H.Res. 717

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague for yielding the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise to express my disappointment, not necessarily in this measure, but in how it has come about. We are here considering a rule for five unrelated measures the day before we recess for the 4th of July. Once again, we are rushing to the floor with vital legislation that most Members have hardly had the chance to read. This rule is the very embodiment of congressional dysfunction.

While my colleagues are busy playing political games, our Nation's infrastructure is crumbling, and we all know that. Tuition costs are rising, and we all know that. The economy is struggling. Perhaps, if my Republican friends weren't so preoccupied with appeasing their base, we wouldn't find ourselves in this position yet again.

We could have taken care of student loans back in March when the House first considered a measure to keep current rates. However, instead of paying for it in a way that was amenable to both sides of the aisle, the Republican leadership chose to pay for it by cutting much-needed preventative health funding. The President said he would veto the bill in this form, yet Republicans still chose to waste this body's time and defer to the Senate to come up with an affordable pay- for.

The transportation bill we are considering has been an even longer time in coming--over 3 years to be exact. While the conference report is not perfect, it is clear that we must pass a long-term reauthorization so that construction projects all across the country can move forward with repairing and improving our Nation's aging transportation system and infrastructure. Yet, once again, we find ourselves racing against the clock.

Without a long-term bill, opportunities to truly invest in our Nation's infrastructure and economy will continue passing us by. Without a long-term bill, construction projects all across the country could shut down. Without a long-term bill, 3 million Americans will be faced with not having a job after Saturday. We should not have to pass nine extensions over 3 years' time to get to this point, and we would be better served than this 27th-month extension if we did a 4- or a 5- year bill.

Infrastructure investments are essential to our Nation's economic growth and prosperity. This reauthorization should never have been held hostage by political gamesmanship. There is simply too much at stake. Short-term extensions put millions of jobs and the safety of our Nation at risk by casting great uncertainty on long-term transportation and infrastructure projects. This is unacceptable.

While I'm not happy about every provision in the flood insurance portion of this conference report, after 10 years since its last reauthorization and countless short-term extensions, it's about time that we get a long-term extension.

The National Flood Insurance Program insures 5.6 million properties across every State in the Nation. Yet, one Senator from Kentucky refused to allow the bill to go forward on the most specious of reasons, a vote on abortion. I have yet to hear the Senator explain what abortion has to do with flood insurance or why he would threaten the security of the homes of all those Americans just to make a political point. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Last night, I read where he said just because two or more persons at the Supreme Court make a decision, that doesn't mean that it's constitutional. I hope this guy goes back to law school, if he ever went.

Finally, on today's underlying appropriations measures, I can only say: here we go again. Once again, the Republicans refuse to provide the necessary funds to reach the hardest-hit Americans. Once again, the Republicans kowtow to corporate power rather than provide the resources to keep rampant excesses at bay. And once again, my friends on the other side of the aisle choose to undermine the long-term priorities of this Nation in favor of partisan posturing.

I've said before and I maintain again and now that the Republicans are living in a world of let's pretend. In ``Alice in Wonderland,'' Alice said that ``if she had a world of her own, everything would be nonsense.'' In the Republican world, as Alice said, ``Nothing is what it is, because everything is what it isn't.'' In the Republican world, Mr. Speaker, the best way to rein in the most corrupt practices of Wall Street is to underfund the SEC; the best way to close a $400 billion tax gap is to force the IRS to fire thousands of taxpayer support employees; and the best way to ensure our national defense is to continue to pump in billions and billions of dollars into nuclear weapons that serve no earthly purpose but to destroy our Earth. What part of ``we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy every human being 25 times'' do we not understand?

In this world, increasing unemployment somehow improves our economy; defunding essential government programs somehow helps the hardest-hit Americans; and cutting domestic programs in health care, education, infrastructure, and economic development while increasing Defense Department funding somehow serves the long-term needs of this country. Well, it doesn't. For months we've known that student loan rates were set to rise; for months we've known that the highway bill was going to expire; and for months we've done nothing but use the House floor as a political playground.

Mr. Speaker, our country cannot prosper if every major piece of legislation is held hostage to partisan interests. As Alice said--again referring to ``Alice in Wonderland''--``of all the silly nonsense, this is the stupidest tea party I've ever been to in all my life.''

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased at this time to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Sacramento, California, a former member of the Rules Committee, my good friend, Ms. Matsui.

Will the gentleman yield?

You can't really believe that it should be standard procedure for us to do a 600-page bill that CBO has not scored until 10 minutes ago.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to my very good friend from the Virgin Islands, Dr. Christensen.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased at this time to yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, would you be kind enough to tell me the time remaining for both sides.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I am very pleased at this time to yield 4 minutes to my good friend, the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Two more, possibly three, but we're moving rapidly.

I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).

(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased at this time to yield 2 minutes to my good friend, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Richardson).

I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, it's a shame that we are here today considering this hodgepodge measure. For too long, my Republican colleagues have used this House to further their partisan agenda rather than the interests of the Nation.

So it is no surprise that, once again, we are rushing to the floor to take care of business that should have been taken care of months ago. Time and again, when given the choice between reasonable, bipartisan measures and blatantly partisan policies, Republicans have chosen to pander to the extreme wing of their conference. They have passed bills they know will be dead on arrival in the Senate, pursued legislation with no hope of being signed into law, and attached controversial measures to otherwise innocuous matters.

While Republicans are busy playing politics, Americans have been wondering how they're going to get a job, put a roof over their heads, or afford to pay for college or food.

Though I'm glad these measures are finally being brought to the floor, our constituents deserve better. On this measure, 600 pages, the dead of night last night, five measures put together under one, and we received a CBO score just a few minutes ago. Most Members in this body don't have any idea what's in this bill or how much it costs.

This Republican tactic of saying ``no'' to everything is dragging down our Nation, slowing our recovery, and threatening the survival of important and necessary government programs. There's serious work to do here in the House of Representatives, and my and your constituents can't afford to sit around and watch this spectacle.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

As with health care in the aftermath of yesterday's landmark Supreme Court decision, it's now time to move forward and put the divisiveness which has plagued the enactment of a surface transportation reauthorization bill for the first time in decades behind us and coalesce in support of the pending conference agreement.

This bill makes a sound investment in America. Fifty-six years ago, a Democratic Congress and a Republican President came together. And on this day in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which established the interstate system of highways. This historic piece of legislation created a transportation system in this country that awed the world. Yet in recent decades, our roads, bridges, trains, and transit systems have slipped into decline because we have failed to make the necessary investments to improve the condition and performance of this network.

The pending legislation will not completely reverse the course of this decline, but, at the very least, States will see no reduction in the infrastructure investment funding that they desperately need to tackle crumbling roadways, deficient bridges, and to secure rail- highway grade crossings.

The States and transportation contractors will have the ability to count on a stable source of funding through fiscal year 2014, sustaining and creating jobs, and enhancing the mobility and safety of American motorists.

Critical investments in transit will continue, reducing traffic congestion. And alternative means of transportation will continue to be a valued enterprise in which to invest, increasing the quality of life and the health of the American people.

To be sure, there are some glaring shortcomings:

The transit privatization provisions threaten service, not enhance it;

The environmental streamlining provisions shortchange public input and could very well lead to greater delays in project delivery;

The Buy America provision is lethargic compared to the bold and decisive strokes that I advocated;

The mandate to install black boxes on commercial motor vehicles will come at great cost to struggling independent business people, without any proven safety benefits; and

There's an ill-advised provision that has no business in this legislation, which harms our maritime industry by weakening our cargo preference laws.

When all is said and done, though, this bill is what it is.

As with so much legislation in this body, this conference agreement-- this one, in particular--means jobs, and it means that we will not have further layoffs. It means that we will continue to move our economy.

And when all is said and done, I will choose to vote for American jobs any day.

Mr. Speaker, before reserving the balance of my time, I ask unanimous consent that time on this side be temporarily managed by Mr. DeFazio of Oregon.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member of the Education and Workforce Committee, who has jurisdiction over the student loan section of this conference agreement.

(Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), a distinguished member of our conference on this agreement.

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), another valued conferee on our side.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished ranking member on our Railroads Subcommittee and a valued member of our conference, the gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Brown).

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished ranking member on our Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, as well as a valued member of our conference on transportation, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).

Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), who has higher jurisdiction over the flood insurance portion.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire), a valued member of our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

I reserve the balance of my time, Madam Speaker.

Okay. I'm ready to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, first I want to extend my deep appreciation to all conferees on this legislation, some 47, I believe.

I'd like to pay particular word of commendation to the chair of the conference committee, the gentlelady from California, Senator Barbara Boxer. She worked extremely hard on this legislation. She worked tirelessly to resist many, many, many extreme proposals that were lobbed at her by Republican House conferees. She worked to ensure that policies and investment levels of this legislation will serve America, and she did work in a bipartisan fashion.

I'd also like to thank my counterpart and the chair of our House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Mica, for his leadership. He has already spoken, and has many times, of the bipartisan nature in which we started this journey in my hometown of Beckley, West Virginia, and I deeply appreciate the hearings that he started there and his continued outreach across the country.

As this hard road progressed, there were some diversions along the way. There were efforts to sidetrack what we were trying to do in providing long-term funding for this Nation's infrastructure, yet we're here today to hail not the perfect bill--we've heard that many times in this body, and we're not considering the perfect bill. Yet we are, out of necessity, finding ourselves working together to extend our transportation program so that millions more American workers are not laid off the job.

I also want to thank my senior Senator, Jay Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, for his great contribution to this pending measure. Again, efforts were fought. Efforts on his part prevented the further degradation of any safety measures that were proposed in this conference agreement. We have a strong measure in regards to safety issues thanks to Senator Rockefeller.

This legislation will preserve American jobs. As I said in the opening of this conference committee, it's time that we quit taking those political jabs at one another and, rather, provide jobs for our people. That's what we're doing in this legislation. The contracting season is late, especially in many of our northern States, and our contractors need this legislation in order to have the certainty to sign those contracts that put Americans to work this summer repairing our infrastructure. We have put aside, I guess you'll say, our hard heads--I'm happy to say--in exchange for hard hats doing the work that's necessary to get our economy back on.

As with any piece of legislation, we've compromised in this bill--all sides have--which is part of the legislative process. I've always said that. There are some things in this bill we don't like and some things we like. There are probably 435 different ways this bill could have been written if each of us had had his own way to write a bill, but that's not the way the process works. With the process being what it is, we are where we are today, so I am here to support the pending legislation.

As I sit down, I want to also thank the staff for their hard work on both the majority's side in the House and on the minority's side, on our side, and the staff on both sides of the other body as well.

I want to thank our conferees on the House side: Peter DeFazio, Jerry Costello, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jerry Nadler, Corrine Brown, Elijah Cummings, Leonard Boswell, and Tim Bishop. These individuals stuck with us every part of the way, and they truly had their hearts in improving our infrastructure and providing jobs for America.

So this is a jobs bill. I'm happy to support it, and I urge my colleagues to support this conference agreement.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 717 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and the underlying bills.

House Resolution 717 provides for a standard conference report rule for the consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 4348, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II, also known simply as the ``highway bill.'' The conference report for the highway bill represents a bipartisan and bicameral effort to address our aging national infrastructure and chronic unemployment with a 2-year authorization.

This long-term transportation bill, agreed to by both Houses and by both parties in this conference report, provides much-needed certainty. It provides certainty not only to States and to State governments but also to the transportation and construction industries and to those Americans whose livelihoods depend on them. Rather than another short- term extension measuring mere weeks or months, this bill authorizes transportation funding for 2 full years and allows businesses to plan ahead, hire workers, and grow.

The conference report ensures taxpayer dollars are spent on high- priority infrastructure projects that support jobs and economic activity. The conference report also contains significant reforms: it streamlines the lengthy bureaucratic approval process with reforms aimed at cutting the permitting process in half; it consolidates and eliminates duplicative Federal programs; and it embraces increased private sector involvement by leveraging

Federal, State, and local dollars with private sector funding. As importantly, it does all of this without any earmarks and without any spending increases.

The conference report also extends the current student loan rate of 3.4 percent for student loans for another year. This ensures that young Americans have certainty when it comes to the terms of their student loans for the coming year; and because it is paid for, the conference report ensures that no further debt will be heaped upon the American taxpayer.

Finally, the conference report reforms and reauthorizes for 5 additional years the Federal Flood Insurance Program. This program is depended upon by so many in times of natural disaster.

House Resolution 717 also provides for an open rule both for the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2013 and the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2013.

The Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2013 includes funding for critical national security needs, and it provides the resources needed to continue the Nation's military efforts abroad. In addition, the bill provides essential funding for health and quality-of-life programs for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces and their families.

The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2013 has jurisdiction over agencies responsible for regulating the financial and telecommunications industries; collecting taxes and providing taxpayer assistance; supporting the operations of the White House, the Federal judiciary, and the District of Columbia; managing Federal buildings; and overseeing Federal workers. The activities of these agencies impact nearly every American and are an integral part of the operations of our government.

So, once again, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying bills. I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to my good friend from Georgia (Mr. Woodall).

Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind everyone again, as I said in my opening remarks, this bill has no earmarks. Yes, we know how they did it in the past, with 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 earmarks, and certainly there would be a lot of support among individual Members if that were the case. This bill has no earmarks. It's good policy.

The Federal Government says: We know all. We know everything that's needed in every single community, and we can stamp out one of our famed cookie-cutter approaches to funding transportation, as we used to do, so that every single dollar has a little teeny category and every State is brought into spending within those little teeny categories.

Yes, we could have done that, but that's the old way of doing it. We did it a different way. We actually had a conference, no earmarks, and we gave States flexibility. We sent to the States the opportunity to decide. Did we take out any of those things that were mentioned? Absolutely not. They're all options. So every single dollar we send to the State, the State has an opportunity to say, Maybe we don't want to do a sound barrier, whatever it is that's there. No, we can take the flexibility that's given to us, we can use it. We can use it to our benefit far better to build transportation from the ground up rather than to build it from the top down, Washington, D.C. cookie-cutter style.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).

I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time, and if I could ask the gentleman how many more speakers he has.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said during previous debates on short-term transportation extensions, our national infrastructure is aging, stable construction jobs are lacking, unemployment lingers about 8 percent nationally and a little over 9 percent in Florida. Regrettably, that remains the case today, many short-term extensions later. However, unlike the past, the House and Senate have come together to offer a glimmer of certainty to try to address these problems.

A long-term, multiyear highway reauthorization is critical to rebuilding our Nation's infrastructure, reforming antiquated and inefficient transportation programs, strengthening our economy, and creating jobs. A long-term authorization also provides for certainty and stability necessary for the transportation industry to contain costs through long-term planning.

This agreement, while not perfect, is long overdue. It will begin to chip away at the bloated bureaucracy which defines our Federal transportation system. It will create jobs and it will promote economic activity in our local communities, all without adding to the deficit. For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in favor of this rule.

I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 4348, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP- 21). This bill significantly cuts critical federal investment in surface transportation projects for the territories. The authorized funds for the next two fiscal years would severely undermine my district's ability to improve and upgrade road systems on Guam and put current projects at risk.

MAP-21 cuts 20 percent from the Territorial Highway Program (THP), which was established to assist Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands build and improve main and secondary highway systems. The program is critical to ensuring that our districts have a quality highway system that facilitates commerce in the territories. The territories have received funding that does match their current upgrade and modernization requirements. The cuts to the THP will hinder our district's ability to meet these requirements over the next two years. The proposed cut to this program, about $8 million for Guam over the next two years, could jeopardize financiering for larger projects utilizing GARVEE financing. The GARVEE financing mechanism and current bonds assumed level funding of the THP over the next several years. Ultimately, this bill may lead to project cancellations and job losses.

Even at current funding levels, the THP is inadequate in addressing the needs of the territories, and the governments in the territories do not have access to many programs available to the 50 states and Puerto Rico. I introduced legislation that would put the territories on equal footing when competing for federal highway discretionary grant programs. Further, I offered the text of my bill for consideration as Conference Committee commenced but the text of this legislation was not included in the final bill. On top of crippling cuts to the THP, the territories are not even afforded opportunities to compete for other discretionary programs like the Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment program. My bill, H.R. 2743 would permit the Secretary of Transportation to make the territories eligible for this competitive funding to the territories and remedies a disparity where our governments are unable to even compete for this program.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 4348 will likely have a detrimental effect on my constituents and would significantly undercut our ability to improve our roadways and invest in critical infrastructure improvements. Guam is being asked to support one of the largest military realignments in our nation's history and our island is in critical need of assistance to improve our roadways to support the military buildup. Cutting 20 percent from the THP would provide nominal short-term savings but it would cost significantly more in the long-term.

However, I am very supportive of the efforts of House and Senate leaders who reached agreement to freeze student loan rates for an additional year. Increases in student loan rates would have had a significant negative impact on a generation that is already competing with the most difficult job market in generations. Keeping student loan interest loans for an additional year keeps our commitment to our younger generations.

It is unfortunate that this compromise on student loans is attached to the transportation reauthorization as I strongly opposed to the cuts to the THP and, as such, urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 4348, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP- 21). This bill significantly cuts critical federal investment in surface transportation projects for the territories. The authorized funds for the next two fiscal years would severely undermine my district's ability to improve and upgrade road systems on Guam and put current projects at risk.

MAP-21 cuts 20% from the Territorial Highway Program (THP), which was established to assist Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands build and improve main and secondary highway systems. The program is critical to ensuring that our districts have a quality highway system that facilitates commerce in the territories. The territories have received funding that does match their current upgrade and modernization requirements. The cuts to the THP will hinder our district's ability to meet these requirements over the next two years. The proposed cut to this program, about $8 million for Guam over the next two years, could jeopardize financiering for larger projects utilizing TIFIA financing. The TIFIA financing mechanism and current bonds assumed level funding of the THP over the next several years. Ultimately, this bill may lead to project cancellations and job losses.

Even at current funding levels, the THP is inadequate in addressing the needs of the territories, and the governments in the territories do not have access to many programs available to the 50 states and Puerto Rico. I introduced legislation that would put the territories on equal footing when competing for federal highway discretionary grant programs. Further, I offered the text of my bill for consideration as Conference Committee commenced but the text of this legislation was not included in the final bill. On top of crippling cuts to the THP, the territories are not even afforded opportunities to compete for other discretionary programs like the Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment program. My bill, H.R. 2743 would permit the Secretary of Transportation to make the territories eligible for this competitive funding to the territories, and remedies a disparity where our governments are unable to even compete for this program.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 4348 will likely have a detrimental effect on my constituents and would significantly undercut our ability to improve our roadways and invest in critical infrastructure improvements. Guam is being asked to support one of the largest military realignments in our nation's history and our island is in critical need of assistance to improve our roadways to support the military buildup. Cutting 20% from the THP would provide nominal short-term savings but it would cost significantly more in the long-term.

However, I am very supportive of the efforts of House and Senate leaders who reached agreement to freeze student loan rates for an additional year. Increases in student loan rates would have had a significant negative impact on a generation that is already competing with the most difficult job market in generations. Keeping student loan interest loans for an additional year keeps our commitment to our younger generations.

It is unfortunate that this compromise on student loans is attached to the transportation reauthorization as I am strongly opposed to the cuts to the THP and, as such, urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation.

I thank the chairman for giving me this time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this conference report and wish to address particularly title II, which would reauthorize for 5 years the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP.

There are six important reforms included in this bill: It improves NFIP's financial stability; it will reduce the burden on taxpayers; it restores integrity to the FEMA mapping system; it will help bring certainty to the housing market through a 5-year reauthorization; and last, it explores ways to increase private market participation.

Many of us in Congress would like for the private sector, instead of taxpayers, to shoulder the risk of the National Flood Insurance Program. Market participants have signaled that they can assume the risk of flood insurance. And with the appropriate data from FEMA, the reinsurance industry has indicated that within weeks it can price this risk. That's why, for the first time in the NFIP's existence, this flood reform measure will require FEMA to solicit bids to determine the cost to the private sector, not to the taxpayer, of bearing the risk of flood insurance.

Finally, I'd just like to say that this bill is proof that bipartisanship is possible, particularly when it comes to an issue of national significance, such as the most frequently occurring national disaster in the United States, flooding. When a flood occurs, it does not choose an area that has Republican or Democrat leanings or elected officials. Floods affect most of the country and people of all walks of life. Today's flood reform measure demonstrates the democratic process, where reforms are publicly vetted, reflect input from interested stakeholders, and are realized.

Let me just thank the bill's cosponsor, Ms. Waters, as well as Chairman Bachus and the Financial Services Insurance Subcommittee and full committee staffs on both sides of the aisle. Let me just say also that I'd like to thank the Senate and House leadership, including Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor, as well as the thousands of constituents and groups who gave their valuable time and input to making this a very good bill.

I rise in support of this Conference Report, and I wish to address in particular Title II, which would reauthorize for five years the National Flood Insurance Program or NFIP.

There are six important reforms included in this bill:

It improves NFIP's financial stability; it will reduce the burden on taxpayers; it restores integrity to the FEMA mapping system; it will help bring certainty to the housing market through a 5-year reauthorization; and last, it explores ways to increase private market participation.

Many of us in Congress would like for the private-sector--instead of taxpayers--to shoulder the risk of the National Flood Insurance Program. Market participants have signaled that they can assume the risk of flood insurance, and with the appropriate data from FEMA, the reinsurance industry has indicated that--within weeks--it can price this risk.

That's why, for the first time in the NFIP's existence, this flood reform measure will require FEMA to solicit bids to determine the cost to the private sector, not to the taxpayer, of bearing the risk of flood insurance.

It brings an end to the decades-old, chicken-and-egg game that has characterized the program by finally answering the question ``how-do- we-get-the-government-out?''

Flood policyholders also now will have the option to choose private flood insurance over government flood insurance without the risk of lender rejection. Taxpayer-subsidized rates are eliminated, so that the private sector can offer consumers increasingly competitive rates as compared to the NFIP.

Finally, I would like to simply say that this bill is proof that bipartisanship is possible, particularly when it comes to an issue of national significance, such as the most frequently occurring natural disaster in the United States, flooding. When a flood occurs, it does not choose an area due to its Republican or Democrat leanings or elected representatives. Floods affect most of the country and people of all walks of life. Today's flood reform measure demonstrates a true, democratic process, where reforms are publically vetted, reflect input from interested stakeholders, and are realized.

With that, I will note that this conference report includes the first significant reform to the NFIP in nearly a decade. After 17 extensions since 2008, multiple lapses in the program, and months of inaction, this flood insurance reform measure is a major bipartisan accomplishment. As I've said from the beginning, the NFIP is too important to let lapse and too in debt to continue without reform. I urge my House--and Senate--colleagues to support the conference report so that we can send this agreement to the President's desk and put the nation's flood insurance program back on a sound financial footing.

In closing, let me thank the bill's cosponsor, Mrs. Waters, as well as Chairman Baucus, Financial Services Insurance Subcommittee and full committee staffs on both sides of the aisle, Senate and House Leadership, including Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor, as well as the thousands of constituents and groups who gave their valuable time and input to making this a very good bill.

I would also like to thank the following:

My constituents in the 13th Congressional District of Illinois who provided advice to us throughout the development of this bill;

Illinois floodplain managers, Paul Osman and Sally McConkey;

Mrs. Waters, Chairman Bachus, and all of the 54 Members of the House Financial Services Committee who voted unanimously to pass out of Committee a flood reform bill last May (2011);

All of the Members of the House who contributed to the development of this bill, and the 406 Members of the House who voted for H.R. 1309 last July (2011);

Republican House Financial Services Committee staff: my designee, Nicole Austin, as well as Clinton Jones, Ed Skala, Tallman Johnson, Jim Clinger, and Eric Thompson;

Democrat House Financial Services Committee staff: Charla Ouertatani, Dom McCoy, and Kelly Larkin;

House Republican and Democrat leadership, particularly Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor, and their staff;

Members and staff on the Science, Judiciary, and Rules Committees;

Senators and Senate Banking Committee staff;

Dan Hoople with the Congressional Budget Office;

Paul Callen and his colleagues at the House Office of the Legislative Counsel;

FEMA staff, including technical experts, congressional affairs, and Vince Fabrizio;

Witnesses who testified during our hearings on flood reform; and

All of the various financial services organizations, consumer groups, as well as the Smarter Safer Coalition, which includes groups from the National Wildlife Federation to the International Code Council to Americans for Tax Reform.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the fiscal year 2013 Department of Defense bill.

I first want to thank Chairman Young for his very generous comments about my service on the Defense Subcommittee. And he is absolutely right, we have always, no matter who was chairman or which party was in control, we've always, on a bipartisan basis, worked to take care of the needs of our troops to make sure that we were properly funded in equipment and to do it on the basis of what was right and what was necessary. I appreciate his leadership of this subcommittee, and I wish him well as we finish up this year.

This bill continues the Defense Subcommittee's long tradition, as I mentioned, of bipartisanship and finding common ground as members work together, under Mr. Young's leadership, to provide for the Department of Defense. I'm pleased to report that the subcommittee has again crafted a bill that places national security and the needs of U.S. servicemembers above partisan politics.

I strongly support the priorities set in this bill. The bill supports our troops. It includes funding for the third consecutive year to replace inadequate schools owned by local educational authorities and the Department of Education that are located on military installations.

It includes $40 million above the request for Impact Aid.

It includes $125 million above the request for traumatic brain injury and psychological health, as well as an additional $20 million above the request for suicide prevention and outreach.

And the bill has a total of $1.2 billion in Defense Health Program research and development, $545 million above the request.

The bill continues the committee's longstanding support for peer- reviewed breast cancer research, peer-reviewed prostate cancer research, vision research, spinal cord research, and many other medical research initiatives.

The bill supports the Guard and Reserve. It includes funding to pause force structure reductions and aircraft retirements proposed by the Air Force that would affect Air Guard and Reserve units across the country.

And the bill contains $2 billion for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account.

The bill supports today's equipment needs and develops tomorrow's technology. It supports Secretary Panetta's strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific region by including robust funding for shipbuilding and the Patriot missile defense system.

The bill supports DOD's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needs by providing the resources for Global Hawk UAVs.

The bill addresses the Navy's strike fighter shortfall by funding F- 18 Hornets and providing advance procurement for F-18G electronic attack aircraft.

The bill provides for ground equipment such as the Abrams tank, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and HMMWV modernization. This funding provides for Army equipment needs, including the Guard and Reserve, and helps maintain a stable industrial base.

The bill includes $250 million for the Rapid Innovation Fund that will continue the committee's efforts, started in 2011, to promote innovative research and defense technologies among small businesses; and the bill includes funding above the request for joint U.S.-Israeli missile defense activities, including $680 million for Iron Dome.

The bill funds operations in Afghanistan consistent with the President's plan to wind down our presence as agreed to in the Lisbon Accord of 2010 and this year's NATO summit in Chicago.

The bill also includes important restrictions on DOD activities. The bill prohibits permanent U.S. bases in Iraq or Afghanistan and prohibits U.S. control over Iraqi oil resources. The bill prohibits the torture of detainees. The bill prohibits training foreign military forces if these forces are known to commit gross violations of human rights. And the bill limits reimbursements to Pakistan until the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, certifies that Pakistan is working cooperatively with the U.S. against terrorist activity.

While I support the funding level and priorities included in this bill, I must also express my objection, not to Mr. Young, but to the majority decision to renege on the bipartisan agreement reached less than a year ago in the Budget Control Act. I believe the reduced discretionary allocation in the Ryan budget threatens to stall economic growth and job creation; and in the near term, it introduces uncertainty in our appropriations process that imperils our ability to produce these bills in a timely manner.

Accordingly, it is my belief that we could save a considerable amount of time in the appropriations process if we simply returned to the agreement reached last year in August, the $1.047 trillion allocation level for this year, a level which even the Republican other body leadership concedes is where we will eventually end up.

Despite this reservation, I want to congratulate Chairman Young for producing a bill that meets the most pressing needs of the Department of Defense, and for doing so in the best tradition of the Appropriations Committee.

And I must say that I feel we have one of the best staffs on the whole Hill. And I know Paul and Tom have worked together when Paul was the clerk and Tom was representing Mr. Young as the ranking member. And the cooperation of all the staff members has been extraordinary, and they've worked very hard to prepare this bill for the floor, and I want to congratulate them on their good efforts.

Also, I want to thank Mr. Rogers for his efforts to restore regular order. I think it's outstanding that we have had this bill in a subcommittee markup, a full committee markup, now brought to the floor under an open rule. This is the way this committee should operate, and I appreciate his efforts to provide that leadership.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 3 minutes to a very senior member of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Defense Subcommittee, the gentlewoman from Ohio, Congresswoman Kaptur.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey). He and I were in the same class together and enjoyed many spirited debates on national security issues. I consider him to be a good friend and someone who cares a great deal about these issues.

We have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I have no further speakers. Is the chairman going to close?

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4348. While this is not a perfect bill, it will fund important transportation projects while creating well-paying jobs across this country.

H.R. 4348 will reauthorize through the end of fiscal year 2014 our highway and transit programs at current levels--$105 billion. While I am disappointed in this short-term reauthorization, I do believe this authorization will provide some stability to our state and local governments. We know that for every $1 billion of federal funds invested in our highway and transit infrastructure nearly 39,000 jobs are created or sustained. This investment will give our transportation industry the ability to continue to create thousands of jobs across our country.

I am also extremely pleased that all states will be guaranteed a minimum rate of return of 95 percent on their payments into the Highway Trust Fund. During the last reauthorization I worked hard with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to increase Michigan's rate of return to 92 percent, and I am pleased to be able to support increasing it once again. This bill will continue the Safe Routes to School program, and the transportation enhancement activities such as bike paths, bike lanes, and trails. This program has been critical to helping communities in my district, like Ann Arbor, to make their communities more livable and attractive to families and businesses, while also greening our environment by providing alternatives for their commute. Furthermore, I am pleased that H.R. 4348 will continue to fund our mass-transit program, providing funding to critical projects that will bring our transit infrastructure into the 21st Century.

I am disappointed that H.R. 4348 did not reauthorize the Coordinated Border Infrastructure program. Michigan was one of the leaders in creating CBIP given its critical relationship with Canada and it has been instrumental in addressing border congestion. It is my hope that we can reauthorize this program in the coming months. Unfortunately, this bill does not include any provisions directing the Department of Transportation to develop a long-term national rail plan. I passed one of the first pieces of legislation authorizing investment in high-speed rail, but there has never been a strong commitment to bringing our rail program into the 21st Century until this Administration. This Administration has wisely invested billions of dollars into bringing highspeed rail travel across the country and to corridors outside the Northeast. By ignoring this goal we are halting the progress of high- speed rail and falling further behind our neighbors abroad.

I would have liked for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, or LWCF, reauthorization and funding to be included in the final bill. LWCF was included in the Senate language with overwhelming bipartisan support and I joined with 145 of my House colleagues requesting the conference committee to include the reauthorization and funding. LWCF develops local partnerships to conserve critical wildlife habitat, hunting and fishing access, state and local parks, productive forests, and important lands to be protected for future generations. I hope the House will give serious consideration to reauthorizing and funding LWCF in the coming weeks.

This bill includes a one-year extension of the 3.4 percent interest rate for subsidized Stafford student loans. I am happy that this is finally being authorized because as we continue to recover economically, we must ensure that students can afford a higher education. There were nearly 48,000 students attending a university or college in my district last year who received one of these loans and doubling the interest rate would have a significant impact on students as they get ready to start the new school year. Our children, 25 percent of our population, are 100 percent of our future. They are counting on us and I am pleased we are now standing up for the future to make higher education and job training affordable.

While we are taking a step forward today, we must start thinking towards next July when this one-year extension will expire. We cannot wait until the last minute to address this issue as we did this year. We must start thinking now about how to deal with this problem. This is not just a campaign talking point, this affects students and families and can be the difference between achieving your goals or being priced out of your dreams.

The Flood Insurance extension is a much needed part of this compromise. As we continue to experience extreme weather across the country, we need to ensure that homeowners with flooded homes can get the help they need to put their lives back together. However, as FEMA works on implementing new floodplain maps, we must ensure that the maps make sense. Homeowners and small businesses in my district are being driven out of the homes and stores due to the high cost of flood insurance that they've never had to pay before. I urge FEMA to continue to work with local governments to address these concerns and keep families in their homes and small businesses open.

I applaud this bill, and I hope my colleagues keep working together in this manner--actually passing bills that make a difference and take action instead of playing political football on issues that do not impact the majority of Americans.

Madam Speaker, first let me commend Chairman Mica on behalf of this Congress and the American people for the fine work that you and your committee have done on this bill. We'll build more roads with less money and cut through red tape and expedite projects.

I also want to associate myself with the words of Don Young, our former chairman, and of Mr. Miller from California. You cannot have-- the leading country in the world cannot have a Third World infrastructure. And unless we find new funding sources, we will continue to fall behind, and we will continue to have those potholes and bottlenecks.

Now, I want to move to the National Flood Insurance program which is a part of this bill. It also is a win for the American people. This House over a year ago approved comprehensive flood insurance, risk based, that would reduce the cost and bring many benefits to the program. Last week, the Senate sent us a bill which is essentially the bill we sent them over a year ago. It's a bipartisan bill. It was a lot of hard work and input from Members. We passed it overwhelmingly in the Financial Services Committee and overwhelmingly on the floor of this House. I would like to commend Chairwoman Biggert for her fine work. Her name is on this bill, and there's a reason for that. She worked harder than anyone in this Congress to deliver a good bill. It's a 5- year bill, and it will begin to make up for the deficit of $17.5 billion that this program has as a result of those hurricanes back in 2005.

I would like to commend the Illinois delegation and the California delegation under Mr. Shimkus and Mr. Costa who, sadly, is retiring this year. This bill takes care to balance costs and communities that use their own funds. I urge Members to pass this bill. It's a good bill. It includes many good provisions, and I'm proud to say that the Financial Services Committee and its members have been a part of this effort.

As the legislation to reauthorize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program heads to the President's desk, I would like to acknowledge the time, effort, and wisdom that four members of the Financial Services Committee staff provided to create this positive outcome. These staff members were able to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills--working through a host of complex, highly technical issues--in less than one week. The efforts of Clinton Jones, Tallman Johnson, Ed Skala, and Nicole Austin helped all of us to achieve this very beneficial outcome for the American taxpayer, and I thank them for their service to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, first I want to commend Transportation Committee Chairman Mica, Subcommittee Chairman Duncan, Ranking Member Rahall and others for their hard work on the needed transportation and infrastructure improvements in this bill.

I also want to take the time to comment on provisions in this bill regarding reauthorization and reform of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Today we're doing something we haven't done since 2004: provide a long-term reauthorization with meaningful reforms for the National Flood Insurance Program. Since September 2008, the NFIP has been extended 17 times and the program has lapsed four times during that same time period, creating needless uncertainty in the residential and commercial real estate sectors in communities across the country.

Over a year ago the Financial Services Committee and then the House, in a bipartisan display of cooperation, overwhelmingly passed a five- year flood insurance bill with comprehensive reforms and savings for the taxpayers. This week the Senate approved our legislation.

This bipartisan bill represents the hard work and input of many members, and I especially

want to thank Housing Subcommittee Chairwoman Biggert for her leadership in getting us to this point.

This bill takes great care to balance the need to make the NFIP more actuarially sound with the need to recognize the hard work and difficult decisions many communities are making to build or rehabilitate their dams and levees. I particularly want to thank Mr. Shimkus for working with us to address those concerns in a responsible way.

Many of us have been calling for fundamental reforms of the NFIP for several years. The hurricanes of 2005 led to massive flooding and overwhelmed the program, which now carries a debt to the Treasury of $17.5 billion as a result.

The NFIP is facing serious financial challenges and cannot afford to continue on its current trajectory, which is why today's bill is vital. The reforms in this bill end the decades-old subsidies for about 355,000 policyholders and reduce the program's need to borrow additional funds from the Treasury, which will help reduce the program's shortfall and protect American taxpayers.

Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the taxpayers are not left holding the bag. This bill puts us on the path to reforming the program with risk-based premiums, and provisions to better protect both taxpayers and homeowners while encouraging greater private sector participation.

Since January of 2011, I have held as a goal of this Congress to achieve fundamental reform of the NFIP. The bill we have before us today accomplishes that in a fair and responsible manner. I urge all Members to support it.