David Price

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank the chairman for yielding, and simply want to also express my support for the amendment, and hope my colleagues will support it.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I also urge acceptance of the amendment.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank the chairman for yielding. I would echo his sentiments on this amendment. I understand that it's well-intentioned and that there may very well be some specific issues that demand attention, but this is largely the same amendment that we debated earlier this evening, which was voted down by a considerable margin, and I believe we should do that again.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in reluctant opposition to the amendment as well. I do this because I have great respect for the gentleman from Mississippi and for the good work that he does on the authorizing committee. And I also know that the concerns he has expressed here tonight are legitimate ones. But I believe striking this funding in an appropriations bill is not the preferred way to deal with it. The Behavior Detection Officers program utilizes specially trained individuals to identify potentially high-risk passengers. This program is specifically designed to detect individuals exhibiting behaviors that indicate they may be a threat to our security. And these behaviors, by the way, are not just randomly chosen. These individuals are trained in psychologically grounded theories as to what kind of behaviors they're looking for and what those behaviors may indicate. It's one element of a layered approach to ensuring the security of our commercial airlines and airports. Now, I'm aware that the inspector general will soon issue a report that faults TSA for not being able to accurately assess the effectiveness of the program and for not having a finalized strategic plan that identifies the mission, the goals, and the objectives needed to develop performance measures. My understanding, however, is that TSA has agreed with all of these recommendations made by the inspector general to improve the program and plans to address them right away. I also understand that TSA has already drafted a strategic plan for the program. Ending a program at the Department of Homeland Security just because the inspector general has found that it needs to improve its strategy and its performance measures just doesn't make sense to me. The inspector general certainly has not recommended that the program be ended. The use of behavior detection is not a new or novel idea. As I say, in fact, it has a validated foundation in psychology. It's been a cornerstone in the Israeli Government's aviation security for years. I commend Administrator Pistole for his understanding of the possibilities and limitations of behavior detection and his attempts to use it effectively. We don't need to end this program; we need to work with TSA and push it to quickly implement the IG's recommendations. So I urge defeat of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise simply to express support of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I want to join the chairman in opposing this well-intentioned amendment. The amendment would cannibalize various administrative accounts throughout the bill, the Office of the Secretary for Executive Management, the Chief Financial Officer, the CBP Salaries and Expenses, FEMA Salaries and Expenses, somewhat obscure accounts, you might say; but, nonetheless, accounts that are vital to the Department's functioning. It would cannibalize these accounts and put $22 million more in grants, presumably for urban grants, UASI. Now, the grant programs can always use more money. I've championed those programs for years, especially the risk-based UASI program. But we need to think carefully what this amendment is really about. This is a risky path for this body to go down. It really seems to be about adding cities to UASI, adding cities. Now, UASI-eligible cities, and there are 25 of them, are picked on a risk basis. There's a formula involving threat and vulnerability and consequence. The estimates are updated every year. This is probably the most strictly risk-based assessment that DHS undertakes. Do we really want to substitute that for picking these cities on the House floor? I'm afraid that's what this amendment is all about, or at least it's the path that it could put us on. And so, therefore, I urge its rejection. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the gentleman from Colorado's amendment. The gentleman's amendment eliminates increased funding in the bill for the critically flawed 287(g) program, and it increases funding for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. I want to support the gentleman on both of these fronts. As our colleague has noted, the 287(g) program designed to facilitate cooperation between Federal and local authorities and immigration enforcement, is, in fact, prone to serious abuse. It's fundamentally flawed in the way it blurs the line between Federal and local roles in immigration enforcement. Moreover, it simply wastes money. It is very costly. The cost to the taxpayer per removal in the task force model of 287(g) is especially outrageous: $32,789 per removal. Compare that to only $1,500 per removal under the more workable and more appropriate Secure Communities program. So not only is 287(g) flawed and prone to abuse, it's also simply a waste of taxpayer dollars, and it's increasingly redundant as the Secure Communities program takes effect. The gentleman is redirecting money, I think, in a useful way to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The most important activity of that office is to oversee this problematic 287(g) program, as well as secure communities. And the funding level in the bill is short of the request; it's short of the current year's funding. So with a little more funding, we can enable the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to do its job in a much better way. Ideally, Mr. Chairman, this amendment would address other seriously shortchanged areas of the bill. For example, cybersecurity, Coast Guard acquisitions, human trafficking, Secret Service. We can think of a lot. I would like to see some of those things addressed, as well as the deficit reduction item. But I believe this amendment greatly improves this bill both in the money it saves and in the money it redirects. With that, I urge its adoption and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I want to applaud Chairman Carter for funding the Fire Administration at a level higher than the administration's request, but the bill before us still provides a slight decrease in funding when compared to the current year. I believe this increase is warranted. The Fire Administration, as we all know, plays a critical role in training our first responders, in enhancing the security of our infrastructure, and in better preparing the response capabilities of our communities. I do want to register a concern, Mr. Chairman, about the offset for this amendment in that the money is taken from the Office of the Under Secretary for Management, and this is at a time when departmental management funding is already in this bill--$302 million below the request and $147 million below the fiscal 2013 pre-sequestration level. In dealing with this on the way to conference, we are going to have to pay attention to that offset. However, this is an important amendment, as the Fire Administration is important to all of us, and I urge the adoption of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I, too, rise in qualified support of this amendment. When disasters strike, these Urban Search and Rescue Teams stand ready for FEMA deployment, complete with unique tools and equipment and training. I do want to register another concern about the cannibalizing of management accounts that this amendment, along with other amendments, is undertaking to do. We're already $302 million below the request and $147 million below our fiscal 2013, pre-sequestration, in this departmental management funding, so we've got to pay attention to this as we take this amendment to conference. We've got to have a better offset. Having said that, I do think this is a meritorious amendment, well justified. I urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, at this time I'd like to yield 3 minutes to our distinguished colleague from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I want to express my support of this amendment by our colleague from Wisconsin to restore funding for the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The bill before us provides $18.3 million for the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which is $3.4 million below the budget request and $3.3 million below current year funding. The amendment would simply restore funding for the Office to the fiscal 2013 enacted level. Now, I want to commend Chairman Carter for fully funding the much- needed oversight activities related to the troubled 287(g) program and to the Secure Communities program. Oversight of these programs is probably the highest priority for this office. But with just a little more funding, as provided in this amendment, we can go further to ensure the protection of civil rights and civil liberties across the Department's many functions, programs, and activities. The Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is the key mechanism at the Department of Homeland Security for ensuring that the proper balance is maintained between measures to protect the country and the personal freedoms that we cherish. So I thank the gentlewoman for offering the amendment. It's a good amendment, a reasonable amendment, and I urge my colleagues to support it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank my colleague for yielding, and I very much appreciate my fellow North Carolinian raising this issue. I agree with his assessment that OMB needs to finalize this rule as soon as possible. It's critical to establish this risk-based security regime for these repair stations. So we do hope for a rapid conclusion of this protracted episode, and I appreciate his raising the matter.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. These are priorities, and this is a bill I hope all of our colleagues will be able to support.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I thank my colleague for yielding. Madam Chairman, I rise today in qualified support of the fiscal year 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. I want to thank Chairman Culberson and Ranking Member Bishop for their leadership and commend my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for a cordial, timely, and deliberative process. I have to caution, however, that this bill's relatively generous allocation must be viewed in the context of the overall fiscal year 2014 appropriations process. To get workable allocations for the two appropriations bills we will consider this week, the majority has drastically underfunded other critical appropriations bills, from educational research, to health care, to repairing and maintaining our Nation's crumbling infrastructure. Earlier today, I joined with many colleagues to vote against the rule providing for consideration of the bill before us, because the resolution requires this body to carry out the fiscal year 2014 appropriations process within the framework of the so-called ``Ryan budget,'' which doubles down on sequestration and will have devastating consequences as our Nation continues its economic recovery. So the overall appropriations process is in deep trouble. But the bill before us gives the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs adequate resources to address several critical challenges faced by our military and veterans community. I'm particularly pleased the bill would fully fund the President's request for military construction projects at Fort Bragg, which is adjacent to my district. The bill also provides critical funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs to assure that those who have served our country receive the benefits and services that they need and deserve. Our subcommittee paid particular heed to the ongoing disabilities claims backlog issue at the VA. The bill provides nearly $300 million for the continued implementation of electronic management systems and improved processing of both new and existing claims. I'm also pleased the bill provides robust funding for medical and prosthetic research, suicide prevention and mental health treatment, addressing unacceptable levels of unemployment among veterans, and pressing to end veteran homelessness.

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide long-overdue recognition for a group of Americans who were denied the opportunity and honor of representing our country at the 1980 Olympic Games: the U.S. Olympic medical staff. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the United States led a global effort to boycott the 1980 summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Sixty-five nations participated in the boycott, in an unprecedented display of international solidarity against Communist aggression. Today, we look back at the 1980 Olympic boycott as a dramatic and triumphant moment in Cold War history. For the members of the U.S. Olympic team, however, it also represented a foregone opportunity to fulfill a once-in-a-lifetime dream of representing their country at the pinnacle of international athletic competition. In recognition of the hard work, determination, and sacrifice of our Olympic athletes, the 96th Congress commissioned gold-plated medals to be minted for each member of the team. In July of 1980, Congress held a ceremony on the East Front Steps to hand-deliver the medals; more than 450 Olympic athletes were in attendance, as was President Jimmy Carter. During the 110th Congress, it was brought to the attention of Congress that, because of a clerical interpretation, these Americans were not listed as recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal by the Clerk of the House. In response, former Representative Todd Tiahrt worked with the Clerk's office and the U.S. Olympic Committee to officially recognize the members of the 1980 Summer U.S. Olympic Team as recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal. Unfortunately, this was not the only oversight on the part of Congress. Our athletes were not the only Americans affected by our government's decision to boycott the 1980 Summer Games; our Olympic medical and training personnel also lost the chance to represent their country on the world stage. Like our Olympic athletes, these medical and training professionals were leaders in their fields selected specifically for this honor, but they were never properly recognized for their contributions and their sacrifice. As a small and belated gesture of gratitude, I stand here today, 33 years later, to recognize the following members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic medical staff for their service to our country: Physicians Tony Daly, Roy Bergman, Jerry Patmont, Doug Shaw, and Tim Taft (of my home State of North Carolina); and Athletic Trainers Bob Beeten, Sherry Babagian, Dave Blanchard, Tina Bonci, Chuck Demers, Tim Kerin, Mike Linkovich, Bob Moore, Al Ortolani, Tony Russo, Larry Standifer, Gail Weldon, and Troy Young.