Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Each year, observers use the day as a time to remember those who have lost their lives as a result of a road crash. It is also a time to recommit ourselves to the goal of changing behaviors that lead to driver accidents.

The theme of this year's observance is ``Speed Kills.'' Each day around the world, more than 500 children are killed on the way to and from school because of the actions of unsafe drivers. Indeed, road crashes are the leading cause of death for people from ages 15 to 29. This annual World Day of Remembrance provides road traffic victims and their families with an opportunity to remind the world of these troubling statistics and to have their voices heard.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in remembering those who have lost their lives or were injured as a result of a road crash, to console the families of those affected, and to commit ourselves to the goal of making roads safe for everyone around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my constituent, Michael A. McMurphy, a longtime resident of Potomac, Maryland, for his lifetime of dedicated service to family, community and country, and I offer my heartfelt congratulations to him on the occasion of his retirement.

Michael McMurphy served honorably for ten years in active duty in the United States Air Force following graduation from the Air Force Academy, after which he continued serving our Nation in the Air Force Reserves, receiving several commendations for his outstanding contributions.

After earning advanced degrees from St. Mary's University and the University of Texas School of Law, he worked in the Office of Chief Counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Operations in Tennessee from 1979 to 1983, where he supported the Department's Uranium Enrichment Enterprise, among other critical areas.

In 1983, he joined COGEMA, Inc. in Bethesda, Maryland as its Secretary and General Counsel, was subsequently promoted to Vice President, and then elected President and Chief Executive Officer in 1988. After COGEMA was merged into the AREVA Group in 2001, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of AREVA NC Inc., and then President of AREVA Inc. in 2003.

In 2008, Mr. McMurphy was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of AREVA's worldwide Front End Business Group, located in Paris, France, and returned to the U.S. in 2013, rejoining AREVA Inc. as Executive Vice President through 2014. Over his tenure, he has won the admiration of his many colleagues and peers and has served on the boards of directors of numerous companies and industry organizations.

For his exceptional contributions to U.S.-France relations and to the important commercial ties between our two countries, he was recognized by the President of France with an appointment to the rank of Chevalier, or knight, in the Ordre national du Merite and then, in 2012, to the rank of Chevalier in the Legion d'honneur, that country's highest civilian honor.

Aside from his professional accomplishments, his greatest achievement, according to his sons Matthew and Kevin, is his love for his wife Maureen--``that's a thing that makes us very proud . . . that holds the family together, and our family has always been close.''

In 2008, Michael and Maureen suffered a tragic loss when their son Patrick, who moved to New York City to pursue his dream of acting, died at the age of 23 from severe head injuries sustained from an accidental fall. Michael and Maureen established the Patrick Michael McMurphy Memorial Foundation in his honor, and they have since done some wonderful work through the foundation to promote the arts, especially theater, film and music. The foundation has benefited the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, where Patrick completed his studies, and is supporting promising young people who would not otherwise be able to pursue the arts with ``life changing'' scholarships, mentoring and counseling.

Michael delighted in his children; his sons fondly recall the sense of humor and commitment with which Michael insisted on playing the part of Cub Scout ``Den Mother,'' an unusual role for a dad in the 1980s, to spend more time with his boys. ``We were proud to be the only boys we knew who had a dad for a Den Mother,'' they have said. Michael loves children as he thinks they only bring joy and humor to his life, and now Michael's joy will be spending greater quality time with his three young grandchildren, perhaps outfitting them with Chuck Taylor high-top All-Star basketball shoes--shoes that bring him back happy memories of his late son, who wore them often.

I thank Michael for his many fine contributions, especially to the business and civic vitality of Maryland, and I wish him much happiness in this new phase of his life.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my gratitude and appreciation to Barry Bergey, who retires this month as Director of Folk and Traditional Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts after a distinguished 29-year tenure.

Mr. Bergey's predecessor at the NEA, Dan Sheehy, spoke of him as follows:

``Barry grew up in the picture postcard town of New Haven, Missouri, on the banks of the Missouri River, population 2,000. His father was a minister, and Barry once recalled how sitting through the same sermon two times each Sunday prepared him for the many meetings he would sit through during his government career. After working for a time at Washington University of St. Louis, he found the professional love of his life--Missouri's rich store of traditions and the artists who maintained them. He became the state's first folk arts coordinator. His congenial persona, his cultural knowledge, and his dedication to serving grassroots people and their most cherished traditions caught the attention of Bess Lomax Hawes, then director of the National Endowment for the Arts' budding Folk Arts Program. Barry was hired by the NEA as a senior arts specialist in 1985 and became the program's fourth Director in 2001, following Alan Jabbour, Hawes and Daniel Sheehy. With 29 years of service to his credit, he is the longest- serving folk and traditional arts staff member.''

Mr. Bergey absorbed the values of folk and traditional artists during his upbringing and worked to preserve and promote them throughout his career. With Julia and Jim Olen, he produced ``I'm Old but I'm Awfully Tough,'' a recording of field documentation made in the Ozark Region of Missouri and Arkansas in 1975. As State Folk Arts Coordinator at the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center based at the University of Missouri- Columbia from 1983-85, he initiated a model statewide traditional arts apprenticeship program and a statewide touring and performance series. He also curated a touring exhibition on a 19th century housebarn in rural Franklin County near New Haven, Missouri, where he grew up. Mr. Bergey founded the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts, an organization that sponsored the annual Frontier Folklife Festival at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and produced The Missouri Tradition, a public radio program. He also taught courses on the blues and on American folk music at Washington University in St. Louis.

In addition to managing NEA grants on folk and traditional arts, Mr. Bergey directed the NEA National Heritage Fellowships, the premiere American lifetime honors for individual accomplishments in folk and traditional arts. He provided guidance and support for folk arts infrastructure and statewide apprenticeship

programs, as well as technical assistance in the field. Mr. Bergey urged support for many recommended applicants, recognizing that even a small grant could make a difference to folk arts projects and that an organization could leverage NEA support when seeking funding from other organizations and donors.

Mr. Bergey's international leadership includes service as consultant to the Center for U.S.-China Arts Exchange on a long-term project to conserve traditional arts and minority culture in Yunan Province, China; author of a chapter on music and public policy in the United States and Canada in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music; and service on the U.S. delegation for the UNESCO Intergovernmental Meetings of Experts to Draft a Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the UNESCO Inter-American Committee on Culture of the Organization of American States in 2003, and the U.S. delegation to UNESCO to draft a Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2005.

Joe Wilson, who served as Chairman of the National Council for the Traditional Arts in Silver Spring, Maryland, described Mr. Bergey's service as follows:

``During his years as a folklorist and collector, Barry sought out those the Good Book calls `even the least of these little Ones.' He understood that the genes for creativity were spread wide, and knew it was his duty to reach into the places where the poor and ragged people dwelled. He was gracious and good to all who came calling, and understood that it was his duty to be certain that his branch of government was fair to all its citizens. He honored the taxpayers by being careful in the expenditure of funds. In an influential place and at an important time, he lifted artists up, all artists, and made them better understood. His reach has been great, and his grasp magnificent.''

I urge my colleagues to join me in thanking Barry for his extraordinary service to the National Endowment for the Arts and for his outstanding contributions to our cultural heritage, and in wishing him, his wife Jean, and his children Claire and Matthew all the best in the coming years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to today's legislation to grant automatic approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, bypassing the legal review process.

Today's bill grants immediate authority to Canadian company TransCanada to ``construct, connect, operate, and maintain'' the pipeline as described in their 2012 application to the State Department. However, as the bill itself acknowledges, there are still outstanding issues with that application. Notably, there is no legal route through Nebraska due to an ongoing court case over private property rights and eminent domain. This bill does nothing to resolve that case. It gives blanket approval without knowing what the pipeline route will look like in Nebraska.

I am also deeply concerned that tar sands oil, which would be transported in the pipeline, is exempt from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund that is used to respond to leaks and accidents. If there is an accident along this pipeline, taxpayers will be on the hook for cleanup. We need to close that loophole and ensure that the American public is not bearing the risks for TransCanada's pipeline.

The State Department continues to review the 2.5 million comments it has received on this project and is awaiting a final route from Nebraska to make its determination on whether this project is in the best interest of the American people. We should allow that process to continue.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today to congratulate WAMU 88.5's ``The Big Broadcast'' on its 50th anniversary and to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments and career of my constituent, Ed Walker, one of the most respected radio broadcasters in generations. Mr. Walker's distinguished career spans over 50 years as a broadcaster, most recently as the outstanding host since 1990 of The Big Broadcast.

Through The Big Broadcast, Mr. Walker has kept alive and shared with new generations the classic radio shows of a bygone era--shows like ``The Lone Ranger,'' ``Gunsmoke'' and ``Fibber McGee.'' The art form in these broadcasts was magnificent, of the highest quality, and truly innovative. In addition to entertaining us, they served a unique role in American society by uniting us with imagery that one finds only in radio, featuring the great writing and talent of the performers, and sharing unique perspectives. Families would crowd around the radio listening for the latest episodes and waiting to learn of the latest heroics or antics of their favorite characters. In the Big Broadcast, Mr. Walker not only brought all of this extraordinary material to us week after week, but put it in context and served as our tour guide through decades of American history as portrayed through the wonderful radio broadcasts.

Mr. Walker was appropriately recognized in 2009 by the Radio Hall of Fame for his lifetime of achievements, placed alongside the greats that include Bob Hope and Abbott & Costello. I am pleased and honored to represent him in the U.S. House of Representatives. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Walker on his distinguished contributions to radio and to our cultural heritage.

Mr. Speaker, I support the core pillars of the President's plan to fight ISIS--the use of American surveillance, intelligence assets and air power to support the ground operations of the Iraqi army and Kurdish fighters in Iraq, and to strike ISIS military equipment, troop concentrations, and command and control in Syria. I also believe we should supply weapons to those groups in Syria, such as the Syrian Kurds, who have consistently fought ISIS, and whose priority is to defeat ISIS. I welcome the opportunity to work with my colleagues to revise the existing 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force to more clearly support these objectives, but to also ensure that U.S. ground forces are not engaged in combat in Iraq or Syria.

My one concern with the Administration's plan relates to the proposal to arm the so-called ``moderate'' Syrian opposition. I believe that it is a well-intentioned proposal that will have unintended negative consequences that will not serve our ultimate goal of defeating ISIS.

First, the primary objective of these Sunni Islamist fighters is the defeat of Assad and his Alawite dominated regime--not the defeat of ISIS. Since the start of the war there have been shifting alliances among these Sunni Islamist forces that include the al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, different elements of the Free Syrian Army, the Islamist Front, Ahrar al-Sham and ISIS, among others. Their common cause and overriding objective is defeating Assad. Indeed, the commander of the Syria Revolutionaries' Front, Jamal Maarouf, one of the most militarily proficient commanders of the FSA, recently said that, ``It's clear that I'm not fighting against al-Qaeda. This is a problem outside of Syria's border, so it's not our problem. I don't have a problem with anyone who fights against the regime inside Syria.''

While there is no doubt that Assad is a brutal dictator, he does not pose the same threat to the United States as ISIS, and his forces have recently been battling ISIS. At this point, arming fighters whose primary purpose is to

weaken Assad has one unintended result--strengthening ISIS. Indeed, I fear that the arms we provide to the so-called Syrian opposition are more likely to end up in ISIS hands than to be used against ISIS terrorists.

There is one group within Syria that has been battling ISIS from the start, and that is the Syrian Kurds. We should provide material support to these Kurdish fighters in Syria.

We should also continue our efforts to get the Sunni tribesmen in Iraq and Syria to take up the fight against ISIS. The President and his team deserve great credit for helping to push former Prime Minister Maliki from power. He ruled Iraq, not as a nationalist Iraqi leader, but as a Shia strongman. That sectarian approach alienated the Sunni population in Iraq, and made them more open to tolerating the rise of

Mr. Speaker, I rise as a cosponsor in support of H. Res. 707, a resolution condemning all forms of anti-Semitism. I also rise to spotlight the troubling and rising tide of hate crimes against Jews that has recently begun sweeping the globe. There have been violent attacks against Jews in the Middle East, death threats in Latin America, synagogues fire-bombed in Europe and the desecration of the property of Jews in North Africa.

World leaders have spoken out against these acts of violence and condemned those responsible. The resolution I helped to introduce expresses that same sentiment by unequivocally condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and urging the secretary of state to maintain as a foreign policy priority of the United States the fight against anti- Semitism in all of its forms.

The resolution also recognizes that condemnation alone will do little without the added threat of strong and effective laws to back it up. The resolution urges governments around the world to ensure that adequate laws are in place to monitor and punish those responsible for anti-Semitic violence and hate crimes.

Today I stand with my colleagues on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in solidarity with all those around the world who will not permit these hate crimes to pass without comment and who believe that acts of religiously and ethnically motivated violence against one of us is an act perpetrated against all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from New York for all his good work on these issues.

Just to underscore what he said with respect to Mr. Davis' proposal, we would love to have that proposal on veterans come before the floor as a stand-alone bill. Of course it has been wrapped into a much larger package that has nothing to do with jobs and everything to do with rewarding special interests at the expense of middle class families and taxpayers. It is a continuation of the failed strategy that responds to every economic challenge with more tax breaks to corporations and more breaks to folks at the very top of the economic ladder, the old, failed trickle-down theory of economics.

There is nothing to raise the minimum wage, nothing to achieve pay equity for women, nothing to invest in America's infrastructure or our education system. Instead, it is a collection of tax cuts that together would add $572 million to the deficit over the next 10 years--no attempt to offset that cost.

That is a lot of work in one afternoon, to add over half a trillion dollars to the deficit, totally in violation of the Republican budget that was brought to the floor.

Nor is this a bill that attempts to reform the Tax Code. I have great respect for the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and he did a credible effort in coming up with a reform plan. It wasn't perfect, lots of things that a lot of people don't like, but it was a credible effort.

This bill takes us in the opposite direction. When the chairman introduced that bill, the Speaker of this House ran away faster than anybody else from that proposal, and this proposal runs away from it as well.

Let me give you one example. The reform bill that was proposed by Mr. Camp repealed bonus depreciation. This bill adds $270 billion to the deficit by making bonus depreciation permanent.

Mr. Camp's proposal was revenue-neutral in the first 10 years. This one adds over half a trillion dollars to the deficit, and it doesn't close a single corporate tax loophole.

Look, if we are going to provide over a half a trillion dollars in tax breaks to large corporations, you would think that our Republican colleagues would at least deal with the issue of inversions, this sweep we see toward more and more corporations changing their

address offshore to avoid their tax obligations to the American people. But, no, nothing to deal with inversions. In fact, this bill rewards a number of companies that have recently engaged in inversions.

I want to call attention to section 701 of the bill because it says a lot about the priorities reflected on the floor today. That section repeals the excise tax paid by medical device companies that was put in place to help finance health care reform.

So it repeals that--no effort to replace that. So it adds $26 billion to the deficit, just that provision. Not only that, but it repeals it going forward, and it also gives a rebate going backwards. So a company, Medtronic, which is right now moving its tax address overseas to avoid its tax obligations to the American people, is going to get a $200 million plus interest tax bonus.

So here is this bill in a nutshell: do nothing to boost the middle class.

So just to wrap this up, because I hope people will focus on this, the bottom-line message of this is: sorry to see you leave our shores, but you know what? As a good-bye present, we are going to hand you $200 million in tax breaks.

That sums up the problems with this bill, Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend.

Look, the Joint Tax Committee has suggested that if we don't deal with this problem of corporations changing their tax address to escape their responsibilities to the citizens of this country, it will add $20 billion to the deficit, which taxpayers will have to make up.

I just want to emphasize the point the gentleman made because Mr. Camp has called upon Senate Democrats to vote on the Hire Our Heroes bill. In fact, that bill is in the Senate 2-year extender bill in the United States Senate, which is currently being blocked and filibustered by our Republican Senate colleagues.

I would also point out that the cost of that bill, which we all accept, is $700 million added to the deficit. You are now putting it in a package with all sorts of corporate giveaways that doesn't cost $700 million but, together, costs $573 billion to the deficit, all in an afternoon's work.

Mr. Speaker, this is an irresponsible bill. We should vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, today we are considering once again a range of bills to give away public resources to Big Oil, strip environmental and public health protections, and prioritize drilling over all other uses, including recreation and conservation, on federal lands.

Let's look at the facts. Oil and gas production has reached near historic highs in the United States. Our dependence on foreign oil has dropped from 57 percent in 2008 to 29 percent today. The provisions in this bill--which would block the proposed carbon standard to protect public health, order federal

agencies to pretend that climate change has no impact on our communities, and limit oversight on drilling projects on federal lands--will not improve our energy security. They will endanger our health and resources.

There is nothing new in today's debate. This package includes the same old ideas that the Majority has been pushing, without result, since 2011. Rather than working together for the American people, they are recycling the same partisan agenda. Our constituents deserve better. I urge a no vote.

Mr. Speaker, to keep the government open, the House is considering a continuing resolution (H.J. Res. 124) that permits government agencies to continue spending at the 2014 level through December 11, 2014. As a result, it allows a rate of overseas contingency operations spending at the Department of Defense, Department of State, and other agencies that if sustained over the entire fiscal year would total $92 billion. This sum exceeds what the Administration requested for overseas contingency operations for 2015 by $26 billion. Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and I agree that this bill should not be interpreted as endorsing the expansion of overseas contingency operations spending above what our military commanders say is needed to support our troops engaged in war operations. Congress will revisit the full-year funding needs for overseas contingency operations at a future date, including whatever resources may be necessary to counter emerging threats, including those ISIL poses. Over the course of the CR period, the Administration should spend OCO funding at a rate that will still allow for full-year funding at no higher than the level military commanders say is needed for 2015.

The OCO budget has been misused to get around discretionary funding caps over the years. Billions of dollars of non-war related activities have been funded in the OCO budget. For 2014, Congress shifted $9 billion of non-war activities into the OCO budget so it could free up funds within the budget caps. Over 2001 through 2014, Pentagon OCO cost reports indicate that $71 billion of non-war funding was provided through war appropriations.

This is a problem that both Chairman Ryan and I have been looking at in the Budget Committee. We both agree that the OCO budget should only be used to fund those requirements that are related to the transitory, non-recurring costs of war activities. In fact, the Budget Committee adopted report language as part of the budget resolution affirming that goal. It says, ``Abuse of the OCO/GWOT cap adjustment is a backdoor loophole that undermines the integrity of the budget process. The Budget Committee will exercise its oversight responsibilities with respect to the use of the OCO/GWOT designation in the FY 2015 budget process, and it will oppose increases above the levels the Administration and our military commanders say are needed to carry out operations unless it can be clearly demonstrated that such amounts are war-related.''

We should provide our military and diplomatic corps all the resources they need to carry out the important missions the country gives them. However, we should not use the OCO budget as a back-door mechanism to get around discretionary funding caps. The continuing resolution gives the Administration the spending authority needed to keep the government open and to give the necessary resources to support those engaged in operations overseas. It does not give the Administration a blank check to finance non-war activities.

In the coming months when the House considers the final full-year appropriation for overseas contingency operations, I am committed to working with Chairman Ryan to ensure that funds appropriated in the OCO budget will only be used for war-related costs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the career of my constituent Kevie Niland who recently retired after 34 years of service to the United States House of Representatives.

Kevie came to the House in 1980 to be a constituent service coordinator for Congressman Miller, beginning a long career of service to the American people. She later moved to the Clerk's office, starting as an administrative assistant before becoming Assistant Clerk to the Official Reporters in 1995. Four years later, she was named Reading Clerk, and then, in 2009, she took the office of Deputy Chief of Legislative Operations for the House of Representatives.

Kevie served under seven Speakers of the House, from Tip O'Neill to John Boehner, and has had a front seat for many historic and spirited debates in this Chamber. I have encouraged her to write a book, but she has responded, ``No one would believe it.'' Her extraordinary efforts to record and support the work of the House makes our actions open and transparent to all American citizens and holds each of us accountable to the constituents we serve.

I know Kevie plans to take a well-deserved vacation, but I expect that she will continue to find ways to serve her community. I know we all feel very lucky to have benefited from her work here in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Kevie Niland on her outstanding and productive service to this body and to our country and wish her the very best in her well-earned retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. Grijalva, for his assistance on this bill and his leadership on so many other important issues.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in rising in strong support of S. 476, a bill to restore the authority of the C&O Canal National Historical Park Commission.

I joined with Congressman Frank Wolf and Congressman John Delaney to introduce companion legislation to this bill in the House and appreciate the work of my friend Senator Cardin in the Senate and Chairman Hastings and Ranking Member DeFazio of the Natural Resources Committee in bringing this bill to the floor of the House today.

The C&O Canal National Historical Park begins just a few miles from this Capitol and follows the old C&O Canal and towpath for about 185 miles to reach Cumberland, Maryland.

Along the way, as Congressman Hastings says, it passes through three States, and it passes through the District of Columbia and many cities and towns in rural areas. It is a treasure of the National Park System, providing a place for visitors to learn about the history of the canal and enjoy the scenic views from the towpath.

The C&O Canal National Historical Park Commission was established along with the park in 1971, an idea of my former boss, Senator Mac Mathias of Maryland, and former Congressman Gilbert Gude of Maryland.

They believed that a park spanning so many diverse communities should have a formal channel through which park management could seek advice and input on park policy from its many neighbors. For years, this model worked well, and then the authority for the Commission expired in 2011.

Mr. Speaker, the legislation before us today would reestablish the Commission, allowing it to resume its critical service. While the Commission would have no authority to make binding park policy, it would serve an important advisory role and strengthen the relationship between the park and its neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation today and thank the Natural Resources Committee for bringing this to the floor in a bipartisan basis.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5078, a bill that would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency from clarifying protections for drinking water under the Clean Water Act.

Today's legislation would prohibit the Army Corps and EPA from continuing proposed action to ensure that the streams and wetlands that feed our waterways and provide drinking water for millions of Americans are protected from pollution. In 2001 and 2006, Supreme Court decisions created confusion about precisely which upstream tributaries were covered by the law. Subsequent policy guidance only increased legal uncertainty and undermined efforts to protect drinking water for more than 117 million Americans, including more than 26 million residents in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

In response to this confusion, the Army Corps and EPA have proposed a rule that would clarify which waters must be protected in order to safeguard public health and resources, and are currently seeking comments from stakeholders. Their proposal protects waters that have historically been covered by the Clean Water Act while continuing exemptions for agriculture. The bill on the floor today would not only shortcut the public comment process and withdraw the proposed rule, but would also prohibit the Army Corps and EPA from clarifying the regulation in the future.

For too long, legal uncertainty around the Clean Water Act jurisdiction has jeopardized the health of drinking water and created confusing delays for industry as they struggle to determine their responsibility under the law. Congress should allow this rulemaking to go forward to develop a clear, practical standard that restores protections to our communities. I urge a no vote on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Conference Report on H.R. 3230, the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014. I also want to commend Chairman Sanders, Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Burr, and Ranking Member Michaud for their work on crafting a bipartisan bill that not only provides for our veterans but addresses many of the systemic problems within the Veteran Health Administration.

The final conference agreement provides over $17 billion in funding for the Department of Veteran Affairs. This includes $10 billion in funding to allow veterans who live more than 40 miles away from a VA facility, or who have waited more than 30 days for an appointment at a VA medical center, to seek care with an outside provider. In addition, it provides the VA with $6.5 billion in funding to address its critical shortage of doctors and nurses and to allow the VA to enter into 27 new medical facility leases. By expanding access to care, increasing staffing needs, and authorizing new clinics, this bill is a great first step in tackling many of the ongoing problems that have surfaced at the VA in recent years.

The Conference Report strengthens a number of other programs to help support our veterans and their families. It expands eligibility and provides veterans who experienced military sexual trauma while on inactive duty the opportunity to seek sexual trauma counseling. It also modifies the Post 9/11 GI Bill and allows veterans to receive in-state tuition rates at any public university, if they decide to relocate. Finally, today's legislation extends an important program set to expire later this year to provide housing for veterans struggling with traumatic brain injuries.

I do, however, have reservations about a provision in this bill which gives the VA Secretary broad authority to fire Senior Executive Service (SES) employees even though the VA already has tools to remove SES employees who are rated unsatisfactory. However, I am encouraged that-- unlike legislation that passed the House earlier this year--the conference agreement does provide SES employees with an expedited appeals process through a Merit Systems Protection Board.

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more important than providing for those who have sacrificed so much for our country. I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the so-called ``Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act,'' which would roll back clean water protections and allow untracked pesticide pollution in our rivers and streams.

More than two and a half years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency put in place basic pesticide protections by requiring a general permit for the direct application of pesticides into waterways. Nearly 2,000 waterways are already contaminated by pesticides, harming fish and amphibians and potentially accumulating in people who eat those fish. The commonsense permit does not affect land applications of pesticides, maintains existing agricultural exemptions, and allows for immediate spraying to protect the public from vector-borne diseases.

Today's legislation would roll back the permitting rule, leaving pesticide application unmonitored and our waterways vulnerable to contamination. I urge a ``no'' vote.