 
to assist the victims of crime. In addition to that, it helps to make 
sure that we put these people behind bars.
  I have had a long history of being involved with the criminal justice 
movement, and I have had the opportunity in the Texas legislature to 
serve as chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over crime victims 
and crime victims' rights, and I can think of no better way to spend 
revenue than to make sure that victims are protected and taken care of, 
particularly the victims who are children, who are so in need of our 
assistance.
  Mr. Chairman, I ask that this amendment be adopted.
  Again, I thank my colleagues, Mr. Culberson and Mr. Gardner and 
Chairman Wolf and our ranking member as well for their help in drafting 
the amendment and in making sure that all of the i's were dotted and 
the t's were crossed.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I thank the gentleman for the amendment. I think it helps 
those who need help, particularly in the rural areas. I accept the 
amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, in rural areas, a lot of times, these 
challenges go without the same notice that they might bring in a large, 
metropolitan area. I think it is so useful that the gentleman has 
brought this matter to our attention, and I am glad that we were able 
to work through this.
  I indicate our support for this amendment, and I thank the gentleman.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the amendment 
to H.R. 4660.
  This amendment transfers $2.5 million to the Office on Violence 
Against Women. The amendment provides additional resources for domestic 
violence and child abuse enforcement assistance grants.
  My colleague from Texas and I each represent significantly rural and 
large geographic districts. In fact, my district is the size of South 
Carolina.
  I appreciate the gentleman's willingness to bring this bill to the 
floor today, and I ask for its adoption.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gallego).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                       Office of Justice Programs

                  research, evaluation and statistics

       For grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other 
     assistance authorized by title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
     and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (``the 1968 Act''); the Juvenile 
     Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (``the 1974 
     Act''); the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 
     et seq.); the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end 
     the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (Public Law 
     108-21); the Justice for All Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
     405); the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice 
     Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-162) (``the 2005 
     Act''); the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (Public Law 
     101-647); the Second Chance Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-199); 
     the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-473); the 
     Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public 
     Law 109-248) (``the Adam Walsh Act''); the PROTECT Our 
     Children Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-401); subtitle D of 
     title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 
     107-296) (``the 2002 Act''); the NICS Improvement Amendments 
     Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-180); the Violence Against Women 
     Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-4) (``the 2013 
     Act''); and other programs, $124,250,000, to remain available 
     until expended, of which--
       (1) $47,250,000 is for criminal justice statistics 
     programs, and other activities, as authorized by part C of 
     title I of the 1968 Act: Provided, That beginning not later 
     than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, as part 
     of each National Crime Victimization Survey, the Attorney 
     General shall include statistics relating to honor violence;
       (2) $42,000,000 is for research, development, and 
     evaluation programs, and other activities as authorized by 
     part B of title I of the 1968 Act and subtitle D of title II 
     of the 2002 Act; and
       (3) $35,000,000 is for regional information sharing 
     activities, as authorized by part M of title I of the 1968 
     Act.

[[Page 9199]]




                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Gosar

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 42, line 12, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $4,250,000)''.
       Page 42, line 14, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $2,250,000)''.
       Page 42, line 21, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $2,000,000)''.
       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $4,250,000)''.
       Page 44, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $4,250,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Arizona is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment which 
seeks to bolster a critical law enforcement program within the 
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. 
That program is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 
Program, also known as Byrne-JAG.
  My amendment is fully paid for by cutting unnecessary spending 
elsewhere in the bill. Specifically, the Office of Justice Programs, 
Research, Evaluation, and Statistics budget was increased by $4.25 
million from the FY14 levels. This amendment takes that increase and 
redirects those funds to the Byrne-JAG Grant Program to bolster law 
enforcement nationwide.
  As we all know, one of the Federal Government's core responsibilities 
is to secure the peace.
  The government establishes a National Guard and a standing military 
for security purposes, but it can also assist local law enforcement 
with funding, critical information, and joint efforts between local, 
State, and Federal officials, or any of these combined.
  My home State of Arizona, in particular, has some serious issues and 
needs when it comes to law enforcement. Being that Arizona shares an 
international border with Mexico, we have seen increased amounts of 
illegal trafficking operations--from noncitizens to illicit drugs to 
illegal firearms.
  I believe the Federal Government, in conjunction with State and local 
law enforcement, has a duty to uphold the rule of law and to combat 
these activities in the best ways possible.
  My State of Arizona uses multijurisdictional task forces, or MJTFs.
  It also funds probation-based drug monitoring programs and other 
probation-related services, including drug courts, pro bono defense 
services, and other metrics-based programs aimed at curbing drug abuse.
  In the 2010 fiscal year, Byrne-JAG contributed to 58 worthwhile 
Arizona programs. This local investment assisted Arizona's 16 
multijurisdictional drug task forces with arresting over 6,000 drug 
offenders. These same drug task forces seized over 847,000 grams of 
cocaine, nearly 50,000 grams of heroin, more than 200,000 grams of 
methamphetamine, over 300,000 pounds of marijuana, and more than 40,000 
marijuana plants.
  Finally, and perhaps most satisfying, the combined efforts of these 
drug task forces and tandem prosecution resulted in over $23 million in 
forfeited assets.
  These Byrne-JAG programs nationwide have proven themselves worthy of 
sustained Federal resources.
  As a member of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I will 
strive to keep American homes and communities safe by providing 
important resources to worthwhile law enforcement programs that protect 
local communities.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my commonsense amendment.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I have no objection to the amendment, and I yield back the 
balance of my fame
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. I rise to object to the amendment, not because of the 
purpose thereof, but because of the offset.
  The Byrne-JAG Grant Program has enjoyed a great deal of support in 
the chairman's mark, and obviously we need to do more, if we could. But 
the gentleman seeks to take money away from the research efforts at 
DOJ, and I want to make a point about this.
  The notion that we should continue to do what we have been doing as a 
country flies in the face of all the facts. We imprison more people 
than any other country on the face of the Earth on a per capita basis. 
We have created a circumstance in which we have violent crimes at 
levels that are not seen in any other developed country on Earth.
  We need to be thinking anew about this. That is what the Criminal 
Justice Task Force that the chairman and I have worked on has been 
created to do. That is why we moved to evidence-based justice 
investment activities, so that we can measure safety of communities 
based on what is being done.
  The idea that being tough on crime is going to make our families 
safer hasn't worked out all that well. What we need to do is to be 
smart on crime.
  So the idea that we want to take money away from researching and 
understanding what works and what doesn't work works against--
normally--the position of the other team. The other team usually is 
here on the floor saying that we should fund those things that work and 
not fund those things that don't work.
  The research efforts at DOJ are designed exactly for that purpose. 
They are designed to determine what is actually working.
  I met with the heads of court systems and criminal justice efforts 
throughout our country, Democrat and Republicans alike. They say that 
this research effort has enabled them to focus in on what can make 
communities safer in terms of policing in criminal justice and prison-
related activities.
  So I support his goal, but I reject his offset. I would ask for 
Members to oppose this amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:
       For grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other 
     assistance authorized by the Violent Crime Control and Law 
     Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322) (``the 1994 
     Act''); the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
     1968 (``the 1968 Act''); the Justice for All Act of 2004 
     (Public Law 108-405); the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 
     (Public Law 101-647) (``the 1990 Act''); the Trafficking 
     Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 
     109-164); the Violence Against Women and Department of 
     Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-162) 
     (``the 2005 Act''); the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 
     Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248) (``the Adam Walsh 
     Act''); the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection 
     Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386); the NICS Improvement 
     Amendments Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-180); subtitle D of 
     title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 
     107-296) (``the 2002 Act''); the Second Chance Act of 2007 
     (Public Law 110-199); the Prioritizing Resources and 
     Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (Public 
     Law 110-403); the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (Public Law 
     98-473); the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime 
     Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2008 (Public 
     Law 110-416); the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act 
     of 2013 (Public Law 113-4) (``the 2013 Act''); and other 
     programs, $1,235,615,000, to remain available until expended 
     as follows--
       (1) $376,000,000 for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 
     Assistance Grant program as authorized by subpart 1 of part E 
     of title I of the 1968 Act (except that section 1001(c), and 
     the special rules for Puerto Rico under section 505(g) of 
     title I of the 1968 Act shall not apply for purposes of this 
     Act), of which, notwithstanding such subpart 1, $2,500,000 is 
     for an initiative to improve the quality of juvenile indigent 
     defense services, $15,000,000 is for a Preventing Violence 
     Against Law Enforcement Officer Resilience and Survivability 
     Initiative (VALOR), $4,000,000 is for use by the National 
     Institute of Justice for research targeted toward developing 
     a better understanding of the domestic radicalization 
     phenomenon, and advancing evidence-based strategies for 
     effective intervention and prevention, and $3,000,000 is for 
     competitive grants to distribute firearm safety materials and 
     gun locks;

[[Page 9200]]

       (2) $210,000,000 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance 
     Program, as authorized by section 241(i)(5) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)(5)): 
     Provided, That no jurisdiction shall request compensation for 
     any cost greater than the actual cost for Federal immigration 
     and other detainees housed in State and local detention 
     facilities;
       (3) $8,000,000 for competitive grants to improve the 
     functioning of the criminal justice system, to prevent or 
     combat juvenile delinquency, and to assist victims of crime 
     (other than compensation);
       (4) $45,365,000 for victim services programs for victims of 
     trafficking, as authorized by section 107(b)(2) of Public Law 
     106-386, and for programs authorized under Public Law 109-
     164;
       (5) $41,000,000 for Drug Courts, as authorized by section 
     1001(a)(25)(A) of title I of the 1968 Act;
       (6) $9,000,000 for mental health courts and adult and 
     juvenile collaboration program grants, as authorized by parts 
     V and HH of title I of the 1968 Act, and the Mentally Ill 
     Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and 
     Improvement Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-416);
       (7) $12,000,000 for grants for Residential Substance Abuse 
     Treatment for State Prisoners, as authorized by part S of 
     title I of the 1968 Act;
       (8) $2,000,000 for the Capital Litigation Improvement Grant 
     Program, as authorized by section 426 of Public Law 108-405, 
     and for grants for wrongful conviction review;
       (9) $10,000,000 for economic, high technology and Internet 
     crime prevention grants, including as authorized by section 
     401 of Public Law 110-403;
       (10) $21,000,000 for sex offender management assistance, as 
     authorized by the Adam Walsh Act, and related activities, of 
     which $1,000,000 is for the National Sex Offender Public 
     Website;
       (11) $22,250,000 for the matching grant program for law 
     enforcement armor vests, as authorized by section 2501 of 
     title I of the 1968 Act;
       (12) $58,500,000 for grants to States to upgrade criminal 
     and mental health records for the National Instant Criminal 
     Background Check System, including as authorized by the NICS 
     Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-180);
       (13) $125,000,000 for DNA-related and forensic programs and 
     activities, of which--
       (A) $117,000,000 is for a DNA analysis and capacity 
     enhancement program and for other local, State, and Federal 
     forensic activities, including the purposes authorized under 
     section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 
     (Public Law 106-546) (the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant 
     Program): Provided, That up to 4 percent of funds made 
     available under this paragraph may be used for the purposes 
     described in the DNA Training and Education for Law 
     Enforcement, Correctional Personnel, and Court Officers 
     program (Public Law 108-405, section 303);
       (B) $4,000,000 is for the purposes described in the Kirk 
     Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program (Public Law 
     108-405, section 412); and
       (C) $4,000,000 is for Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Program 
     grants, including as authorized by section 304 of Public Law 
     108-405;
       (14) $36,000,000 for grants to address backlogs of sexual 
     assault kits at law enforcement agencies;
       (15) $6,000,000 for the court-appointed special advocate 
     program, as authorized by section 217 of the 1990 Act;
       (16) $35,000,000 for assistance to Indian tribes;
       (17) $62,500,000 for offender reentry programs and 
     research, as authorized by the Second Chance Act of 2007 
     (Public Law 110-199), without regard to the time limitations 
     specified at section 6(1) of such Act;
       (18) $5,000,000 for a veterans treatment courts program;
       (19) $1,000,000 for the purposes described in the Missing 
     Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program (section 240001 of 
     the 1994 Act);
       (20) $8,000,000 for a program to monitor prescription drugs 
     and scheduled listed chemical products;
       (21) $15,000,000 for prison rape prevention and prosecution 
     grants to States and units of local government, and other 
     programs, as authorized by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 
     2003 (Public Law 108-79);
       (22) $2,000,000 to operate a National Center for Campus 
     Public Safety;
       (23) $30,000,000 for a justice reinvestment initiative, for 
     activities related to criminal justice reform and recidivism 
     reduction, of which not less than $1,000,000 is for a task 
     force on Federal corrections;
       (24) $75,000,000 for the Comprehensive School Safety 
     Initiative, described in the report accompanying this Act: 
     Provided, That section 213 of this Act shall not apply with 
     respect to the amount made available in this paragraph; and
       (25) $20,000,000 for existing evidence-based criminal 
     justice programs as described in the report accompanying this 
     Act:

      Provided, That, if a unit of local government uses any of 
     the funds made available under this heading to increase the 
     number of law enforcement officers, the unit of local 
     government will achieve a net gain in the number of law 
     enforcement officers who perform non-administrative public 
     sector safety service.


                   Amendment Offered by Mr. Cicilline

  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $8,500,000)''
       Page 66, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(decreased by $8,500,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Rhode Island is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by acknowledging the 
extraordinary leadership of Chairman Wolf, who, as I was recounting 
earlier, I remember as a young law student arriving in Washington, and 
hearing about his work.
  So much of his work has been longstanding. I particularly want to 
acknowledge his work on gang violence and gang violence reduction. I 
know this will be his last appropriations bill, so I thank him for his 
many years of service to our country.
  I also want to thank and recognize our ranking member, Congressman 
Fattah, for his great work.
  I rise today to offer an amendment that will invest in making our 
communities safe from gangs and gun violence.
  This amendment restores $8.5 million in funding for the Violent Gang 
and Gun Crime Reduction Program, also known as Project Safe 
Neighborhoods. It provides the same level of funding that was provided 
for this critical program in fiscal year 2014.
  Project Safe Neighborhoods is a proven, effective program for 
intervening in communities in order to enhance public safety and combat 
gang violence.
  Today, this competitive grant program invests in partnerships led by 
U.S. attorneys and allows local and State law enforcement, community 
leaders, and prosecutors to collaborate together on efforts to fight 
gang crime and reduce gun violence--and to do it in a strategically 
thoughtful way and to bring resources to this important work.
  Project Safe Neighborhoods provides communities across the country 
with the resources they need to coordinate effectively and to prevent 
violence. Most importantly, this program employs a multifaceted 
approach to address the ongoing problem of gang and gun violence. Many 
communities use this funding for both prevention and enforcement 
efforts.
  Stakeholders have used fund from Project Safe Neighborhoods to scale 
up efforts related to prosecuting and investigating gang activity. They 
have also used these resources to engage at-risk populations with 
innovative outreach and intervention strategies.
  The positive results of this initiative have been very well 
documented. A 2009 National Institute of Justice evaluation 
demonstrated that communities receiving Project Safe Neighborhoods 
funding saw a four times greater decline in crime than those in cities 
that did not receive funding.
  When I was mayor of Providence, I saw firsthand the importance of 
this approach to prevent and stop gang crime and gun violence.
  Together, we targeted gangs by both prosecuting criminals and also 
dispatching street outreach workers through community leaders like the 
Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence. These street 
workers could successfully convince our young people to end the cycle 
of violence. This is a program that has a proven record of saving lives 
by preventing gun violence and proactively working in the community to 
prevent violence.
  Importantly, this has always been a bipartisan experience. I know my 
colleagues, many of whom are former prosecutors, community activists, 
and local and State-elected officials, have seen the tremendous benefit 
of Project Safe Neighborhoods.
  In fiscal year 2013, 16 communities from Nebraska and Tennessee to 
Rhode Island and Maine received funding. Since its inception in 2001, 
dozens of other communities have also relied on funding from Project 
Safe Neighborhoods to make communities safer and to reduce gun 
violence.

[[Page 9201]]

  So I am asking my colleagues to support this proven program. This is 
literally about saving the lives of young people in this country. I 
urge my colleagues to support the critical investments in this very 
collaborative public safety approach led by our U.S. attorneys and to 
support funding for Project Safe Neighborhoods. The safety of our 
communities and our ability to help reduce gun violence and gang 
violence depends on it.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I rise in opposition to the amendment, but I do appreciate 
what the gentleman said. As we move on and we get to conference, there 
may be something we can do. I know Mr. Fattah feels the same way with 
regard to gang violence in the inner city.
  The underlining bill has already reduced NASA's construction budget 
by $69 million. Further reductions--which this would do--would 
negatively impact NASA's ability to meet mission critical construction 
needs for the human spaceflight program, address urgent safety-related 
repairs at centers around the country--which certainly need them--and 
discharge legal requirements to remediate environmental damage.
  Construction projects are, by definition, long lead items that must 
be started early in order to be ready. By cutting these funds now, we 
will create a programmatic ripple effect that will be felt in our high-
priority space program for the years to come.
  So for these reasons--and where the money is taken from--I urge a 
``no'' vote.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. There is no one in this House that has been more focused 
on the problems of gangs and has talked about it more than Chairman 
Wolf. So when he says that this is a matter he is concerned about, he 
has shown that over the years.
  This is an important effort. It is a program that, if we can find a 
way to fund it, we should.
  My colleague, who served as mayor of one of America's great cities 
and is now a Member of the Congress, is right to point this out. I look 
for an opportunity where, perhaps as we move to complete this bill in 
conference, we can see if there are other resources available.
  I think in the offset there probably is some wiggle room, but we need 
to pay a little bit closer attention to it.
  So I rise in support of the gentleman's amendment, but I may have 
some concerns about the offset. And whatever the result of the 
amendment, you have heard the chairman say--and I join in--that we 
would be glad to work with you on this effort.
  Thank you for offering the amendment.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Rhode Island 
will be postponed.

                              {time}  1545

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Texas is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me, again, express my appreciation 
for this appropriation and make a statement regarding some of the 
jurisdiction that comes under Commerce and Justice that is not 
particularly being discussed at this moment, but I thought it was 
appropriate because we do have discussions regarding civil rights.
  I wanted to mention that, over the last couple of months, we have had 
some unfortunate discussions around the National Basketball Association 
regarding issues of discriminatory conversations that were not 
responsible to the vastness of the NBA or its regulatory scheme.
  We regulate, on Judiciary, the National Basketball Association, the 
NFL, and Major League Baseball and many other sports. Over the years, 
we have had the opportunity to raise questions about diversity and 
about the outreach into minority communities.
  Today, in Houston, Major League Baseball is having what they call the 
civil rights weekend. I will be looking forward to calling in Major 
League Baseball to address some of the questions of diversity and race 
in their particular support.
  It is interesting that they are having an event in Houston now, with 
not one local elected official present, or respected or asked to be 
present. To me, that raises the question of whether or not Major League 
Baseball even gets it.
  We are delighted that they have chosen to honor some icons, and I 
honor them as well and will, hopefully, have the opportunity to 
recognize them by way of my office tomorrow.
  Again, as we talk about justice questions, as I sit on the Judiciary 
Committee, over the years, have dealt with players' associations and 
antitrust issues, questions of discrimination that cross the gamut of 
sports organizations, it is really disturbing that we come to the 21st 
century and 2014 and have these same issues being raised again.
  Just as I turn, for a moment, to the NBA, I just want to make the 
point that, as there is a decision to look at options for the Clippers, 
I am not from the area, but I would hope that, as there are options to 
look at a purchase of the Clippers, that it is not done without 
opportunities for minority purchasers to be involved--investors.
  We are not where we need to be, and, again, the Justice Department 
deals with civil rights, and Major League Baseball is not where it 
needs to be when it comes to a city, has an event on civil rights, and 
has no local elected officials that are engaged, no outreach programs 
that are extensive the way they need to be.
  I thank the chairman for allowing me to raise this point regarding 
the question of civil rights that falls under the jurisdiction of this 
committee, the funding of the Civil Rights Division of the Department 
of Justice, but also, under my authorizing committee, and raise a 
concern that we have work to do, not only in this Congress, but we have 
work to do into these major sports organizations that represent 
diversity, but they don't really have diversity.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Kilmer

  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 44, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
       Page 46, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $2,000,000)''.
       Page 62, line 19, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $2,000,000)''.

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order. We are just 
looking at the amendment, so, in order to protect the time, Mr. 
Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved.
  The gentleman from Washington is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would increase funding for 
the Economic High-Tech and Cyber Crime Prevention grant program by $2 
million.
  In my home State of Washington, we develop some of the Nation's most 
advanced software and aircraft and tools for our men and women in 
uniform. We need to be ready to help our private sector partners 
protect their intellectual property, competitive edge, and the 
capabilities of our warfighters.

[[Page 9202]]

  The Economic High-Tech and Cyber Crime Prevention program is one of 
the best opportunities for the Federal Government to assist State and 
local law enforcement entities to address cyber crimes through the 
funding of training and technical assistance projects.
  Specifically, the program was designed to leverage State and local 
support to help national agencies involved in protecting our homeland 
security through the prevention of law enforcement against cyber 
crimes.
  Cyber crime is not new, but it is becoming an even greater threat to 
our families, our businesses, and to our national security. As far back 
as 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation made headlines for 
arresting dozens of cyber criminals worldwide who were involved in a 
complicated scheme.
  Recently, the Director of the FBI testified before the other Chamber 
that state-sponsored cyber crime is ``an enormous challenge,'' noting 
the Department of Justice recently issued a 31-count indictment against 
hackers backed by the Chinese Government.
  As a member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence, 
Emerging Threats, and Capabilities, I know that we need to double down 
on protecting our intellectual property from electronic theft and 
intrusion.
  We cannot have innovation stifled out of fear of protection, loss of 
intellectual property, and future profits. After all, innovation is the 
engine behind our economy and our national defense. It is what keeps 
small businesses and large conglomerates devising the next tools to 
protect our servicepeople and keep shipping lanes open.
  This amendment would help State, local, and tribal law enforcement 
agencies with technical assistance, training, and outreach activities. 
It would provide training in the investigation and prosecution of cyber 
crimes, increasing the odds that those that seek to do harm are brought 
to justice.
  Moreover, it gives the Federal Government a greater opportunity to 
leverage their counterparts' abilities to attain our national goals.
  One month ago, I was privileged to join representatives of local 
utilities, the Washington State Military Department, academia, and law 
enforcement to discuss ways to protect our Nation's critical 
infrastructure from cyber attacks.
  This summit provided an opportunity for us to bring all of the 
stakeholders into a room and discuss known vulnerabilities and how we 
can help each other.
  One of the most important outcomes of that summit was the need to 
work together at the local, State, and Federal level, hand in hand with 
our private sector partners to fully address this threat. That is what 
this amendment does. It would provide Federal assistance to complement 
such efforts and would increase our security.
  With my brief time remaining, I would just like to thank the ranking 
member and echo the good words of the previous speakers thanking the 
gentleman, the chairman, for his excellent work and partnership.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw the point of order, and I rise in 
opposition to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I think we have--we never saw the amendment, and it is 
really pretty tough to really--but just looking at it quickly, I think 
we are at a record level for cyber, ever, in the history of this great 
body.
  The gentleman has a good point. He takes away from aeronautics, and 
aeronautics is our number one export, if we were not exporting even 
aircraft from the gentleman's home State, our balance of payment, so to 
take away from aeronautics, when we have plussed up aeronautics, so 
America can continue to be number one, and put it in an area that is 
ill-defined.
  Secondly, we have given more for cyber than any other time--cyber 
money in NIST, cyber money in the FBI, national security business, 
cyber money in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Criminal Division; so, 
because of that, I would urge a ``no'' vote.
  Cyber is important. Every major company in this country has been hit 
by the Chinese Government. Law firms in this town are being hit by the 
Chinese Government. Seventeen Members of Congress had their computers 
stripped by the Chinese Government. A committee had their computers 
stripped by the Chinese Government.
  So I think we should focus the cyber where we have it and not go 
after aeronautics. Because of that, I think the gentleman is well-
intentioned. Obviously, Boeing has been hit, but Boeing is better 
served by what we are doing with regard to aiding the FBI to deal with 
this and the U.S. attorney.
  I commend and did a letter to the Attorney General last week, 
thanking him and thanking the FBI for their cyber cases that they are 
bringing against the People's Liberation Army.
  In light of where we are, I would oppose the amendment. I think it is 
bad to take it from aeronautics, and I think we should focus on the 
cyber the way that we have done in the bill with the FBI, the National 
Security Division, the U.S. attorneys.
  Again, I want to thank the Justice Department and the FBI for the 
great work they have done with regard to the People's Liberation Army 
and that we expect them to do in the future.
  I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Mr. Chairman, when you listen to our highest law 
enforcement officials in the country and our national security 
officials, they join the Chairman's very early point.
  When he was saying it, no one was paying attention, I think, that 
cyber attacks are the greatest threat in terms of our economic 
infrastructure and some of our national military infrastructure is 
challenged by cyber attacks also.
  There is an account in DOJ that is the target of affection for this 
amendment; that is cyber and high economic crimes. This is a very 
important area.
  We remember the fiasco with the retailers being attacked by cyber 
attacks, mainly centered from Ukraine, and the disaster that occurred 
over the holiday shopping season.
  This is a very important area. I would be glad to work with the 
gentleman to see whether we can do something to make sure that this 
account has the resources it needs.
  Aeronautics, on the other hand, we are well above $100 million or so 
than the requested level, but it is a very important area, and I join 
with the chairman in prioritizing it.
  I went out to Washington State. I visited Everett, a plant of almost 
100 acres under one roof, the largest and widest building anywhere in 
the country, and saw them constructing these Dreamliners, tens of 
thousands of Americans working every day.
  We don't want those secrets stolen either, however, through cyber 
attacks; so we need to find a happy medium that meets the country's 
interests.
  I don't know that we want to cut that account. The chairman is right. 
Our balance of trade in aeronautics is well over $200 billion. It is 
our most significant export on the manufacturing side, so we have to be 
careful as we proceed.
  I thank the gentleman for offering the amendment, and whatever the 
result of the amendment, I think that the chairman and I want to work 
to make sure that we are doing everything we can do to protect against 
cyber attacks.
  In the economic atmosphere that the country is in and the competition 
that we face, we don't need to be innovative and then have our 
innovation stolen by others.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer).
  The amendment was rejected.

[[Page 9203]]



                              {time}  1600


                Amendment No. 18 Offered by Mr. Grayson

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 44, line 24, strike ``$3,000,000'' and insert 
     ``$6,000,000''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5 
minutes
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would increase from $3 
million to $6 million the amount of funds appropriated for competitive 
grants to distribute firearm safety materials and gun locks under the 
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. The Edward 
Byrne program is funded at $376 million total, as recently amended up 
to $380 in this appropriations bill. The $3 million increase that I am 
seeking is less than 1 percent of the total allocation of the program 
and has received a budget-neutral score from the Congressional Budget 
Office.
  I think that increasing the level of gun safety in America is a 
priority, and I hope that my colleagues would agree. Nothing in this 
amendment would restrict any American citizen's Second Amendment 
rights. The only thing that this amendment seeks to do is to achieve 
greater gun literacy, safety, and avoid accidents.
  This amendment makes good sense, it will save lives, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote in favor of it.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. I move to strike the requisite number of words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I have no objection to the amendment and yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                       juvenile justice programs

       For grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other 
     assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 
     Prevention Act of 1974 (``the 1974 Act''); the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (``the 1968 Act''); the 
     Violence Against Women and Department of Justice 
     Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-162) (``the 2005 
     Act''); the Missing Children's Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5771 
     et seq.); the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end 
     the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (Public Law 
     108-21); the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (Public Law 
     101-647) (``the 1990 Act''); the Adam Walsh Child Protection 
     and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248) (``the Adam Walsh 
     Act''); the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-
     401); the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 
     (Public Law 113-4) (``the 2013 Act''); and other juvenile 
     justice programs, $223,500,000, to remain available until 
     expended as follows--
       (1) $45,000,000 for programs authorized by section 221 of 
     the 1974 Act;
       (2) $90,000,000 for youth mentoring grants;
       (3) $19,000,000 for programs authorized by the Victims of 
     Child Abuse Act of 1990;
       (4) $68,000,000 for missing and exploited children 
     programs, including as authorized by sections 404(b) and 
     405(a) of the 1974 Act (except that section 102(b)(4)(B) of 
     the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-401) 
     shall not apply for purposes of this Act); and
       (5) $1,500,000 for child abuse training programs for 
     judicial personnel and practitioners, as authorized by 
     section 222 of the 1990 Act:

      Provided, That not more than 10 percent of each amount may 
     be used for research, evaluation, and statistics activities 
     designed to benefit the programs or activities authorized: 
     Provided further, That not more than 2 percent of the amounts 
     designated under paragraphs (1) through (3) and (5) may be 
     used for training and technical assistance: Provided further, 
     That the two preceding provisos shall not apply to grants and 
     projects authorized by sections 261 and 262 of the 1974 Act 
     and to missing and exploited children programs.

                     public safety officer benefits

       For payments and expenses authorized under section 
     1001(a)(4) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
     Streets Act of 1968, such sums as are necessary (including 
     amounts for administrative costs), to remain available until 
     expended; and $16,300,000 for payments authorized by section 
     1201(b) of such Act and for educational assistance authorized 
     by section 1218 of such Act, to remain available until 
     expended: Provided, That notwithstanding section 205 of this 
     Act, upon a determination by the Attorney General that 
     emergent circumstances require additional funding for such 
     disability and education payments, the Attorney General may 
     transfer such amounts to ``Public Safety Officer Benefits'' 
     from available appropriations for the Department of Justice 
     as may be necessary to respond to such circumstances: 
     Provided further, That any transfer pursuant to the preceding 
     proviso shall be treated as a reprogramming under section 505 
     of this Act and shall not be available for obligation or 
     expenditure except in compliance with the procedures set 
     forth in that section.

                  Community Oriented Policing Services

             community oriented policing services programs

       For activities authorized by the Violent Crime Control and 
     Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322); the Omnibus 
     Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (``the 1968 
     Act''); and the Violence Against Women and Department of 
     Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-162) 
     (``the 2005 Act''), $96,500,000, to remain available until 
     expended: Provided, That any balances made available through 
     prior year deobligations shall only be available in 
     accordance with section 505 of this Act: Provided further, 
     That of the amount provided under this heading--
       (1) $10,000,000 is for anti-methamphetamine-related 
     activities, which shall be transferred to the Drug 
     Enforcement Administration upon enactment of this Act;
       (2) $16,500,000 is for improving tribal law enforcement, 
     including hiring, equipment, training, and anti-
     methamphetamine activities; and
       (3) $70,000,000 is for grants under section 1701 of title I 
     of the 1968 Act (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) for the hiring and 
     rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers under 
     part Q of such title notwithstanding subsection (i) of such 
     section: Provided, That, notwithstanding section 1704(c) of 
     such title (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-3(c)), funding for hiring or 
     rehiring a career law enforcement officer may not exceed 
     $125,000 unless the Director of the Office of Community 
     Oriented Policing Services grants a waiver from this 
     limitation: Provided further, That within the amounts 
     appropriated under this paragraph, $16,500,000 shall be 
     transferred to the Tribal Resources Grant Program: Provided 
     further, That within the amounts appropriated under this 
     paragraph, $10,000,000 is for regional anti-gang task forces.


                   Amendment Offered by Mr. Jeffries

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 53, line 22, after the period insert: ``Provided 
     further, That no less than $5,000,000 is allocated to 
     establish and implement innovative programs to increase and 
     enhance proactive crime control and prevention programs 
     involving law enforcement officers and young persons in the 
     community (42 U.S.C. 3796dd(b)(11)).''

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's 
amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved.
  The gentleman from New York is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Chairman, let me first just thank the chairman and 
the ranking member for their tremendous effort in connection with this 
bill. As well, I thank the chairman for his distinguished service and 
work as it relates to the issue of gun violence prevention, to which 
this amendment relates.
  In order to address the growing problem of youth gang violence, this 
amendment sets a minimum allocation amount with respect to funds issued 
under the Department of Justice's authority to make public safety and 
community policing grants. It would do so by requiring that no less 
than $5 million of funding for COPS grants be used ``to establish and 
implement innovative programs to increase and enhance proactive crime 
control and prevention programs involving law enforcement officers and 
young persons in the community.''
  This category is presently one of 17 uses of grant amounts authorized 
under law. However, there is no funding minimum set in law to ensure 
that these program grants are being allocated to address youth 
violence. With the growing amount of gang activity that involves young 
people throughout our country, funding in this particular area is 
essential.
  There are currently at least 1.4 million criminal street gang members 
and

[[Page 9204]]

33,000 street gangs in the United States. This represents a 40 percent 
increase since 2009. Much of this rapid expansion of criminal street 
gang activity is caused by the active recruitment of juveniles. 
According to the FBI, almost 40 percent of gang members presently are 
young people under the age of 18.
  In a report issued by the National Gang Threat Assessment report, 
criminal street gangs cause 48 percent of violent crime in most 
jurisdictions. Consequently, there are neighborhoods throughout our 
country, including many in New York City, that continue to be plagued 
by violence attributed to rising street gang activity. This, of course, 
has led to increased drug trafficking, gun violence, human trafficking, 
and the prostitution of minors, as well as school-based assaults, 
robberies, and thefts.
  The COPS grant program has been a tremendous success, but more must 
now be done in the area of gang-related youth violence. This issue 
presents a discreet problem that requires targeted law enforcement 
solutions. Accordingly, this amendment is designed to ensure that 
additional funding under the COPS program is allocated to proactive law 
enforcement programs targeted at the reduction of criminal street gang 
activity and youth violence.
  By setting a funding floor of $5 million in total grants connected to 
a category already authorized under law, we can take an additional step 
toward providing State and local law enforcement with the resources 
needed to protect communities throughout America. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bipartisan objective by voting in favor of this 
amendment.
  Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.


                             Point of Order

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, I make a point of order against the amendment 
because it provides an appropriation for an unauthorized program and, 
therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.
  Clause 2 of rule XXI states in pertinent part:
  ``An appropriation may not be in order as an amendment for an 
expenditure not previously authorized by law.''
  Madam Chair, the amendment proposes to appropriate funds for a 
program that has not been reauthorized. It was last authorized in 2009. 
The amendment, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.
  I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
  The Acting CHAIR (Mrs. Black). Does any other Member wish to be heard 
on the point of order?
  Mr. FATTAH. I would like to be heard, Madam Chair, if the gentleman 
would reserve his point of order.
  Mr. WOLF. Out of courtesy to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, I will 
reserve my point of order.
  The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved.
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Chair, this program has not been reauthorized by 
the Congress. So let's go back to that.
  This is a program that was created to provide support to local 
communities to be able to hire 1 million additional police officers 
nationwide, and it was put into place. It has operated well, and ever 
since this became the law of the land in the Clinton administration, 
the crime rate nationwide has gone down.
  We have not reauthorized it, but we have funded it each and every 
year because it is the right thing to do. On one level, the American 
public is paying taxes, and safety, to them, is having police officers 
in their communities and that when they dial 911, there is someone 
there to respond.
  At the same time that we have had this back and forth about the COPS 
program, we have provided well over $6 billion of the American 
taxpayers' money for police officers and training in Iraq and in places 
like Afghanistan to provide police officers in communities in countries 
far away from the streets of the gentleman's city, New York City, or my 
hometown of Philadelphia.
  Now, it is true that the Congress has not done its work. We haven't 
reauthorized the transportation bill or the education bill or the COPS 
program. There is a whole line of bills that we have not found the 
ability to come together around, and there are a host of programs in 
these appropriations bills that are being funded, even though the 
authorization has lapsed.
  So I think that in this particular instance, even though the point of 
order is correct and proper, it moves aside what should be the primary 
concern, which is to have cops on the street and connecting young 
people up with cops, which is the point of this amendment, to say that 
law enforcement officers are paid for under this grant program.
  I want to let every Member know that when this bill is finished, when 
it comes out of conference, there will be money for the COPS program. 
The only thing that this amendment seeks to say is that some of those 
cops should have, as their primary responsibility, interacting and 
intervening in the development of youth gangs because we know that if 
we can grab ahold of these young people while the concrete has not yet 
hardened, we can prevent them from taking on a life of criminal or 
antisocial activity.
  So I thank the gentleman for offering the amendment. I think it is 
correctly on point, and I appreciate the chairman reserving his point 
of order so that I can make the point that, even though unauthorized, 
we have the authority to appropriate this money--and we will, as we did 
last year and the year before and the year before that. Because at the 
end of the day, cops on the street, when someone dials 911, they are 
not dialing in the hopes of help. They are dialing because they really 
need help, and we need to have police officers who can respond.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, before I make a point of order, I do want to 
say that I do share what the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah) 
said.
  I would like to tell the gentleman from New York, it isn't only the 
law enforcement. We had a similar problem. We had MS-13 and violent 
gangs. It is law enforcement. It is also the mentoring that Mr. Fattah 
mentioned. It is after-school programs.
  So, if we were to just go after the gang issue as a law enforcement 
issue, you will never solve the problem. It has to be law enforcement. 
The schools have to be involved. There have to be after-school 
programs. It is almost like a three-legged stool.
  But as we move ahead, we can look to see because I think everyone who 
lives in these areas that have been impacted by gangs, that is as much 
of terrorism for them as it is for somebody that is faced with 
terrorism from al Qaeda.
  Having said that, I do agree with what Mr. Fattah said.


                             Point of Order

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, I now make a point of order against the 
amendment because it provides an appropriation for an unauthorized 
program and, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.
  Clause 2 of rule XXI states, in pertinent part:
  ``An appropriation may not be in order as an amendment for an 
expenditure not previously authorized by law.''
  Madam Chair, the amendment proposes to appropriate funds for a 
program that has not been reauthorized. And I agree with the gentleman; 
it probably should have been reauthorized. It was last authorized in 
2009. The amendment, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.
  I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
  The Acting CHAIR. Does any other Member seek to be heard on the point 
of order?
  If not, the Chair will rule.
  The proponent of an item of appropriation carries the burden of 
persuasion on the question whether it is supported by an authorization 
in law.
  Having reviewed the amendment and entertained argument on the point 
of

[[Page 9205]]

order, the Chair is unable to conclude that the item of appropriation 
in question is authorized in law.
  The Chair is, therefore, constrained to sustain the point of order 
under clause 2(a) of rule XXI.

                              {time}  1615

  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

               General Provisions--Department of Justice

       Sec. 201.  In addition to amounts otherwise made available 
     in this title for official reception and representation 
     expenses, a total of not to exceed $50,000 from funds 
     appropriated to the Department of Justice in this title shall 
     be available to the Attorney General for official reception 
     and representation expenses.
       Sec. 202.  None of the funds appropriated by this title 
     shall be available to pay for an abortion, except where the 
     life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were 
     carried to term, or in the case of rape: Provided, That 
     should this prohibition be declared unconstitutional by a 
     court of competent jurisdiction, this section shall be null 
     and void.


                Amendment No. 19 Offered by Mr. Grayson

  Mr. GRAYSON. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 54, line 8, after the word ``rape'' add ``or incest''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chair, I wish to reserve a point of order on the 
gentleman's amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved.
  The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Madam Chair, I would like to state at the outset of 
offering this particular perfecting amendment that I really wish that 
this section 202 of this bill located on page 54 didn't appear in it. 
It reads as follows:

       None of the funds appropriated by this title shall be 
     available to pay for an abortion, except where the life of 
     the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to 
     term, or in the case of rape.

  Again, I disagree with this section of the bill and its limiting 
principle, but I feel that we should, at the very least, perfect it in 
the manner that also includes the words ``or incest.''
  In short, there is an allowance here for abortions in the case of 
endangering the mother, and there is an allowance in the case of rape, 
but somehow or other this bill forbids abortions in the case of incest.
  Throughout the U.S. Code, whether it be in 10 U.S.C. 1093 pertaining 
to abortions for armed services personnel, 42 U.S.C. 1397ee or jj, 
dealing with exceptions to abortion limitations within the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, or 42 U.S.C. 
18023, a section containing provisions of the Affordable Care Act, 
Federal law is clear: abortion exceptions consistently include 
protections to the life of the mother in cases of rape and cases of 
incest.
  Were one to examine comprehensively the statutes and regulations of 
this Nation, there are numerous similar occasions referred to 
colloquially as the Hyde Amendment. I think that this amendment itself 
is explanatory. I believe it is perfecting in nature. I think it is 
quite possible that the drafters inadvertently omitted ``incest'' from 
this bill, and I think that it carries the protection necessary for all 
American women, whether incarcerated or not.
  I don't think that the purpose of this bill was inadvertently or 
through silence to narrow the protections that are afforded to women 
under our Constitution. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
  I recognize that there may be a point of order to be raised here. I 
would specifically urge my colleague to think twice before raising that 
point of order. We are talking here about incest, a vile crime. Even if 
there is a point of order to be raised here, it is optional. I would 
hope that my colleagues would recognize that it is optional and that a 
higher important principle is involved here.
  Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.


                             Point of Order

  Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I make a point of order against the 
Grayson amendment on the ground that it constitutes legislation in an 
appropriation bill in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI.
  The amendment does seek to change existing statutory law in a bill 
designed to appropriate money by amending an existing provision, adding 
the word ``or incest'' to the list of exceptions contained in the 
statute.
  Making a determination whether incest has occurred is not currently 
required by this statutory provision and would result in a requirement 
that the new determination be made. So, therefore, the amendment falls 
outside of the standard of ``merely perfecting'' precisely because it 
requires a new determination that is not required under the current 
provision.
  The amendment expands the universe of exceptions, Madam Chairman, 
provided for in this section, and the existing determinations of 
whether the life of the mother is in danger or there has been a rape do 
not provide the information that would allow the determination that 
incest has occurred.
  As a result, the amendment violates clause 2 of rule XXI which 
states:
  ``An amendment to a general appropriations bill shall not be in order 
if changing existing law.''
  I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
  The Acting CHAIR. Does any Member wish to be heard on the point of 
order?
  Mr. FATTAH. Yes.
  The Acting CHAIR. For what purpose does the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania seek recognition?
  Mr. FATTAH. If the gentleman would reserve his point of order.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Yes, I would be glad to reserve the point of order.
  The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved.
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. In every single instance and when we deal with this 
question in law, we provide an exception for incest, and for some 
reason in the language, that is missing in this instance. So I thank 
the gentleman for pointing that out.
  I do realize that we are probably not on the right side of the point 
of order, but I do think that it is an important point and that none of 
us would want to create a circumstance where someone's choices were 
limited if they were the victim of incest. So, hopefully, we will find 
a way to deal with this notwithstanding the point of order. I thank the 
gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. CULBERSON. Madam Chairman, I do insist on the point of order and 
ask the Chair for a ruling.
  Mr. GRAYSON. I would like to be heard on the point of order.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas insists on the point of 
order that he argued earlier. The gentleman from Florida is recognized 
on the point of order.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Madam Chair, laws have consequences. The scenario that 
we are describing here is one where a female prisoner is the victim of 
incest. If this law passes as currently written that female prisoner 
will be forced to carry to term the child of an incestuous 
relationship. I regard this as absolutely indefensible.


                         Parliamentary Inquiry

  Mr. CULBERSON. Parliamentary inquiry.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. CULBERSON. If I could ask the gentleman to confine his remarks to 
whether or not his amendment changes existing law.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Chair reminds Members to reserve their remarks 
to the point of order.
  Mr. GRAYSON. I would ask the gentleman to consider the consequences 
of his action and withdraw the point of order.
  The Acting CHAIR. Are there any other Members who wish to be heard on 
the point of order? If not, the Chair will rule.
  The gentleman from Texas makes a point of order that the amendment 
offered by the gentleman from Florida

[[Page 9206]]

proposes to change existing law in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI.
  Under settled precedent, where legislative language is permitted to 
remain in a general appropriation bill, a germane amendment merely 
perfecting that language and not adding further language is in order, 
but an amendment effecting further legislation is not in order.
  The Chair finds that section 202 of the bill contains a legislative 
limitation on the use of funds in the bill for abortion. Section 202 
exempts from the limitation on funds those abortions involving rape and 
those involving endangerment of the life of the mother were the fetus 
carried to term. The amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida 
seeks to expand the exemptions to include cases of incest.
  The Chair finds the ruling of July 16, 1998, instructive. On that 
date, the Committee considered a general appropriation bill prescribing 
legislative exceptions to a limitation on certain funding for abortion. 
Those legislative exceptions included rape, incest, and the life of the 
mother. In response to a point of order under clause 2 of rule XXI, the 
exceptions were ruled out as requiring new determinations not required 
by existing law.
  While the exceptions in section 202 require certain determinations by 
the agencies funded in the bill, the amendment offered by the gentleman 
from Florida requires an additional determination, to wit: whether the 
pregnancy to be terminated by abortion was the result of incest.
  As such, the amendment does not merely perfect the legislative 
limitation in section 202.
  The amendment, therefore, constitutes legislation in violation of 
clause 2 of rule XXI. The point of order is sustained. The amendment is 
not in order.
  The Clerk will read.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Sec. 203.  None of the funds appropriated under this title 
     shall be used to require any person to perform, or facilitate 
     in any way the performance of, any abortion.
       Sec. 204.  Nothing in the preceding section shall remove 
     the obligation of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to 
     provide escort services necessary for a female inmate to 
     receive such service outside the Federal facility: Provided, 
     That nothing in this section in any way diminishes the effect 
     of section 203 intended to address the philosophical beliefs 
     of individual employees of the Bureau of Prisons.
       Sec. 205.  Not to exceed 5 percent of any appropriation 
     made available for the current fiscal year for the Department 
     of Justice in this Act may be transferred between such 
     appropriations, but no such appropriation, except as 
     otherwise specifically provided, shall be increased by more 
     than 10 percent by any such transfers: Provided, That any 
     transfer pursuant to this section shall be treated as a 
     reprogramming of funds under section 505 of this Act and 
     shall not be available for obligation except in compliance 
     with the procedures set forth in that section.
       Sec. 206.  The Attorney General is authorized to extend 
     through September 30, 2015, the Personnel Management 
     Demonstration Project transferred to the Attorney General 
     pursuant to section 1115 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
     (Public Law 107-296; 28 U.S.C. 599B) without limitation on 
     the number of employees or the positions covered.
       Sec. 207.  None of the funds made available under this 
     title may be used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the 
     United States Marshals Service for the purpose of 
     transporting an individual who is a prisoner pursuant to 
     conviction for crime under State or Federal law and is 
     classified as a maximum or high security prisoner, other than 
     to a prison or other facility certified by the Federal Bureau 
     of Prisons as appropriately secure for housing such a 
     prisoner.
       Sec. 208. (a) None of the funds appropriated by this Act 
     may be used by Federal prisons to purchase cable television 
     services, or to rent or purchase audiovisual or electronic 
     media or equipment used primarily for recreational purposes.
       (b) Subsection (a) does not preclude the rental, 
     maintenance, or purchase of audiovisual or electronic media 
     or equipment for inmate training, religious, or educational 
     programs.
       Sec. 209.  None of the funds made available under this 
     title shall be obligated or expended for any new or enhanced 
     information technology program having total estimated 
     development costs in excess of $100,000,000, unless the 
     Deputy Attorney General and the investment review board 
     certify to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of 
     Representatives and the Senate that the information 
     technology program has appropriate program management 
     controls and contractor oversight mechanisms in place, and 
     that the program is compatible with the enterprise 
     architecture of the Department of Justice.
       Sec. 210.  The notification thresholds and procedures set 
     forth in section 505 of this Act shall apply to deviations 
     from the amounts designated for specific activities in this 
     Act and in the report accompanying this Act, and to any use 
     of deobligated balances of funds provided under this title in 
     previous years.
       Sec. 211.  None of the funds appropriated by this Act may 
     be used to plan for, begin, continue, finish, process, or 
     approve a public-private competition under the Office of 
     Management and Budget Circular A-76 or any successor 
     administrative regulation, directive, or policy for work 
     performed by employees of the Bureau of Prisons or of Federal 
     Prison Industries, Incorporated.
       Sec. 212.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
     funds shall be available for the salary, benefits, or 
     expenses of any United States Attorney assigned dual or 
     additional responsibilities by the Attorney General or his 
     designee that exempt that United States Attorney from the 
     residency requirements of section 545 of title 28, United 
     States Code.
       Sec. 213.  At the discretion of the Attorney General, and 
     in addition to any amounts that otherwise may be available 
     (or authorized to be made available) by law, with respect to 
     funds appropriated by this title under the headings 
     ``Research, Evaluation and Statistics'', ``State and Local 
     Law Enforcement Assistance'', and ``Juvenile Justice 
     Programs''--
       (1) up to 3 percent of funds made available to the Office 
     of Justice Programs for grant or reimbursement programs may 
     be used by such Office to provide training and technical 
     assistance; and
       (2) up to 2 percent of funds made available for grant or 
     reimbursement programs under such headings, except for 
     amounts appropriated specifically for research, evaluation, 
     or statistical programs administered by the National 
     Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
     shall be transferred to and merged with funds provided to the 
     National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice 
     Statistics, to be used by them for research, evaluation, or 
     statistical purposes, without regard to the authorizations 
     for such grant or reimbursement programs.
       Sec. 214.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
     section 20109(a) of subtitle A of title II of the Violent 
     Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
     13709(a)) shall not apply to amounts made available by this 
     or any other Act.
       Sec. 215.  None of the funds made available under this Act, 
     other than for the national instant criminal background check 
     system established under section 103 of the Brady Handgun 
     Violence Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. 922 note), may be used by 
     a Federal law enforcement officer to facilitate the transfer 
     of an operable firearm to an individual if the Federal law 
     enforcement officer knows or suspects that the individual is 
     an agent of a drug cartel, unless law enforcement personnel 
     of the United States continuously monitor or control the 
     firearm at all times.
       Sec. 216. (a) None of the income retained in the Department 
     of Justice Working Capital Fund pursuant to title I of Public 
     Law 102-140 (105 Stat. 784; 28 U.S.C. 527 note) shall be 
     available for obligation during fiscal year 2015.
       (b) Not to exceed $30,000,000 of the unobligated balances 
     transferred to the capital account of the Department of 
     Justice Working Capital Fund pursuant to title I of Public 
     Law 102-140 (105 Stat. 784; 28 U.S.C. 527 note) shall be 
     available for obligation in fiscal year 2015, and any use, 
     obligation, transfer or allocation of such funds shall be 
     treated as a reprogramming of funds under section 505 of this 
     Act.
       (c) Not to exceed $10,000,000 of the excess unobligated 
     balances available under section 524(c)(8)(E) of title 28, 
     United States Code, shall be available for obligation during 
     fiscal year 2015, and any use, obligation, transfer or 
     allocation of such funds shall be treated as a reprogramming 
     of funds under section 505 of this Act.
       (d) Of amounts available in the Assets Forfeiture Fund in 
     fiscal year 2015, $154,700,000 shall be for payments 
     associated with joint law enforcement operations as 
     authorized by section 524(c)(1)(I) of title 28, United States 
     Code.
       (e) The Attorney General shall submit a spending plan to 
     the Committees on Appropriations of the House of 
     Representatives and the Senate not later than 30 days after 
     the date of enactment of this Act detailing the planned 
     distribution of Assets Forfeiture Fund joint law enforcement 
     operations funding during fiscal year 2015.
       This title may be cited as the ``Department of Justice 
     Appropriations Act, 2015''.

                               TITLE III

                                SCIENCE

                Office of Science and Technology Policy

       For necessary expenses of the Office of Science and 
     Technology Policy, in carrying out the purposes of the 
     National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and 
     Priorities Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.), hire of 
     passenger motor vehicles, and services as authorized by 
     section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, not to exceed 
     $2,250 for official

[[Page 9207]]

     reception and representation expenses, and rental of 
     conference rooms in the District of Columbia, $5,555,000.


               Amendment Offered by Mr. Broun of Georgia

  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the 
desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Page 60, line 22, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $1,000,000)''.
       Page 100, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Chairman, this amendment would reduce the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy by $1 million and apply that 
amount to the spending reduction account.
  As chairman of the House Science Oversight Subcommittee, it has come 
to my attention that there is, or at least was, an Affordable Care Act 
Information Technology Exchanges Steering Committee, chaired by White 
House officials and established in May 2012, almost a year and a half 
before the rollout of healthcare.gov.
  That White House Steering Committee's charter explicitly directed the 
formulation of working groups, including one on security. It also turns 
out that a cochairman of this ObamaCare Web site Steering Committee is 
the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science 
and Technology Policy, Mr. Todd Park.
  Upon learning this, I, as chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee, 
along with full committee Chairman Smith, and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee Chairman Dr. Bucshon, sent a December 20, 2013, letter to 
the White House requesting that Mr. Park make himself available to the 
committee to answer questions regarding the security issues with 
healthcare.gov by January 10.
  As we stand here today, OSTP has ignored the committee's request for 
Mr. Park to testify and has done so three times. Don't the American 
people deserve answers from those who are in charge of overseeing the 
implementation of the ObamaCare Web site's security protocol? After 
all, Mr. Park is a deputy to OSTP Director Holdren.
  But when asked at a March 26, 2014, hearing before the Science 
Committee about Mr. Park's refusal to testify, Director Holdren stated 
that Todd Park ``doesn't report to me. I can't compel him to come and 
testify.''
  Well, if he does not report to the OSTP director, why are he and his 
Office of the Chief Technology Officer an official part of the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy that the OSTP director supposedly 
directs, manages, and supports?
  If Mr. Todd Park does not, in fact, report to OSTP, then his office 
should not be funded by OSTP, and I seek now, through this amendment to 
make that correction immediately.
  I offered a similar amendment, which passed by a voice vote, during 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology markup of H.R. 4186, 
the FIRST Act.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, as well, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. I rise in opposition to the amendment, but I would hope 
that we can work it out. If you wanted to offer a different amendment 
with regard to the health care issue, I will support it, if we can find 
a way, but the concern I have is OSTP is a small office.
  This is roughly cutting 20 percent of their entire budget. In the 
last 2 years alone--and I agree with what the gentleman said on the 
health care aspect--our subcommittee has tasked OSTP with coordinating 
a major interagency effort on neuroscience, overseeing the 
implementation of policy across the government on public access to 
Federally funded research results, cochairing an effort to streamline 
and prioritize Federal STEM education and spending, and assessing the 
American supply chain vulnerability stemming from the lack of domestic 
access to rare earth elements, which is another problem that we are 
beginning to have with China.
  If we reduce the OSTP by 20 percent and if the gentleman would offer 
another amendment to reduce it by, you know, $50,000, I would accept 
the amendment or take the amendment, I can't speak for the other side, 
but to cut it by 20 percent, that is just too much.
  So until there is a different amendment that would meet the 
gentleman's need, as I agree with him on health care, we would accept 
it, but to take 20 percent out, particularly since--and I know Mr. 
Fattah has been working with the whole issue of neuroscience and the 
brain, I would oppose the amendment.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate the chairman's willingness to work 
this out. Of course, we don't have time to come back with another 
amendment. I suspect, as soon as we finish with this one, we will move 
forward, but I would like to work with you, Mr. Chairman, as well as 
the ranking member, to try to find something.
  Mr. Holdren says Mr. Park doesn't answer to him, and supposedly, this 
guy is a member of the OSTP staff, and he has refused to come before 
our Oversight Committee. We just have to find some way. If he is not 
part of OSTP, why should we fund anything dealing with what he is doing 
there? That is the point of this.
  Mr. WOLF. Reclaiming my time, I completely agree. What I will do is 
we will call the OSTP and ask Mr. Holdren to come up with the gentleman 
and get him, and you can come to the meeting, too.
  Quite frankly, if he doesn't come, I will offer, when we go to 
conference, to take a chunk out of this to make sure that you get 
answers. We would like to bring Mr. Holdren up so that Chairman Broun 
will have an opportunity to talk to the individual. I will help him get 
the individual up.
  It will be in your office, not in mine. We will ask Holdren to come 
up the week we come back in.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WOLF. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Would you agree to a $150,000 cut?
  Mr. WOLF. Yes. If he doesn't come up, I would. If he does not come 
up, I would. I will.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Chair, OSTP is doing enormously important work on 
behalf of our country, and Congress also has an oversight role, and if 
the chairman of the Oversight Committee is having difficulty getting an 
answer to a question, I would be glad to try to help facilitate that 
and work with the chairman.
  We do have some arcane rules here in Washington about advisers to the 
President not being in a position to be able to talk directly to 
Congress, but the head of the agency, as the chairman said, could be 
brought up with his subordinate, Mr. Park, to answer whatever questions 
there may be.
  I kind of think that we are closing the door on that particular issue 
relative to the Affordable Care Act, but you deserve answers, no matter 
what, on this question, but when we talk about the budget of this 
agency, when there are 50 million Americans suffering from brain-
related diseases, when China has almost an absolute monopoly on rare 
earth elements that we need to find our way around for national 
security and other reasons, OSTP is doing some vitally important work, 
and we can't take 20 percent of their budget, but we can get to the 
point where you can get the answers that you desire and rightfully.
  You are the anchor of the Thursday prayer group, and you are someone 
who is a responsible Member of Congress, and we want to make sure that 
you get

[[Page 9208]]

your answers. I will work with the chairman.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FATTAH. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate that. The question we have--we 
have asked Mr. Park to come three times, and then we had Mr. Holdren 
come to the full committee, and Mr. Park is in OSTP, and Mr. Holdren is 
chairman of OSTP, and he said Mr. Park doesn't work for him.
  So if he doesn't work for him, then why should we be paying salary 
and expenses and things like that? That is the point.
  Mr. FATTAH. What the chairman offered--he said $150,000 if we can't 
get you Holdren or someone to give you a satisfactory answer to your 
question. There are some rules about executive branch agents, 
individuals, and advisers to the President not being compelled to 
testify, but when you have line staff people running an agency, Holdren 
is available, and we can have him come with his staff and answer these 
questions.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Chair, I appreciate the offer of both 
gentlemen to work with me. It is our responsibility in Congress to have 
oversight. I am the chairman of the Oversight Committee on Science, 
Space and Technology. We have had tremendous problems with not only 
this department, but many others, in getting people to come and just 
tell us what is going on, to testify before our committee.
  We have been rebuffed and rebuffed time and time again, ignored time 
and time again by this administration. This is the only way I see to 
get at these people.
  Mr. FATTAH. Reclaiming my time, let me say: Let's work through it. We 
can work together.
  The chairman has given you his assurances that he will work with you, 
but there is no possibility that we can afford to cut this agency by 20 
percent. I need to oppose this amendment.
  We would love to work with you to get you the answers because you are 
not trying to punish OSTP, you are trying to get legitimate answers to 
legitimate questions, and we want to help you and facilitate that.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate that.
  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Chair, I think we have resolved this, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun).
  The amendment was rejected.
  Mr. WOLF. Madam Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Culberson) having assumed the chair, Mrs. Black, Acting Chair of the 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that 
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4660) 
making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
2015, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

                          ____________________