and the center cannot hold and these assaults on our united nations. we must reform. there are no easy solutions. even negotiation that is not properly structured to protect the people and sovereignty of ukraine could be the prelude to a wider war. for now, we urge the following urgent steps understanding their limits due to the continued inability of the security council to act decisively. we call on impartial and prompt united nations investigation into the atrocities against the civilians in bucha and other towns in ukraine. this calls for an immediate end of all hostilities to guarantee unfettered access by the investigating teams. we urge -- >> you can watch the rest of this on our website. c-span.org or join us on the c-span now app. as part of our more than 40 year

commitment to live gavel to gavel coverage of congress, we take you to the u.s. house which today is considering legislation on homeland security and reaffirming the u.s. commitsmeno nato. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by chaplain kibben. chap lane -- chaplain kibben: holy god, show us how you have bound yourself to us time and again throughout history and in our own lives. we need yet another reminder of the promises which you have so

graciously given to your people. remind us, too, that you expect of us not just righteous exemplary behavior but accountability and forgiveness. you desire not just our knowledge of scripture and adherence to your law, but you desire that we check and recheck our attitudes. that they remain examples, reflections of your steadfast love for all people. you desire not just that we relish the forgiveness we found in you but that we share that mercy with each and all we meet and that we do so with the same unbounded, uninhibited grace that you have shown us. speak to us louder today, o lord, that we can't help but hear that you have called us into a marvelous relationship with you, that we would then be compelled to share it with one another. show us your will that we can't

help but respond with faithfulness to you and to the needs of the human family with whom we are inextricably bound. we listen, we wait, we pray to you this day by the fulfilled promise found in your name. amen. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 11-a of house resolution 188, the journal of the last day's proceedings is approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne. mr. payne: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. higgins: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. higgins: mr. speaker, restaurants have been hit

particularly hard during the pandemic, taking on increasing costs while facing huge revenue losses. thanks to the american rescue plan, the restaurant revitalization fund provided $28.6 billion for restaurants nationwide and delivered over 85 million dollars to restaurants in my community. still, the demand was greater than the resources made available by congress. with over $17 -- 175,000 eligible restaurants who applied for grants, though the program going entirely unfunded. this week, we have the opportunity to fill that gap, support small businesses and save jobs by passing the restaurant revitalization fund replenishment act. i'm proud to support this bill and encourage my colleagues to do the same. after a long, difficult period of isolation, people are coming together, going back to restaurants, but we need to make these restaurants whole who have lost money based on nothing that they had done.

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. speaker. last week, president biden announced his decision to repeal one of the best tools our nation has to deter illegal immigration, title 42. title 42 is a public health law that authorizes u.s. border patrol agents to promptly send back illegal immigrants if they pose a health risk to americans and are from a country with a communicable disease outbreak. this reckless decision comes as u.s. customs and border patrol said the historic surge is worsening. even worse because of the rollback of this title. it will hit one million illegal crossings since october. last week, customs and border patrol confirmed 350,000 people

entered in the last six months. 300,000. this is the known got toways. -- gotaways. the one with the health issues are the ones with the expulsions that will now be let in. where the concerns for americans' health? we've come off of this covid situation. where is americans' concern in this? it's a crazy policy that's not putting americans first. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. dayne: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute -- mr. payne: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise today to talk about how proud i was to support the marijuana opportunity reinvestment and

expungement act last week. it decriminalizes marijuana and expunges marijuana arrests from the books. marijuana laws have been devastating to minority communities. african and ma lino americans -- latino americans are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses than are white americans. and they receive longer prison sentences for the same crimes. today, minorities are in prison for offenses that are no longer crimes in most states. this bill would give these americans a fresh start. in addition, the bill has an opportunity trust fund to create opportunities for minority marijuana businesses. it is time we pass this bill and end the gross injustice of marijuana laws enforcement in this country.

and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. the civilized world is shocked at the discovery of mass murder by putin in bucha, ukraine. there is an immediate response. the innocent civilians discovered having their hands tied behind their backs, shot in the head, is a clear war criminal. putin must be stopped with immediate military aid. biden is correct to this is part of the worldwide conflict of democracy versus rule of law with autocracy versus rule of gun. an undisputed atrocity is the death of a maier. i have the faith in the russian

people. there is legislation for defecting russian troops, diplomats and duma members. up to $100,000 for any russian military equipment turned over to ukraine. ukraine will achieve victory. god bless ukraine. god bless volodymyr zelenskyy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from minnesota seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. mccollum: mr. speaker, the actions of justice thomas and his wife, virginia, have undermined the constitution. ms. thomas was in direct communication with the trump white house in a conspiracy to undermine the peaceful transfer of power between presidents. justice thomas should recuse himself from cases related to his wife's involvement. yet, he took part in court

rulings and voted to prevent the disclosure of white house communications. justice thomas failed to disclose his wife's nearly 700,000,000 in income from the -- $700,000 in income from the heritage foundation. justice thomas has repeatedly failed to meet his ethical obligations of recusal and disclosure that are expected of a federal judge. the american people entrust members of congress and the supreme court to defend our constitution, our laws, and our democracy. his wife's involvement in the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, justice thomas' failure to recuse himself have made him ethical incompromised ande he's unfit to be a natural arbitrator of justice. justice ams into, you -- thomas, you should resign from the supreme court. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized 1. thompson -- the gentleman is

recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: i rise to recognize gold star spouse day. today we honor the surviving lochd ones of -- loved ones of military service members who died serving our country. this day offers remembrances for the spouses and their families as well as time of recognition for their sacrifices. as an army dad, i have been blessed my son returned home. i am aware this is not the case for all families and we must take the time to remember, a time to respect and time to honor the spouses and their families of our fallen service members. gold star spouse day brings awareness of the sacrifices and grief the spouses and families have faced in the name of our country. mr. speaker, let us all take a moment to remember that our freedom is not free. gold star families have lost a loved one, paid a heavy price all in the name of protecting our freedom and they deserve our gratitude today and every day. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition?

>> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, president biden is planning to lift president trump's successful title 42, a tragic decision that will endanger every american's safety. but recent reporting further exposes the further consequences of president biden's doubling down on his far-left open border agenda. not only will biden welcome in countless new illegal immigrants but biden wants americans to pay to vaccinate them. it gets worse. according to this report, the biden administration is even considering pulling the medical personnel from the departments of veterans administration to assist at the border. taking much-needed medical care away from our very own veterans. mr. moore: i ran for office because of our veterans and because they're not receiving the care they earned. that's why i've asked to serve on the veterans' affairs committee. these reports should outrage every patriotic american, regardless of party, republican

or democrat. we must never prioritize foreign stencil legally entering our country over our very own veteran. i was watching this morning and we see these unaccompanied males coming in by busloads. our administration, this president's administration, will make our veteran care, health care workers and -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. moore: help treat the invading army. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from the -- the gentlewoman from the virgin islands seek recognition? ms. plaskett: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. plaskett: thank you, mr. speaker. today, i would like to congratulate virgin islandser -- virgin islander aliyah, on her win against uconn in the ncaa championship. leading the gamecocks to their second national championship. aliyah was also named the wade trophy winner, a.p. women

college basketball player of the year, naismith defensive player and college player of the year as well as the women's national player of the year. go ahead, aliyah. 30 consecutive double-doubles. her love for basketball was inspired by her sister, nurtured by her mother and father, the sacrifices they have made, and that you have made, aliyah, to be the player that you are, hats off to you. we love you. the virgin islands is rooting for you next year and every year to come. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from arizona seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. lesko: thank you, mr. speaker. we are at a crisis in america. we are at a crisis in arizona. the biden administration and the democrats have done everything in their power to open the

southern border. on day one, president biden stopped funding for the border wall. then, he took away all of the good policies that the trump administration had put in place. and now, he's take away the very last tool that we have to have some kind of semblance of border security at our southern border. he's taking away title 42. i have spoken to both the border patrol council and i have spoken this morning to secretary mayorkas. we are going to see an even bigger flood of illegal immigrants crossing our border. the border is totally out of control. flooding our districts with drugs, flooding our districts with people that have been charged with criminal activity in the past. sex slavery. please, president biden, secure the border now. and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the house will resume proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. payne: mr. speakers i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 6387, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6387. a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002 to establish a school security coordinating council and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne, and the gentleman from texas, mr. pfluger, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey.

mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on this measure. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of my bill, h.r. 6387, the school and daycare protection act. over the years we have seen horrific school shootings from columbine to sandy hook to parkland. as a father of trippletts, i cannot imagine the pain of those who have lost loved ones to school violence. as i look back at my time leading the committee on homeland security subcommittee on emergency preparedness,

response and recovery, i take pride in the work that we did in the school security space. under my leadership, school security was for first time in congress viewed as a homeland security issue. the department of homeland security certainly takes that view too. my bill, the school and daycare protection act, recognizes that there are a diverse range of d.h.s. entities with school and campus security responsibilities and seek to ensure that activities are coordinated. h.r. 6387 establishes a standard council within d.h.s. to coordinate school security activities, plans, policies and requires d.h.s. to report to congress about the council's activities.

additionally, it authorizes d.h.s. to participate in the government-wide schoolsafety.gov clearing house. within d.h.s. there are some incredibly useful school security strategies, tools and research being produced. k-12 school security guide was published. secret service put out an operational guide for preventing targeted school violence and fema maintains a multihazard tool kit to help school officials manage everything from tornadoes to active shooters. h.r. 6387 would help ensure that such d.h.s. school security efforts are coordinated to get education officials actionable tools and support.

a version of this bill passed the house last congress and this congress the committee approved it with strong bipartisan support. with that, i urge my house colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pfluger: i rise today in support of h.r. 6387. the school and daycare protection act. this bill establishes a school security coordinating council within the department of homeland security to ensure the coordination of security plans and policies regarding terrorist threats. importantly, the bill requires consistent reporting to congress on metrics regarding the efficacy of such activities and any engagement within the stakeholder community outside of the federal government.

additionally, it ensures that d.h.s. is involved in federal efforts to maintain and publicize a clearinghouse of resources for schools to assist them in security preparation and planning. the federal government must do all it can to be a resource and offer support to the schools in the face of terrorism. i commend the gentleman from new jersey for his leadership on this important issue and in ensuring security for all schools. and i urge members to join me in supporting h.r. 6387. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. would the gentleman like to reserve his time or yield back? mr. pfluger: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speakers i yield myself -- mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: i want to thank the gentleman for supporting this bill and we know that this is an issue that is of a bipartisan nature. we all want to make sure that

our children are safe in school and between home and school. we all have an interest in getting the best information and resources to school administrators, teachers and parents to protect our children. h.r. 6387 focuses on ensuring that d.h.s. is effectively coordinating internally to help combat violence and other terrorist threats facing schools. consideration of h.r. 6387 is particularly timely given how often schools continue to be targeted. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 6387 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 6387. , as amended.

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 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 on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. payne: mr. speakers i move that the house suspend the rules -- mr. speakers i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5633, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 168. h.r. 5633. a bill to majored the homeland security act of 2002, to echance transparency -- to enhance

transparency regarding reporteds by the inspector general and homeland security and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne, and the gentleman from texas, mr. pfluger, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous materials on this measure. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5633 and i am happy to yield as much time as he may consume to the author of the bill, the chairman of the committee on homeland security, the honorable bennie thompson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman from new jersey yielding me time. mr. speaker, my bill, h.r. 5633,

the department of homeland security office of inspector general transparency act, seeks to provide congress and the public greater insight into the findings of the independent body charged with overseeing the third largest federal department. the d.h.s. office of inspector general has the dual mission of detecting waste, fraud and abuse within the department and promoting economy, efficiency, effectiveness of departmental resources. since the establishment of the department in 2003, congress has looked to the d.h.s. o.i.g. to provide independent fact-based analysis into departmental programs, activities and personnel. historically the d.h.s. o.i.g. has provided critical oversight of the department, including audits of fema, following

hurricane katrina, whistleblower retaliation at the coast guard, and conditions at immigration and customs enforcement detention facilities. troublingly, for the past two years reports regarding substantiated whistle blower retaliation or misconduct by senior d.h.s. officials have been withheld from congress and the public. last year the government accountability office released a report that brought to leipsic and long -- brought to light significant and longstanding weaknesses at the d.h.s. o.i.g. that g.a.o. concluded have impacted the quality and timeliness of the o.i.g.'s work. separately, an independent government watchdog, the project on government oversight, in july, 2021, found that the d.h.s. o.i.g. has repeatedly impeded and delayed ongoing investigations into alleged

improper handling of intelligence and whistleblower retaliation. my bill seeks to ensure that the d.h.s. o.i.g. operates in a more transparent manner with congress and the public. specifically the legislation requires that the d.h.s. o.i.g. when it substantiates allegations of whistleblower retaliation or misconduct by senior department officials provide those reports to congress and publish them on its website. this legislation also requires additional reporting by the d.h.s. o.i.g. in its semiannual report to congress. when enacted, the semiannual report would be required to include a description of every ongoing audit, inspection and evaluation, as well as data on the number and types of complaints and tips that o.i.g. received. finally, h.r. 5633 requires the

inspector general to notify congress if the head of any d.h.s. component or office fails to respond to the d.h.s. o.i.g. request in a timely manner. the d.h.s. office of inspector general's transparency act has bipartisan support and reported out of committee by voice vote. with that, mr. speaker, i urge my house colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pfluger: i rise today in support of h.r. 5633, the department of homeland security inspector general transparency act. an important element to all federal departments and agencies, especially d.h.s., is

the office of the inspector general. and although we all wish there was no waste or fraud or abuse within government, the reality is it does exist. and it is the inspector general's mission to help the department identify and address those issues as much as possible. i'm fully supportive of the critical role that i.g.'s play throughout the federal government, including my own time serving in the military. they're vital to ensuring the accountability and the transparency in each department and agency's activities. and this is especially important in a department like d.h.s., with a mission so vital to the security of our country. d.h.s. is tasked with safeguarding the american people, our homeland and our values against all enemies, foreign and domestic. to do this on a daily basis we must ensure that the men and women of the department are able to focus on their mission and the i.g.'s office helps ensure that this is done with integrity and honor. this bill, introduced by the chairman, requires the d.h.s.

inspector general to submit to congress various reports that until now have not been necessarily provided or available to the public. the american public deserves to know. and the requirements in this bill would help to make the i.g.'s office and its important work more transparent, not only to congress, but also to the american people. i urge members to join me in supporting h.r. 5633 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speakers i have no more speakers -- mr. speaker, i have no more speakers and i am prepared to close after the gentleman closes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: i have no more speakers and i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields his time. excuse me. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, just as a side note here, we've been talking about transparency in this bill and i

think it's important that we do keep in mind that this is something that helps us in a nonpartisan way. regardless of the administration, regardless of quote-unquote who is in power at that time. it is my sincere hope that this particular bill will actually advocate for the mission of d.h.s. and not for a political gain, not for a political outcome. it's been my experience in federal government it's been my experience that a well operated and well oiled machine within the inspector general's office can be that check and that balance. i think at this point in our history in the department of homeland security we face threats that we probably never faced in six or seven decades. and we haven't seen the level and the intensity and magnitude of those threats since before world war ii, in my humble opinion. i believe with this piece of legislation that we can get to a point where the department of homeland security does have that

check and that balance and provides the american public the information that's needed and the transparency that is needed. and whether it's on issues that are cyber, whether it's on issues that are directly targeting our homeland or even on border issues, we do deserve transparency. and i think that's what the american public is asking for. i believe that's what this bill would do. and i urge my colleagues to support it. i have no further speakers on this, so i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. a transparent office of inspector general is a critical piece of a functional and effective department of homeland security. h.r. 5633 seeks to make the d.h.s. o.i.g. more transparent by requiring additional public

reporting by the d.h.s. o.i.g. so that the public and congress know how their tax dollars are spent and can hold the d.h.s. secretary and other leaders within the department accountable for wrongdoings by the agency or its personnel. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5633, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. payne: mr. speaker, i ask that the house suspend the rules

and pass the bill h.r. 1540, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1540, a bill to provide for joint reports by relevant federal agencies to congress regarding incidents of terrorism, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and -- mr. payne, and the gentleman from texas, mr. pfluger, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous materials on this measure. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume p i yield myself such time as i may consume. -- mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: i rise in support of h.r. 1540, the report act. in december of 2019, a terrorist attack in san bernardino,

california, left 14 people dead and 22 wounded. local law enforcement and first responders were heroes that day, saving lives just as they do every day across this nation. when terrorists strike our communities, americans understandably have questions, and they look to us, their elected representatives, for answers. our constituents want to know whether there were warnings or indications of a potential attack, whether anything could have been done to prevent it and what can be done to thwart future attacks. h.r. 1540, the report act, authored by congressman pete aguilar, seeks to ensure that members of congress can be more responsive to their constituents by requiring better

communication by the federal agencies with congress following. specifically, the bill would require the secretary of homeland security, in coordination with the attorney general and the f.b.i. director, to submit to congress an unclassified report within one year of completing a terrorist -- terrorism investigation. the report, which may include classified annex, must include a statement of facts regarding the attack, information on any homeland or national security gaps that could be addressed to prevent future attacks, and any recommendations for measures, including changes in the law, that would improve homeland or national security. this is vital information -- this vital information needs to

be shared by the executive branch with the legislative branch to support our terrorism response and prevention efforts. h.r. 1540 is a commonsense measure, and i urge my colleagues to support it, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pfluger: i rise in support of h.r. 1540, the reporting efficiently to proper officials in response to terrorism, or the report act. too many times when a terrorism incident occurs within the united states, consistent and accurate information is not communicated to congress. many of us, especially from texas, experienced this firsthand recently when a british national malik took hostages at the beth israel

congregation in colleyville, texas. and not only were the initial facts and circumstances unclear, but many questions remain unclear regarding his travel and admission into the united states. this is completely unacceptable. not only should congress have all of the necessary information regarding terrorist attacks and other terrorism incidents, but the american people deserve to know what happened and how our government is responding. the report act requires the d.h.s. secretary, the attorney general, the f.b.i. director, and the director of the national counterterrorism center to submit an unclassified report to congress regarding any incident of terrorism that occurs in the united states. the report must include the following -- a statement of facts, any gaps in our homeland or national security that could be addressed to prevent future acts of terrorism, and recommendations for additional measures or legislative issues to improve homeland or national

security and prevent future acts of terrorism. i commend my colleagues, and specifically my colleague from california, for bringing this legislation before the homeland security committee and to the floor today. i urge members to join me in supporting h.r. 1540, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i am pleased to yield five minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. aguilar, the author of this commonsense legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. aguilar: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to thank my colleague from new jersey for yielding some time. i rise in support of my bill, h.r. 1540, the report act. i first introduced the bill, as my colleague mentioned, after the 2015 attack in san bernardino, a community that i've been proud to represent. this attack tragically took the lives of 14 people and wounded 22. if not were the work for our

first responders, more innocent lives would have been lost that day. the report act would ensure that lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are better prepared to detect, prevent, and respond to future incidents of terrorism. and if enacted, the secretary of security -- homeland security, in coordination with the f.b.i. and the secretary would submit an act to -- a report to congress whenever an incident occurs. sharing their findings with congress, we as representatives of our local communities can act on the recommendations for changes in practices or law to prevent attacks and to pretekt all communities. i appreciate my -- protect all communities. i appreciate my colleague from texas talking about other incidents and we know that incidents of mass violence continue to happen across our country, including the moment of silence that we had on the floor last evening. if we can work together to prevent one such incident from

taking place, mr. speaker, if both parties can unite to save one innocent life, this legislation will have been a success. i appreciate the homeland committee staff for working to get this done and my colleague from texas and my colleague from new jersey for leading this effort. i ask my colleagues for an aye vote and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, i think this bill really strikes at the heart of what the constitution says. we are a co-equal branch of government. and the check and the balance on the executive branch, the executive agencies is very important. we are elected and we have a responsibility to go to our districts to report back about incidents that are affecting our country negatively. and it's heartbreaking to hear any sort of terrorist attack, any sort of incident that is

aimed at undermining our national security. that's why this committee was formed in the wake of 9/11. it's the purpose of our committee is to make sure that we have the ability to give the tools to those that are carrying out these missions. and whether they are customs and border protection, whether the they're t.s.a. agents or a, we deserve -- or anybody, we deserve to report back. so i commend my colleague for bringing this up. and i hope -- it is my sincere hope, similar to the other bills that we've discussed, that we can, as a co-equal branch of government, to offer that check and that balance on the executive branch regardless of who is in power, regardless of the administration. and to provide the necessary tools to continue to protect our country and all americans. with that, mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i urge members to support this

bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, our nation faces a complex and evolving terrorism threat landscape. we all celebrate the heroic first responders who save lives when an attack occurs, but the american people also expect congress to respond to attacks and prevent future ones. the report act is a commonsense bill that would ensure congress has the information necessary to do just that. the report act received bipartisan support during the committee consideration, and an earlier version of the bill passed the house in the 115th congress by voice vote. i urge my colleagues to support

h.r. 1540, the report act, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields. the question is suspend the rules and pass will the house suspend the rules -- the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. payne: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4209, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4209, a bill to support remediation of illicit cross-border trunls, and for other purposes. -- tunnels, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne, and the gentleman from texas, mr. pfluger, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all

members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous materials on this measure. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may con consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 4209, the d.h.s. illicit border tunnel defense act. since 1990, more than 200 cross-border tunnels built by smugglers and transitional criminal organizations have done smuggling of illicit drugs, humans, weapons, and money have been discovered along the u.s. border with mexico.

the border tunnel prevention act of 2012, signed into law by president obama, enhanced the criminal penalties for unauthorized construction or financing or use of a tunnel or subterrainian passageway between the u.s. and another country. yet, since that time, transitional criminal organizations, or t.c.o.'s, continue to construct illicit cross-border tunnels in the hopes of circumventing detection by border authorities. . the tunnels are mainly used to traffic narcotics, such as haren, fentanyl and meth and facilitate the illicit movement of weapons, contraband and currency.

introduced by congressman pfluger, h.r. 4209 seeks to build upon existing law to enhance customs and border protection's capacity to detect and remediate illicit cross-border tunnels. in 2013c.b.p. established a tunnel program management office to develop and acquire technology to detect tunnels. with the funding and technological advances c.p.b. has significantly increased its ability to detect the existence of tunnels. these developments have allowed the agency to progress from manual methods of detection such as human observation or traffic patterns and routine patrol operations to the use of sensors

to detect, classify and localize subtrainian activity. to help the tunnel program management office become more effective, h.r. 4209 provides dedicated funding and requires the development and implementation of a comprehensive and strategic approach to tunnel threats. in addition to authorizing $1 million annually to purchase specialized material to seal the tunnels, the bill directs d.h.s. to issue a strategic plan that addresses resource needs, including technology and staffing needs to identify, assess and remediate illicit tunnels. the bill also requires a submission of a report to congress on activities carried

out to implement the strategy. this legislation is very timely. just as technology that allows our government to detect the existence of these illicit tunnels has improved, so has the technology used by transitional criminal organizations to construct them. in january, 2020, c.p.b. discovered the longest smuggling tunnel ever found on the u.s.-mexico border. the tunnel stretched for more than 4,000 feet and was equipped with a makeshift elevator, drainage and air ventilation and high voltage electrical cables. the consequences of not detecting and shutting down these illicit cross-border tunnels stretch far beyond our border communities. the impact of narcotics and weapons making their way into

american communities can be devastating. and with that i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4209 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pfluger: i rise today in strong support of h.r. 4209, my bill, the d.h.s. illicit cross-border tunnel defense act. i'd like to thank my colleague from new jersey for his support. it's important to say that this is one step, it's not the solution for all the problems that we face at our southern border but it is one important piece. since president biden took office in january of 2021, u.s. customs and border protection has had over 2.2 million migrant encounters along the southwest border. due to the sheer numbers of my grants that are flooding across the border, c.b.p. earn pelosi

-- personnel, including border patrol agents, are often diverted from their essential jobs, their daily task, to process migrants, most of whom krols the border illegal -- cross the border illegally between the ports of entry. with border patrol agents occupied with other tailbackses -- tasks and not patrolling the border, the sceurlt of our southwest border and therefore the security of our nation has been crippled while cartels take full advantage. in addition to the record numbers of migrant encounters, c.b.p. has been interdicting growing quantities of illegal narcotics. especially m methamphetamine, fentanyl and other fentanyl-laced drugs across the border. for the first time the united states has reached a tragic record, an unfortunate number of over 100,000 drug overdose deaths in one-year period. that's over 100,000 overdose death it's directly related to fentanyl in this -- deaths directly related to fentanyl in this past year. additionally, according to the

c.d.c., fentanyl is now the leading cause of death of americans aged 18 to 45. in one of the communities that i represent, odessa, texas, law enforcement officials have reported 22 febt nell overdoses -- fentanyl overdoses in just 90 days. parents nationwide are scared for their kids. and there's good reason for that fear. fentanyl-related deaths nearly doubled the death rates from covid-19 from car accidents, from cancer and even suicide. we need a plan, a strategy, and a cornerstone of this strategy must be to stop the supply of drugs that are flowing into our country. mexico is now the primary source of fentanyl and synthetic opioids entering the united states. and of course smuggling those drugs across the border comes with the risk of packages being seized by our border and law enforcement agencies. to minimize this risk in 1989 the sinaloa cartel built their first ever narco tunnel, as has

been heard this morning on this house floor. back then narco tunnels were short, they were unsophisticated, but over time the cartels have learned and perfected these tunnels. they're longer, more sophisticated, they come with lights, with ventilation systems, with rail carts. and they facilitate the movement of drugs and other illicit commodities, including the trafficking of people, bulk cash and weapons. since 1990, law enforcement officials have discovered more than 230 of these cross-border tunnels. and there are likely more tunnels that exist between mexico and the united states that are yet undiscovered. that's the heart of this bill. c.b.p.'s tunnel technology program has matured over the years, and under the direction of u.s. border patrol, this program has been testing and acquiring technologies that do three essential things. predict tunnel locations, detect and project the paths of the tunnels, and confirm a tunnel's existence and location through

mapping and measurements. as c.b.p. develops enhanced capabilities that will do the detection of the tunnels, drug cartels have become more emboldened and they are creating more elaborate and harder to detect tunnel systems. without this critical legislation, c.b.p. truly lax the ability to scale -- lacks the ability to scale their tunnel interdallas mavericks and remediation -- interdiction and remediation acts. this addresses this issue by requiring c.b.p. to develop a countertunnel operations plan that would address risk-based criteria for remediating illicit tunnels. and it would also look at the processes for sharing information on these tunnels and key indicators of the construction to educate field personnel and require an assessment of technology and personnel needs. additionally this legislation would authorize funding for c.b.p. to counter tunnel interdallas mavericks and remediation operation --

interdiction and remediation operations. with a surge of activity, c.b.p. needs resources to combat these tunnels in order to secure our homeland and protect our national security. passage of this legislation will disrupt and dismantle cartel smuggling operations, safeguarding american communities from the illegal narcotics problems that we see is completely devastating our country, including my home state of texas. border security is national security. and i'd like to thank chairman thompson, ranking member katko, for bringing this important legislation to the floor today. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my bill, h.r. 4209, and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i ask -- i yield five minutes to the distinguished ja gentlelaid -- the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentleman from new jersey

for his consistent leadership as he serves as chair and ranking member of a number of subcommittees on homeland security. he has been not only an effective manager here on the floor, but he's been a very effective member and an effective leader on so many issues. i rise to support h.r. 4209 from my colleague and friend from texas, representative pfluger. after years of service on the homeland security committee and any number of times going to the border, i'd like to first describe and acknowledge that the southern border is many things. it is a lifeline to desperate people who are fleeing horrible, violent situations that include the decapitating of their sons and daughters, their husbands and even wives. the violence of some of the oppress ofive states and -- oppressive states in central and

south america where young boys are recruited right out of their homes for gangs, gang warfare. and those families are intimidated and frightened if they do not give their boys to these major gangs and cartels. we've had any number of series of the flow of massive influx of my grants from the region. many may come out of desperation for economic reasons. but many come with credible fear. we expect that that may even occur as early as the next couple of months. i implore my colleagues to respond to that desperation in a unified, committed and dedicated way of democrats and republicans reminding themselves that the statute of liberty -- statue of liberty may be in the new york shore but people view this place as a refuge. as a resident of houston, i can attest to the fact that ukrainians, afghans, africans,

haitians and, yes, those from south and central america, and as far away as southeast asia, are now congregating at the southern border. i too was in del rio when the massive movement of human beings flowed for desperate reasons. but this cross-border tunnel defense act is what we need as it relates to the known cartels and persons who are desperate to do evil and to bring the goods that will destroy our young and others who are addicted into the united states. this is the way and they have proudly said that we build tunnels with lights, air conditioning and whatever manner to make them palatable, to be able to block, if you will, our law enforcement from achieving their goals. as the first member of congress to bring a human trafficking hearing to houston that is known as the epicenter of human

trafficking, this is a vital source or legislation to stop the scourge of human trafficking. bringing young children and young women. we already know at the ukrainian borders in different countries, that there is trafficking of young kids who are not killed by putin, that they are trafficking children and women in that crisis situation. they have no moral compass and so this bill that strengthens d.h.s.' effort -- d.h.s.' effort to remediate illicit cross-border tunnels built and utilized by transnational criminal organizations and smugglers on the southwest boarder is crucial. and i particularly support the secretary's direction to issue a strategic plan that addresses resource needs, including technology and staffing needs. and what is needed is the million dollars in funding for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, to acquire material to remediate illicit cross-border tunnels. i have said that they have

regular, good living conditions in these tunnels because they're soaks tensive. but this material -- so extensive. but this material includes specialized concrete to efficiently fill tunnels with fewer insertion points. we need to combine our efforts as we deal with the scourge of the violent cartels, bloody, guns, intimidating people and, of course, bringing in illegal entities and some that are human life into the united states. the southern border is quite different from the northern border. and we must provide the technology for those who are there. but as i make that point, mr. speaker, i do believe as well that we are never going to get anywhere as americans, we are never going to win in the fight on immigration, on migration, or refugees, if we continue to stand in our individual corners. we have to face it. people view this as a beacon of light. you can try to snuff that out, you can try to turn the light off, you can try to tell them to

go back, but they are entrenched with legacy, history, passed down that this is the place to seek opportunity and refuge. so i support the legislation. i thank the gentleman from texas for his hard work. and i believe this is an important element to a bipartisan commitment to securing our borders in the right way and i thank him and i thank the gentleman from new jersey, the chairman and ranking member of this full committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: with that i yield. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield two minutes to my good friend, the gentlelady from washington, ms. herrera beutler. i'll make that three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman washington is recognized. miss heferlt:thank you -- ms. herrera beutler: thank you, congressman pflugerer forks your leadership on this issue. not just this legislation but thish issue as a whole.

securing our border is so important for americans and really for security in the rest of the world. it's not a extreme view to make sure that we have control for the safety and security of our people of our borders. thank you for your leadership here. i'm very proud to lend my support to this legislation. i recently met with a joint narcotics enforcement keith in southwest washington where i represent. it's a community bisected by west coast largest freeway, i-5. that runs from mexico to canada. and these officers reported confiscating hundreds of thousands of pills laced with fentanyl. not to mention record amounts of other illicit drugs. they told me about 95% of the drugs that they confiscated come via mexico. and the amount that they confiscate is just a tiny

fraction of the flood of drugs that are never seized by law enforcement. that means what's happening on our borders has a direct and devastating impact on the lives of those in southwest washington and across our nation. a big factor in the success of these drug cartels? underground illegal tunnels along the southern border. last year u.s. officials found a 183-foot long subterrainian tunnel near the border used by drug traffickers to conduct illegal activities completely undetected by border patrol. the bill i helped advance for the house consideration today would help the border patrol shut down these illegal underground tunnels, used by cartels, to smuggle drugs and conduct human trafficking underneath our southern border. this is a commonsense and very necessary step to slow the trafficking of drugs and human beings which is being felt not just along the border states, but in southwest washington

state and across this country. i urge passage of this bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: i have no more speakers. i'm prepared to close. after the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. it's my pleasure and honor to recognize for three minutes the ranking member of the committee on homeland security and my good friend, mr. john katko from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized mr. katko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of the homeland security legislation being considered on the floor today. specifically i would like to acknowledge the two republican-led bills. first, h.r. 4209, the d.h.s. illicit cross border tunnel defense act, sponsored by my good friend and colleague, representative pfluger.

this important piece of legislation is critical to addressing the rampant challenge of illicit cross border tunnels used by cartels to traffic people, drugs, and other comos its into the united states. make no mistake, we must take action to address the critical crisis levels of fentanyl flowing into our communities. so far this year customs and border patrol has seized enough fentanyl to kill 2.4 billion people. let me say that gefnlt they have seized enough fentanyl to kill 2.4 billion people. or the entire u.s. population seven times over. enabling frontline law enforcement to detect and mitigate the use of these tunnels by passing this legislation is an important step we can take to secure the border. i would also like to thank my other good friend, the gentleman from michigan, mr. myer, who leads -- mr. meijer, who leads the subcommittee on oversight and management accountability,

to h.r. 4476, the d.h.s. trade and and economic security council act. the first became apparent in the early days of the pandemic when the united states struggled to get basic things as personal protective equipment. industries struggle to meet demand due to supply chain issues. they are so large and profound they very much impact our national security. this measure codifies two recommendations made by the homeland security advisory council on how we can strengthen our nation's economic security, while at the same time combating the growing influence of china on the united states' economy. i commend my colleague, representative meijer, for introducing this bill and i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation. as covid-19 has galvanized bipartisan concerns about the nation's economic security, now is the time to act. i urge my colleagues to support both of these important pieces of legislation. i yield back the balance of my

time. mr. pfluger: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized mr. pfluger: mr. speaker, i think it's important to note here that we are not going to declare victory. there is celebrations will be minimal should this bill pass. i urge my colleagues to vote aye. i appreciate the support of the gentleman from new jersey, the chairman, and the ranking member. this is step one out of 100 different steps. as somebody with military background that was charged with protecting airspace, defensive counter air, the border is very similar. it's layered. it's not just one piece that really is the magic solution. it's many different approaches that need to be considered. this is one. like i said out of hundreds of steps that need to be accomplished to prevent the fentanyl we just heard that

could kill every american multiple times. to prevent the rest of the drugs that are flowing into our country. to prevent the trafficking and the crime and the overwhelming of our local communities. as i mentioned in odessa, texas, recently we uncovered the fact that in 90 days we had almost 20 overdose from fentanyl. it's a layered defense that's required. many more steps need to be taken. i am proud to sponsor this legislation. to continue to push for that defense and that architecture to be in place. we need strength. we need deterrence. resolve. and most importantly we need the political will in a nonpartisan way to bring america back together on the committee of homeland security to secure the safety of every single american. i've got no further speakers on this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: let me just commend the gentleman from texas for this well thought out legislation. the challenge of ending the scourge of drugs in our communities is a complex as there are many ways these poisons come into our communities. h.r. 4209 targets illicit cross border tunnels. by joining me in supporting this legislation today, you can help c.b.p. continue to carry out its detection and remediation program in a strategic and commonsense way. h.r. 4209 seeks to make smart and bipartisan investments in our nation's border security. and for that reason i urge my

colleagues to support h.r. 4209. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4209, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 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 seek recognition? mr. payne: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4476 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 172, h.r. 4476, a bill to establish the department of homeland security, d.h.s., trade and economic security council, and the position of assistant secretary for trade and economic security within the department of homeland security, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the

gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne, and the gentleman from texas, mr. pfluger, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous materials on this measure. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: thank you. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, today i rise to urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4476, the d.h.s. trade and economic security council act of 2021. one of the department of homeland security's core missions is to preserve and uphold the nation's prosperity and economic security. however, in 2020 d.h.s. completed an economic security

assessment that found that covid-19, quote, laid bare some growing gaps in the u.s. economy, particularly around manufacturing and supply chains for tangible goods, unquote. to ensure the u.s. has a secure, resilient, and prosperous economy the assessment concluded supply chain gaps that could be exploited by adversaries should be mitigated. h.r. 4476 seeks to help minimize such vulnerabilities and enhance economic security efforts at d.h.s. by codifying two existing entities within the department. one, the d.h.s. trade and economic security council. and two, the position of assistant secretary for trade and economic security.

h.r. 4476 specifies that the mission of the council composed of members across the department is to assist the d.h.s. secretary with identifying risks to trade and economic security, setting priorities for the nation's trade and economic security and proposing changes to enhance economic security. additionally, h.r. 4476 outlines the assistant secretary for trade and economic security's responsibilities would perform, including supply chain activities and enhancements. h.r. 4476 will help enhance the reliability of our domestic supply of essential goods to secure our economy. mr. speaker, i request unanimous

consent that an exchange of letters between the chairman of the committees on energy and commerce and homeland security be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: with that i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pfluger: i rise today in strong support of h.r. 4476, the d.h.s. trade and economic security council act. the past few years have been incredibly difficult for americans across the country. with covid-19 pandemic, the supply chain crisis, record inflation, and many others. these challenges have shown us the importance of our economic security and the impact that our economy can have on both our homeland and national security. and that of our partners and allies. our reliance on foreign products and manufacturing from personal protective equipment like mask and gloves to key technology

components like computer chips have had drastic impacts on this country over the past few years. while there is ongoing work within the federal government with regard to trade, supply chain, and economic security, it is clear that we still must do more. the department of homeland security has a unique position within our government to safeguard the homeland and the american people. this is no longer only limited to over acts of terrorism as we have talked about today, but the security and stability of our economy is critical to that of our national security. h.r. 4476 addresses this by codifying the d.h.s. trade and economic security council as well as the d.h.s. assistant secretary of trade and economic security. this will ensure better preparedness of u.s. supply chains in the face of future pekdz, disasters, and emergencies. i commend my friend from economy eco -- michigan for hisleadersh. to lean into this role, strengthen our economic

security. i also urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4476. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i have no more speakers. i'm prepared to close after the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. pfluger: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield five minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from michigan, and the leader of this bill, mr. party meijer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. meijer: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise mr. meijer: thank you. i rise in strong support of h.r. 4476, the d.h.s. trade and economic security council act. the importance of our nation's economic security cannot be overstated. for our country, economic security means peace and stability. it means the ability to be entrepreneurs and to freely produce and consume goods and services. for each of us as individuals it means a secure livelihood, safe communities for our children to grow up in, and opportunities to build new institutions and

contribute to society. the level of economic security that we enjoy depends largely on the flow of goods, services and information across our borders. over the past few years, we have seen this flow interrupted significantly. our supply chains were challenged and at times overwhelmed. unfortunately these challenges are likely to increase and continue because of the dependencies we have built on hostile nations, including our overwhelming trade with china. vladimir putin's unprovoked invasion of ukraine is another reminder of the global dependency on russian energy production and the devastating national security consequences of being economically dependent on our adversaries. the threats to our economic security are numerous and growing and cannot be overstated. the peace and prosperity of our country is at risk. we saw the first inklings of this threat at the start of the covid-19 pandemic when the u.s. could not find enough personal protective equipment fors i hot

-- for its hospitals and medical providers and china threatened our security. by imposing export restrictions on masks and ventilator components, preventing u.s. companies from getting the deliveries they needed from their own subsidiaries. this was just the tip of the iceberg. because we know that china is working hard to expand its global economic reach in a variety of ways. a report by the d.h.s. homeland security advisory council correctly stated that d.h.s. has no choice but to play a larger role in economic security issues. it is charged with preparing for all manner of crises, from major hurricanes to terrorist attacks. the report also highlighted the threat that china poses and it's stated that these new long-term threats are economic and the new weapons are trade deals, technological innovation and critical supply chain dependencies. the u.s.-china strategic competition is increasingly driven by who controls the underlying systems and the rules by which we advance our economic interests. we cannot allow ourselves to be

behind this curve. in the next national or global disaster, we need to get ahead of it. to that end, the report made two recommendations on how the department can combat china's influence while also contributing to our economic security. first, it concluded that to keep the civilian side of our economy functioning in a time of crisis, congress should institutionalize a politically appointed official to conduct day to day policy coordination with who resides in the office of strategy, policy and plans. this bill codifies such an assistant secretary position in that office. second, the report recommended that d.h.s. institutionalize a council that would identify concentrated economic risks, set priorities and coordinate enterprise-wide actions on economic security matters. this bill follows that recommendation by establishing the d.h.s. trade and economic security council while also defining its roles and responsibilities. codifying these important facets of the department is a critical step to ensure our economic security.

and the work that this council and the assistant secretary will do is critically important to the nation's response in resilience to the next unforeseen global crisis. it's crucial that d.h.s. lean into its unique position as the only executive agency that deals with both the national security and economic prosperity of the nation. and lead the united states government as the preeminent economic security agency in the decades to come. i am proud to have led this important and timely effort and would like to thank my friend and colleague, the ranking member, mr. katko, for being an original co-sponsor and also thank representative luria, delgado and slotkin in particular for reaching across the aisle. economic security is truly homeland security. i urge my colleagues to support this important bill. thank you and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. mr. pfluger: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i'd like urge to members to vote on this bill. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is

recognized. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself the balance of the time. mr. speaker, the covid-19 pandemic disrupted america's economic security and exposed supply chain vulnerabilities. as a proud new jerseyan, i would like to acknowledge the yeoman's work of the port of new york and new jersey, the largest container port on the east coast, has done during the pandemic to meet the demands of the growth in ecommerce and move cargo into our communities in a timely way. as our economy continues to recover, h.r. 4476 will ensure that d.h.s. is well positioned to proactively address potential threats and vulnerabilities that could be exploited by

adversaries and exacerbated. i thank my colleagues on the homeland security committee for unanimously supporting h.r. 4476 and i urge all of my colleagues to do the same. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4476, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, -- for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. gohmert: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 3-s of house resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings are postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5689, as amended. the clerk: h.r. 4689. a bill -- 4689. a bill to help build capacity and fund risk reducing, cost effective mitigation projects for eligibility state, local,

tribal and territorial governments and certain private nonprofit organizations and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio, and the gentleman from missouri, mr. graves, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may are five -- may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 5689, as amend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. defazio: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5689, the resilient america act. this bill reflects a bipartisan agreement that will significantly enhance u.s. mitigation and resilience efforts. federal policy that focuses on investment in mitigation and bolstering resyl sill yens is base -- resilience is basic good governance and lessens the impacts of future disasters.

for years studies have demonstrated that taxpayers save up to $11 for every single $1 invested in mitigation before a disaster strikes. there is no better investment. this legislation builds on existing mitigation efforts, it will make our nation more resilient. first this legislation increases the amount of mitigation fut funding fema may make available to states through the predisaster mitigation program known as brick, and makes nonprofits eligible recipients of these funds. second, it expands the kinds of projects eligible for mitigation assistance through the hazard mitigation grant program. this includes enhancing the resilience of utilities to risk from wildfire, which will be of great benefit in the western states. third, this legislation sets aside funds for the implementation and enforcement of the latest building codes and standards, building codes make our buildings safer, more resilient, proper building codes

that account for climate change can mean the difference between the save of a family's home and total loss during a disaster. i strongly support efforts to prepare buildings for actual hazard risk and climate change with updated codes. lastly, this legislation creates a pilot program to fund resilience projects at private homes. often homeowners cannot implement recommended mitigation efforts such as creating defensible spending to protect against wild fierks removing overhanging branches to remove the risk of damage from severe storms, because they're too expensive this. pilot program would create the first federal grant program that allows homeowners to proactively take mitigation measures into their own hands. i'm confident this will make families and their homes more resilient and, again, in the end, save the taxpayers money. representing a district that has been impacted by catastrophic

wildfires, particularly in 2020, has made me painfully aware of the importance of the provisions within this legislation. i wish that this bill and the mitigation investments it authorizes could have been enacted prior to the 2020 fires it. may have saved some of my constituents from the trauma of losing their homes. but i want to thank ranging member graves and titus and webster for their support and working with us on this legislation and urge my colleagues on both sides to join us in and support the resilient america act and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to co-sponsor h.r. 5689, the resilient america act, along with chairman defazio, subcommittee chairman titus and subcommittee ranking member webster. this bill's going to strengthen

our support for communities and individuals mitigating disasters and we know that every dollar invested up front in mitigation, $11 are saved in damages from a disaster. one way we lower the cost of future disasters is investing up front in mitigation. this bill builds on the bipartisan work that we did on mitigation and the disaster discovery reform active 2018. ten sures mitigation funds are spent and targeted in ways to support efforts by communities and homeowners to save lives and to reduce damages. in my district, my constituents regularly experience flooding that not only causes damage to homes and businesses, but disrupts lives and displaces people and, sadly, the time it takes to recover and receive assistance is far too long. i'm glad to see more being done to make commonsense investments on the front end through mitigation projects, which will

save taxpayers money. even more importantly it can help save lives. this bill also has the support of several groups, including the national association of homebuilders, and, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter of support from the national association of homebuilders. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i do again want to thank chairman defazio for working with us on this bill as we have all seen the effects of disasters in our district and across america and i would urge support of this bipartisan legislation and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to enter into the congressional record two letters of support for h.r. 5689. one from the build strong coalition and one from the u.s. chamber of commerce. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i yield such time as she may consume to the chair of the subcommittee, ms. titus from

nevada. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized. ms. titus: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. i just stand to add my voice to the bipartisan chorus of support for this bill. including our chairman of transportation and infrastructure, mr. defazio, ranking member mr. graves, and the ranking member of my subcommittee, mr. webster. all for leading on this bill and just working so hard to bring relief to not only our communities, but individuals who are hit by natural disasters and other calamities like we saw during covid. creating a federal policy that supports projects focused on mitigating risk and bolstering resilience is good government. there's no two ways about it. this legislation features a number of key provisions that will make our nation more resilient. one, it increases state funding for predisaster mitigation. an ounce of prevention is worth

a pound of cure. it expands assistance for western states like nevada that are at the risk of wildfires, which we see coming more often, lasting longer and being more intense. it also reserves funds to implement and enforce the latest building codes and standards, so when we do build back, we build back better, not to the status quo. and it empowers families to --quo. it empowers families to take mitigation measures in their own hands because they may know best what they need there at home. i strongly support this legislation. we must wake up to the realities of climate change. and the increasing intensity and cost of the natural disasters that it causes. this will help to make our nation more resilient and i ask my colleagues to support it. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield five minutes to the gentleman from

louisiana, the ranking member of the aviation subcommittee, mr. graves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today we spend an average of $100 billion a year responding to disasters. $100 billion. this is a number that we can't afford to continue responding, continue reacting to disasters. the national institutes of building standards have done all sorts of analysis looking at the efficacy of making investments on the front end. on the front end. mr. speaker, we are not in a situation where as in the chairman's case, we are having to go into oregon or washington or california or other states out west and pick up the pieces of these communities destroyed by forest fires. we don't have to go to these communities that have been impacted by severe winter storms, communities living along rivers that have been inundated by floods. or communities on the southern coast, the gulf coast, or east

coast that have been pummeled by hurricanes such as our home state of louisiana with just in recent years hurricanes laura, delta, zeta, ida. some of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfale united states. for every $1 you invest in natural mitigation solutions, you get up to $13 in savings. by adopting more resilient building standards, building codes you get up to $11 in savings. let me say it again, mr. speaker. we can't afford to keep doing this. $100 billion a year. as ranking member graves note add few minutes ago, back in 2018 we worked on a boart basis to actually enact the brick program. to really take the predisaster mitigation program and put it on steroids. this based on the incredible popularity of the program, the progress that's been made, this legislation helps to advance it even further by increasing the funds that are available, most

importantly, by eating into that $100 billion we are spending in taxpayer funds every year responding to disasters. reducing that cost and most importantly, mr. speaker, the most important thing is the actual impact on the ground. those communities out west dealing with forest fires, helping to stop, prevent, contain those forest fryers. those communities that are experiencing devastation from winter storms, helping to protect and make them more resilient. communities that are getting repetitive floods, making sure those communities can withstand those floods. and those communities that we represent in south louisiana that have had hurricane after hurricane that are truly challenging the existence, livelihood of those communities. helping to make sure they can withstand, they can withstand these storms and continue to live life and enjoy life in coastal communities like south louisiana. lastly, mr. speaker, i want to thank chairwoman titus and chairman defazio, ranking member

graves, and ranking member webster. we were able to include two amendments in here, number one, we worked with congressman dunn on very important. right now fema takes so long to reimburse communities in the aftermath after disaster, in many cases our parishes, counties, and states have to take out loans. there is an amendment added that mandates that fema pay trt cost of the loan. if they are going to take forever to reimburse, they can cover the loan costs, interest cost on the loan. and the second one is, a government efficiency provision. right now the core of engineers has the most arduous process in the federal government for developing projects, including cost to benefit ratios, environmental analysis, technical feasibility yet under current law core of engineer projects are prohibited from receiving funds under the brick program or p.d.m. this fixes it. if that's the best solution, if it's the greatest cost savings, if it's the best efficiency of the dollar, my goodness, we shouldn't be stopping it. we should be incentivizing it.

i want to thank all the folks that working to g together on this legislation. i look forward to this enactment. urge adoption, yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized mr. defazio: i reserve. i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california virginia tech mr. lamalfa: thank you. i appreciate ranking member graves for the time on this. as well as the bipartisan effort with chairman key faz -- chairman defazio and everybody on this important legislation. the resilient america act is like the old adage a stitch in time saves nine. when you can spend dollars up front, mitigating, such as this bill moves to do, to make a larger pool of money veilable under fema to do so, it just saves a lot of extra pain and suffering. mr. graves, garret graves,

talked about the $100 billion. year in, year out we are spending on disaster relief. it's good we do so. but we can nip a lot of this in the bud by applying this type of thinking towards all times of possible disasters. my home district, last year, the dixie fire, right at a million acres. the campfire before that hit the town of paradise. you heard about that in the news. 85 people lost their lives. destroyed 90% of the town. if we can get ahead of the curve. whatever is applicable. prework. hardening power lines. having buildings that can be hardened with it right materials for the siding, roofs. the mitigation we need to do in touristed areas. whatever is applicable, the more we did -- can do the better we are off. we also look at flood situations. i have that, too, with the sacramento river and feather river. as well as lesser areas, too.

instead of fixing a levee on new year's eve in the middle of the night on soggy levees, doing that work ahefd time. upgrading them. makes it safer for the workers, safer for the community, and much less expensive. so this is a great success for us in this time, sometimes difficulty here in congress to have a legislation like this with strong bipartisan support that can help everybody. i'm proud of the work this committee has been able to do. i thank you for the time. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm prepared to close. at this time i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. in closing, the resilient act, resilient america act, it does support the communities by investing in premitigation

efforts. these efforts are going to save lives. it's going to save taxpayers dollars by lowering costs of future disasters. it's going to be -- do so many things w that, mr. speaker, i -- things. with that, mr. speaker, i urge support of this piece of legislation. again i want to thank the chairman for working with us on this. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri yields back. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized mr. defazio: we just heard very telling testimony from representative graves from louisiana about the issues with the frequent problems they have had with hurricanes down there. and then the gentleman from california talking about wildfires, which become more and more intense and widespread and persistent in the west.

the fact that on both sides of the aisle i think almost any member who has had a disaster, natural disaster in their district, can attest to the fact that if his or her community had been better prepared, if they had taken steps toward resilience. if the federal government had given them that guidance and perhaps some funding incentives to put in place those mitigation measures, that lives would have been saved. property would have been saved. and ultimately the federal taxpayers would save a lot of money. so this legislation has tremendous merit. and i would urge my colleagues support it unanimously. although we'll have someone on that side of the aisle who will call for a vote even though they might even vote for it. and then hopefully the senate in

its total dysfunction will look favorably upon this legislation. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5689 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, on this i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 3-s of house resolution 8. naind yaind. prayed -- prayed -- pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 of, further proceedings are postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? mr. defazio: i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5641, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5641, a bill to amend the robert t disaster relief and emergency assistance act to increase the threshold for eligibility for assistance under sections 403, 406, 407,

and 502 of such act and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio. the gentleman from missouri, mr. each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 5641 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5641, the speed recovery act. this bill will expedite the approval process for fema's small projects within the public assistance program. the public assistance process is often slow, impeded by bureaucratic red tape, so fema offers a simplified approval procedure for small projects that cost $139 ,000 or less. this program was implemented

over 40 years ago and intended to capture 95% of public assistance project work sheets. a little inflation since then. so today as we noted earlier, many disasters are more widespread and expensive. today only 75% of projects are being captured by the $139,000 threshold. this legislation will ensure that once again 95% of project work sheets are eligible for expedited review by raising the qualifying project threshold to $1 million. by updating the threshold for what qualifies as a small project, release and recovery will be alleviated. so will the time it takes communities to get back on their feet post disaster. and it will allow the limited staff at fema to turn their attention to more difficult and expensive and problematic

programs. with that i urge all my colleagues to join with me in support of this legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm proud to sponsor h.r. 5641, the speed recovery act. it's a bipartisan bill that cuts red tape and helps expedite disaster recovery efforts. especially in the small and rural areas that we have throughout the country. this legislation updates the threshold what fema considers a small project. it updates it to a million under the stafford act, $1 million under the stafford act. this is the first statutory adjustment under the stafford act for inflation and rising repair costs of nearly three decades. historically small projects have accounted for about 95% of all the recovery projects, but the prolonged failure to increase

the cost threshold how means that 25% of these projects no longer qualify as small projects. that puts a huge burden on small rural communities to simply -- that simply don't have the same kind of resources to deal with the bureaucratic -- bureaucracy at fema. for places like craig, movement, or brunswick, missouri, both of which got hammered by the flood of 2019, it's meant for delays and headaches trying to get the help they need to recover and rebuild. updating the small project threshold is going to allow these communities to have more control over their disaster recovery efforts and to allow fema to focus more on their time and resources on larger and much more complex projects, which represent 90% of all disaster costs. after hearing directly from the communities in my district about

the paperwork burdens and the increasing denials over technicalities, my hope is that this commonsense adjustment to the small project threshold is going to improve the process and speed up recoveries for many, many of our communities. we have also received a lot of support we've also received a lot of support from this bill from emergency managers themselves. i would ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a joint letter that we have in support from the national emergency management association, the big city emergency managers and the international association of emergency managers. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. with that, i would urge support of this legislation and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: at this point i would yield such time as she may consume to the chair of the subcommittee, representative titus from nevada. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from nevada is

recognized. ms. titus: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you, mr. chairman. the speed recovery act will expedite the approval process for fema's small projects within the public assistance or p.a. program. i'm proud to join chairman defazio, ranking member graves and my subcommittee ranking member, mr. webster, in bringing this bill forward. p.a. helps communities remove debris, implement emergency protective services, and repair damage to public buildings and infrastructure. the public assistance approval process can be lengthy and complicated and that's why, as you have heard, the 1988 stafford act offered fema to simplify the procedure for small projects that might not have the capacity or the resources to deal with the red tape and the complicated grant process. the cost for completing a small project, however, is not the same as it was in 1988. when this was first established.

stakeholders have reported to congress and i heard during a hearing of my subcommittee back in october that the small projects program was intended to cover -- the program was intended to cover are now unqualified. this legislation will raise the qualifying project threshold and this updated threshold will speed the postdisaster recovery process and help us to make our communities get back on their feet. i support this, you heard, it it's commonsense legislation, and ask my -- you heard it, it's commonsense legislation, and i ask my colleagues to do the same, use some common sense and vote to support this. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd yield four minutes to the gentlelady from puerto rico, miss gonzalez-colon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from puerto rico is recognized. miss gonzalez-colon: thank you, madam speaker. and thank you, ranking member graves. today i rise in support of

h.r. 5641, the speed recovery act, which is a bipartisan legislation introduced by ranking member graves. with the support of chairman defazio and the ranking members, chair and ranking members. these bill -- this bill aims to update disaster and recovery procedures. i can talk about that at length. during puerto rico's recovery from hurricane maria, many municipalities on the island faced the situation where because of the rising cost of materials and labor, simple projects such as a repair to a street or minor building exceed the current threshold for what is defined as a small project. that threshold today is around $100,000, which really only covers some minor work. this means that a lot of the work for which municipalities may have had their resources to cover their nonfederal share, to start and finish permanently

instead have to go through the full procedural chain of products to qualify for fema reimbursement. those processes themselves have taken longer than expected. it took almost four years in the case of puerto rico, after the 2017 hurricanes, for those municipalities, fema and the puerto rico recovery office to be able to agree just on the measures to make the processes faster. that is years in which the people wondered when they were going to see the promise of reconstruction. when a community does not see at least small things being taken care of, that weakens our communities and promotes displacement. increasing the threshold to $1 million, including adjustments for inflation, would allow more recovery projects to proceed under simplified procedures,

reduce burdens and provide more certainty for all. and this is a major step and that's the reason i'm supporting this bill. most disaster claims are on a small, local scale, where there's no need to navigate the same procedures over larger, more complex projects and tie up the resources of fema and other agencies just looking at those papers. although fema and other agencies have been open to using the flexibility the law provides, in many real-world instances, that's not not enough. this update made the language match the realities of construction costs in our state, territories and communities, which fema and the local authorities can then use in order to facilitate approval of small projects. this is the biggest burden we do have in the case of puerto rico. for years after hurricanes and

we're still dealing with this. positions from fema and the rest of the federal agencies still travel to the island to see how they can do this faster. it's not just red tape. it's just amending this kind of language that will provide those projects to be sped up. i support this commonsense bipartisan legislation and urge all members to support it. thank you. and thank you, ranking member, for doing this. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri reserves. mr. graves: reserve. mr. defazio: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. lamalfa: thank you again, the gentleman from missouri, for the time. here we have again another triumph of legislation coming

together that can be beneficial at no great new cost to the process. now, the stafford act needed updating, certain aspects, for a long time. when you look at some of the difficulty when you're in a postdisaster situation, of having to deal with some arcane legislation and laws that way, it just makes it much more suffering than is necessary for people who have been victims in my case, many of wildfire in northern california. and so in adhering to the approximate 95% of projects being under the new threshold, that still keeps with the -- what has been set in place way back in 1988. 5641 is a triumph in that and 10% of total funding for disasters, we're not blowing the budget on this either. so it's indeed very, very important because when you're talking about, whether it's my

rural district or rural america, you just don't have the wherewithal to be at halfling your way through some of -- hassling your way through some of these processes in order to get things going again postdisaster. in my area, for example, towns like whiskeytown, happy camp, hornbrook, yankeey hill, paradise, doyle, canyon dam, greenville and others i couldn't possibly all list here todays, they're all going to be beneficiaries and appreciative of this effort because they don't have the ability to fight through small counties like other counties to have to deal with some of the restrictions previously under the stafford act. this would be a big win for anybody facing disaster. small town or even large around this country. so this is another win for us legislatively and i appreciate the effort of the committee. i thank you and i yield back. mr. graves: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i would reserve.

i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. in closing, h.r. 5641, the speed recovery act, is a commonsense, a bipartisan bill that is going to help many small and rural communities respond to and recover from disasters with less delay and much less bureaucracy. mr. speaker, i would urge support of this very important piece of legislation and with that i'd yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri yields. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: this is a needed adjustment in the cap. very, very long overdue. it will expedite assistance to individuals and -- but it also will, you know, free up fema's

staff for more meaningful chores and work onion going and future disasters -- on ongoing and future disasters, mitigation recovery, etc. so it has tremendous merit and i would urge that all my colleagues support this legislation. it will pass by voice vote and then someone on that side will jump up and call for a record veat because that's why they think they're supposed to be here. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5641, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, -- for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> on this i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 3-s of house resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings are postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. connolly: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.res. 831, as amended, a resolution calling on the united states government to uphold the founding democratic principles of the

north atlantic treaty organization and to establish a center for democratic resilience within the headquarters of the north atlantic treaty organization. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 831. resolution calling on the united states government to uphold the founding democratic principles of the north atlantic treaty organization and establish a center for democratic resilience within the headquarters of the north atlantic treaty organization. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, and the gentleman from ohio, mr. turner, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. connolly: i thank the chair and i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.res. 831, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. connolly: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. i first want to thank chairman greg meeks and ranking member mike mccaul for helping bring

this bipartisan resolution to the floor today. i also want to thank my partner in so much of this enterprise with respect to nato and nato parliamentary assembly, mr. turner of ohio. h.res. 831, which we introduced together, mr. turner and i, calls on the united states government to uphold the founding democratic principles of nato and establish a center for democratic resilience within nato itself. nato's founding document, signed here in washington, d.c., on april 4, 1949, this very week, it's clear nato is an alliance of democracies. the preamble to the treaty notes the determination of allies to, quote, safeguard the freedom, heritage and civilization of peoples founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule

of law. unquote. the alliance's commitment to shared democratic values is what distinguishes nato from any other military alliance. without it, nato's just another military block that does not like russia. this commitment cannot remain purely aspirational or rhetorical. it must be operationallized. that's why we believe we need formal architecture within nato dedicated to the promotion and advocacy of democracy. there are divisions in units within nato dedicated to collected defense, terrorism, interoperability, hybrid warfare, cyber, climate change and a number of other security challenges. but after 72 years there's not even a broom closet at nato headquarters dedicated to the promotion of democratic institution building within the alliance itself or with prospective members. the effort to establish a nato

center for democratic resilience is an idea first proposed in 2019 as part of a paiper this member of congress wrote on n nato. as the current president of nato parliamentary 'assembly, -- assembly, i've taken that recommendation and mayo clinic made the strengthening -- made the strengthening of nato's founding democratic values our number one priority. the assembly has in turn the assembly has endorsed this idea and made it a central opponent of the assembly's pro democracy agenda within nato. we were pleased to see it included in the report commissioned by the nato secretary-general as we prepare for updating this strategic concept. the u.s. delegation to the nato p.a., which includes chairman meeks and representative mike turner of ohio, linda sanchez, brett guthrie, rick larsen, neal

dunn, dina titus, austin scott have jointly written to the secretary of state, anthony blinken, and our secretary of defense, lloyd austin, encouraging the biden administration to work with our nato allies to operationallize support for our shared democratic principles and establish this center of democratic resilience. to the credit of the biden administration and the u.s. ambassador to nato, julie smith, they followed up on this recommendation. when we met with the nato -- with the north atlantic council in february in brussels, ambassador smith made a forceful case for the establishment of the center and we were encouraged to see several nato ambassadors join her in taking up the mantle and arguing in favor of this proposal. today the values upon which the alliance have been founded are being challenged by external enemies of democracy all too tragically being witnessed in ukraine. these forpses -- forces aim to

undermine the faith in and political support for our common democracies and the alliance itself. the strongest weapon we possess to counter effectively putin or ji's authoritarianism is a vibrant, robust, and immutable expression of the liberal democratic values that bind us. putin's renewed full-scale aggression against ukraine is a blatant attack on the most basic principles underlying the international order since the end of world war ii. principles which moscow has freely signed on to but ignored. president putin seeks to crush ukraine's democracy. intimidate other countries where the members -- embers of democratic admission burn and by implication undermine all democracies everywhere. we must respond by uniting around and strengthening our commitment to our shared democratic values and the rules based order. the nato treaty is clear we are

an alliance of democracies. as nato secretary-general said during the recent ministerial, nato was created to defend democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. these values define who we are. they are not optional. unquote. as president zelenskyy of ukraine said during his recent address to this body, to the congress, right now the destiny of our country, ukraine, is being decided. the destiny of our people, whether ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy. nato stands for the preservation of that democracy. and we believe the senate called for -- center called for this in resolution must be part of nato's work to build a bulwark against authoritarianism and democratic back blied slieding as we proceed. backsliding as we proceed. i want to thank the members of the u.s. delegation for their support who joined us in this

effort. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this strong bipartisan resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. turner: mr. speaker, nato is the most successful military alliance in history. our shared democratic values are a critical piece of that success. we are reminded of the importance of this alliance daily as putin continues his inhumane assault on innocent civilians in ukraine. together with our nato allies and partners we are unified in a strategic approach to counter our adversaries. ukraine is not alone on the frontlines of the global battle between democracy and authoritarianism. the united states and our nato allies are supporting ukraine. putin's unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of ukraine has eu phid the nato alliance. most recently the world has watched in w horror has images

from bucha showed mass graves. this resolution introduced by congressman connolly and myself will affirm the democratic values of nato and establish a certainty for democratic resilience. having served as the president of nato p.a., i support the fundamental role this organization would play in strengthening and defending democracy -- democracies worldwide. i want to congratulation my cleat for his efforts in this global organization, congressman connolly, who serves as president of the nato p.a. has represented the united states very well there and brings forth a resolution that is of great importance to the founding issues and the substance of nato. the resolution we are considering today advances this goal by reaffirming that nato is an alliance founded on democratic principles and calling on the u.s. to support the establishment of this center at the nato headquarters. this center would and could

monitor challenges and threats to democratcy, human rights, and the rule of law among member nations. partnering with democratic organizations the center will assist member states and aspiring member states to preserve and foster democracy among their ranks. i urge all my colleagues to join me today in support of this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. connolly: i thank the speaker. i want to thank my good friend from ohio for his leadership. he's the former president of the nato parliamentary assembly as well and has provided unwavering support for america's leadership in this alliance and for the alliance itself. and he's a highly respected figure on both sides of the atlantic. i thank him for his leadership. i'm pleased to recognize our good friend, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. boyle, for two minutes. mr. boyle: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank both my colleagues, both of whom have

served as not only members of this house and members of the nato parliamentary assembly, but both have led that body as president emeritus and our current president, mr. connolly. i was there in brussels with my colleagues just a month ago in the days immediately preceding vladimir putin's brutal russian invasion of ukraine. and there our delegation on a bipartisan basis made the case for this resolution. made the case for why such a center is needed now more than ever. we are seeing an attack not only on the people of ukraine but on our democratic values. they are at stake in a way today that they haven't been since the fall of the berlin wall. in some sense that they haven't been under this sort of attack since 1945. i am proud to be a part, as mr. connolly mentioned, of our

nate parliamentary assembly. we'll be going this weekend to another such nato p.a. meeting. this association, this alliance is needed now more than ever. i'm so proud to see this country redouble its commitment to the alliance. but as mr. connolly said time and time again, this cannot just be an alliance built on our shared interest. it must be an alliance based on our shared values. i strongly support this resolution. i urge its unanimous bipartisan adoption. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. turner: i yield five minutes to the congresswoman from puerto rico, miss gonzalez-colon. miss gonzalez-colon: thank you to my good friend, mike turner. today i'm here as a proud co-sponsor of the house resolution 831. i stand alongside our esteemed

colleagues and president of nato parliamentary assembly, mr. connolly, and past prz to establish the establishment of center of democratic resilience within nato. just yesterday we celebrated 73 years since the formation of nato. an alliance that has assured not just mutual defense to one another, but beyond our strategic military alliances. we also share a commitment to our democratic principles. i think that's most important thing about this resolution. establishing an entity designed to promote and protect and strengthen democratic institution will further advance the collective security of our allies and nato's missions to promote -- promoting freedom, human rights, democracy, and of course the rule of law. mr. speaker, i have had the honor to serve as a parliamentary member twice during my time in congress.

and both have given me the opportunity to witness nato's defining trade, which is unity. unity does not simply mean presenting a united front. it means being united in spirit and purpose. today as russia waged war on nato's border, that unity of purpose is more important than ever. it is also clear that ukraine share in our spirit and purpose as well. that's why this resolution urge nato to continue to provide unwavering support to the people of ukraine as they fight for their sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic future. we cannot, and we must not allow russia to dictate the terms of sovereign nation policy. i continue to support ukraine to be afforded the community to join our defensive alliance.

i think it's clear past attempts to placate through indefinite delays for georgia and ukraine have ended in tragedy. tragedy struck georgia in 2008. and ukraine again in 2014 and 2020. those are evidence of how ineffective denying them membership to nato is for protecting peace. evidence especially in bucha indicates mass killings. the rape and murder of small children. and targeting of civilian shelters housing infants and elderly. all while the russian leadership talks about a country that doesn't exist. together i think nato must continue to present a united front. we must increase, of course, our aid to ukraine and we must assure that countries make decisions to enter alliances without foreign interference. this is the reason this

resolution is so important about our principles and our united pumps. we must never -- purpose. and we must never cede an inch of our freedom or values. i know united we can could this -- do this. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. connolly: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. turner: i yield a minute to the gentleman from maryland, mr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized mr. harris: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise with concern about some of the wording in this -- in the preamble. i think this is the reason why we should actually go through a normal process not a suspension process for something as critical as this resolution. clearly i have no argument against the threat that russia has against democracies in europe. my problem is with page two, line three, internal threats from proponents of ill liberalism. that is a progressive left-wing dog whistle for poland and

hungary. why in the world as russia is attacking ukraine and poland is the center for bringing our military assistance into ukraine, why in the world in the preamble would we appear to attack one of our nato allies? it's unnecessary. it's unwise. again, the -- having a certainty for democratic resilience, i don't have an argument with that. my argument is the preamble that clearly includes inflammatory language toward two of our best allies in nato, poland and hungary. with that i yield back. mr. turner: as i informed congressman harris, the ambassador to nato from hungary openly supports this center. i know poland does, also. this is something that is important overall for nato and it does have support of both those nations. certainly is no intention other

than to support democracy in this. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio -- mr. turner: i yield a short time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield. mr. turner: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. all i can say is having authored this language i don't know what the gentleman from maryland is referring to. when we talk abing about ill liberal forces within the nato alliance, it's all inclusive. "new york times" did an extensive podcast series on ill liberal right-wing groups within germany's police and military. not hungary. not poland. germany. many of our colleagues when we meet in nato parliamentary

assembly meetings express concern about their own internal challenges to their own democratic institutions. and it is simply false that we are somehow selecting any particular country. . and we recognize we have work to do in showing up and building democratic institutions even within the alliance, that we can't take it for granted. what we say is democracy is resilient but can also be fragile. and that's what this reference is about and would be recognized by virtually every nato member as such. so while i certainly can understand mr. harris wanting to express a concern, i would hope we have debunked it because it is nowhere even close to being what he has characterized. i reserve.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. >> i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio yields the balance. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. connolly: mr. speaker, i think this is an important resolution. it's also timely because as mr. boyle indicated, we have our next nato parliamentary meeting this weekend in athens. if we're going to have input to the strategic concept of nato, which is being revised and will be adopted next month in may, we've got to have this in hand as an expression, a bipartisan expression of the collective concern and commitment of this body. i am honored by the fact this is bipartisan. it passed the house foreign affairs committee overwhelmingly. and i would hope that later today we have a strong bipartisan vote on this resolution so we can bring it to our deliberations in athens and in madrid in the next two

months. with that i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 831, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- >> mr. speaker, on this i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 3-s of house resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings are postponed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of the chair.

>> middle and high school students participated in c-span's student documentary competition where we asked the question -- how does the federal government impact your life? all month, we're featuring the winning entries. our second prize middle school winners are eighth graders from eastern middle school from sulfur spring, maryland, where c-span is available through comcast. their winning entry is entitled "not applicable: religious exemptions and the effects of title 9."

>> the religious freedom, where does it end? how should it be prioritized in comparison to safety and equality? no person in the united states shall on the basis of sex use it under discrimination -- in our modern world, this policy has been interpreted to include sexuality and provoking controversy and leading us wondering if this old legislation adequately affects lgbtq people and to claim a religious exemption to any part of title 9 that would not be part of the religious tenants. >> our country is in a different place and how we understood people who are l lgbtq. >> in these spaces, in these religious educational institutions, it's back in the 1950's. >> religious exemptions has them

illegally discriminate and harm people. title 9 provides a safety, however, due to the clause it does not protect everyone. in this scenario, the fundamental rights of equality and religious freedom are put at odds with one another, and these schools put their religion at the heart of their educational program and fully believe in the morality of their faith. >> we are seeking to follow what we understand to be a biblical standard for measures of conduct and expectations that we ask students to abide by. it's, therefore, their choice to decide, well, can i be a member of this community? >> it's not always a clash between religion and lgbtq rights and identity. in fact, the majority of

institutions are afarming. >> however, these standards often do not support or protect lgbtq students. >> we truly believe all individuals should be treated with dignity and value. we just don't feel comfort with gender identities others than those with thank you biological sex. >> they're being allowed to govern and the safety of lgbtq students as they do now. they will continue to create unsafe school communities. ms. ros-lehtinen: discrimination of any kinds runs counter of who we are as americans. >> they're told that lgbtq people are evil and sinful and their relationships are invalid and their identities are invalid. that makes them targets for harassment and there's nothing that the government will do to help you. that is a really scary place to be. >> schools have the ability to prevent students from getting the full education by expelling them or canceling their admissions, keeping them from

housing and sports teams that are in accordance with their gender and ignoring the harassment. >> we find that entire communities that have been -- have put in place with poll cisand projections, students don't perform as well. in terms of grades. students don't have as much social support. that leads to greater mental health issues. >> it can leave students with long lasting emotional and mental trauma. >> i want to a taxpayer funded religious college and i was closeted and came out struggling with what we call back bend. same-sex attraction. and my college encouraged any to go to conversion therapy, and i did, and it was horrible. it was really -- whoa. it was bad. >> the constitution guarantees that the government will provide for the safety and welfare of its citizens and yet, title 9

falls short. >> it says the government cannot operate straight-only schools. however, get into the position where there are around 250 taxpayer funded anti-lgbtq religious colleges and universities. >> schools that are considered independent of the federal government policies and do not support every citizen should also be independent of government funding through grants, loans, scholarships. >> you know, by opting in, right, to utilizing or partaking in the federal funding, it also ensures, you know, your services are publicly available. >> right now, the financial incentive for these schools is to just keep on discriminating but the department has the power to change that and to make the financial incentive against discrimination and in favor of equality. >> students are not able to defend themselves against these religious educational

institutions due to the unspecific wording of the title 9 legislation. >> when you have a big exemption like that, people abuse it. and what they might call a religious exemption might just be prejudice. there might be certain circumstances where religious exemption should exist, but it should be a lot more narrow than the one that currently exists in title 9. >> as citizens of america, we have a constitutional right to an education. and it's as lgbtq plus students we deserve to get a safe education no matter what school we decide to go to. the current title 9 legislation allows schools to get away with discrimination, communicating it is acceptable for not all people to be created equally under the law. the legislation within title 9 needs to be revised and to be more specific to be better representative of equality. >> eventually, the schools are going to have to protect us. >> to watch this and all winning entries, visit our website at

studentcam.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> cox is committed to providing eligible families access to affordable internet through the connect to compete program. bridging the digital divide one connected and engage student at a time. cox, bringing us closer. >> cox supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. host: joining us is gh serving as executive director. thank you for giving us your time. guest: thanks for having me on. host: tell the audience a little bit about your organization, what your mission is as you would describe it and how you are financially backed if you would. guest: so it is a 501(c)(3) noro