the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 231. the nays are 192. the previous question is ordered. he house will be in order. he house will be in order.

members are reminded to take their conversation out of the isles. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. hensarling: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house is not in order. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hensarling: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, over the weekend a very destructive storm system moved across my home state of texas, the midwest and the southeast, killing 15 of our fellow citizens and destroying whole communities in its wake.

in van zandt county in the fifth congressional district of texas which i have the privilege to represent, four constituents lost their lives in a series of four violent tornados that shattered homes, shattered lives and devastated neighborhoods. in the fifth district and the fourth district of texas. these storms tragically killed seven people in washington, carol and madison counties in arkansas. two people in rankin and holmes counties in mississippi. one person in nashville, tennessee. one person from billings, missouri, and many more, mr. speaker, have been hospitalized. joining me here today are some of the members whose communities from affected. congressman womb ack and congressman crawford of arkansas. congressman harper of mississippi. congressman thompson of mississippi. congressman cooper of tennessee.

congressman long of missouri. my fellow texan, congressman john ratcliffe. again, mr. speaker, all who represent communities who were tragically affected. mr. speaker, our citizens who are lost have left a void in their families and left a void in their communities. our hearts are heavy. our prayers are sincere for the loved ones they leave behind and for those who recover from their wounds. for many of us in our faith, there is a time to mourn and, mr. speaker, now is the time to mourn. but as we have in our faith a time to mourn, we also have faith, mr. speaker, that one day our citizens will heal and ey will heal and where he -- and they will rebuild their communities as well. at this time, mr. speaker, i would ask the house to help us

to honor those who lost their lives in these deadly storms and the families and loved ones they leave behind by joining us in observing a moment of silence. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the question is on adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. mr. hastings: mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida asks for a recorded vote. a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 239. the nays, 186. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 240. the nays are 186. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspend the rules and passing h.r. 1665. as amended. which the clerk will report by

title. the clerk: union calendar number 56, h.r. 1665, a bill to ensure that the administrator of the federal emergency management agency considers severe local impact in making a recommendation to the president for a major disaster declaration. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, thirds third, -- 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the -- for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. collins: on that i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house

proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] u. hsef reprentative

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 425. the nays are zero. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey sook recognition? mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, pursuant to the rule just passed, i take from the speaker's table, h.r. 244, with the senate amendments thereto and i have a motion at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. designated the senate amendment, and designate the motion. the clerk: h.r. 244, an act to encourage effective voluntary investments to recruit, employ, and retain men and women who have served in the united states military with annual federal awards to employers recognizing such efforts and for other purposes. senate amendments. mr. frelinghuysen of new jersey moves that the house concur in the senate amendments number 2 and 3 and concur in the senate amendment number 1 with an amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 305, the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. the gentleman from new jersey,

mr. frelinghuysen, and the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, will each control 30 minutes. the house will be in order. members will take their conversations off the floor. will members in the aisle please thick their conversations off the floor. -- please take their conversations off the floor. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and their remarks include extraneous material on further consideration of h.r. 244 that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i rise today for six minutes --

the speaker pro tempore: will the gentleman suspend. the chair will not begin until members get -- cease their conversations and get out of he aisles. the gentleman is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i yield myself six minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for six minutes. mr. frelinghuysen: i rise today to present the house amendment to h.r. 244, a bill that will provide funding for the federal government for the rest of the year, 2017. this bill reflects shared values which will help make our nation stronger, safer, and more prosperous. it fulfills our constitutional duty to fund important services the american people rely on every day, and it does this in a responsible way, making the best use of every single taxpayer dollar, assuring more reliability and predictibility that than a government operating under a continuing resolution. in short it moves our nation forward in the right direction. the bill includes full year

funding for the remaining 11 annual appropriations bills for defense, infrastructure, health and safety programs through the end of the fiscal year on september 30. as well as critical emergency and defense and border security funding requested by the president. in total it provides 1 $1.63 trillion in base and overseas contingency operations funding. these levels meet the caps provided by the bipartisan budget act of 2015. this bill makes the senator decisions investing funding where it's needed most. rebuilding our military, securing our borders, and bolstering economic growth, getting people back to work. first and foremost and most importantly, this bill prioritizes funding for national defense, restoring the strength and capacity of our armed forces. overall defense funding has increased by $25 billion above

fiscal year 2016 levels. this funding will help assure our military has proper training. the best weapons and equipment needed to defeat isis. battle radical extremism around the world, and support our allies in critical regions around the world against threats from russia, china, iran, and north korea, and other sources. to rebuild our strength this bill includes $1st6 billion for additional 36,000 troops above the previous administration's request. most importantly this bill supports our men and women in uniform. all volunteers. and provides them with a 2.1% pay raise, the largest in six years, and it takes care of their families. to help secure our borders and protect our homeland, the bill provides customs and border protection with a total of $12.2 billion, nearly $1 bill increase -- $1 billion increase over fiscal year 2016. in fact, this is the largest increase in border security technology and infrastructure

in a decade. a down payment on stronger, more effective systems and barriers. funding is also prioritized to tackle gang and drug crime, combat terrorism, and support law enforcement. with agencies like the f.b.i., the u.s. marshals, the d.e.a., and immigrations and customs enforcement, all receiving funding boosts. other domestic fund something directed to proven, effective programs that improve the health and safety of all americans. that includes increases from the national institutes of health and the c.d.c. significantly we have increased funding to battle the opioid 781 mic abuse situation by million from last year. this fund will go provide treatment, education enforcement, and help unacceptably high numbers of communities that have been devastated by this crisis. lastly, this legislation funds important national priorities like critical infrastructure

and essential disaster relief and supports our local communities, including renewing the d.c. opportunity scholarship program and giving choice in the district to parents. this bill also -- should also be noted for what it doesn't do. our legislation cuts, freezes, and eliminates funding for dozens of programs that have been wasteful, ineffective, or just plain unnecessary. we reined in the regulatory program to prevent overreach. we froze i.r.s. funding at current levels and directing money to improve services to taxpayers and to make sure the money is well spent, we have accountability at every level of government. mr. speaker, i'm proud to support this bill as it reflects the needs of the american people and our common values. we are investing in the security and success of our nation, and for that this bill

deserves solid bipartisan support. mr. speaker, there are many people to thank for their help in bringing this bill to the floor today. first and foremost, i want to thank my colleagues in the house, each and every member contributed to this effort, and as a result, it's a better bill. i especially want to thank my committee chairman. they are stewards of these bills, and i appreciate all the hard work they've done to get us here today with their committee members. i'd also like to thank my counterpart, ranking member of the appropriations committee, mrs. lowey, for her dedication to bringing this bill to the floor today, as well as our colleagues in the senate for their partnership. lastly, i must thank the hardworking staff of the house appropriations committee. they put in months of nonstop work to bring this bill before the house today. we shouldn't be -- we wouldn't be here without the leadership of the full committee staff led by nancy fox and jim on the majority side and shlanda and

chris on the minority side. in the front office we have also working hard steven, shannon, carol, jennifer, marta, tammy, rachel, david and brad. i thank all of you. i also want to thank our hardworking clerks in the democratic -- and the democratic counterparts all deserve our gratitude. e clerks, jennifer, donna, ina, valerie, dave, susan, liz, marin, doug. lastly, i want to thank katie, my chief of staff, and my personal staff. our subcommittees as well as our minority -- i yield myself an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. frelinghuysen: the minority staff worked night and day to get the fiscal year 2017 behind us, these bills, and to get ahead and move ahead to the

2018 process. i appreciate all of them and their hard work. before i close, i'd like to take a moment to acknowledge one special member of the committee, dale oak, who will retire this week. he has deindicated more than 20 years to the committee. he tacked one extra week on sticking around to help us complete this bill. his commitment is true to form for him and we're immensely grateful for it. dale, we thank you for your years of service, and we wish you the best of luck in the future. mr. speaker, it's now seven months into the 2017 fiscal year. we must complete our work today. it's time to look ahead and begin work on the 2018 priorities. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady may proceed. mrs. lowey: i am pleased to be here with chairman frelinghuysen to complete the fiscal year 2017 appropriations process. bipartisan negotiations resulted in the bill. the product of compromise makes important investments such as increasing biomedical research at the n.i.h. by $2 billion, increasing investments in early childhood and education programs such as head start, title 1, idea and after-school programs, making college more affordable by increasing pell grants and making them available year round, providing robust funding for public broadcasting and community service, and investing in transportation, housing, first responders and providing our

military with the tools to deter and defeat threats abroad. it would also ensure american citizens in puerto rico continue to have access to health care. permanently extend health insurance benefits for retired mine workers. increase funding to combat the opioid epidemic. preserve planned parenthood's eligibility for federal funds. rovide $1.1 billion in disaster assistance for regions affected by storms and flooding including north carolina, california, louisiana, west virginia and more. it is imperative to note what this bill does not contain. not one cent for president trump's border wall or additional fencing. no poison pill riders that would have prevented so-called

sanctuary cities from receiving federal grants. undermine the affordable care act or harm the f.d.a.'s ability to regulate tobacco products. while i am pleased we reach this agreement, we should not celebrate coming to a full-year agreement in may for a fiscal year that began seven months ago. last year, our committee was negotiating in good faith until the trump transition team interfered insisting on a c.r. until late april. this unnecessary and costly delay, combined with the president's proposed cuts for the f.y. 2017 and f.y. 2018 spending bills, do not bode well for our work in the coming months. so while i support this bill, i am under no illusions and

expect this president will again insist on draconian cuts that will harm hardworking families and interfere with our ability to negotiate. just yesterday, the president irresponsibly tweeted that, quote, our country needs a good shutdown in september. perhaps the president needs a history lesson. the constitution grants congress the power of the purse. i hope the president is watching and that he will learn that good things happen when we work together for the american people. of course our good bipartisan work on this bill would not have been possible without our excellent staff, and i want to

personally thank all the minority and majority appropriations committee staffers, especially our democratic staff director, shalanda young, and deputy staff director chris big low and their majority counter-- bigalow, and their majority counterparts. and, again, i appreciate the opportunity to work with chairman frelinghuysen and i appreciate the work of all our committee members, all our ranking members and their personal staff as well. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i yield four minutes to my predecessor, the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to support this legislation. i want to commend chairman

frelinghuysen and mrs. lowey for a job well done. mr. speaker, the most important point i could make for many in this chamber is that if you reject this omnibus spending bill that you all put together during the year, the alternative is a continuing resolution for the balance of the year, which will put into effect the spending priorities of the previous administration. the obama plan will still be in effect if you reject the -- this omnibus bill. for many of us, that's the most important point that we could make. now, mr. speaker, this comprehensive bill responsibly funds key government programs through the rest of the fiscal year. as the battle against isis continues, funding for both defense and diplomacy must be a part of our national security framework. along with strategic increases for the department of defense,

the omnibus includes critical funding for the department of state and foreign operations. protecting our diplomats abroad is a top priority, and the bill provides $6.1 billion to carry out that mission. the legislation also upholds our commitments to key international allies like israel and jordan, and establishes a new $100 million fund to support nations facing russian aggression. we continue funding for both global health and humanitarian aid and famine relief, including a new rapid response und for infectious diseases. and the bill dead indicates significant resources to stop drug trafficking along our southern border with robust counternarcotic and law enforcement efforts in mexico, central america and colombia. no funds are provided for

either the green climate fund or the u.n. panel on climatic change and funding for the u.n. s reduced by $640 million. while national security is a key tenant to this legislation, the omnibus also promotes economic growth at home, particularly in my kentucky district. coal country came under siege under president obama with an onslaught of job-killing regulations. our communities are working hard to recover after losing nearly 12,000 mining jobs. in addition to rolling back several anti-coal regulations, the bill permanently provides health care benefits to retired coal miners and their families. this gives the people who powered our nation for generations the peace of mind that they deserve. the bill also provides kentucky with $25 million to continue the abandon mine land pilot

program, which creates jobs by reclaiming abandoned mine land for economic development. the appalachian regional commission receives historic funding with $152 million appropriated, $10 million is dedicated to high-speed brought to you by cable in -- broadband cable in our area. and in addition to creating jobs, this bill builds on our progress to combat drug abuse. like operation unite in my district, we take a wholeistic approach to fund a -- holistic approach to fund a comprehensive federal response. $187 million is provided for fighting the opioid epidemic, including treatment and prevention and law enforcement. this bill, mr. speaker, will save lives. mr. speaker, i urge a yes vote.

i commend the chairman and the ranking member for the great work they have put together in passing what's important to this nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am very pleased to yield 2.5 minutes to the very gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur, ranking member of the subcommittee on energy and water. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. kaptur: i want to thank my dear colleague, mrs. lowey, the ranking member of the committee, for yielding and thank chairman frelinghuysen, rogers and ranking member lowey again, for the hard work they did to push this bill across the finish line. yet, today, i rise with frustration that it has taken us so long to finish doing our job. there is simply no good reason why over seven months into the

2017 fiscal year we are only now taking a vote to fund this year's government operations. the american people deserve so much better. there are many things in this bill with which i disagree, but i am pleased to see that the bill before us represents a bipartisan compromise. it also includes a lot of positive aspects for ohio. the agreement brings welcome news to coal industry pension years. it also provides an important $600 million to fight the national opioid epidemic, which has devastated our communities. and it also provides $300 million for the great lakes restoration initiative, assuring our critical work to improve water quality in our great lakes. as ranking member of the energy and water subcommittee, i am well aware we have more work to do, but this bill continues our commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and provides a modest increase for innovative science as well as energy efficiency and renewable energy

for america's future and for our global leadership. once again, i believe it is democrats who are getting the job done for america and leading the charge of bipartisan negotiations and compromise to avoid a government shutdown. our side of the aisle continues to focus on making progress, moving the ball forward inch by inch and making progress, advancing progress for our country a step at a time. a recent poll reported this is what 77% of the american people want, compromising, working together, moving forward, and i hope this agreement will be a beach head in our efforts to fulfill their wishes. this bill demonstrates congress can work together collegially for the fiscal 2018 fiscal year appropriations to follow to benefit our nation's future. thank you, again, to chairman rodney frelinghuysen, ranking member nita lowey and all of our dedicated staff on

appropriations on both sides of the aisle for the hard bipartisan work they put -- in putting this bill forward together for america's sake. with that i yield back and i thank the gentlelady for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey mr. frelinghuysen: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the defense appropriations committee, kay granger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. . miss granger: this bill is the first step to rhine gin rebuilding our military. the world is more dangerous than stable than at any time in history. iran, china, russia are increasingly challenging our vital interests and those of our allies. the threats coming from north korea are more ominous than anything we have faced in decades. at the same time terrorist from isis, al qaeda, and their affiliates endanger our very way of life. our number one responsibility as members of congress is to provide for the defense of this

nation. since becoming a defense appropriations subcommittee chairwoman, i spent time talking to senior defense leadership to find out what they need to combat these threats. they have unanimously stated the only thing our adversaries respect is strength and they need this bill passed to ensure our military is a strong and effective as possible. the bill today brings total f.y. 2017 defense funding to $25 billion more than last year, and $22 billion more than the obama administration's original request. the bill includes $21 billion for critical military requirements as requested by the new administration. the bill provides the resources for secretary mattis to implement his plan to restore our military so that we can fight the adversaries we face today and will face in the future. today we take the first critical step in secretary mattis' plan to fix the potholes in our military readiness. we do that by reversing the cuts to manpower proposed by

the obama administration and increase military pay. we provide $7.3 billion over the obama budget to support operations training equipment, maintenance, and military facility repairs. we reverse deep cuts to equipment and modernization. the bill provides $12 billion more than the previous administration's request for additional aircraft, ships, vehicles, munitions, and all the other needs of our troops. the bill also adds nearly $2 billion above the obama budget for research programs to ensure that we preserve our technological edge against increasingly capable adversaries. we provide -- ask the chairman for one minute. mr. frelinghuysen: pleased to yield the gentlewoman an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. granger: we provide additional funds to support the health care needs of our military personnel and families including medical research programs. we provide additional funds requested by the president for reinvigorated strategy to defeat isis and other terrorist groups. we urge the house to support

secretary mattis by giving him this long overdue funding. we cannot turn our backs on our troops by forcing them to work under a continuing resolution. to paraphrase the chief of staff of the air force, there is no enemy that can do more damage to our military than a full year continuing resolution. our military is counting on us to pass this bill now. it's the only way to ensure the united states will be strong and able to lead in this very dangerous world. i strongly urge a yes vote. mr. speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back time. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield 2.5 minutes to my distinguished friend from new york, mr. serrano, the ranking member of the subcommittee on commerce, justice, science, and related agencies. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. mr. serrano: i thank my

colleague from new york for the .5, which is the new record. in our system here. i rise, and you should list yield back the balance of my time to this very closely, i rise in support of this bill. i do it both sides understood the importance of coming together and trying to work on a solution to this situation. and i have to say that the republicans came to the table understanding that they had the majority of the ropes, but they also had the majority of the responsibility to make sure it was a unified decision that was made. for my hometown of new york, there was money to reimburse -- there is money to reimburse the protection of trump towers where the president has spent a lot of time and where the police department has to be picking up the bill. the legal services corporation,

one of our greatest programs, was scheduled to disappear. this bill does not allow that. hispanic-serving institutions at the national science foundation are still alive and doing well. this bill allows for so many different issues in noaa and in nasa to continue to grow. but most of all what this bill does in my opinion is prove something that perhaps, and i'm not being naive here, perhaps we can carry forward. when we set our mind to coming together, when we set our minds to working as one group of people on behalf of our country, we could do it. will otes, this bill we vote on today, will i vote proudly because i know that we could have made this into another fight. i know for the next budget we'll have differences, but

please, my brothers and sisters, remember, we were able to come together and someone on tv tonight will say this side sold out or that side sold out. no. both sides worked with the american people and it works well. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i'm pleased to recognize the speaker of the house of representatives for -- the speaker of the house for one minute. the speaker: the speaker is recognized. the speaker: first of all i want to thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the ranking members, and the chair. subcommittees and alt staff for their very hard work -- all the staff for their very hard work in putting this big body of work together. i urge all my colleagues to support this package. i want to explain why. a few things is that many of our priorities, not all, but many of our priorities are advanced in this and that's because this is a bipartisan piece of legislation. and so each side doesn't get

everything they want, but we're able to come together and find a package that advances many of our important goals. for me, i think it's important because it turns the page on the last administration. on the obama years. it completes the unfinished business of the previous administration. remember, we came to december, we this continuing resolution, we're halfway through the fiscal year now. we have to do the job of actually getting the government specifically funded, meeting more of our priorities. this does that. this marks the beginning of a new era. no longer will the needs of our military be held hostage by the demands for more domestic spending. in my mind that is what is most important here. having negotiated a couple of the budget agreements in the prior administration, this to me is paramount and first among all things. the rule we lived under, under the previous administration, basically says, you want more money for the men and women in the field who are in our military, ok.

but we're going to need more money for washington programs. not just more money for washington programs, the same exact amount of money. so matter whether we need more money for our troops, we might need more ships, bullets, more gas, more planes, we had to have the exact same dollar amount whether it was needed or not, for domestic spending. that's the old formula we had under the prior administration and that is not in here. that is really important. that's one of the most important game changing accomplishments that are in here because we really believe our military needs help. we believe our military has been hollowed out in so many areas. this bill helps fix this. so that dollar for dollar parity rule is a rule no more. with this bill we do not have that arbitrary standard. the standard that has contributed, in my opinion, to hollowing out our military and declining our readiness. we have a lot more work to do

to fully rebuild our military. this is a critical first step. with this bill, we will spend $25 billion more this year than last year on defense so that we can begin to rebuild our military readiness and our preparedness. and we will do this without a corresponding increase in domestic spending. and that to me is a new day under this new administration that we have with president trump. of course this legislation also addresses many other priorities for republicans and for this administration. for starters, there is a big and solid down payment on securing our border. it's the biggest increase in border security in a decade. funding for the d.c. scholarship opportunity program, which we verses the obama era crusade against school choice, that's in here. national resources to fight the opioid epidemic, which is something ravishing communities across america. no new money for obamacare and no bailouts for insurance

companies. this bill prospects -- protects life. this bill is a bipartisan compromise as i mentioned. but it is a good one for conservatives. and that is why i urge my colleagues to support this bill. we all must agree that funding the government at all like this, this is the last point i want to make, this is not a process we want to continue. yes, we're finishing unfinished business from last year. but let's all work together and endeavor to do these appropriation bills one at a time. that is the system that we're supposed to have. and that is the system i think we all agree, republicans and democrats, that we need to have. so let's work together to make sure that we don't just do one big bill that. we do this individually so that individual debate can occur. so that individual priorities can be met. and so that we can get back to regular order and we can better guarantee and maintain our article 1 powers as the legislative branch of government exercising the power

of the purse. i challenge every one of us to commit to that process. in the meantime, let's bank these wince. let's get this dofpblet let's turn this page on this last year and let's make sure that we give the troops the support that they so desperately need. with that i yield back and ask everyone to support this bill. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, before i yield time to my good friend, sanford bishop, i just want to claire -- clarify, democrats support a strong military and defense of our contry, but we are very proud of the work that we're doing together in a bipartisan way to support the national institutes of health, after school programs, head start, a full year of pell grants that will help our young people get a college education. so i'm proud of that work.

and, mr. speaker, as i mentioned, i want to yield 2.5 minutes to my friend from georgia, sanford bishop, the ranking member of the committee on agriculture. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of the appropriations bill. as the ranking member of the agriculture appropriations subcommittee i would like to take a few moments to highlight a few area in the bill's section. this is a long time coming. beginning with the markup over one year ago on april 2016. since then, many things have changed, but what has remained constant is the desire of the house agriculture subcommittee to adress the needs -- address the needs of rural america by adequately funding programs that serve them an the contry. while the total funding level is below 2016 and the house reported bill, i believe we used what we had wisely. for example, we secured

increased funding for agricultural research, food and plant health programs, the farm service agency, and rural development. the bill also expands telemedicine, broadband ackserks and stem, distance learning. as well as we provide $400 million in community development block grant funding for disaster assistance. rural development, which is central to rural commutes and the economies vital for producing america's food and fiber products. the bill provides $37 billion in direct and guaranteed loans to support clean water, decent housing, telecommunication, and elengleck trick services and rural businesses which is more than we provided last year. on the grant side, water and waste grants are more than 10% higher than the president's request. broadband grants are more than three times higher than 2016. community facile grants are 25% higher than the 2016 qul, and what was appropriated. all the domestic nutrition programs, mr. speaker, are

funded at levels that will fully meet the estimated needs for the rest of the fiscal year. the f.d.a. is funded above both f.y. 2016 and 2017 requests. however, for the third consecutive year i'm disappointed that congress continues to kept commodity futures trading commission at $250 million, making it increasingly difficult for the cftc to carry out its core mission as well as its responsibilities under dodd-frank. . to i'm looking forward begin f.y. 2018 to close the remaining gaps left with the 2017 omnibus. despite those concerns, i think this is a good bill and as a proud represent activity and the number one peanut and pecan producer in the country, i urge my colleagues to support it so

we can get started on f.y. 2018 and complete it in a timely manner for the benefit of our americans. i want to thank the chairman for getting this ball to the floor and my particularly staff who worked so hard. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from idaho. . the gentleman is recognized. mr. simpson: i want to thank the ranking member and chairman full committee for their hard work and i would like to thank my ranking member, ms. kaptur for her hard work on drafting this bill and our senate partners lamar alexander and senator feinstein and thank the staff for the incredible work and long

hours. the energy and water section strengthens our nation's defense and makes important water infrastructure and advances energy strategy to ensure united states' energy independence. to maintain and safety and security readiness is more than last year. within that funding for nuclear weapons infrastructure is $2.8 billion, increase of 23% and address a backlog of preferred maintenance and high risk. he naval reactor's program has increased by $45 million. and fully funds the ohio class ballistic missile submarine. this supports the health of our water resources which is increased over the 2016 levels d makes full use of annual revenues in harbor trust fund hitting wrrda adjusted.

flood and storm damage activities are provided with $29 million more than last year to mitigate flooding events. the bill capitalizes on abundant natural resources. these investments will improve our energy independence and keep our consumer prices affordable. it protection investments by providing $24 million to improve the electrical grid against cyberattacks and peels back regulatory red tape of discharge of fill materials and certain agricultural activities. these are commonsense provisions included in this bill. i want to acknowledge some of the important provisions in the interior section of this bill. inclusion of language routing e gateway transmission lines -- could i have 30 seconds? mr. frelinghuysen: no.

15 seconds. mr. simpson: and providing critical infrastructure for wildfire programs, the department of interior and forest service. i want to thank chairman calvert and ranking member mccollum and interior staff. no werner can hold their head up if they vote against this bill. i thank the chairman and urge my colleagues to support this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield four minutes to the distinguished minority whip from maryland, mr. hoyer. mr. hoyer: i'm pleased to rise in support of this legislation. i want to thank all the subcommittee chairs and ranking

members for the work they have done to get us to this place. this vote we are about to take represents an example of how members of this house can work together to reach a reasonable compromise and deliver a product that reflects both rationality and reasonableness. it is clear that democratic members' participation is absolutely essential if we are going to pass fiscal bills and appropriation bills. i'm glad that the republican leadership came to that conclusion and worked with us to advance this omnibus to the floor. i will support this omnibus funding bill. it's not a perfect bill, but no bill we bring to the floor is perfect. it is a compromise that includes provisions that democrats and republicans want to see passed. it doesn't include poison pill riders. it does not fund president trump's border wall, which of course he had promised the american people that they would

not pay for. furthermore, it includes health benefits for america's coal miners and their families and funds puerto rico's medicaid challenge. this omnibus adds additional funding for the national institutes of health, something that all of us ought to support, including vice president biden's can ser project. international famine aid and unding to fight opioid addiction. it is a product of frank and thorough negotiations conducted by nita lowey and chairman frelinghuysen, both of whom are leaders of the appropriations committee and this house. i congratulate them and their staffs to reach this funding agreement. the congress should not have waited this long to act, mr. speaker. it is now seven months into the fiscal year. we should not allow this to

happen again. it has happened too often and happened under both parties. but it's not the way to run the greatest enterprise on earth, the federal government of the united states of america. we must get back to dealing with appropriation bills in a timely and discrete manner, appropriation bill by appropriation bill. it is important we go from these successful negotiations into talks in the same spirit of compromise to pass appropriation bills through regular order for fiscal year 2018 before the end of september and we are very late in doing this process. i was very much alarmed by president trump's tweet yesterday suggesting that he would welcome a government shutdown. it is this kind of flippant, uninformed and irresponsible approach as opposed to what

ought to be bipartisan process that puts us again at the 11th hour, often months past the original deadline trying to keep the government open. we ought to do better. and we must do better. and i hope that bipartisan process that brought us this omnibus bill will show us that we can do better. and in that context, i want to thank mr. frelinghuysen with whom i have served for a long period of time both on the committee and as a colleague in the house of representatives. and i want to thank mrs. lowey with whom i served for 23 years on the appropriations committee and with whom i have served in my capacity as leader and herself as a leader on the appropriations committee. this represents today what the congress ought to be, how it ought to work and what the american people expect.

as we vote today on this bill, let us say to us individually, to ourselves, let us continue this kind of cooperative positive constructive work. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i recognize the gentleman from alabama. mr. aderholt: i want to thank the chairman and ranking member and my colleagues who worked very hard on this bill. these appropriation bills take a long time to get through the process and a lot of times we don't realize all the hard work. so i thank all of my colleagues for their work and the staff that had a great input into it. i want to echo what a lot of my other colleagues said about this bill. as chairman of the ag subcommittee on appropriations,

the bill is not perfect and no bill that we vote on is perfect, there are significant wins for agriculture, the food sector and rural america. i wish that we had been able to include relief for the cotton growers and farm production products like tobacco, but members with ag constituents like i have in alabama, can be very proud of the bill's accomplishments for rural america. it provides necessary relief for american farmers and ranchers who are experiencing a 50% reduction in income for the last four years. we have been able to provide targeted increases for a few high priority programs. the bill directs funding to support rural communities, maintain food and drug safety, ensure sound markets and provide nutrition for children, families and seniors at home and abroad. there is increased oversight of nutrition programs and closing a

loophole to provide fort lauderdale lent snap participation in multiple states. the bill includes a prohibition on gene editing of human embryos and this is a tremendous victory for those of us concerned about life. in this bill, we stop blirble obama administration school meal regulations from being implemented by keeping the school meal sodium standards at the current target one level. whole grain for schools that are having difficulty meeting that standard and we allow flexibility in schools in serving low-fat flavored milk to students. this is exactly what the new secretary of agriculture announced that the usda would be implementing for the 2017-2018 school year. the agriculture portion of this bill also contains important provisions that further the president's buy american hire

american initiatives. we need to spend our dollars that support jobs right here in america instead of utilizing iron and steel made in russia and china. so with that, i'm happy to support this bill and understand that we have the opportunity in f.y. 2018 to craft bills that will be physically and socially conservative and look forward to working with the chairman and my colleagues as we go forward. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: janks. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: i'm very pleased to yield 2.5 minutes to the distinguished ranking member of the interior, environment and related agencies, the distinguished woman from minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. mccollum: i rise today in support of this bipartisan compromise to fund our federal government through the remainder of the year.

it is frustrating that the trump administration inserted itself into our negotiations last year, which unnecessarily delayed this bill for seven months. the delay created uncertainty and instability for local governments, for schools, businesses and the families we represent. nevertheless, this final funding package we have under consideration today is a win for the people of minnesota and for americans. democrats stood strong and united and this bill does not include funding for president trump's wasteful border wall which he wanted to pay for with cuts here at home. as a ranking member of the interior subcommittee, i'm proud we removed 75 poison pill riders from my part of the bill. these destructive policies would have delisted endangered species and chipped away at our public lands. in addition to removing these

harmful republican riders, democrats also succeeded in holding many devastating cuts proposed by the trump administration. we protected the e.p.a. from steep cuts to its work to protect the air we breathe and water we drink. we fully funded the great lakes initiative to keep our lakes and rivers that we rely on to be healthy. and national endowment for the arts and humanities ep enrich the quality of lives. this final bipartisan bill will meet our trust and treaty obligations to our native americans and safeguard our natural and cultural hertteage. the ppt's 2018 budget would undo this work so we must stay viglarnt. i would like to thank the chairman of the full committee and the ranking member. i would like to give a special thank you to the chairman of the subcommittee, ken calvert and to

all of our staff, both republican and democrats on both sides who made this bill possible along with my personal staff. as i yield back the remainder of the time, mr. speaker, i encourage an aye vote on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i recognize mr. culberson from texas. . mr. culberson: thank you, mr. speaker. the reason you can't buy a house with a one or two-page contract is because of all the details, ensures that both parties are going to perform and do exactly as promised in the contract. that's the same true of this appropriations bill. the founders understood the power of the purse was the most important and powerful check and balance in the constitution. and i'm proud to support this legislation because the detail in this bill will help ensure that the agencies that are responsible for spending our taxpayers' hard-earned and very

precious tax dollars have to perform. my portion of the bill is responsible for funding our nation's law enforcement officers. now that we have a president who will enforce the law and ensure that our men and women in uniform will protect us -- who protect us have the resources they need this bill. we've funded the f.b.i. with an additional $277 million to help those men and women fight terrorism, espionage and cybercrime. the diarra, the marshall service -- the d.e.a., the marshall service get funding. we make sure in this bill to fully fund opioid abuse programs, to reduce this terrible plague that is now sweeping across our nation. we also in this -- in the commerce, justice, science bill, responsible for funding the national science foundation. which we've protected and made sure that a scientific community has the money they need to continue to do their great work. i also, as a houstonian and

texan, take special pride in the funding we've given to nasa to make sure they'll be restored to the glory days of apollo, with faunleding total of $19.7 billion and put them on a 50-year path to discover life in the other world, to look for the neeferest earth-like planet around the nearest star, develop an interstellar rocket and to launch no later than 2069, the 100th anniversary of neil armstrong stepping on the moon. to pay for these increases we're freezing 29 programs and cutting about 15 others to move to lower -- to make sure that these are paid for. mr. chairman, if i may very briefly in 10 seconds, additional 10 seconds. mr. frelinghuysen: i yield the gentleman 10 seconds. mr. culberson: this bill protects our second amendment rights and contains pro-life protections that we've had in previous legislation. this is a good bill, mr. chairman, and urge all members to support it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the

entlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm proud to yield to my friend, the gentlelady from connecticut, ms. delauro, the ranking member of the labor, health, human services, education and related agencies. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. delauro: the omnibus funding bill for 2017 makes important investments in health, education and jobs programs, and rejects many of the damaging ideological riders that marked an earlier version of the appropriations committee this year. in a time when the administration is seeking massive cuts to programs that affect people's lives, this bill is more than respectable. it is a success. in fact, in some cases, we were

increase funding. the bill provides an additional $2 billion for the national institutes of health, it ensures critical life-saving research and -- that can continue at our nation's top research institutions. given that president trump wants to cut in the 2018 budget $6 billion, and he wanted an additional $1.2 billion from 2017, this is a victory. the bill finally restores year-round pell eligibility, helps to make college more affordable for hardworking students. nontraditional students are most in need of this flexibility offered by year-round pell. it helps them to graduate on time and with less debt. there is an additional $3 million for senior nutrition programs and meals on wheels. extending our commitment to the health and the safety of our seniors. it invests in programs that help people to get the skills they need to earn higher wages and

better jobs. including an increase of $15 million for job core, $5 million for apprenticeships, and it's a place i believe we ought to have more funding is for apprenticeships. there's no more investments more important than the ones we make for our children. this provides an additional $25 million for after school programs, $100 million for title one. $90 million for special education state grants. $95 million increase for child care. and development block grant. desperately needed aid to working parents for safe, reliable child care. $85 million for head start. it makes an early investment in the long-term health of our nation's children. this is the direction we should be moving in. increasing funding for the priorities that touch people's lives. this omnibus ignores short-sighted cuts that have been proposed by the trump

administration and instead it makes important investments in health, in education, and in jobs programs. i urge my colleagues to vote for it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time -- the .entlelady's time has expired the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. carter, chairman of the homeland security subcommittee on appropriations for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this legislation. the homeland security section of this bill contains $42.4 billion to fund the department of homeland security. this includes $1.5 billion in additional funding as proposed by the president in his budget amendment. that is the largest boost of border security funding in nearly a decade. this bill is a sizable down payment on our promise to secure our borders, enforce our immigration laws and keep our citizens safe. 39,000 l includes

detention beds, an increase of more than 5,000 over the previous number. in addition, capacity will -- this capacity will allow our immigration officials to end catch and release once and for all. 40 miles of upgraded fencing are in this bill. this upgraded barrier will stem the flow of drug smugglers and illegal immigrants across our border and give our border patrol agents time they need to make an arrest. $ 7 million of enhanced surveillance and radars so our agents can more effectively detect illegal crossings. 26 miles of new road construction and 758 miles of road improvements. i hear time and again from our agents on the border, they not only need to detect illegal crossings, they must reach them to arrest them. these roads will literally pave the way towards that effort. here in washington, people talk about border security and

immigration. in texas, we live it every day. we must get this problem under control and i am confident that with the support of president trump and my colleagues in the house and senate, we will bring sanity and the rule of law back to our borders. this bill is a vital step. i urge its passage and i want to thank ms. roybal-allard, my ranking member, and both the majority and the minority staff for their hard work on this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am delighted to yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar, who is a distinguished member of the appropriations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cuellar: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you, mrs. lowey, for yielding the time. i rise to thank chairman frelinghuysen and the ranking woman, ms. lowy, for all their hard -- mrs. lowey, for all their hard work on this bill. this bill today is a compromised

bill. it's a good bill because this is the way congress is supposed to be working. i say it's a good bill because it provides an increase to the pell grants, authorizes them in the summer time year-long, that will be good to get kids into education. it provides $2 billion to the national institutes of health, it provides a solution to this crisis that's impacting our citrus growers in south texas and other parts. it provides funding for 10 additional immigration judges and their support staff to help cut down the backlog of over half a million cases that we have, on top of the 55 ingration judges we added last year. as the chairman said a few minutes ago, chairman carter, $1.5 billion to improve the nation's border security, without funding the medieval wall that we have. so, again, i want to thank all my colleagues for working in a bipartisan way and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey.

mr. frelinghuysen: the chairman is pleased to recognize mr. calvert, chairman of the sbeer yore appropriations committee, for two -- interior appropriationses committee for two minutes -- appropriations committee for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. calvert: i rise in support of this act. the interior division of this omnibus bill, to fairly the -- fairly balance the needs of our main diverse agencies and programs. it continues the subcommittee's critical work on addressing wildland fire, domestic energy production, the needs of our national parks, meeting the obligations of our native americans and alaskan natives. i look forward to working with the new leadership at the interior department and the f.y. 2018 appropriations process. this bill provides funding for fire suppression, a 10-year average level. it includes $407 million in flame wildfire suppression reserve account. to help avoid borrowing resources from other forest programs to put out wildland fire. this bill provides additional funding for the national park service, including efforts to address the maintenance backlog, and the centennial challenge matching grant program.

the bill makes significant investments in health care, law enforcement, education programs and indian country. honoring the long-standing commitments to the american indians and alaskan natives. this bill builds on the trump administration's efforts to promote domestic energy and mineral development, both onshore and offshore. before i close, i want to thank our ranking member, ms. mccollum of minnesota. she's been a partner and friend as we worked through the hearings, wrote the bill and moved it through the legislative process to completion. also want to thank chairman frelinghuysen for his support, and his leadership. kudos to you, mr. chairman, for bringing this appropriations process to a successful conclusion. finally, i'd like to thank the staff who worked so hard on this bill. hey include dave lestrang, betsy, jackie, kristen, also ian and rebecca in my office. mr. speaker, the package before us today is the product of many months of bipartisan negotiations. i urge members on both sides of the aisle to support this

important legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am delighted to yield one minute to our outstanding member from new york, ms. meng, a new member of our appropriations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. meng: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to speak in support of the legislation before us. of course this bill might not look like what it might if we had written it by our individual selfs, but i think it is a good example of what genuine and honest compromise looks like. i thank ranking member lowey, chairman frelinghuysen, and their respective staffs for their months of hard work in producing this omnibus. because of your joint efforts, the n.i.h. will receive $2 billion in increased funding. america's coal miners will continue to receive the health

benefits they have earned. an additional $600 million are provided to combat the opioid epidemic. students will be able to receive year-round pell grants. $3.4 billion in l.i. heap funding will be distributed to our seen -- liheap funding will be distributed to our seniors, and money will be made available for seniors nutrition programs. that's what responsible governing looks like. and as a mevet house appropriations committee -- member of the house appropriations committee, i look forward to working together in this manner in the future. thank you again, ranking member lowey, and chairman frelinghuysen, for your hard work in crafting this bill. i support it, urge my colleagues to do the same, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from florida, mr. dazz batter lart, for two -- mr. diaz-balart, for two minutes. he chairs the transportation and housing subcommittee.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, mr. speaker. before i speak about the specifics of this portion of the bill. i'd like to thank chairman frelinghuysen. he's -- bill, i'd like to thank chairman frelinghuysen. he's put countless hours to put this legislation together. i think he must be commended. by the way, i also want to thank ranking member, mrs. lowey, as well as the ranking member of the subcommittee, mr. price. the american people expect us to get our job done. to fulfill our constitutional responsibility. that is precisely what we are doing today. the fed portion of this agreement provides $57.7 billion in budget authority, which by the way is a reduction of $5.5 below the budget request. the transportation and housing programs in this bill support critical infrastructure, technologies and housing opportunities that make a positive difference in the day to day lives of so many of our constituents. this bill makes critical investment in our air traffic control system, to make sure that continues to be the world leader in safety in the entire world.

we fund transportation investments authorized by the fast act, to ensure that we improve and expand highways and bridges that are so vital to our national economy. and this bill also provides permanent regulatory relief from two overly burdensome additions to the house -- i'm sorry, to the hours of service our rule made by the previous administration. this bill also provides $928 million in disaster assistant for communities devastated by storms and by floods. this includes recovery assistance to florida, following the impact caused by hurricane matthew last october. so, mr. speaker, we listened to the members of the committee and to the members of congress and we did our best to address their highest priorities, while keeping in mind that our job is to protect the american taxpayer and to cut ineffective, redundant programs. we're proud of this bill and i thank the chairman for his hard work. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the speaker pro tempore: who seeks recognition?

the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: i'm delighted to yield 1.5 minutes to the distinguished congresswoman from new york, ms. velazquez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. velazquez: let me take this opportunity to thank the gentlelady from new york for yielding. mr. speaker, i am pleased this legislation contains $295.9 million for puerto rico's medicaid program, which is running out of resources. absent action, hundreds of thousands of our citizens could lose health care. neighboring no mistake, we are in this situation because of years of neglect from washington. so here we are again. fixing a hole created by puerto rico's second-class treatment under medicaid. the funding in this bill is a

first step towards rectifying the long standing unequal treatment of puerto rico. by the way, mr. president, the last time i checked the history book, it was the u.s. armed forces who landed in puerto rico in 1898, invaded puerto rico. so we have a moral obligation to the people of puerto rico. american citizens. now to the creditors, let me say this and let me be clear, this money was not appropriated to line hedge funds' pocket. this money would go to otherwise puerto rico's health care system and for prrns. i support this funding and look forward to seeking solution for the island's long-term growth. finally let me thank leader

pelosi, mr. hoyer, ranking member lowey, minority leader schumer for their efforts in securing these funds. i thank my funds and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. who seeks time? the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i recognize the gentleman from kansas, mr. yoder, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. frelinghuysen: he chairs the legislative branch committee for appropriations. mr. yoder: mr. speaker, i rise today to highlight the provisions in this bipartisan omnibus legislation. i want to touch on the investments for research, education and our soldiers and matches $2 billion increase in the national institutes of health and largest increase since 2003 with 13% funding. it improves access to education by increasing funding for head

start programs and restores year-round pell grant and rebuild our military and gives our troops the largest pay raise in six years. as chairman of the legislative branch subcommittee, it continues 13% funding since republicans took control of the house in 2011 and denying pay increases for congressmen. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm delighted to yield one minute to the distinguished gentlelady from california, the minority leader, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the minority leader is recognized. ms. pelosi: i thank our distinguished ranking member for her recognition, her leadership on this legislation that we have

the opportunity to vote on the floor. so i thank you, ranking member lowey and i thank chairman frelinghuysen for his leadership as well. commend his staff, nancy fox and others for their hard work on this. to you ranking member lowey and chris, my own staff, richard, house and senate staff members for getting us to this very important place. the omnibus reflects significant progress defeating some dangerous riders and securing key victories. here's the thing. i spent many years in the appropriations committee and i know left to your own device on the appropriations committee can find your common ground. you appreciate each other. you listen to positions on issues and you understand the art of negotiating in a successful way.

there were some items that were suggested from the white house, for example, a border wall, deportation force, things like that. 160 poison pills, which were arranging from undermining a women's right to choose to dismantling dodd-frank, et cetera, but you worked together to balance the equities and come up with a bill that will have bipartisan support in the congress. but just not to speak about what we didn't like about the bill, there are some very positive aspects of it that i want to recognize, some nondefense increases in spending which will save lives and create jobs. coal miners' health, more than $1 billion to deliver health benefits to thousands of coal miners and families who stood to

lose their health care this month. god bless them to their advocacy. opioids epidemic, $600 million. protecting e.p.a.. there was going to be a huge cut and now the 1% cut in the e.p.a. and see that as a success. year-round pell grants, so important. science funding. the omnibus increases funding in the department of energy office of science and arpa e that some .anted to cut but survived that congresswoman velazquez has led us on the puerto rico issue. includes vital funds to fund puerto rico's underfunded medicaid program and threatens fellow americans in puerto rico. democrats are very happy and

give credit to in a bipartisan the billionbara lee dollars in humanitarian assistance in africa and the middle east, saving countless lives around the world. maybe 1.5 million children will die of mall nutrition in africa. d takes us to the biomedical research. i served with mrs. lowey on the h.h.s. subcommittee and the national institutes of health is this place that has the biblical power to cure. it has scientific opportunity. and where there is scientific opportunity, we want to place additional resources. lives depend on it. in stark contrast to a skinny

budget that came out earlier, this legislation increases funding for the national institutes of health by $2 billion and i want to say on that, as we relish that $2 billion and what it could mean in the good health of the american people, we have to protect their investments. as we invest in new treatments and cures, we must also ensure that all americans have access to them. that is why it is curious to me that on the same day that we vote on this omnibus bill, increase funding for the national institutes of health, increase funding for our veterans and all the rest of that, that republicans are working furiously to advance trumpcare's devastating impact on america's health care. no matter what activities they are having today to tweak one

piece of the bill, it will still be a bill that has higher costs, forcing families to pay higher premiums deductibles and out of pocket costs and will block access to the life saving cures that we are investing in the national institutes to create. less coverage, take coverage from 24 million working americans, a veterans' tax. will take away health care -- ill deny tax credits for seven military veterans. keep trumpcare destroys protection for pre-existing conditions. so many of the investments at the national institutes of health that we are talking about are to find cures and find preventions, but when we are trying to find cures, people have a pre-existing medical condition. and this would destroy the guarantee of pre-existing

medical protections for pre- existing medical conditions and gut the benefits in the affordable care act. there is a crushing age tax, if you are 50-64 you pay five times higher than others and undermines our investments in medicare. so i mention this because because i always thought when i sat on that committee day in day out listen to the challenges facing america's families for illnesses that they were suffering, diagnosis that they were frightened by, they wanted us to invest in a cure but that meant access to that cure. or they are trying to say, we are going to help with high risk pools and neutralize about high costs, lower coverage, et one of but one of the --

the centers said that the amendment at hand focuses on high-risk pools that the $8 billion is a pitance and over five years. this is a health care expert at the conservative center. a health care expert at the kaiser family foundation said that the additional $8 billion would not likely be enough to make the high risk pool. and cover costs for only 1%, 1% of the individual market. again, let us protect the investment we are making. but what does that mean to you, the average american if you can't have access to that in a ay that is affordable.

51 years ago dr. king said and i say this all the time. of all the forms of inequality, this is the most shocking because it often results in physical death. so again, this appropriation bill is a way for us to help meet the needs of the american people. this appropriations committee did an excellent job in resolving differences and putting forth the balance of equities as we go forward. but let us not give with one hand and take away with the other as we in the same 24-hour period say, aren't we wonderful, $2 billion based on biomedical research. under the republicans' health care plan would benefit the privileged few at the expense of america's working families.

that's not what we are supposed to be doing here. what we are taking pride in is a great possibility but let's make those possibilities available. and i say that as one who served for many years on the appropriations committee and one of the goals in life was to sit on the labor-h.h.s. committee and to increase the funding of the national institutes of health. but to do it for the purpose of all americans having access. having said that, getting back to this omnibus bill, i'm very proud of the work of nita lowey and ranking members of the subcommittees and the staff and proud of the work also of our distinguished chairman, mr. frelinghuysen and join him in recognizing the work of his subcommittee chairs chairs on all of this. it's a product to be proud of. thank you, mr. frelinghuysen. i urge a yes vote. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i recognize puerto rico.from . this is half of the bring. n this legislation, to personally address the medical cliff in puerto rico. these allocations do not constitute new money for the island. there should be no mistake about the territory's medical program historically has been underfunded, treated differently from the state. resident commissioner gonzalez: congress should understand that that failure to address this issue will provoke a complete collapse of puerto rico's health care delivery stp and make worse the already ongoing mass ex does

from the -- exodus from the island to the mainland states such as florida and north carolina. over 1.14 million united states citizens in puerto rico receive services in medicaid program. , quite aember per year difference. i want to recognize and thank speaker paul ryan, chairman frelinghuysen, chairman cole and members of this house for supporting this bill. thank you, chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. who seeks time? he gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i thank chairman frelinghuysen for his efforts to bring an omnibus to the floor. he came into the chairmanship having to finish f.y. 2017 and

must quickly pivot to f.y. 2018. this is a package that members of both parties can support. it came through bipartisan and bicameral negotiations, offers compromises for both parties. this kind of cooperation best serves the american people. i thank the chairs and ranking members of the subcommittees who did most of the heavy lifting, to produce this bill. and i again thank the committee and personal staff on both sides of the aisle for their hard bjork. it shows we can -- work. it shows we can do our basic job keeping the government open without the threat of a shutdown. and, mr. speaker, i yield the balance of my time to the distinguished chairman, mr. frelinghuysen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for the balance of the minority -- the ranking member's time. and -- mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i -- the speaker pro tempore: and that is four minutes. mr. frelinghuysen: i thank the gentlewoman and my ranking

counterpart, mrs. lowey, for that kindness. and may i associate with her remarks, pay tribute to her leadership, the wonderful work of the staff that she has behind her and that i have behind me. i think the debate and the comments have been positive today. and i yield the balance of my time to myself. the men and women of the greatest military in the world, the united states armed forces, are waiting for our support today. with the passage of this package. this appropriations bill. please don't let them down. pleat support this bill, which -- please support this bill, which provides for or national and economic security, and takes us out from a very damaging and restrictive continuing resolution. today is a vote to keep the government open, to make -- to get back to an appropriations process which is our responsibility under the

constitution a, the power of the purse. let's take it and use it wisely. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 305, the previous question is order. the question is on the motion by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. frelinghuysen. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i ask for a recorded vote. yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman asks for the yeas and nays. the yeas and nays are requests. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes y electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on adopting the motion will be followed by five-minute votes on suspending the rules and passing h.r. 1678 if ordered, agree to get speaker's approval of the journal if ordered. this is a 15-minute vote.

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