I must say, Mr. Speaker, I originally rose in support of what I thought was a simple reporting bill. In listening to my friend from Florida, this is part and parcel of the negative narrative that is sent in all too frequently on the other…

The more efficient we can get, the better off we are going to be from a fiscal point of view and the discipline of efficiency.

If we could ever get it close to zero and dedicated just, you know, the savings to deficit reduction, it would be a good down payment.

I exhort the chairman, it was our understanding that the Engel-Connolly bill on sanctions against countries that interfere in our elections was going to be in the markup scheduled today.

I certainly agree with my friend Ms. Foxx that the goal should be to strive to move to zero in terms of improper payments.

There is still a lot of discrimination, favoritism, nepotism, outright outrageous discriminatory behavior...

My experience is the opposite. The Federal workforce is a dedicated group of workers.

There are all kinds of miscarriages of justice that would occur in the absence of high--the current evidentiary standards for allegations of misconduct.

I certainly add my voice to that of my colleagues in support of this important legislation. Syria is a mess. It does affect all of us, as Mr. Kinzinger said, whether we like it or not. It is destabilizing the entire region. I believe this…

In closing, I think this is an important piece in the information technology modernization effort that our committee and this body has undertaken for the last 5 or 6 years. One of the key pieces of legislation undergirding today's bill is…

I thank my friends, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd) and the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly), for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor. Of course, I rise in support of the bill, H.R. 2227, the Modernizing Government…

I thank my friend from Virginia for his leadership on this very important piece of legislation, important not only for the Commonwealth of Virginia but for the rights of all Americans, beginning with the original Americans. When we talk…

I want to compliment the chairman. I hope this doesn't hurt him, but he has gone way beyond ideology on Federal employee issues.

It is a complicated picture, and some of the protections... are there for a reason.

I am happy to yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly), my good friend.

May I inquire of the Speaker how much time is left on this side? The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rogers of Kentucky). The gentleman from Virginia has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining.

We have got a long way to go in streamlining hiring process, making it easier, less bureaucratic, less paper-dominated.

Senator Sanders is a champion of workers' rights, and he is a nationally renowned expert on these matters.

I salute Mr. Meadows for that effort.

I also come from Massachusetts where John Adams enshrined that concept into the first Constitution of Massachusetts.

I'm sure the title of this hearing, Examining a Church's Right to Free Speech, didn't mean to exclude my Hindu colleague next to me or my Jewish colleague in front of me, Mr. Raskin, I'm sure it was just an oversight, because we're not…

Mr. Madison, for example, took on a lot of unpopular religious causes to fight for the religious freedom of Anabaptists.

I'm a Roman Catholic. I studied for the priesthood too, Mr. Hice, and my church is protected by this amendment.

The breach at the Department of Education is something we have been warning about on this committee for quite some time.

The Department of Education may very well be in breach of law, and we are going to explore that.