Authenticate the grandeur and glory of the ideals and principles of our republic. Rupp with the work they do. Grant that the men and women of the peoples house find the courage and wisdom to Work Together to forge solutions to the many needs of our nation and ease the anxieties of so many. May all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory. Amen. The speaker the chair has examined the journal of the last days proceedings and announces to the house his pproval thereof. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. The pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from washington, mr. Heck. Mr. Heck i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The speaker the chair will entertain up to five requests for one minute speeches on each side of the aisle. For what purpose does the gentleman from Washington State seek recognition . I ask permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker without objection, the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Newhouse thank you, mr. Speaker. Today i rise to recognize kayla barron of richland, washington, who was recently selected for nasas 2017 astronaut candidate class. Kaylo was chodsen one of 12 from over 18,000 applicants to join just 338 people who have held the prestigious title of american astronaut. Before applying to the nasa program, ms. Barron attended the u. S. Naval academy where she received several medals and unit commendations while earning a bachelors degree in systems near engineering. From nt on to earn a gree cambridge. One of the first women commissioned in the submarine community as a submarine warfare officer. Kay la is an exemplary role model for students interested in science and technology. I commepped her for her hard work and wish her luck in her training and her future exploration endeavors. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the washington seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. Mr. Speaker, today i rise to tell you about a time when partisanship was alive and when congress was boring for most americans. In fact it wasnt that long ago. It was just in march of 2015. Mr. Heck democrats and republicans fixed the medicare payment formula and funded the Childrens Health ensures program. I was proud to be a member of the body that day. Did our bipartisanship dominate the headlines . No. Did it get a lot of attention at town halls . No, of course not. Because all of us getting along was, well, boring. But these recent Republican Health care proposals, they are not boring. They have been developed in secrecy. They are completely bipartisan. And they nonpartisan, completely partisan, ill get and take us backward. I challenge my friend across the aisle, the republicans, to join us in fix and fix the parts of the Affordable Care act that need fixing, because a backward. I challenge my friend across the aisle, the the Affordable Care act has made a real difference for millions of americans, a positive difference. So lets get back to bipartisanship. Back to boring. Back to basics. Because thats what our constituents want most of all. I yield back, streak. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Lamborn mr. Speaker, i rise today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of focus on the family, a vital American Institution dedicated to preserving one of the countrys most foundational pillars, the family. While i cannot attend todays celebration in person, im grateful my good friend, Vice President mike pence, is in Colorado Springs to mark this wonderful occasion. It would be impossible to fully quantify the impact focus on the namfeam has had on our own nation and across the world. Children have been lovingly dissippled. And families have been reunited and strengthed. Most important are the 382,000 lives saved through focus on the familys option ultrasound, which helps mothers choose life when faced with unexpected pregnancies. Those 382,000 lives, and indeed our entire nation, owe you a debt of gratitude. So to founder dr. James dobson, jim daley, and the staff of focus on the family, i say welldone and offer you my sincere congratulations. Mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition . Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Davis thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i take this opportunity to commend the life and the legacy of an outstanding resident of my community who served in world war ii, which is a long time ago. But he also become and outstanding citizen became an outstanding zint, steeped in the lutheran church, provided resources to the community where he lived and work. So i commend mr. Newman and just simply say, we have enjoyed knowing him. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . To address the floor for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to honor the memory of florida Highway PatrolSergeant William bishop of lake city. Trooper bishop was killed last saturday while working a Traffic Accident on i75 in alachua county, florida. Hes a 30year veteran of the florida Highway Patrol and dedicated his life to law enforcement. He truly loved his patrol family. He served in the United States farmy, serving on the frontlines all his life. Thats a calling not a job. Many of fish yops colleagues remember him as someone who exhibited compassion, honesty, and faith. He loved watching football but his greatest love of all was his family, especiallyis son. His service and sacrifice to the state of florida is a debt well never be able to repay. Please join me in donoring highway honoring Highway Patrol officer sergeant bishop. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from North Carolina seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, im proud to say that North Carolina is home to many great student athletes that serve as Community Role models. One prime example is mckenzie gore, who graduated from wrightville high school this month and been named the 2017 gatoraid North Carolina baseball player of the year. Not only that, he was just recently collected third overall in the Major League Baseball draft by the san diego padres. Mckenzie not only demonstrates athletic excellence but also exemplary, carketerks and work ethic. The two primary straits necessary for great success. Very few have achieved as much as early in life and the culmination of years of hard work and commitment. Success, l who are in mckenzie is blessed to have a big decision to make. Go pro and play for the padres, or head to East Carolina University to play for the pirates. Whatever mckenzie decides, were all proud of him and wish him the very best. Mr. Speaker, i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition . To address the house for one minute. Revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, sometimes out of loss a cause arises and the lives of others are saved. I rise today to ask for my colleagues support of a bill i introduce today. Evans law. My bill would require the department of defense to make windows in military Residential Housing safe for military by ies and their children eequipping Housing Units with protection devices to protect against unintentional falls by Young Children. Mr. Turner we ask Service Members to go into harms way to save our life. Our Service Members deserve to live in Residential Housing properly equipped with window fall devices. Joining me today in the balcony is commander english, his wife, and their children. Jason, luke, lydia, and joshua. Commander english and his family have been tireless advocates for residential window safety requirements at the department of definance. They lost their son evan. He and his family have worked to raise awayness about the danger Young Children face. I want to thanth english family for their hard work and im hopeful that evans law will become part of the National Defense authorization act. I urge my colleagues to join me in their support. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h. R. 2842. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Pursuant to House Resolution 396 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for 2842. Ration of h. R. The chairman appoints the gentleman from california, mr. Denham, to preside over the ommittee of the whole. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 2842 which the clerk will report by title. The clerk a bill free throw vide for the conduct of demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of subsidized employment for tanf recipients. The chair pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. The gentleman from nebraska, mr. Smith, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. Davis, each will control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from nebraska. Mr. Smith mr. Chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Smith i rise in support to talk about h. R. 2842 the accelerating individuals into the work force act. According to the bureau of labor statistics, there are more than six million job openings. The highest level since the government start tracking the data in the year 2000. At the same time, the share of americans participating in the work force is near a four decade low. Moving welfare recipients into employment is a central goal of the temporary assistance for needy families program, or tanf, yet only half of all tanf recipients receiving cash assistance are working or preparing for work. Some recipients have a difficult time transitioning from welfare into a job, so these types of onthejob Work Experiences aid in the transition. The same goes for employers who may be reluctant to hire welfare recipients with limited Work Experience or other barriers to working. The question is how can we bridge the gap . How do we connect outofwork americans with all of the employers who want and need to fill job openings . H. R. 2842 sponsored by congressman curbelo of florida and congressman davis of illinois encourages employers to work with state and local agencies to hire tanf recipients. States would only be able to use this money to provide benefits to those working. Providing paychecks in lieu of benefit checks, a key ten nant to welfare reform. Employers would take the lead by partnering with state and local agencies to hire tanf recipients, providing them with highly valued Work Experience and onthejob training, including atrentissships. Earn and learn models help people become familiar with the workplace, gain needed skills, and earn a wage. The reserves up to 100 million for one year from the Contingency Fund which has already been extended through the end of fiscal year 2018 to subsidized up to 50 of a tanf recipients wage for no more than 15 months. 15 of the funds would be setaside for Career Pathway programs to help individuals enter the work force and move up the economic ladder. And finally, high quality evaluations would be used to determine whether these publicprivate the part nrshches were effective in helping partnerships were effective in helping welfare recipients to get work. There is plenty of support here and across the country for tying government assistance to work or work preparation for those who are ablebodied. Decades of experience tells us the most effective Antipoverty Program is a job. It is helping lowincome americans earn success through the dignity of work. Mr. Chairman, i appreciate the opportunity to stand with mr. Curbelo in supporting this bill today. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from illinois is recognized. Mr. Davis thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Davis i strongly support h. R. 2842, the accelerating individuals into employment act. Which is better known as tanf. This important bill modernizing e tanf Contingency Fund to promote effective job Training Programs such as subsidized jobs, Career Pathways and Apprenticeship Programs. Research is clear, subsidized employment Career Pathways and Apprenticeship Programs successfully engage people in employment, especially those who have been unsuccessful in finding paid employment through their efforts. Further research on employment programs document these initiatives increase employment and earnings both while individuals worked in a subsidized job as well as after their program ended. Also, studies show that states operated these programs that provided tremendous benefit at very reasonable costs. Many states use the tanf emergency funds to establish effective Subsidized Employment Programs. Using these tanf emergency funds in illinois, former governor pat quinn implemented the very successful put illinois to work program that directly created over 26,000 jobs, helping close to 5,000 employers in illinois. Nationally, the tanf emergency jobs. Reated 260,000 good Subsidized Employment Programs have three characteristics that make them an attractive part of tanf. They were able to increase employment quickly. They helped some of the individuals who faced the greatest challenges enter the work force and stay there, and when funded on a large scale, they can help boost local economies. For these reasons, democrats have proposed subsidized employment within tanf for years. My friend and colleague from wisconsin, gwen moore, initially proposed allowing subsidized employment in tanf many years ago. I embraced her idea in my responsible fatherhood bill, and im pleased to join with representative curbelo on this effort. If we are truly committed to helping families work their way out of poverty, we will need to do much more to strengthen tanf. We will need to ensure that states actually spend tanf money on tanf recipients. We need to improve access to education and training. Critical changes that both republican and democratic witnesses have emphasized over and over again. We need to improve childcare so parents can actually go to work. This bill is a good bill. It makes a small positive step forward on our path to more comprehensive improvements to tanf. I strongly support it and reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from nebraska is recognized. Mr. Smith mr. Chairman, i yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from florida, mr. Curbelo, the lead sponsor of the bill. The chair the gentleman from florida is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Curbelo thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong support of h. R. 2842, the accelerating individuals into the work force act. Here in the house, we have prioritized helping americans escape poverty, and we are working to create policies that are focused on getting individuals into jobs so they can achieve selfsufficiency. A job is something that dignifies the human condition. Its an opportunity for every individual to make a contribution to their families, their local communities and to our country. This bill is an Innovative Solution that will give more people access to that opportunity. Through proposals like h. R. 2842, we can help struggling americans find work and get on the path to success. This Bipartisan Legislation connects americans looking for work with employers looking to fill job openings, including through apprenticeships and other forums of onthejob training. It uses 100 million from the tanf Contingency Fund for grants so states can have projects to help those entering the work force and maintaining employment. Importantly, this legislation requires states meet certa