mr. connolly: mr. chairman, this should -- this amendment would ensure sufficient funds for the vare office of the inspector general to provide rigorous oversight of the washington, d.c. veterans' affairs medical center. a center that's been plagued with management problems, many of which have been described in previous amendments here this morning. the inspector general recently concluded a year-long critical ion into the deficiencies at that certainty. in his final report, issued on march 7 of this year, the i.g. highlighted the leadership failures and pervasive understaffing, underpin widespread issues in inventory management, sterile processing, and patient safety itself. these are our veterans we're talking about. the i.g. found continual mismanagement and protected information and significant government resource, putting them at risk for fraud, waste, and abuse. the report makes clear these failings have persisted for the better part of a decade and like these will not be resolved overnight. foll

connolly for five minutes for his opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to mr. meadows for calling today's hearing to look to mismanagement and wasteful spending in the hardest hit program. d thanks to our witnesses for being here. the oversight and government reform committee has brought jurisdiction to look into fraud waste and abuse throughout the government, including when federal dollars go to state and local governments are other recipients. taxpayer dollars should not be viewed as a slush fund and a welcome the committee's oversight into this issue today. to ensure accountaby whatever taxpayer dollars are spent, it's also important that this committee look into wastefulpending elsewhere in the federal government. i would welcome a deeper look into wasteful spending at the environmental protection agency, for example. $43,000 on a soundproof booth for administrator scott pruitt in violation of spending loss. when hundred $5000 on administrator privilege first-class flights in the first year on the job. $100,000 for f day trip to moscow. $120,000 on a four-

mr. connolly: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6, rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from virginia will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 28 printed in part b of house report 115-711. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment number 28 printed in part brn of house eport 115-711 offered by mr. o'halleran of arizona. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 918, the gentleman from arizona and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the entleman from the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. o'halleran: we need to act swiftly to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the southwestern united states. on the navajo nation alone there are over 500 abandoned mine sites that remain unaddressed and pose a danger to residents. many provide uranium to the u.s. atomic energy commission for defense activities between 1947 an

connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend from california for his leadership. i rise in support of the veterans treatment court improvement act requiring the department of veterans affairs to hire 50 veterans specialists to support veteran treatment courts. we have a sacred obligation to serve the needs of our nation's veterans, including those struggling with addiction and the invisible wounds of war. 20% of iraq and afghan war veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder or major depression. one in six battle with substance abuse. left undiagnosed or untreated, these illnesses can lead to an encounter with the justice system. worse yet, they can also lead to suicide, which veterans commit at more than twice the rate of the civilian population. fortunately specialized treatment courts are being developed across the country to help veterans that suffer from addiction or mental health disorders and they receive the assistance they deserve. the first such court was estab

. >> thank you, mr. connolly. i will take a few minutes to follow up with some questions and then yield some time to mr. raskin. what actions, if any, did your agency, mr. farmer, take to address the concerns raised in the special inspector general for t.a.r.'s report? >> yes, thank you, sir. immediately following the release of the report, our agency made the decision to repay a portion of those costs related to meals primarily because, you know, there was a number of charges in there that we could have spent an inordinate amount of time debating back and forth whether or not it was allowed or not allowed, so we decided to repay the meals immediately. in addition to that, we hired a third-party audit firm to bring -- we brought them into our office, had them look at the expenses, look at the categories and how we were categorizing expenses to give us advice to help us address any questions related to those expenses highlighted in the report. in addition to that, we also revised our travel and expense policies bas

mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank my friend from michigan and my good friend from north carolina for their leadership. i particularly want to thank my good friend from maryland, mr. cummings. mr. cummings is not only a legislative expert, but he's also a moral voice. he speaks of clarity and eloquence, as he did yesterday, about innocent children being detained at the southern border, s an -- an un-american activity. something that doesn't reflect our values. and today he's lending that same moral voice to the cry advice that afflicts -- crisis that afflicts so many communities in america, the opioid addiction crisis. i rise today, mr. speaker, in support of a coordinated response through interagency strategy information or crisis act, to re-authorize and revamp the office of national drug control policy. the chairman and ranking member of our full committee work closely together and with committee members to produce a bipartisan bill that was reported out ofhe committee unanimously. i'm proud to be an ori

mr. visclosky: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership on this bill. i rise in support of section 8129, particularly, of this bill. this section, mr. chairm would finally allow the secretary of defense in the event of a government shutdown to make military death gratuity payments to families of fallen service members. i commend the committee for including this long overdue provision which was my number one priority request to the committee and the subject of bipartisan legislation i introduced in every congress. i was pleased to co-lead that with my friend, tom rooney of fl it was shameful that congress previously would allow the government to shut down and allow grieving families of fallen service members to go without this small and partial murph our appreciation and gratitude -- measure of our appreciation and gratitude. sadly, that's what happened in the shutdown of

their insightful comments and with that i recognize the ranking member, the gentleman from virginia mr. connolly for his opening remarks. >> i think the chair and i would ask that the democratic rebuttal to the republican staff memo which was not cleared on our side be entered into hours -- into evidence. >> later -- labor organizations and collective bargaining are in the public interest. because the reality is that unions contribute to the effective conduct of business and facilitate settlement of employee dispute. federal unions are required to represent all employees within a bargaining unit including those who do not pay dues. and may not seek fees from nonmembers. in exchange for those representational duties, the civil service format authorize the use of official time. the legal authorization federal oral -- federal employees protect. they negotiate collective bargaining agreements. sometimes they are troubleshooters who can diffuse a situation before it gets to the litigation stage. the truth is that official time is authorized by law. negotiated by agency management with the u

amendment number 27 by mr. connolly of virginia. amendment number 29 by mr. gosar of arizona. amendment number 31 by mr. lowenthal of california. amendment number 34 by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. amendment number 39 by mr. norman of south carolina. the chair will reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote of this series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment 13 printed in part b of house report 115-711 offered by the gentlewoman from massachusetts, ms. songailaas. of which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice voice -- by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 13 printed in part b of house report 115-711 offered by mistsongas of massachusetts -- by ms. tsongas of massachusetts. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-

mr. connolly: i thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank my good friend, mr. polis, for his leadership in the rules kevment i respect the chairman of the -- rules committee. i respect the chairman of the rules committee but i respectfully disagree. he's presided over a rules committee that has the most closed rules in the history of the united states. competing ideas, opposing views were not allowed to be considered in either of the two bills the republicans are going to put before the congress. one was dispensed with already. i oppose the rule and i oppose the underlying legislation. we're facing multiple immigration crises of the president's own making. and we must not be fooled by plans designed to cover that up. this is not the fix we need for migrant families separated at border. president trump's inhumane and morally repugnant policy, to forcibly separate children from their parents as they seek refuge in america, is beyond the pale. we cannot rely on the president's sudden change of heart. we must for bid this barbaric -- forbid this barbaric policy by

at one local fair in herndon, i believe it was in mr. connolly's district, the task force told me on a labor they identified up to about 200 gang -- suspected gang task force members in there weaving about among the children. when we went on the ride along with them, in one night they picked up 14 suspected gang members. one turned out to be somebody who at 16 years old had committed murder in el salvador, then he had already been deported from the country twice, and was now back on sterling boulevard, in sterling, virginia, about 25 miles or so from the capitol, and there he was on a friday evening as children and everyone else were playing around. he was covered with gang signs when he lifted up his shirt. and one of the tools that our gang task force needs more of is a little device that looks like an i-pad. when you put the fingerprint of that gang member on the pad, his record thend could see the entire record. and the gang task force members knew who they were dealing with. so it is clear that the resurgence of ms-13 is a multiface

mr. connolly: i thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank my good friend, mr. polis, for his leadership in the rules kevment i respect the chairman of the -- rules committee. i respect the chairman of the rules committee but i respectfully disagree. he's presided over a rules committee that has the most closed rules in the history of the united states. competing ideas, opposing views were not allowed to be considered in either of the two bills the republicans are going to put before the congress. one was dispensed with already. i oppose the rule and i oppose the underlying legislation. we're facing multiple immigration crises of the president's own making. and we must not be fooled by plans designed to cover that up. this is not the fix we need for migrant families separated at border. president trump's inhumane and morally repugnant policy, to forcibly separate children from their parents as they seek refuge in america, is beyond the pale. we cannot rely on the president's sudden change of heart. we must for bid this barbaric -- forbid this barbaric policy by

as you can see, mr. speaker, this bill does a lot of good. i wish that bipartisan legislation, like this, was the norm. and i congratulate the committee for working together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that our country's security needs are met without needlessly injecting partisan fights into the process. i would, however, be remiss if i did not mention the omission of any language pertaining to the 2001 authorization for use of military force, known colloquially as the 2001 aumf. we continue to give presidents a blank check to wage war. let me repeat that. we continue to give presidents, not president trump, not president obama, not president bush, not president clinton, presidents a blank check to wage war. and since the 2001 aumf was enacted, it's been cited as the statutory authority for military actions more than 40 times in at least 18 countries. 18 countries, mr. speaker, using an authorization passed 17 years ago. i and other members, like congresswoman barbara lee, congressman jim mcgovern, the ranking member of the rules commi