mr. thompson. mr. thompson: thank you very much, madam speaker and i tank you for your steadfast commitment to getting to the truth behind the january 6 domestic terrorist attack on the capitol. next week will mark six months sibs the world watched in horror as americans violently stormed the citadel of our democracy to stop congress from carrying out its constitutional duty. over the last six months you have been laser focused on doing whatever it takes to get to the bottom and deliver the truth to the american people. you met with republicans more than halfway in an effort to stand up in a bipartisan independent commission. the reason i say that is i participated in negotiating what was to be negotiated and you did a good job. i thought from the standpoint, it should have been approved. we passed it in the house. but we could not get the senate to do likewise. so we have come to where we are today. your choice of this select committee and the approval by the house in doing so and the membership behin

mr. thompson: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote yes on the amendments en bloc 5. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. jeffries: as the member designated by congresswoman grace meng, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house that congresswoman meng will vote yea on the amendmentses en bloc number 5. as the member designated by congress member steven horsford, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house congressman horsford will vote yea on amendments en bloc number 5. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does -- the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. stanton: as the member designated by mrs. kirkpatrick, pursuant to h. res. 8, i inform the house that mrs. kirkpatrick will vote yes on amendments en bloc number 5. as the member designated by mr. grijalva, pursuant to h. res. 8, i inform the house that mr. gr

mr. thompson: very good. mr. browne, ms. kennedy, thank you for your time. madam chair, my time has expired. chair plaskett: for the ranking member of the full committee, you get len yhency -- leniency in more ways than one. congresswoman kirkpatrick. mrs. kirkpatrick: thank you, chairwoman. i thank you for having this hearing. i have a multigenerational family of ranchers. we had an enormous ranch. and ranched cattle. it would always be there as a kid. it's interesting to me that times have changed. so anyway, my question is for mr. shannon. you know, livestock producers are serving local markets, often have a difficult time getting a market-ready product produced, requiring meat slaughtering and processing as well as aggregation of local meat products for sale at the wholesale market. so can you describe some of the challenges facing local meat producers and how that impacts business decisions? mr. shannon: yes. thank you for that question. one of the biggest things that we face at this time -- we've been using a usda inspected processor for many years and

i salute our chairman, benny thompson, and mr. katko, the ranking member. even though it was something that was bipartisan and yielded on many points to republicans in order to get bipartisanship, the leader of the republican party whipped and voted against the commission. we had the votes. 35 members on the republican side voted with us to send it to the senate. it was very hopeful we could pass it there. we had seven republican votes but not 10. we needed 10 to get up to 60. hopefully one day that will still -- that opportunity will still present itself. but because it was not possible in this time frame, last month we passed our legislation for a select committee. the select committee is bipartisan and it has a quorum and it will do the job it sets out to do and that is to investigate the causes and -- of what happened on january 6, to find out how it was organized, who paid for it, who messaged to get those people here for the assault on the capitol. as you well know over 100 people were injured, some died. it was a horrible, horrible thing. i'll never

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote no on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. moolenaar: thank you, mr. speaker. as the member designated by mr. aderholt of alabama, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. aderholt will vote yes on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from missouri seek recognition? mrs. wagner: mr. speaker, as the member designated by mr. graves of missouri, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. graves will vote aye on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, as the member designated by chairwoman carolyn maloney of new york, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that chairwoman maloney will vote no on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purp

thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i rise today to recognize july 20 as national pennsylvania day. pennsylvania's nickname, the keystone state, represents a central role we played in shaping our nation. our great commonwealth was the second state to join the uniand continued -- union and continued to lead the way to making history. the first capital of our nation, many great decisions were made in philadelphia. it was there our founding fathers authored the declaration of independence and constitution, forming this great nation. pennsylvania served an important role in key military operations. valley forge tells the story of sacrifice, leadership, grit, and determination. when our rag tag military was attempting to defy history and defeat a global superpower. the battle of gettysburg marked a turning point of the civil war, providing the union with the momentum to bring our great nation back together. our state continues to carry the legacy of many firsts. from the american -- first american flag. benjam

chair now recognizes the chairman, mr. thompson. >> thank you very much, madam chair. let me thank the witnesses for their testimony. mr. lajoye, are you satisfied the present uptick in travel that tsa will be able to accommodate demand our requirements going forward to address this? >> i am, mr. chairman. so year to date we've hired about 4700 officers. just this last two weeks, we track at every two weeks ago we brought on almost 500 officers, and we are on pace to meet the 6000 number that we know we needed through the summer. but again, i do recognize that we are facing the same challenges that many are in competing for talent and so this is really been a focus of ours because while i'm confident we have plans in place for the summer i also recognize that as a get closer to the fall and winter as business travel continues as well as international travel picks up we're going to have to continue working with the airlines to make sure that in the fall and winter continue adequate resources in our airports. >> so as you compete for taleno you make some analysis of why

if mr. thompson joins us, we will go back to him. i welcome our panel of witnesses. the first witness is gary. he served as the acting assistant for terry for the u.s. department of homeland security countering weapons of mass destruction office. he previously served as the acting assistant secretary of cwmd from october 2019 to july of 2020. prior to his role within cwmd, he assumed the duties of the u.s. coast guard deputy commandant formation support deputy, personnel readiness in 2018, and has experienced working within the transportation security administration. he has also served as an active duty coast guard officer for more than 20 years and the subcommittee appreciates him for his service. mr. rasicot, thank you for joining us today. our second witness is chris for curry. he served as the director of homeland and justice division within the u.s. government accountability office. in his role, mr. curry leads gao's investigative work on emergency management, disaster response and recovery, and management of the department of homeland security. mr. curry began

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today with a heavy heart to remember former senator mikencey of wyoming. the senator was an exemplary statesman, whether promoting a responsible budget as chairman of the senate budget committee or fighting for wyoming's energy sector -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order, please. the gentleman recognized -- is recognized, when you are ready. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today with a heavy heart to remember former senator mike enzi of wyoming. senator enzi was an exemplary statesman, whether promoting a responsible budget as chairman of the budget committee, or fighting for wyoming's energy sector, he was always putting wyomingites first. he served two terms as a mayor, time in the wyoming legislature and four terms in the senate. the senator was a problem solver, always willing to work with others to get the job done. in his 24 years on capitol hill, he had more than 100 of his bills signed into law by four different u.s

mr. thompson: i rise to celebrate the career of don parrish. he is a champion and friend of the u.s. agriculture industry through and through. his legacy spans a variety of poppics but particularly for his work on the clean water act and waters of the u.s. his integral role as loader -- leader on this topic led to him being named as a top five player. anyone who knows john knows his deep love for his work and family, whom he feectly brags on. the u.s. agriculture industry is better today buzz of his fierce dedication and advocacy. i thank you for your partnership and the work you have done to improve the lives of america's farmers and ranchers. we wish you a fulfilling retime. you've earned every bit of it. thank you, madam speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. i'm pleased to see that this week we are taking up h.r. 67 #, the phone act. this bipartisan piece of legislation is commons

thompson, thank you. mr. davis, who is our final representative, is now on zoom. representative davis, you are recognized for your five months of questioning. rep. davis: thank you very much, mr. chairman, for calling this very important hearing. i certainly want to thank all of our witnesses, especially those who came all the way from texas, and i don't really care how they got there, whether it was by plane, train, even if they had to walk, i think they would have been there just the same. i thank them for taking their time and for coming. as a matter of fact, i called them i and -- i called them my heroes and sheros. dr. king was fond of saying that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. and so, even though we have been talking about texas, but there are many places throughout the country where there are efforts to suppress, deny, delay, and take away the rights of people to vote. and certainly not to enhance them, which is what it seems like we really ought to be doing, is trying to make it easier for people to participate in public decision-mak

we brought to this floor with mr. katko and mr. thompson agreeing on the process, offering to the house an equally divided five-five commission. the five being totally in the republican -- republicans being totally in the hand of the minority leader. we brought to the floor the subpoena power being equally divided between the parties and having to cooperate in accomplishing the issuance of a subpoena. and very frankly although there was some discussion of it, there was no doubt that the staff would have been resolved question of being equal staff on the republican and democratic side would have been resolved in the senate. i see the gentleman shaking his head. i can tell him i know it would have been resolved. period. and the republican party objected to that commission. equally divided 5-5. with the minority leader strenuously lobbying against it being passed in the united states senate. it was not passed in the united states senate. the press asked me if it's defeated in the senate what are you going to do? i said we are going to

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize pennsylvania's 15th congressional district, 2021 congressional art contest winner, isabella. the annual art competition organized by the congressional institute showcases the art work of high school students from across every congressional district in the country. isabella just graduated from richland high school earlier this month. her art work entitled america's working woman is an oil paint on canvas. her work was selected by an independent panel of judges from 70 entries, the largest group of students to participate in the 15th district's art work competition. all the winning pieces will be displayed for the year in the cannon tunnel where they will be viewed by members of congress, staff, and many visitors of the capitol every day. congratulations and congratulations to all those who entered in pennsylvania 15th and throughout the nation who participate in this competition and express their creative skills. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balanc

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? mr. balderson: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. amodei, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. amodei will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? ms. underwood: as the member designated by mr. rush, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. rush will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. moolenaar: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. aderholt, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. aderholt will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from virginia seek recognition? ms. wexton: thank you, madam speaker. as the member designated by mr. mceachin, pursuant to h.r

it is a joy -- mr. lejoy, are you satisfied with the uptick in travel that tsa will be able to accommodate. going forward, to address this? >> i am. we have hired 4700 officers. we have brought on almost 500 officers, we are on pace to meet the 6000 number that we note we need -- know we need through the summer. we are facing the same challenges that many are in competing for talent. it has been a focus of ours. while we are confident we have plans in place for the summer, as business travel continues as well as international travel picks up, we are going to have to continue working with the airlines to make sure we have continued to have adequate resources. >> as you compete for talent, do you make analysis of white tso -- why tsos leave tsa? >> what our internal scores show us is that our officers are dedicated. and they leave because of pay. -- they leave because of pay. there are other organizations that would love to have a tsa employee or for them. they are leaving because of inadequate pay. >> a

we brought to this floor with mr. katko and mr. thompson agreeing on the process, offering to the house an equally divided five-five commission. the five being totally in the republican -- republicans being totally in the hand of the minority leader. we brought to the floor the subpoena power being equally divided between the parties and having to cooperate in accomplishing the issuance of a subpoena. and very frankly although there was some discussion of it, there was no doubt that the staff would have been resolved question of being equal staff on the republican and democratic side would have been resolved in the senate. i see the gentleman shaking his head. i can tell him i know it would have been resolved. period. and the republican party objected to that commission. equally divided 5-5. with the minority leader strenuously lobbying against it being passed in the united states senate. it was not passed in the united states senate. the press asked me if it's defeated in the senate what are you going to do? i said we are going to

mr. thompson: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote yes on the amendments en bloc 1. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. jeffries: as the member designated by congresswoman grace meng, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that congresswoman meng will vote yea on amendments en bloc 1. as the member designated by congressman steven horsford, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that congressman horsford will vote yea on amendments en bloc number 1. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. correa: madam speaker, as the member designated by congress member napolitano, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house that congress member napolitano will vote yes on the amendment en bloc 1. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. evans: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. lawson of florida, pursuan

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate the career of dr. brian toth and spent 35 years in education and passionate and dedicated. he started his career in 1983 as a math and computer teacher in the altoona johns town school system. he taught in five school systems and reached the rank of september. and proud graduate of penn state university, st. fran is university. his dedication to his students and community to which he worked is admireable. aside for serving as a superintendent, he is former president of the pel school administrator's and a governing board member where he represented i.u. 8 and 9 and former vice president and a former p.a. investment on the american association of school administrators, governing board. the former president of pennsylvania study council and vice chair of the community education council. thank you, brian for your continued service in education and dedication to your students. enjoy your retirement. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member for yielding. and i thank the gentlelady for her sponsorship of this. i -- mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 4300, the veterans in parks act. across the country, our national parks provide endless opportunities for americans to learn about our nation's history and culture. the national parks generate opportunity which encourages visitors to spend time outdoors. to the allegany railroad to valley forge, pennsylvania is home to 19 national parks and seven heritage areas, providing these benefits to pennsylvanians throughout the commonwealth and visitors alike. as representative of pennsylvania's 15th congressional district, it continues to be an honor to serve our veterans, active duty service men and women and proud military families. this legislation would simply give veterans and gold star families free access for life to public lands and also provide free annual passes to active duty service members. studies show outdoor recreation is an effective way to decrease symptoms of ptsd and h

is constrained not to entertain the request unless it has been cleared by the floor and leadership mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house i recognize the anniversary of the signing of americans with disabilities act .... i've experienced firsthand how with the right tools and accessibility, americans can live a life of independence, self-sustainability and pride. the americans with disabilities act is a monumental piece of legislation opening the doors to millions of american who was a disability whether it be physical, learning, cognitive or any other. whether it is protection from discrimination in the workplace, additional support in the school, or added acome daitions in our public venue, the a.d.a. provides support to better empower those individuals living with disabilities. while we saw this landmark legislation signed into law 31 years ago today, we must continue to advocate for the rights of americans living with disabilities. the a.d.a. is an american milestone for americans living with disabilities but there's still more work to be done. we can all con

mr. thompson: i rise today to address the growing crisis on our southern border. despite the rhetoric, the families and children are arieivelg at our southern border in greater numbers than in past decades. june saw 450% increase in border environs counters. i have seen more than 1.1 million illegal crossings. customs ann border patrol has seized more fentanyl than in all 2020 and higher positive activity covid-19 rates and undo the hard work. the biden border crisis is turning deadlier. and this is a direct result from the biden administration and vice president harris she claimed and the numbers don't lie and the migrants, little progress has been made. securing our borders is the first step in much needed reform and this will allow us to address that and best chance of a prosperous future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. gentlewoman is recog

mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, the house agriculture committee has held countless discussions on ways we can empower our farm families and build a robust rural economy. earlier this month we made good on our word. i'm proud to work with all members on our committee and support the broadband internet connections for rural america act, which provides significant investments into the deployment and development of broadband to rural america. this legislation reflects many of our shared priorities and shared work, and in many ways is similar to the bipartisan legislation i introduced earlier this year. i want to thank all of ow members -- of the members of the agriculture committee. i know this issue is so personal to each of us and the constituents we represent. the house agriculture committee is considered one of the most bipartisan committees in the house. this bill is proof we can reach agreement during extraordinary times. i hope we can keep this bipartisan spirit as infrastructure talks continues. t

mace: thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to thank ms. thompson. i was a state lawmaker for three years before i came to congress. i represented the first congressional district of south carolina. south carolina has had its own history, very bad history with black south carolinians, black and brown african-americans. i recently took a vote to remove one that wrote the dred scott opinion, black and brown and african-americans could not become citizens of the united states of america, i voted to remove his bust. someone like hampton who encouraged the murder of over 150 black south carolinians during his run for governor. so i appreciate your comments about the 1960's. i was not around then, but i watched and read a lot of the history and seen the videos and seen the moments of violence against black america. so i applaud your work on that. my understanding is that you were elected in 1972 in texas, is that correct? ms. thompson: that is correct. ms. mace: i applaud you for making history, i would imagine, in texas and being a strong voice for black

thompson: i'm not aware of him making that statement. mr. bernal: are you talking about application or a ballot? representative: a preprinted mail-in ballot. mr. bernal: application yes, ballot no. representative: with respect to the assertions earlier, the chairman put in videos and statements from texas constituents. i would ask to insert into the record a document that i have outlined a number of examples of voter fraud, including statements from black witnesses who testified about voter fraud. chair raskin:. . without objection -- chair raskin: without objection. representative: demetrius quoted , you are making a mockery of my suffrage to use it to your own advantage to keep my seat. it is not about the people. aubrey taylor, election's are being stolen, get ready to lose the state. jerry wayne munro, my community is suffering they cheated. he said he witnessed ballot harvesters taking $22,000 in pay, that they were soliciting nursing homes, he testified that a voting location had spare ids available for voters if they did not have one.

we brought to this floor with mr. katko and mr. thompson agreeing on the process, offering to the house an equally divided five-five commission. the five being totally in the republican -- republicans being totally in the hand of the minority leader. we brought to the floor the subpoena power being equally divided between the parties and having to cooperate in accomplishing the issuance of a subpoena. and very frankly although there was some discussion of it, there was no doubt that the staff would have been resolved question of being equal staff on the republican and democratic side would have been resolved in the senate. i see the gentleman shaking his head. i can tell him i know it would have been resolved. period. and the republican party objected to that commission. equally divided 5-5. with the minority leader strenuously lobbying against it being passed in the united states senate. it was not passed in the united states senate. the press asked me if it's defeated in the senate what are you going to do? i said we are going to

mr. fallon: democrats against the voter i.d. bill at the time and that is completely out of step with texans because texans believe for voter i.d., 74-75. representative thompson, do you believe the current legislation being proposed in texas has an adverse effect on turn youth? >> i do. >> voter i.d. in 2011. it was fabricated because from 2008 last time we had a presidential election in texas that didn't have voter i.d., turn out went up and our population did rise. but still outpaced 2-1 and the same doom and gloom we are hearing now how it's going to affect voter turn youth. i would argue you are wrong now. mr. chair, i yield back. mr. raskin: thank you for your reflections and chair of the full committee, chairman ma lonnie for her questions. mrs.maloney: thank you, mr. chairman. this hearing is not the first time that the oversight committee has investigated voter suppression efforts in texas. in march, 2019, my predecessor launched an investigation into the state's failed attempt to purge nearly 100,000 voters from the te

mr. latta: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield to my good friend, the gentleman from michigan, one of the co-leads on this piece of legislation, five minutes at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my two good friends for allowing me this opportunity. i rise today in support of h.r. 3119, the energy emergency leadership act. i'd like to thank my good friend from illinois, mr. bobby rush, for continuing to work with me to get this bill across the finish line. this is a third congress in a row we have introduced this bill, each time passing the energy committee with unanimous bipartisan support. and frankly, given what we have seen just over the last few months in disruptions to our energy supply, including the colonial pipeline attack, it is well past due for this important energy security measure to be enacted in law. . the health and safety of the american public depend upon the reliable and uninterrupted supply of fuels an

hubert thompson morgenthau more nearly killed when their boats at those objects and likely today mr. hoffman is still with us and this is just an example of something that we live with. another example of the department of the abandonment of the alaska north slope. on occasion hunters will come across explosive devices left eye the military which are likely decades-old and poses a dangerous threat to human life. my colleagues and friends in alaska cumbersome problems have prevented the 12-mile access road from being built that would allow local residents to the only lifesaving hospital within 30 miles and yet people died because they can't get their. people die. residents only axis are either by air transport or -- permafrost is revealing solid waste burial sites that were previously unknown. when i walk across the land to prayer of land management and the alaska department of our marmot to conservation we could smell the diesel, the fuel and we went through the ground and there was debris under the ground. this is the kind of contaminant that we are dealing with that we can't distur

mr. gonzalez, is recognized for five minutes. mr. gonzalez: thank you, madam chair. welcome, secretary fudge. my friend. good to see you. we miss you in cleveland, but cleveland is still very proud of you and grateful for your continued service to your country. i want to talk to you -- start off by talking about something we have spoken about in private which is veterans' homelessness. that's something that's a big issue in our country. certainly a big plyor of mine -- >> we'll leave the hearing in order to fulfill our long-term commitment to live coverage of congress. you can continue watching the hearing live online at c-span.org. the house about to gavel in. today expecting debate on several bills including one that would allow the federal trade commission to sue in federal court on behalf of victims of consumer fraud or scams. votes expected late afternoon. live to the u.s. house. the precious entity of our time with friends, everywhere we are we find ourselves in your compassionate p