Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to honor the 25th Anniversary of the National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. As one of its first public museums, the NCM became the intelligence community's gateway to the American people when it opened its doors in December 1993 and its collection of stories and artifacts continue to tell the intriguing and exciting history of American cryptology.

The NCM's first curator, Earl ``Jerry'' Coates, laid the framework for what would become the nation's primary educational facility in cryptology. Stocked with artifacts once stored in offices, warehouses and private collections in garages and attics, the museum tells the little-known history of code-making and code-breaking. It brings to life the people who made that history and the state-of-the-art tools and technologies they created. Over the last two-and-a-half decades, the museum's research library holdings have grown into one of the nation's richest cryptologic resources.

The museum, under the current leadership of Robert Simpson, continues to grow and modernize, demonstrating the amazing evolution of technology from the American Revolution to present day. Artifacts include the German Enigma machines, the never-compromised Sigaba machine and one of the first super computers.

Today, the museum averages 70,000 students, educators, researchers, scholars, historians, and other visitors annually. During special events, Civil War and World War II reenactors bring to life accounts of signal intelligence and American cryptology. The NCM hosts festivals and celebrations that bring people of all ages to the museum to experience cryptologic challenges, learn the value of language skills, and gain a greater appreciation for the military men and women who have served throughout our history, protecting us and our way of life through cryptology.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join with me today in honoring the 25th Anniversary of the National Cryptologic Museum. I am proud that my district--the Second Congressional District of Maryland--is home to this impressive resource that has served my constituency well over the years. I congratulate all of the museum's staff on this milestone and wish them another 25 years of success and stewardship.

Mr. Speaker, due to my attendance at an event off the Capitol Hill campus, I was unable to make roll call votes No. 423 through 425. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following manner: No. 423, NO on agreeing to the Resolution; No. 424, YES on Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass; and No. 425, YES on Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan bill. First and foremost, intelligence is about people. We cannot collect, analyze, and utilize intelligence effectively unless we can recruit, hire, and retain the best people possible. Therefore, I want to thank Chairman Nunes and Ranking Member Schiff, and their staffs, for working with me to include provisions in this bill that improve parental leave policies of the intelligence community.

These provisions will ensure that these benefits are, to the fullest extent possible, in line with the private sector. Doing so will help the IC develop and retain the workforce required to keep America safe against all our foes, both new and old.

This legislation also takes important steps to ensure the IC provides critical updates to Congress in the event the United States faces a foreign cyber attack or other active measures that threaten the heart of our democracy: our elections. There is no doubt that Russia will continue to exert a malign influence on the heart and soul of our democracy.

This cannot be tolerated, and I strongly support the efforts of the chairman and ranking member to ensure Congress will be informed of the most critical threats to our democracy.

I thank the chairman and ranking member, and the entire intelligence community and staff, for their dedicated oversight of the intelligence community and their commitment to enhancing national security.

Mr. Speaker, due to my attendance at an event off the Capitol Hill campus, I was unable to make rollcall votes Nos. 162- 166. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following manner: No. 162 ``no'' H.R. 4 On Agreeing to the Amendment, No. 163 ``no'' H.R. 4 On Agreeing to the Amendment, No. 164 ``yes'' H.R. 4 Motion to Recommit and No. 165 ``yes'' H.R. 4 Final Passage of H.R. 4.

Mr. Speaker, due to my attendance at an event off the Capitol Hill campus, I was unable to make rollcall vote No. 166. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following manner: No. 166 ``no'' On Motion to Table.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment being offered and in support of the underlying bill and the increased oversight in transparency it provides to the body of the intelligence community and the American public that it protects.

I thank the ranking member and also Chairman Goodlatte for allowing me to have this time.

Mr. Speaker, I want Americans at home to know what this program is not. It is not a dragnet surveillance program; it is not a program that could ever be used to target Americans; and it is not an unchecked intelligence tool. In fact, it may be one of the most heavily overseen programs that we have. This bill strengthens that accountability.

As former ranking member of the Intelligence Committee and Representative of the district that is home to NSA, I have taken many of my colleagues in this Chamber on trips to NSA so that they can see firsthand how these programs work to protect Americans and also to protect our freedom and civil liberties.

This is not a debate on constitutionality. The Federal courts have affirmed that this program's current authorization and operation are legal and consistent with the Fourth Amendment. This body has voted several times with bipartisan majorities to reauthorize it.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall vote 631, I inadvertently pressed ``nay'' on the recording device. I intended to vote ``yea'' On Agreeing to the Conference Report to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, due to my attendance at an event off the Capitol Hill campus, I was unable to make Roll Call vote No. 545. Had I been present, I would have voted aye.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to honor the life and legacy of Andrew ``Andy'' Riendeau Goodwin, a Maryland National Guardsman and member of the Abingdon Fire Company.

A native of Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, and a resident of Abingdon, Maryland, he was the son of Timothy Riendeau and Elizabeth Goodwin.

Andy attended Harford Community College where he earned an Associate of Arts Degree after graduating from Aberdeen High School as the Captain of his soccer, lacrosse and wrestling teams.

Andy was a member and Sergeant of the Abingdon Fire Company of Abingdon, Maryland.

A proud member of a military family, on October 2, 2015, Andy enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard and was assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment as a 15F, Aircraft Electrician, where he developed a passion for the helicopter unit and earned numerous commendations, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Basic Aviation Badge.

Andy had a passion for the outdoors and enjoyed hiking, camping, fishing, and clay shooting. He was not only a cherished uncle, but a role model to his niece and nephews. He is survived by his brother, sister, nephews, niece, and grandparents.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join with me today to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of Andy Riendeau Goodwin and that of his family. It is with great sadness that I mourn his loss and commemorate Suicide Awareness Month. Today I humbly express my condolences to his family and wish them peace and comfort in the days ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to introduce and welcome to Washington, Maryland State Delegate Ric Metzgar, a friend for a long time, Second District resident, who has been representing eastern Baltimore County in the Maryland General Assembly since 2015. He has been serving his community far longer.

Delegate Metzgar has lived in Essex for most of his life, graduating from Kenwood High School before attending Northwest Bible College. His father worked for the Glenn L. Martin airplane community, and his mother owned a drycleaning business.

Delegate Metzgar managed a local car dealership and a diner, and, as an ordained minister, he has served as a ministry leader and Sunday school director for several local churches. He founded Gateway Pastors and Churches Association.

In Annapolis, Delegate Metzgar serves on the Health and Government Operations Committee as well as the Maryland Veterans Caucus. His volunteer efforts within his community are unending.

Delegate Metzgar has long served as chair of the Essex Christmas parade and co-chair of the massive Essex Day Festival. He is a member of the board of directors for the Heritage Society of Essex and Middle River.

Delegate Metzgar is married with two children and two grandchildren. I am honored to call Delegate Metzgar a friend and constituent of the Second Congressional District of Maryland, and I offer sincere thanks on behalf of this entire body for his delivery of today's opening player.

Mr. Speaker, due to my attendance at an event off the Capitol Hill campus, I was unable to make Roll Call vote No. 135. Had I been present, I would have voted Aye.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Department of Defense Appropriations Act.

I thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for bringing this bill to the floor.

This bill helps to close gaps in readiness while making investments in research and development. These investments are critically important because I guarantee our adversaries know where we have work to do.

Mr. Speaker, I represent a congressional district home to two Army bases, the NSA, several National Guard facilities, and dozens of our private sector partners. I serve on the board of the United States Naval Academy, and I co-chair the Army Caucus.

My experience tells me we are living in a world that has changed since our Armed Forces entered the Middle East 16 years ago. While our men and women

in uniform fought asymmetric foes, our near-peer adversaries such as Russia and China made advancements in technology that threaten to degrade our military qualitative advantage.

This appropriations bill ensures our troops are ready and that we have enough of them to get the job done. It fully funds the new end strength number and allows for a 2.1 percent pay raise for our troops. This is the least we can do for the brave men and women who sacrifice for our country.

This bill also deters Russian aggression by fully funding the European Reassurance Initiative, and makes critical investments in missile defense technology.

This bill is a solid start, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it, but there is still work to be done. Our troops should trust that elected officials will support them and do their job to fund the government, just as we trust them to accomplish the mission assigned to them. Band-Aid budgets are bad for everyone--our partners in industry, the American taxpayers, and especially our Armed Forces.

Now is not the time to argue over partisan issues. Congress should create a frontline of support for our Armed Forces that is just as strong as the frontline our soldiers have created to protect us.

I call on all of my colleagues to work in a bipartisan fashion to pass this and the other FY17 appropriation bills as quickly as possible.

Mr. Speaker, we live in a dangerous world, and the President needs a National Security Adviser who isn't under a cloud of suspicion. But this resignation isn't the end. Americans now deserve to know if General Flynn was operating under anyone else's authority.

The American people deserve to know if Russia has financial, personal, or political grip on President Trump or his campaign. I am urging the agencies involved in the investigation to continue their important work vigorously.

I also ask my colleagues in House leadership to launch a bipartisan, independent congressional investigation into Russia's influence on the election and the new administration.

Lastly, I once again am calling on President Trump to remove his cheap political strategist, Steve Bannon, from the National Security Council and reinstate the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to restore some semblance of respectability to the organization's structure.

Mr. Speaker, as we saw from the horrific terrorist attack in Paris, now is not the time to be cutting funding for programs that protect Americans from enemies intent on doing us harm.

I am dismayed that some lawmakers are supporting punitive and ill- informed legislation to defund the Department of Homeland Security because they disagree with President Obama's recent executive action on the deportation of undocumented immigrants.

It is wrong to play political football with something as sacred as our national security. Even if you disagree with the President's immigration policy, it is irresponsible to withhold funding from the agencies that protect Americans from terrorists.

I know from my experience as ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee that this is a dangerous world. We must fully fund Homeland Security priorities--including Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and border security--through a Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill, while separately debating comprehensive immigration reform.

Let's stop the ideological partisan politics and do what the American people want us to do: protect our homeland, our communities, and our families. It is time to be constructive, not obstructive.

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

Chairman Rogers, this is my last opportunity on the floor to thank you again for your leadership. It has, once again, produced a strong, bipartisan, and bicameral Intelligence Authorization Act.

Our committee believes that our Nation's security is too important to be a political football. We have had different views, we argue, but we work it out for the good of American people.

Mr. Chairman, I hope that your legacy of bipartisanship, hard work, rigorous oversight, and problem-solving continues and spreads throughout the Congress. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we work together to solve problems.

I also want to thank our counterparts in the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senators Feinstein and Chambliss, for working very closely with us and each member of our committee. On the Democratic side, I want to acknowledge all the hard work of Mr. Thompson--who is sitting here to my left--Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Langevin,

Mr. Schiff, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Himes, and Ms. Sewell. And I want to thank our staff and the dedicated men and women of the intelligence community who work every day and all night throughout the world to protect us. I do agree with the chairman's statements about those men and women throughout the world who are out there protecting us and putting their lives on the line.

Now, today, we look beyond this Congress. We come together to set the stage for the continuing oversight of intelligence programs, personnel, and dollars. By doing so, we reinforce to the American people, and to the world, that there are checks and balances. We reinforce that the tools we authorize are for the sole purpose of keeping us, our allies, and our partners safe.

In May, the House passed the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 by 345 votes to 19. The Senate, however, took up each year separately. Over the summer, this House passed the FY14 bill, which the President signed.

So, we now take up the FY15 bill, which the Senate amended and sent back to us. This amended bill largely mirrors the relevant portions of the House-passed combined bill.

Passing a detailed Intelligence Authorization Act ensures that our intelligence agencies spend money only on programs Congress is informed of, approves, and can continuously oversee.

Oversight is extremely important. It helps to make sure that everything our intelligence agencies do follows the Constitution and the laws of the United States and maximizes the civil liberties and privacy of Americans. At the same time, the intelligence agencies need the clear authorization, direction, and guidance from Congress to do their vital work to protect and defend America, its allies, and its partners.

The Intelligence Authorization Act is split into four parts: the unclassified legislative text; the unclassified report; the classified annex, which explains our intent for the classified aspects of the bill; and the classified schedule of authorizations.

While we have made cuts to certain areas and added money in others to produce a responsible, well thought out, and fiscally prudent budget, the budget for fiscal year 2015 slightly exceeds the President's request.

While over the last 4 years we have reduced the intelligence community's budget by over a billion dollars, this year's bill acknowledges the need to make corrections after the drastic cuts of sequestration and the Budget Control Act.

Additionally, this bill acknowledges the need to step up our intelligence efforts to counter evolving threats such as ISIL. It is a dangerous world out there, and our bill accounts for that.

Let me also mention some specifics in the bill. First, it continues to emphasize the value of our space programs and endorses aggressive action to decrease our reliance on Russian-made engines to launch our national security satellites.

Two, it makes investments into research and development to defend against next generation threats and to stay ahead of countries like China and Russia. Three, it further improves the continuous evaluation of insider threats while safeguarding privacy and civil liberties.

Next, it enables better intelligence and information sharing to prevent foreign fighters coming in and out of Syria. It also enables cutting-edge Defense Intelligence Agency technology. We must stay ahead of the curve in technology.

The bill also further refines the Department of Defense human intelligence capabilities while supporting communitywide human intelligence efforts to better understand the enemies' plans and intentions. It also establishes increased accountability measures for our most sensitive programs.

The committee has worked with the intelligence community and the Senate to produce this solid, bipartisan bill. This bill also incorporates the valuable floor amendments the House passed in May. It represents a culmination of our committee's work through extensive hearings and briefings, travel, and in-depth studies. The bill is strong, and I am proud to support it.

For the sake of keeping the country, its allies, and partners safe and for the sake of thoroughly overseeing even the most classified intelligence programs, I urge my colleagues to pass the bill today.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), a great member of our committee who specialized in infrastructure and also worked very hard to make sure that our Embassies have the intelligence information they need to protect themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California, Mr. Adam Schiff, a great member of our committee with a tremendous work ethic. He reads almost every piece of intelligence information and comes to quality and informed conclusions.

He also has focused a lot and specialized in working with legislation involving transparency and accountability and has spent a lot of time on an area that is very important to our Intelligence Committee, the space program.

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues to vote for this important bipartisan and bicameral bill. It is the single most effective oversight tool we have, and it ensures that our intelligence community has what it needs to keep us and our allies safe. Intelligence is often the first line of defense against a dangerous world. Without it, we are in the dark, and we are vulnerable.

Finally, once again, let me just say thank you to my good friend, Mr. Chairman, and to the members of the committee, to our colleagues in the Senate, and to the men and women of the intelligence community. It has been my honor and privilege to work with you under your great leadership during the 113th Congress.

I also want to thank the Republican and Democratic staffs for working together. That is what makes it work. You are only as good as your team and your staff.

I also would like to acknowledge the Democratic staff: Staff Director Heather Molino, Amanda Rogers-Thorpe, Bob Minehart, Linda Cohen, Carly Blake, Allison Getty, Deb Haynie, and Michael Bahar.

I also thank staff members who were with us but have retired: Mike Shank, Janet Fisher, and Khizer Sayed.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.