Transcripts For CSPAN House Session 20150423

The speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 35563. The bill is passed. Without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. For what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent that i may hearafter be considered as the first ponce juror of h. R. 637, a bill introduced by representative schock of illinois for purposes of adding cosponsor and requesting printing pursuant to clause 7 of rule 12. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. The house will come to order. The house will come to order. The house will come to order. Please take conversations off of the floor. The house will come to order. For what purpose does the gentleman from seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to pay my respects to the young women who died suddenly in savannah, georgia, yesterday. On wednesday morning, just before 6 00 a. M. , three tractor trailers, two pickup trucks, and two cars were involved in Chain Reaction car accident. Abby loach of Savannah Emily Clark of powder springs, morgan bass of leesburg, Katherine Mckay pittman, and katelyn badget of mellon were killed. I ask that a moment of silence be given to these young women and their families and the nation. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader, mr. Mccarthy, the schedule for the week to come. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman from maryland is recognized. Mr. Hoyer i thank the speaker. I yield to my friend, mr. Mccarthy. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, on monday, no votes are expected in the house. On tuesday, the house will neat at noon for morning hour and meet at noon for morning hour and 2 00 p. M. For legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6 30. On wednesday and thursday, the house will neat at 10 00 a. M. For horning hour and noon for legislative business. And on friday, the house will meet at 9 00 a. M. For legislative business. Last votes of the week are expected no later than 3 00 p. M. Mr. Speaker, the house will consider a number of suspensions next week, complete list of which will be announced by close of business tomorrow. In addition, the house will begin the annual appropriation process. The house will consider the military cop strucks and Veterans Affairs appropriation bills construction and Veterans Affairs aappropriation bills. It provides funding to house and train our military and ensure we can meet the Health Care Needs of our nations veterans. The house will also consider the energy and water appropriations bill sponsored by representative mike simpson. This bill ensures that we safely maintain our Nuclear Weapons stockpile and provide for Critical Infrastructure projects to the army corps of engineers. Finally, mr. Speaker, the house is expected to consider the budget conference report. I thank the gentleman and yield back. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman for that information. The ipped case that the appropriations process the indication that the appropriations process has started. As a member who served on the Appropriations Committee for 23 years, i always thought we ought to start the appropriations process early i. I. I. E. , in may. But starting it is good news. We have had trouble. Both sides getting all 13 12 appropriation bills, used to be 13, 12 appropriation bills done. I congratulate the committee for initiating its work in a timely fashion. Hopefully, mr. Leader, that will lead to hopefully passing 12 bills in the regular order. Which as i pointed out last week with respect to some other legislation will require the kind of bipartisanship that we saw displayed on the ultimately on the d. H. S. Bill, but certainly on the s. G. R. Bill. And then this week we had two bills pass in bipartisan, both sides, majority voting for them. Hopefully we will be able to do that on the appropriations bill. I ask my friend on the milcon, military construction billv. A. Funding bill, and on the energy and water bill, does the gentleman expect to follow what the gentleman and his party have indicated would be the process for hopings bills under an open rule . For appropriation bills under an open rule . I yield. Mr. Mccarthy the answer to your question is yes. The gentleman does know being a part how many years on the appropriations process that this is actually the earliest in the history of congress we have ever started appropriation, and its our goal, i know its your goal as well, to get all bills done through the house in regular order. It is something that we strive towards. I thank the gentleman for his help. Mr. Hoyer i congratulate the gentleman on and his party bringing these bills to the floor early. He also says we are going to be considering a conference report. I dont obviously know what that conference report is. The budget itself, though, which of course sets the parameters for the appropriation bills in terms of caps on spending, was, as the gentleman knows, not a bipartisan bill. There were Party Differences on that bill. I would hope that in the conference report that we can reach an agreement. My own view is, mr. Majority leader, that if we stay at sequester levels, we will not be able to pass bills and the president will not sign them. Reason being that our side, the president , perceives and many in our party perceive at least as it relates to some aspects of the sequester, the sequester numbers arent workable. As you know the chairman of the Appropriations Committee has called the sequester numbers, which are reflected in the budget that passed the house, ill conceive illconceived and unworkable. He said unrealistic. In that context it will be difficult for us to get, no matter how early we start, these bills completed. I would hope that we could come together at some point in time as was done in ryanmurray. I know there are members on your side, including i think the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who believe if we dont come together on an agreed figure that will allow the Appropriations Committee to meet its responsibilities, then well have great difficulty in getting appropriation bills done. I dont know whether the gentleman has any thoughts on that but if he does i would be glad to yield. I yield. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the gentleman for yielding and appreciate his comments and will continue to Work Together to get our appropriation process finished. I yield back. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman. I dont know whether the gentleman had an opportunity to read an article may have been an oped, i got the clip, so im not sure if it appeared in the paper, the former speaker, Newt Gingrich, wrote an article that essentially stood for the proposition that republicans and democrats about a decade, little over a decade ago, were able to come together and to take advantage of the Research Opportunities that speaker gingrich, former speaker gingrich said were apparent and possible in todays day. I share that view. Many people including your predecessor, mr. Cantor, were concerned and has recently said we need to increase substantially the investments and the resources we have at n. I. H. Unfortunately, as the gentleman may know in the allocations two subcommittees that were adopted yesterday in the Appropriations Committee, as i understand it there was 3 billion cut from the subcommittee labor health and Human Services which covers n. I. H. , which will make it very difficult to do what speaker gingrich former speaker gingrich suggested we do in the New York Times today. I dont know if the gentleman if he hasnt read the article doesnt need to comment on it. I want to call to his attention that we are very concerned but people on your side and your former speaker very concerned that we are not investing sufficient sums to take advantage of the opportunities. And it is costing us. Particularly mentioned alzheimers and the extraordinary cost related to alzheimers disease. And that if we can either delay the onset of alzheimers or prevent alzheimers, that we will, in effect, save tens of billions of dollars. I bring that up in the context of we do need to get resources into the Appropriations Committee that mr. Rogers, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, senior republican in this house, says are necessary to meet our responsibilities. I would hope that the majority leader would be looking at that and would hopefully work toward that end. Let me ask then just two more questions, mr. Leader. The highway bill, as the gentleman knows, expires in terms of its authorization for funding on the 31st of may. Its not on the schedule, obviously, this month. Can the gentleman tell me, were very concerned and as you know, every governor every county executive, every mayor youve talked to them, ive talked to them, are very concerned about the resources theyre going to have available to do bridges highways maintenance, infrastructure investment. Can the gentleman tell me when we might in the two weeks that we will have in may be able to consider the highway bill . I yield to my friend. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the gentleman for yielding the gentleman is correct about highway funding we look forward to making sure we get that done on time in a bipartisan manner and we will be continuing to work with you as we move forward. I yield back. Mr. Hoyer i appreciate the fact that we can work in a bipartisan manner. I look forward to doing that. I know mr. Defazio looks forward to doing that i know mr. Shuster looks forward to doing it. Both very positive mens of this body. I will tell the gentleman im somewhat concerned about rumors i have heard that were looking at perhaps a shortterm patch. The problem, as the gentleman so well knows work a shortterm patch is it does not allow for the kind of planning that is necessary in terms of significant Infrastructure Projects which require some significant lead time. Does the gentleman know whether or not we might be considering at least a fiveyear or at least a longer term, maybe even as many as sevenyear authorization . Or are you contemplating that we in may would do another shortterm patch . As you know, we democrats oppose the may 31, we wanted a longer extension. The house and the senate agreed on a shortterm patch. Or shortterm may 31 deadline. Does the gentleman have any expectations that we have the possibly of doing a fiveyear or longer so that states and communities can plan on a longterm basis as opposed to a very shortterm basis . And i yield to my friend. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the gentleman for yielding. No decisions have been made at this point. This could be a prime example, just like our work on s. G. R. As a personal note i would like to solve these problems longterm. Theres no reason to come back to it. If we have to get in a situation that is shortterm i would hopefully that that would be short to fix a longterm. Much like the issue that we had with s. G. R. Im hopeful we can get that done in a very longterm manner. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman for that comment. I think its a positive comment. I will tell the gentleman, perhaps next week he and i can talk about this you and i can talk about this and toward that end. Because i think we talk about creation of jobs, talk about giving confidence and stability to the economy, i think thats one way we could do it and hopefully we can Work Together. Last issue i would bring up, mr. Leader as you know, i worked with your predecessor mr. Cantor successfully on the reauthorization of the Exportimport Bank. That issue is coming up and it will be expiring at the end of june. On june 30. We need to reauthorize that. Im someone who believes that that is critical in terms of our exports. I know theres some disagreement on that issue. Maybe between the two of us and between our caucuses, but as you know, there are 60 members in your caucus who have written a letter to the speaker indicating their support and urging that that be brought to the floor. Very frankly with the 185plus members i think well be unanimous on it as we were last time that makes somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 to 250 votes on this floor for the reauthorization of Exportimport Bank. Does the gentleman see any prospect of that bill coming to the floor any time in the near future . As you know, the authorization expires on june 30. I yield to my friend. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the gentleman for yielding. The gentleman is correct. The authority for the Exportimport Bank does expire at the end of june. I know the respect the gentleman has, as i do, for regular order and working through committees. The committee of jurisdiction has had a few hearings an i know they have some hearings scheduled in the future, continuing. Nothing scheduled at this point but if anything comes forward, i will notify him. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman. I would just say this. We know the chairman of the authorizing committee is opposed to the Exportimport Bank. He was opposed to tria as well. Hes opposed to fannie mae and freddie mac. As the gentleman knows, those nevertheless enjoy broadbased support in this house to a greater or lesser degree. Tria we passed knot withstanding the chairmans opposition to tria, on a bipartisan basis with overwhelming big numbers. I think that was the right thing to do. I would urge the majority leader to urge the chairman, who i think does not enjoy the support of the majority in this house on his position. I know you may share that position but i really do believe the house has a position that we ought to pass the Exportimport Bank and we need to do it sooner rather than later to make sure that we continue the confidence that purchasers of u. S. Goods whether they be airplanes or widgets will continue to keep doing so with the thought that we have in place what almost every country in the world has in place a facilitating of that export ability of our country. So i yield to my friend. Mr. Mccarthy i thank the jelled for yielding. I do want to correct one part i thank the gentleman for yielding. I do want to correct one part of the gentlemans history. The chairman did move a tria bill. We did move it off the floor. The chairman you speak of, chairman hensarling, managed the bill, got it through the house, got it to the senate and unfortunately the senate didnt take it up in the last hours but then we got it done this year. I think the chairman works very hard. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman, i have Great Respect for mr. Hensarling, he is a good leader. I disagree with him on the Exportimport Bank, i think i correctly characterized his view on tria, but he did bring it to the floor and when he brought it to the floor it passed overwhelmingly. I wont pursue that further. I dont expect mr. Hensarling because i think he honestly believes we ought not to have Exportimport Bank involvement, but having said that, i think thats not the position of the majority of the house. When we last voted on it, it wasnt the position of the jorse of your party or of mine. That may have changed. I agree with that. But enge im pretty confident in saying that the majority of this house believes in order to make sure that we stay competitive with worldwide competitors that the Exportimport Bank is a critical component of that competitive ability. So i simply hope that we will be considering it. If it fails, it fails. But i think the American Public on this and so many other issues deserves a vote on this floor and as the speaker and i repeated this time and again said at the beginning, in the last election, that his objective was to let the house work its will. On this matter as well as some others that ill discuss in the future. I would hope we can do that if the gentleman wants more time, ill yield him. If not i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Mr. Mccarthy i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 8 00 p. M. On monday, april 27, 2015. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Mr. Mccar theyre i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns on tuesday, april 25 mr. Mccarthy i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns on tuesday, april 27, it adjourn to meet at 9 00 a. M. On april 29. The speaker pro tempore the chair will entertain requests for oneminute speeches. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Without objection, so ordered. The gentleman is now recognized. For one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since 1979 the islamic public of iran has been responsible for the deaths of many, Many Americans. This saturday, we will observe the 35th anniversary of the day on which eight of those americans gave their last full measure of devotion during a mission to rescue 52 hostages held in tehran by radical extremists. There is no greater love than to lay down ones life for their friends. Since america never forgets ecome to the floor tooth to read their names and remind taos keep their families in our prayers. Mr. Rothfus marine Sergeant John mare, marine Corporal George hovepls jr. Marine staff sernlt dewey johnson. Air force major bacchi. Air force captain lyn mcintosh. Air force captain charles mcmillan. I thank the speaker and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker members, i rise to recognize israel, our part in peace and prosperity for 67 years of independence. Mr. Green on april 14, 194, hours before the british mandate was due to end israels Founding Fathers and mother, led by David Ben Gurion declared the birth of the state of israel in tel aviv. On that day, 67 years ago, the population of israel was 806,000 people. Today, after many difficulties and hardships and a strong, resolute israel has a preponderancelation over eight million. Many of the jews who lived in israel in 1948 were survivors of the Second World War and the holocaust which pushed International Opinion for the need for a homeland for the jewish people where they could be free from persecution and free to build a better life. Sthains fateful day, israel and its people have worked tirelessly to build a thriving democracy thats economically prosperous and at peace with neighboring nations. The first nation to recognize israels independence was the United States when democratic president harry truman welcomed israel into the community of nations just hours after its declaration. The bonds between our two great nations bound together by common interests, shared values, have only grown with time. Mr. Speaker, i hope on this joyous day that we reflect on the need to redouble our efforts to bring peace to the region and continue to support our friend and ally in its quest for peace. I yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the chairman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and and revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Last week, the armed forces of colombia, farc, attacked a resting army unit killing 11 colombian soldiers and injuring 20. I mourn with the colombian people for this senseless loss of life. Just this past peeked weekend, reports from colombia claimed a naval convoy delivering medical and humanitarian care to remote kuehnes communities twice came under attack by farc forces. Mr. Curbelo attacking medical personnel is considered a war crime under international law. He continues to show a dangerous knive tai in his negotiations with terrorist offeringnyization. Immunity for the farc would constitute an affront to the memory of thousands murdered by that terrorist organization. Innocent victims whose spirits demand justice. Mr. Speaker, peace is always achieved through strength. Never through weakness and appeasement. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman the speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Kaptur congress spent this past week trying to fast trach trade promotion sport and the new Transpacific Partnership proposal for trade agreement with several nations in the pacific. But why rush such a significant piece of legislation that seeds Congress Constitutional authority to the executive branch . Meanwhile, Prime Minister of japan and president obama are scheduled to meet on april 28 to further fast track this agreement. Rushing this process is an easy taskic to try to silence a reasonable opposition. But based on our countrys history of making trade deals that drive up our trade deficit and outsource millions of u. S. Jobs, the American People should be alarmed. I and many others are sounding that alarm. Japan is one of the most significant partners in this agreement and is the worlds second largest currency manipulator and one of the leading protectionist markets in the pacific. They have much to gain from a weak trade agreement. Japan is the worlds Third Largest automobile market but 96 of that market only belongs to japanese automobiles. Since 2000, we have been able to able to sell 183,000 cars there. Guess how many they sold here . 16. 3 million. Thats 89,0001. Theres something wrong with trying to work a deal that rewards a country whose markets are closed. We need a new trade model that creates jobs in america again and does not reward currency man fip plators and protectionist markets. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition . 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. I thank the speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to honor a significant hoosier, mr. Donald s. Powers, who passed away on april 21, 2015. I would like to express my gratitude for his Community Service and Economic Development efforts in my hometown of munster, indiana. Most important to me, he was a friend and mentor who was always ready to provide sound guidance. More than that most to claim northwest indiana as their home can claim the same kind of relationship with don powers. Mr. Powers proudly fought for our nation as a Navy Fighter Pilot and in the korean war. He was a graduate of Purdue University where he sent several years on the spent several years on the board of trustees. In 1973, mr. Powers took part in the creation of community hospital, voted one of americas 50 best hospitals seven years in a row. In 1989, he developed a center for the visual and performing arts, home to the northwest indiana symphony orchestra. It led to nationwide accolades for the community, even having the town make forbes magazines 25 top speshesspushes for retirement. He was highly regarded in the community and throughout indiana for his philanthropic and business endeavors. Indiana and indeed the nation, mr. Speaker, lost one of the its best leaders this week. But his legacy will certainly endure in the many lives he positively affected. Mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Request 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. Thank you, mr. Speaker. This afternoon i once again introduced the enlist act. The enlist act would give young adults who came here through no fault of their own, that have graduate interested our high schools, that can pass a background check, that can speak english, that the military is asking for to protect and defend the nation that they know and love. Mr. Denham this gives kids the opportunity to actually sign up for a military, wear the cloth of our nation, and put their lives on the line and at the end of an honorable term, they would be eligible for permanent residence in the United States of america. This is an act of patriotism. This is an opportunity to create a Greater National defense and an opportunity for those kids that no of know other country to callknow of no other country to call him. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair lays before the house the following personal requests. The clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Lipinski of illinois for today. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the request is granted. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the the gentlewoman from new jersey, ms. Watson coleman is recognized for 60 minutes as the degig knee of the minority leader. Ms. Watson coleman 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 the subject of my special order. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Watson coleman thank you, mr. Speaker. In just a few months in washington i have learned there is always something going on. And this week is no exception to that rule. In the coming days, two very important actions may change life for many of my constituents. And americans across the country. Last week the chairman of the ways and Means Committee, mr. Ryan introduced a bipartisan congressional trade priority and accountability act of 2014 legislation that would allow the president to negotiate and sign trade agreements with limited congressional oversight. The committee on ways and means has reported that legislation out and i imagine well be considering it on the floor in short order. Next week the u. S. Supreme court will hear arguments inburger feled vs. Hodges, a case that has the potential to decide once and for all whether every american regardless of Sexual Orientation, should have the right to marry. And should have access to all the legal rights and benefits we afford married couples. My colleagues and i plan to address both of these important issues on the floor of the peoples house this afternoon. Mr. Speaker, i want to start by talking about the legislation thats reported out by the ways and Means Committee this week. If Congress Authorizes t. P. A. Fast track authority this president and every president elected after him will have Unprecedented Authority to negotiate and sign sweeping trade agreements with little opportunity for congress to intercede on behalf of Many Americans those deals inevitably impact. In the past those agreements havent turn out great for American Workers here at home. Which is all the more important reason that congress should be able to retain the ability to fight for whats in the best interest of our constituents. After six years of secretive negotiations for the Transpacific Partnership agreement, we havent been given much motivation to release any of its oversight. Offering Fast Track Authority for the t. P. P. Means that we press forward on policies that put american beams health at risk, on policies that are challenging our chemical safe wards. On policies allowing unregulated and potentially contaminated Food Products into the United States. We lose our chance to question policies that would allow Foreign Corporations to skirt our courts and demand taxpayer compensation when they feel they have been violated by u. S. Laws. The our constituents are relying on us to stand up for their interests on t. P. P. And every future trade agreement to come down the line. We cannot pass that buck on this. I know that our first speaker tonight agrees with me. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The logistics of a special order hour are quite challenging sometimes. I want to talk a little bit about the state of new jersey. Because the state of new jersey has seen what can happen when trade deals go back. Factories close employees are laid off, and cities who had previously made things bought by consumers around the world are suddenly faced with stunted economies and surges in unemployment. My Capital District is an illustration of what was a great economy in that locale. Thats why it is so important that this body ensures we only sign these agreements when we are sure they will help not hurt working families. Id like to yield now to another member deeply familiar with the issues in new jersey. My friend and my fellow freshman mr. Norcross, from camden, new jersey. Mr. Norcross thank you mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition of what is being called Fast Track Authority. Legislation would allow a deal. A deal that regardless of its impact on american jobs to go into effect with just a simple up or down vote. We have no other avenue for input. And i think we are seriously misguided. And the best indication of that is history. Where we have been. I started my career as an electrician working up and down the Delaware River in different plants that manufactured products for not only the United States but around the world. And now i go through which is now my Congressional District and i can see the empty boxes which used to be manufacturing. Which used to put men and women to work. Since nafta, which i was involved in, trying to educate the people of not only my area but certainly the rest of the country that this is seriously misguided. That the rhetoric that we heard at the time endedp being ended up being the exact opposite. In my district alone 19,500 jobs lost. 19,500. 59 employers that no longer are there. Those are empty buildings that we used to call home. They used to pay for college education. Those are dreams erased. I was sent to congress to create a climate for jobs here in america and thats my focus. And thats why im so passionate about this issue. When we look around the country we are just now coming out of the worst economic time since i have been alive. The worst times. And now what we are seeing and what we are being asked to do is to Grant Authority to take those jobs. The one that is will take care of our family and ship them overseas. They did it before and its going to happen again. Our job is to help create jobs here in america for all the people. Not just the few who make and own the companies. So i urge my colleagues in the strongest way i can that say no to fast track, say yes to american jobs. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. Ms. Watson coleman i thank the gentleman from new jersey for his remarks. As i said earlier, our constituents are relying on us here to stand up for their interests on t. P. P. Because every future trade agreement that comes down the line has an impact on our quality of life and our opportunities. I know that the speaker that we are getting ready to hear from knows very well how this trade agreement and how these negotiations are going to impact the communities and the economy of our United States of america. So its my honor to yield to one whos been fighting furiously for her constituents who has been adamant about it, giving a voice to the voiceless and has been educating our caucus on a routine basis, id like to yield now to the gentlelady from kentucky, ms. Delauro. Connecticut, ms. Delauro. It ms. Delauro ms. Delauro let me say thank you to my colleague from new jersey. I appreciate her kind words, but its also true she has been a strong, strong supporter of what this trade agreement might do to working families in the United States because where her heart and soul and values are is what is going to strengthen the middle class in this country. Not which is going to take their jobs away. Not which is going to lower their wages, but make sure they can take care of themselves and their families. I was so pleased to see another colleague from new jersey here as well. Im proud to join this effort. Let me just on monday, beginning of this week, i went to a town in my district and i went to a place called the ansonia copper and brass company. And there i was with the gentleman, john bar toe, who was bartow, who was formerl the Vice President. John used to work there. Alongside of hundreds of others. He made specialty metal products, products that were used by u. S. Industry and our military, not so long ago, the company employed thousands. Today this site lies vacant. All those jobs have gone. What closed this plant . Unfair competition from overseas exacerbated by bad trade deals. Just dont listen to me. These are the words of a gentleman that i stood with in a hollowed out building where the rain was coming through the roof on monday because its vacant and it is becoming just derelict. And theyre now taking the steel out of there to see what they can do to sell it in order to see what kind of revenue can be raised. This is what he said. These trade agreements always promised to bring money and jobs and prosperity to our country, but theyve done the exact sop sit exact opposite. We were a supplier to the United States navy for over 70 years for a very critical part. Now that part is no longer made in this country, and thats terrible. Further, i think we already know that this is going to be like nafta, the north American Free trade agreement. Theres something undeniably suspicious about an agreement when you are not able to see it, read it, to understand whats in it. And finally, i will just say that his words, and he did strike a cord when he talked about, weve long understood that currency manipulation is the driving force behind jobs existing in this country. It hasnt changed. Thats an issue. We have talk about and a half tark we talked about calf tark most recently the korea Free Trade Agreement. Theyre going to change things bring jobs, help manufacturing. It has done nothing short of the exact opposite. I am living, breathing proof he, says. This was a vibrant company. There were 300plus people working here. Now there are zero jobs, zero revenues, hundreds upon hundreds of employees, thousands worked here over time, generations of families were supported by this company. And it is with Great Sadness that we find ourselves here today. And the fact is, the enemy is ourselves. Weve got to get our senators and all of our elected representatives to understand what were up against, this currency manipulation, i dont for a second believe we need to take this deal, negotiate et in the back room. Our elected officials cannot see it. That squashes democracy. It wreaks of impropriety. What is going on here where we cannot see this agreement . These are not my words. I didnt work at ansonia copper and brass but today john bartow, a former Vice President is trying to find another job for himself and for his family. That is the story that this Free Trade Agreement is all about. What has gone on here whats happening in our manufacturing sector, is that problems are leaving people struggling to find middle class jobs. American manufacturing jobs are being lost subsidized, foreign products are being subsidized and those are coming in. It is about these bad trade agreements. The United States is poised to sign the biggest trade agreement of them all, the Transpacific Partnership and it is a very dangerous prospect for our economy, for our working families. It forces americans to compete with lowpaid workers in developing countries loik vietnam where the minimum wage is 56 cents an hour. It has helped our families by opening up our borders still wider to dangerous unregulated food toxic seafood from ma lay shah and vietnam. It empowers Foreign Companies to challenge all kinds of u. S. Laws without setting foot in a u. S. Courtroom. It relegates labor rights to the sidelines, it does nothing to confront the curn echeats whose abuses have already cost connecticut over 32,000 jobs. Now the administration wants us to give a rubber stamp, to say you go ahead and complete the fworks that theyve been engaged in for the last five years without any congressional enput so that they can complete the deal without us knowing what is in this Transpacific Partnership agreement. What is fast track . What does that mean . No public scrutiny, limited debate in the house of representatives, and no ability by members of congress who have the Constitutional Authority to review Free Trade Agreements it gives us no opportunity to amend the process. If we wanted to change it, we cant change it once youve given fast track. Weve been here before. The administration sought Fast Track Authority last year. It failed. They produced another bill that came out of a committee in the United States senate and in the house that is exactly the same, rm exactly the same as it was last year. Our view is its dead on arrival this time as. We and on that issue of currency which mr. Bartow spoke so poignantly about which currency manipulation, when a company devalues its currency, it makes their goods cheaper than our goods. And the administration has refused to put a currency chapter in the Free Trade Agreement. And they said that, they wrote a letter to the United States senators and that is the biggest link in losing jobs and depressing wages. You are challenge today, and i will fin herb up on this what is the economic challenge that we face today . People in our country are in jobs that just dont pay them enough money to pay their bills. Middle class families are struggling. Wages are stagnant today. Why would we want to support a Free Trade Agreement that will only exacerbate this problem . It will not create jobs, and further, it will depress wages. Weve got to say no to fast track and that we were not going to stand by, were going to exercise our Constitutional Authority as members of the house of representatives read this piece of legislation and it has to reflect not our ideas, but what our constituents believe is the right thing to do on their behalf. I cant thank you enough for organizing this effort today and you can be sure that every single day we are going to be up on our feet and finding the vote to say no, to fast track and yes to the American People. And to working families in this country. I thank the gentlelady. Mrs. Watson coleman i thank the gentlelady from connecticut for having taken this issue and gone forward with it and been such an educator of us, of the ones that are new and the ones that have been here, and has taken the time to really speak to the constituents about the impact of this trade agreement and the potential that it has, the negative impact on our economy, our safety our security, our worker protections. So i thank you very much. And i think its quite illuminating for people to understand that no one is opposed to trade. Were just opposed to unequal trade. No one is opposed toers porting or importing. Were opposed to not knowing what is in this trade agreement. Were opposed to having a say in this trade agreement, and were opposed to anything that creates greater unequal opportunitiers in workers of this country to have decent jobs and good wages that are being paid. So i thank you very much and the notion of giving this president whom we love, and any president were going to love in the future, the authority to do that without our involvement is not what was expected by creating these three coequal branches of government. Thank you. Ms. Delauro thank you. Mrs. Watson coleman as i said to you in the beginning there are two very important issues that our constituents are concerned about, mr. Speaker. That we are going to speak out today because they are occupying the minds of many of our colleagues over the next few weeks. Its not only this major issue that will be on the minds of American People, but next week, just next week, the u. S. Supreme court will take up a case that has the potential to fulfill the principles of equality and justice that this country stands for. When the Court Hears Arguments in this case, theyll have the opportunity to ensure that every american regardless of who they love has access to the legal rights and benefits we give on the federal and state level to married couples. More than 60 of americans already agree that samesex couples deserve the same recognition that we give heterosexual couples and just as public opposition has crumbled, so has many of the arguments weve made against giving these couples the same protections we give their heterosexual peers. I am proud to be a member of the lgbt caucus and to join my colleagues today on the floor this evening as we urge the court to rule in support of equal rights and in favor of Marriage Equality. It is my pleasure now to yield to the gentleman from california, a leader in the fight for Marriage Equality and equality in general for all people i now ask mr. Takano from the great state of california to share his remarks with us. Mr. Takano i thank the gentlelady from new jersey for yielding time during this special order and i want to give time for us to get set up with our graphics. And mr. Speaker our nation is on the cusp of correcting a long standing injustice, an injustice that has been embedded into our National Psyche and frankly in our laws for more than 200 years. It is an injustice that says lgbt americans shouldnt receive the same rights as everyone else. Its an injustice that the law in many states still says it doesnt matter how committed lgbt relationships are, or how much in love they are, its an injustice that in the an injustice in the law that says that lgbt americans cannot and should not be able to get marry. The law could not be more wrong mr. Speaker. Our constitution says that no person shall be denied equal protection of the laws. That should include lgbt americans. And to say that it doesnt matter how committed samesex relationships are is an insult to the thousands of samesex relationships that have been going strong for 0 40, even 50 years. Gender and Sexual Orientation should not matter when it comes to the right to marry. What should matter is what is in ones heart. Now the Supreme Court can correct this injustice next week. As it is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could make Marriage Equality the law of the land. Now, ive never been one to count my economic chickens before theyre hatched but i believe the Supreme Court will rule on the right side of history. Our nation has been moving toward Marriage Equality at a breakneck speed. 10 years ago, only one state had Marriage Equality. And as you can see here, things have changed as 36 states and the District Of Columbia now have Marriage Equality. But as we prepare for the courts rule, let us not forget that there are more battles to be fought. As it stands in 28 states someone can be fired because of their Sexual Orientation or gender identity. This puts individuals who live in certain states in a difficult position. Take and i just want to take a moment to point out, this is a map of where those 27 states 28 states are in the United States. I want to tell you the story of Lonnie Billard of South Carolina, a High School Teacher for more than a decade. Lonnie couldnt wait to marry his longtime partner when Marriage Equality came to South Carolina in late 2014. And like so Many Americans do, he posted the news of his marriage on facebook. But several days later, he received a call from his assistant principal and he was fired from his job. Marriage equality is coming, mr. Speaker, but what does it say about our nation when people cannot share the happiest day of their life for fear of losing their job . For americans who live in states with Marriage Equality and legalized discrimination, we are telling them that they can have the same rights as everyone else, but its best that they dont tell anyone about it. What we have is an incomplete patchwork map of rights for lgbt americans. If you look at the Marriage Equality map there are 36 state wts Marriage Equality. But if you look at the employment discrimination map lgbt americans can be fired in 28 states simply for being who they are. That means in 14 states like indiana, alabama, and pennsylvania an lgbt american can get married to their partner but get fired because of it. Thats not what our nation is about. Every american is granted a certain set of rights and they should be able to exercise them as freely and as openly as they wish. Our nation is becoming a more perfect union, but until we recognize that lgbt americans are entitled to all of the same rights and protections as anyone else full equality, full legal equality for lgbt americans will be incomplete. There will be a day with both of these maps are combined, and show that lgbt americans are receiving full and equal protection under the law. Until then we fail to live up to our own constitution. But even when we reach full legal equality, it may take years until we achieve equality in the hearts of all americans. I know i will continue the fight for equality in the hearts of all americans. I know the gentlelady from new jersey will fight as well. I thank her and i yield back. Ms. Watson coleman i thank you very much to the gentleman from california. I have to tell you that i am im very happy to be able to work with you on this issue. As a state legislator, this issue was very important to us in the state of new jersey. And as we grappled with all kinds of configurations of equality and relationships we recognize that everything but absolute Marriage Equality was getting giving individuals stumbling blocks over important things. Like simply being able to visit your loved one in the hospital and meaking medical decisions for them. Being able to enjoy the right financial rights that a heterosexual couple can enjoy. Any area in which there is inequality is a threatened area to every one of us who at one point has been discriminated against or has been identified as part of a protected class. So i thank you for the work that youre doing here and i am your partner in this effort. With that, mr. Speaker id like very much to yield to our leader in our caucus on this and so many other issues, a person that stands up each and every day for the rights of the citizens of this great country. Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer i thank congresswoman coleman for yielding some time. I thank her for organizing this special order. And for her leadership on this issue. Shes a new member but not a new person to Public Service. Not a new person to leadership. Not a new person to fighting for the rights of every american. And i thank her very much for her leadership her commitment, and courage. I also want to thank mr. Speaker, the lgbt Equality Caucus for its powerful advocacy on this issue. The Supreme Court next week is hearing more than just an argument about samesex marriage. It is considering a question fundamental to what it means to be an american. Our nation, as we say so proudly, was founded on the premise that all people are created equal. Not the same. But equal. Irrespective of the differences. Our declaration of independence as all of us quote so often says, we hold these truths to be selfevident that all men and of course if jefferson were writing today it would be either all people or all human kind are created equal. And they are endowed not by a congress not by a constitution, not by a will of the majority, they are endowed by their creator. By god. With certain unalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That of course, has not always been americas performance. Notwithstanding it has been its promise. Next week the highest court in our land will be asked to consider whether these words apply to samesex couples who love one another. Many courts have already said that it does. Marriage equality provides samesex households vital Legal Protections and Economic Security that we would ask for ourselves. Marriage equality would mean that approximately 250,000 children in america, who are being raised in samesex households will see their parents receive equal treatment. One of those families is led by for, perhaps his partner would say, sean patrick maloney. Three beautiful, loving and loved children. I have seen them all together. They are happy, healthy family. Study after study has shown they are doing as well as their peers from opposite sex households. Academically psychologically, and socially. Marriage equality also means spousal benefits for those who share their lives with and care for their samesex partners. And Marriage Equality will mean that samesex couples, mr. Speaker, could make medical and end of life decisions for their loved ones. These are tangible benefits. These, i would suggest to you, mr. Speaker, are the pursuit of happiness. Tangible benefits thought to be treated equally under the law in every state of our union. Not in 28, not in 48, but in all 50 and the District Of Columbia. Thanks to the extraordinary courage of millions who have come out to their friends and families, which took a lot of courage, and spoken with their neighbors and coworkers, the majority of americans, a majority of americans, a majority of americans now agree that every loving couple ought to be treated equally and have their right to marry recognized. I will tell you, mr. Speaker, i have three daughters. I have three grandchildren. One of my grandchildren is an adult. All four of those women would say to me, dad why is it any of our business who somebody else loves, who somebody else wants to commit to . Why is that our business . What does it make a difference to us . What makes a difference to us is how they treat us. Whether they obey the law. Whether as Martin Luther king would say, the content of their character is such that we ought to respect them. Not because of the differences of the color of their skin or their geppeder or nationality or religion or their choice of whom they want to love. Born equal endowed by god with certain unalienable rights and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Is there a happier time in ones life than when one pledges themselves to another . We all gather we all celebrate. We all wish them well. Lgbt americans now have the right to marry and have their families treated equally in 37 states and the District Of Columbia. In the remaining states however, lgbt residents are watching the Supreme Court with great anticipation. Hopefully the court will do as earl Warrens Court did in brown vs. Board of education and said that separate is not equal. Treating people here differently than people here who love one another is not equal. Tens of millions of americans who stand with our friends in the Lgbt Community in support of Marriage Equality and who believe as i do that a ruling in support of the lower courts that have again and again sided with samesex couples and have said that the law requires the constitution requires, that we do, in fact, live out our promise of treatment on an equal basis. We need to bring those words of the declaration of independence closer to their full realization, mr. Speaker. Hopefully the court will do that. Mr. Speaker, im from the state of maryland. I was proud to join in sending an amicus brief to the court in march arguing that the state bans are unconstitutional. In my state of maryland, our legislature carried out what mrs. Coleman, what i have said. If equality means quality. We passed Marriage Equality mr. Speaker, some folks didnt agree with that and petitioned it to referendum. And im very proud of the citizens of maryland. They were the first state to say in referendum at the polls we believe equality means equality. And passed that resolution and confirmed that law. I thank the gentlelady from new jersey, a leader in that state, a leader in our nation for leading this special order hour. Mr. Speaker, i hope we will be able to return to this floor over the summer to praise a ruling by the court that i anticipate will be historic and accurate. And one that our nation could be proud of for generations indeed centuries, to come. Our nation made a promise in our declaration of independence. Our nation has not always met that promise, and indeed we have struggled to realize the reality of that promise. In my lifetime, Martin Luther king jr. Brought that compellingly to americas attention. In his lifetime the president that the majority leader in this house just last week it heralded as one of the great figures the great giants in American History abraham lincoln, called the attention of his generation to the gulf between the promise and the practice. In america. It resulted in a war in which we lost more lives in america than any other war in which we have been involved. The civil war. Its said that we had to fight. Its sad that we lost lives. But we redeemed to some degree the promise of treating people based upon the content of their character. I thank the gentlelady. And i yield back the balance of my time. Ms. Watson coleman i thank you very much, the gentleman from maryland. And i appreciate the passion with which you have taken on this issue right and wrong and equality as you have taken on other issues. Thank you for your leadership. Mr. Speaker, i know that these may seem to have been very diverse issues to bring before the floor at the same time, but they are connected in so many different waste. Particularly because our constituents care deeply about both these issues. The. Excusing the conduct of many of the governments who would become our new partners all while putting us in the same compromise of future agreements. Meanwhile, if the Supreme Court upholds the tenets of justice and inequality that our equality that our nation has valued, lgbt will have the same rights and protections that samesex couples enjoy and theyll have the confident and security of their familys relationships so i look forward to continuing my work with that and at this moment, mr. Speaker, i ask how much time do we have left. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman has 19 minutes remaining. Mrs. Watson coleman thank you very much, mr. Speaker. With that id like to yield the balance of my time to mr. Sarbanes from the great state of maryland. Mr. Sarbanes i thank the gentlelady for yielding. Mr. Speaker, on april 24, the arc of the moral universe will intersect with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Many will bear witness to that intersection but sadly official recognition of the genocide by the United States government will be conpick with usly absent. Conspicuously absent. Let us review the facts. In 1915, more than 1. 5 million armenians were systematically annihilated by Ottoman Empire turkish authorities. Men, women and children were massacred, deported and condemned to death marches into the Syrian Desert where they died of thirst and starvation. No final rites, no burial and assault on the dignity of a dignified and proud people. This indisputable tragedy of history has been acknowledged by enumerable scholars and historians including the International Association of genocide scholars, the elly wasle foundation for humanity and no more than 53 noble laurettes. Pope francis recently joined the chorus that honestly labels this horrific chapter of turkeys history a genocide. Hopelessly infected by the disease of denial, modern day turkish authorities have now made it clear they were never going to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the genocide with anything approaching cannedor, honesty or the most candor, honesty or the most minimal degree of selfreflection. But it heaps insult upon injury that they have chosen the genocide anniversary of april 24 to commemorate something wholly different the 100th anniversary of the landing of British Imperial forces, something that occurred the next day on april 25, 1915. Turkeys treatment of the Armenian Genocide is no surprise. It is a conditioned reflex that has been codified into the laws of the state. In turkey, anyone who uses the word genocide to describe the massacre of the armenians is subject to criminal punishment under article 301 of the turkish penal code. Obviously we should have dramatically Higher Expectations for our own country. That is the reason that as a member of congress who has long supported a resolution to recognize the Armenian Genocide. I have dreaded the prospect that 100th anniversary would come and go without official recognition from either the United States congress or the president of the United States. I share the deep disappointment and sense of betrayal felt by the armenian people and all who support their cause. It is lamentable that on capitol hill advocacy for recognition is being undermined every day by turkeys intense lobbying campaign to block passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution. In the face of this, it is easy to be cynical and angry, but we should remind ourselves and be inspired that on april 24 hundreds of thousands of americans will defy the lack of official recognition with their own personal and heartfelt acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. In turkey, there are brave citizens who at great personal risk condemn state authorities for their tragic silence. Ultimately, the voices of individual citizens have a special power to move the heart , in this instance to bless the unmarked graves of 1. 5 million armenians whose own voices and spirits were trampled into the ground 100 years ago. This year i will resist the temptation to mark the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with anger and frustration at the lack of official recognition from those who should know better. Rather, i will draw strength from the conviction that the arc of the moral universe will ultimately bend towards justice, toward the eternal memory of those who perished in this undeniable tragedy of history. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6 2015, the gentleman from colorado, mr. Buck, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Mr. Buck thank you mr. Speaker. I recognize the gentleman from ohio. I thank the gentleman for this hour, this special order on an important subject, the Exportimport Bank. And i was just going to start with this with retelling a story i told at an event not too long ago that i think is important and the scenario thats going to play out i think all across the country later this afternoon, theres going to be a guy who works second shift at the local manufacturing facility. Mr. Jordan hes going to go out, get in his truck to drive to work. Remember, hes working second shift. Which means hes got to miss some of his kids Little League games, miss some of his childrens afterschool activities and the goes out to get in his truck to go to work and he looks a couple houses down and sees a guy sitting on the front porch drinking a cup of coffee reading the newspaper. He knows the guy can work, wont work but is getting his tax dollars. Gets in his truck to drive to work and he happens to turn the radio on happens to be the news hour, reporter comes on and talks about federal governments got 18 trillion national debt. They got this program that gives money to favored and connected corporations. One of these Companies Went bankrupt and cost the taxpayers a ton of money, and he hears all that and he remembers what he saw on the front porch of his neighbors house and guess what, this guys ticked off and he has every right to be. Same time hes driving to work theres a lady driving home from work. She teaches second grade at the local elementary school. Shes busted her tail all day long helping her students. She is trying to help her students get the skill set they need to start on their path toward achieving the american dream. Shes worked all day long. Happens to have her radio on, happens to tune into the same station and the same reporter talks about the federal government with a 18 trillion national debt, this program that gives money to favored corporations. This company went bankrupt. Cost the taxpayers money. She pulls into her driveway on the same stree sees the same guy on his front porch, drinking coffee, reading the paper. She knows he can work but wont work. She is just as mad as the second shift worker and she has every right to be. Now our job as members of congress is to remember people like the second grade teacher and the second shift worker and fight for things they care about. And heres one. They care about this concept that goes on in this town where connected Companies Get special deals with their tax money and they want that to stop and we now have a chance to do that. To start the process of stopping the corporate welfare and thats what mr. Bucks special order hour is all about, stopping the Exportimport Bank from continuing the corporate connectedness, the corporate cronyism and the corporate welfare. Our job is real simple. All we have to do is nothing. Something congress is usually pretty good at doing. All we have to do is not reauthorize this bank which loans out billions of taxpayer dollars, puts billions of taxpayer dollars at risk and helps connected corporate entities who got every lobbyist in this town hired to fight for their cause at the expense of second grade teachers and second shift workers. So lets not reauthorize this thing. Lets show those people were actually fighting for them. Then once we do that then we can actually get into the social safety net and reform that and require work for abled body adults, help people trapped in our social safety net system get to beater life. We can reform it all. But lets start lets start with those connected companies with the highpaid lobbyists getting the special deals. One other thing ill add before turning it back over to the gentleman from colorado, whos doing such a great job on this issue and my good friend from virginia whos going to speak as well on this issue and doing a great job, this thing is not only bad because it loans out money, puts taxpayers money at risk, its corrupt. Just last week mr. Gutierrez, a longterm employee at the exim bank, was indicted on bribery and fraud charges. It goes back to clear back to 2006. For seven years he was scamming people taking taxpayer money helping himself, taking bribes from companies benefiting from the Exportimport Bank. And last week at the first hearing weve had on this issue this congress, we had the Inspector General at the Exportimport Bank say this and ill close here. He said, there may be more indictments in the gutierrez case, and more importantly, he said there may be indictments in the 31 thats right 31 open Fraud Investigations at the exim bank that the department of justice are currently investigating. Now, if thats not enough reason to get rid of this thing i dont know what is. Puts taxpayer money at risk. Corruption, fraud. 31 open Fraud Investigation cases. Everyone knows its bad. And all congress has to do to end is not a darn thing. For goodness sake, maybe Even Congress can accomplish that. With that i yield back to the gentleman from colorado. Mr. Buck i thank the gentleman from ohio. And i yield to the gentleman from virginia. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Its an honor to follow my fellow congressman from the great state of ohio and follow our leader, ken buck. Im an economist whos been working on International Trade policy and economics for more than two decades. Mr. Brat i oppose special privileges. Everyone likes free money, and that gets to the crux of this issue and i want to go real slow over this issue. Because everyone knows theres no such thing as free money or a free lunch. Every economic student learns that in their first course of economics. And so lets just be real clear on that one point and take our time. If you get free money right, if a corporation gets free money or you get free money, that is good for you and youre going to hear a lot of people up here saying hey, this hurts business, this hurts my company because im getting free money. But the flip side of that i get free money is someones paying the tab for that. And guess who that is . Thats you. Thats the public. Thats the taxpayer. You are footing the bill for this free money that falls out of heaven up here working through special interests and corporate cronies. The Exportimport Bank provides cheap, belowmarket correct to certain exporters. Below market. That means the market is not working and something has jumped in to distort markets. Below market is subsidized exporters. For example, boeing and its Airline Customers in the united arab emirates, india, south korea, chile, ethiopia and turkey among others appreciate u. S. Taxpayers helping to subsidize their planes or any other good you want to name. And so at first the Exportimport Bank just looks like a bank thats helping our firms export, but then go and look at the size and the bottom line of the foreign firms who are offering these products more cheaply to their customers, the folks we export to. Thats the issue. Banks in this country also like this prom since they get lighter regulation on u. S. Government backed loans and greater products. Thats a good thing. The backstop is you the taxpayer. If this system fails, and we have seen failure of a massive order with the financial crisis of 2008, and who paid the bill at the end of that failure . The taxpayer. Youre the backstop for any failure. When ever you hear someone say im getting low Interest Rates what, a great deal, those rates are being paid for by you, and the risk which is just as important and easy to hide, is also being borne by you, the taxpayer. So the Exportimport Bank does not advance the public interest. Exportimport imposes real costs on you, the American Consumer taxpayers, and other businesses through risk market distortions, and misallocation of resources. Let me bring a little economics into this. Export subsidies dont, do not increase net exports. And theres plenty of economic literature to support this claim. Sure subsidized exports increase. Of course they dofment but unsubsidized exports, the folks without the deal, drop. And imports increase in response. So someone is getting a benefit but theres always someone else that not receiving the benefit that is being harmed by this free money out of heaven. As the Government Accountability office noted in a study on exim job claims, quote additional exports may result in jobs shifting from one firm to another. Without an increase in total employment. Let me read that again. The study claims additional exports may result in jobs thats what we care about up here jobs shifting from one firm who loses them to another who has free money. But without an increase in total employment. I think thats what Americans Care about. I think you care about increasing total employment. And this program does not accomplish that goal. Whats true for employment is also true for production in general and for net exports which are all part of our g. D. P. These outcomes, these economic outcomes are driven by major macroeconomic factors. These are the things we should care about. These are the things that really do improve our economy. Worker productivity. The United States capitol stock our business climate, and how much we save or borrow. Those are the fundamentals that we need to improve when we want to do better in the rest of the world. And we should also include United States Education System in the mix as well. The Exportimport Bank doesnt change any of these fundamental market drivers. It just benefits some at the expense of the rest of us. America is supposed to embody Free Enterprise and equal opportunity for all people. Equal opportunity. Equal means equal. No special deals for anyone. Getting ahead shouldnt require having friends in washington, d. C. Besides, how can we address the entitlement crisis and the legitimate welfare issues we have on the domestic front as jim jordan just noted and other domestic reforms if we cant even tackle a narrow Corporate Welfare Program . Ill just close by drawing another comparison with the great financial crisis we had in 2007 and 2008. Fannie and freddie had a network a across 50 states, it was almost a Shadow Congress of power that even members of congress didnt want to go up against because they were so powerful. And what happened as fannie and freddie helped to generate mortgages to people who could not pay their mortgages. Right . Subsidized rates, this is sounding familiar, subsidized rates to folks who didnt have incomes, liar loans and utter financial collapse starting in the housing sector, spreading over to the financial sector, all too good to be true, all free money falling from heaven, just like im describing here with the Exportimport Bank, and at the end of the day, who paid the bill . You did. The american taxpayer. And so that is the Exportimport Bank is building the same infrastructure throughout the contry. They are going state by state by state, member by member by member, saying you have companies who really need this special deal. They like the deal. We have shown, i have shown, its good for them. But its not good for you. These special interest subsidies need to end starting with the end of the Exportimport Bank. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. Jordan i thank the gentleman from virginia. I yield to the gentleman from West Virginia. Mr. Buck, thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. Thank you for the opportunity to rise and speak on this important issue. I have some serious concerns about the future of the Exportimport Bank, particularly with this administration. In the past, the bank has been used to push extreme Environmental Policies from the president to guide how it awards their loans. We all know that the president has declared a war on coal, and through his administration, hes doing everything he can to prosecute that war on coal. Mr. Mooney we have seen the e. P. A. And other departments in this administration through regulation not through congress but through regulation attempt to shut down the coal industry and bankrupt the coal strifment the president himself said his goal is to bankrupt the coal industry. This of course this along with the Exportimport Bank is hurting Coal Companies and costing american jobs as they try to compete in the Global Market. I know that the american coal has been hurt because the Exportimport Bank has awarded loans in countries that do not have to adhere to president obamas left wing environmental regulations. They dont have an e. P. A. In many of these countries. Yet we are financing some deals there. Our current president has proven time and again he will use any means necessary to circumvent congress and the constitution to promote an agenda the American People just dont want. So let me give you some specifics on the Exportimport Bank and some of their invest many. For example in 2013 the Exportimport Bank approved a loan in the amount of 694 million in financing for u. S. Equipment to develop an open pit iron ore mine in australia. The mine is owned by the wealthiest woman in the country of australia. Do you really think she needs u. S. Tax dollar support for this project . According to Public Officials unions and the iron mining association, these subsidies threaten to displace nearly 600 million worth of u. S. Ironore exports and cost a reduction of approximately 1. 2 billion in u. S. Domestic sales. According to the wall street journal, a 641 million deal, the Exportimport Bank made with a Turkish Company to build a new fuel producing plant. According to the c. E. O. Of valero, a company that exports american gasoline to foreign countries, quote, the new turkish refinery will be a direct competitor of u. S. Refineries in the Global Market. It takes away potential export markets. It has operations in my district and state many many states throughout the contry. Lastly and according to the heritage foundation, the Exportimport Bank made a 500 million deal with a copper mine in mongolia that competes with excavations in arizona, utah, new mexico, nevada and montana. The American People elect congress to write the laws and make the laws, not the president. The president is the executive branch. He needs to figure this out. The executive branch enforces laws. They dont make the laws. Thats what we do here in the legislative branch. The American People gave republican majorities in both chambers and put a stop to the president s radical agenda. One other concern id like to point out i dont believe the government should be in the business of picking winners and losers. Private investors, you when you choose to shop, individuals, can pick who you want to support. We have a vibrant and highly functioning Private Banking system. We should let them determine which loans are made to which companies. When the federal government inserts itself into the process you end up with a system where Washington Special interests drive decisionmaking not free market principles. The Exportimport Bank has become a compet to this private capital and investment. Im a conservative. I believe i support federal policies that encourage Free Enterprise and entrepreneurship. Not to enter the arena as a competitor to the private sector. The federal government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. Lets let the marketplace decide who wins and loses. This is the way free markets are supposed to work. What has made America Great are the traditional values, hard work, and free markets. The ability to create jobs in this contry. Thats whats made America Great. We support businesses, those businesses that create jobs. They have created, they have raised more people out of poverty, the businesses and the jobs they create, have raised more people out of poverty than any other Government Program can or ever will. So i wanted to bring these concerns to the attention of the American People and this boddy. This is a serious issue that may or may not come before congress. If we dont act at all the baverpbing expires. Its clear from what i detailed here there are serious concerns. Lets move forward with the Exportimport Bank and i appreciate the opportunity to speak on this issue. I yield back the balance of my time. Plu buck i thank the mr. Buck i thank the gentleman from West Virginia. Bribery, corruption, and fraud. Throughout my tenure as a state and federal prosecutor i saw all of these evils and more. Im disappointed to say that the words i once used to describe white collar criminals can now be used to define a federally funded entity. The Exportimport Bank, or some know it the eximbank has taken advantage of our free market system. An institution that wants stood for economic growth, prosperity, and global expansion. Now stands as a symbol of greed, a pillar of cronery capitalism. It does not take a trained eye to see that the exim bank is exactly what is wrong with washington today. This 80yearold institution we once trusted to expand our made in america brand to every corner of the globe has failed to live up to its charter and has instead more ofed morphed into Something Else. The bank does not maintain or create jobs. It does not support Small Businesses much as its supporters would like you to think. It does not level the Playing Field for u. S. Exporters. It is not even a good deal for taxpayers. The exim bank has become more like a train with no conductor at the helm, running faster and faster, heading straight off the tracks. As so often happens when accountability is slim and punishment is nonexistent the exim bank has become a breeding ground for corruption, cronyism, and fraud. If you think im wrong, even president obama agreed with me back in 2008. Before he ascended to the white house, mr. Obama said that the exim bank was little more than corporate welfare. The president is also on record saying, there should be a level Playing Field for u. S. Exporters. Allowing them to compete based on the quality and price of their goods and Services Rather than on the quality of any officially supported financing. You know, mr. President , great things the great thing about the internet is those words never goway, no matter how much you change your tune. At best the bank is handpicking winners and losers. At worst, exim bank is corrupting accepting pribes crookedly steering funds to favorite Foreign Companies, and killing the market for our homegrown companies. Take, for instance delta airlines. Delta is suing exim bank because it feels it is being 250e9 cheated out of many of its former routes. The airline is on record saying that foreign competitors aided by american taxpayer funded loans, from the exim bank, can now charge less per flight because they purchased boeing aircraft at cheaper crieses than our own American Companies can. The american taxpayer is subsidizing Foreign Airlines that compete with other american airlines. Speaking of boeing and their corrupt exim bank corrupt practices, following deltas suit Congress Mandated that the bank perform Economic Impact reviews on all large deals. Take one guess who helped exim craft these rules . Boeing. This company that receives 65. 4 of the banks taxpayerbacked financing to help sell their jets to Foreign Companies, putting Domestic Airlines like delta in a bind, how can eximjustify its claims of leveling the Playing Field creating american jobs, supporting Small Business was these practices . It only takes a quick glance at exims leadership to see how we got to this point. The daily caller found that fully half of exims own Advisory Committee members Led Businesses that directly benefited from eximfinancing during their term. Five more members had exim funding to their organizations before joining the Advisory Committee. And more disturbing of all is that the current Advisory Committee chair is former democratic governor Christine Gregor of Washington State. Washington state, which receives 43. 6 of the banks total funding. I invite you once again to take one guess at what company is headquartered in Washington State. Yes, you guessed it, boeing. If this is not bad enough, between october, 2007 and march, 2014, there were 124 investigations linked to corruption surrounding the exim bank. This includes some 792 separate claims involving more than 500 million. The exim Inspector General also revealed last week that 31 other exim Bank Employees are currently being investigated for fraud. That brings us to nearly 40 exim employees that have already been investigated or are currently being investigated for fraud. During an oversight and Government Reform Committee during the week of april 15, the Exportimport Banks Inspector General revealed that four senior level exim employees were relieved of their duties last summer. These employees were allegedly steering taxpayerfunded loans to favored companies in exchange for Cash Payments and other kickbacks. A former congressman is sitting now in federal prison until 2023 on bribery charges linked to bank practices. Another former exim employee was indicted in the same scheme for soliciting and accepting 173,500 in bribes. The list goes on and on. How can we justify allowing a federal agency to continue to operate in flagrant disregard of the law . The most recent of these cases features a former exim loan officer, johnny gutierrez. You may remember mr. Gutierrez as one of the four exim employees i mentioned before. He has a dubious honor of being the first of these four to be formally charged in bribery. Between 2006 and 2015 helped loans to impax association. Mr. Gutierrez secured between 1 million and 5 million to finance impax association projects in both mexico and the Dominican Republic in june 2007. Similar guarantees were also promised to jamaica and the turks and caicos. It is clear, unfortunately, that this is not an isolated incident. It only gets worse. In 2009, former democratic congressman william j. Jefferson from louisiana was convicted for accepting bribes from u. S. Telecom company a nigerian company. Jefferson was even videotaped receiving 100,000 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel right across the river in arlington. When federal investigators raided jeffersons house, they discovered over 90,000 in cash stashed away in his freezer. This does not take into account a former employee, maureen who was indicted for accepting 73,500 in bribes to help the nigerian company. I dont know about you but when an internal poll shows that only 42. 1 employees think the leaders maintain a High Standard of honor and integrity and less more fee for their jobs theres something terribly wrong. The exim bank is a perfect example what happens when a Single Agency is allowed to pick winners and losers. For too long, exim employees have been accepting falsified documents, forging mandatory checks on applicants financial integrity. There is a systemic sickness poisoning this agency with greed and corruption. It must be stopped and it must be stopped now. This battle may be hard but it is one i feel deep down that we must fight. We cannot allow this corrupt agency to continue picking winners and losers. Laughing in the face of our laws and degrading our free market principles. The exim bank is a portrait of exactly what is wrong with washington today. And its finally time for a change. That is why i ask you to join me on june 30 in allowing this pillar of crony capitalism to expire once and for all. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Mr. Buck mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore under the speakers announced policy of january 6 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina, mr. Duncan, for 30 minutes. Mr. Duncan thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize an Exceptional Group of students teachers, parents of the bell Street Middle School science owe lip add team which just won their 13th consecutive science owe limp add state championship. Owe limp add state championship olympiad state championship. Let me state that again. The 13th state championship. Remarkable group of parents teachers and students. It is one of the premiere science competition programs in the nation for which the past 31 years has been dedicated to interscholastic academic competition which provides a series of individual and team events requiring the knowledge of scientific facts concepts, processes, skills and science applications. They provide constantly changing challenges in nearly 7,000 teams across all 50 states that allow for students to be exposed to a variety of career choices while meeting practicing scientists and lifechanging mentoring. Now, the bell Street Middle School in clinton South Carolina, began competing in this competition in 1986. The science olympiad was founded by three teachers, dr. Wicker dr. Oshields and mr. Mac. They still work in the School District today and dr. Oshields is a superintendent of the School District Lawrence County School District 56. He continues to coach the science olympiad. Many of the alumni have gone on to be extremely successful in fields of science and technology. One example is Elizabeth Humbert who went on to obtain a masters degree in geology at the university of tennessee and went to the Research Institute in ithaca, new york. She also participated in the hyde park project which was the discovery of the most complete mesadon to date. She spent countless hours working in outreach to students through helping to build the museum of the earth and through an outreach position at the Cornell University to nasa to which she helped build stem internalships in the state of new york for underrepresented students. Today, elizabeth is living in indonesia developing class for Upper Elementary School students in geology. When asked about her love for science, elizabeth states, my building block, my love for learning my discovery that i could do what i found interesting dates specifically back to bell street, bell Street Middle School and to our challenge classes. To enjoy the freedom and openended research it offered and the connections it created. And of her experience participating in science olympiad it states it provided her with the feeling being different might not be a burden but a great blessing and an exciting path to follow. Science for me has always been that exciting path and perhaps an unusual one in 1994. Ive been so glad to see where women in the field in these last 20 years see more women in the field in the last 20 years. I know it fosters that and all students and creates visions of possibilities that really exists she said. And i believe that her statement sums up how valuable this organization has been and continues to be to our nations youth. This years students are continuing the history of success and innovation with their first place finishes in 11 of the states competition events. One event in particular required the students to create a wheeled vehicle that could travel a specific distance in the shortest amount of time. This year the length of the track was longer than in previous years and there was a coffee can placed in the middle of the track. I got a graphic here to kind of show you what that is. Students lost points if cars went over the finish line or didnt stop close enough to it. In order to be successful in this event dillon snead created a formula on what hes learning in his geometry class. He created a triangle with a scare ruler and used a formula to calculate the distance from the starting point. Starting point being here. To the ending point. This allowed him to create an arch with a point 1 12 of the total distance. Using this formula, he and his partner, melissa, were able to create two cars, winning the team first place. This victory helped the team achieve the overall first place award at the state competition. You can look at this website and watch a video of it. They had to take a motorized vehicle that they created, calculate the distance, the energy and the radius to go around an obstacle in the middle of the path and they stopped it at the other end within one sent meeter of the finish one centimeter of the finish line. This is an eighth Grade Student who did this helping his class win first place. I think dillon sneads mathematics and his abilities are tremendous. Id like to congratulate him. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the coaches of the Science Olympiad Team bell Street Middle School on their 13th consecutive state championship. And ill try to read their names without stumbling. If i do, students, i apologize. Sidney argo, victor barcinas, jordan barker, shawn bell, jonathan broswell, sean brent chakia campbell, aaron kaufman, justin easter, mason gibbs cole gresham carl, alicia gutierrez, grace johnson, Matthew Lange dequan lindsey, jacob detaja, elisha, destiny spoon, Bailey Stevens miran, nathan, gary walsh, caitlin watson, david wilke and cara young. These are all the students on the team. While i dont have all the names of their parents and teachers, i want to congratulate them as well and thank them for their efforts in helping create our future scientists innovators and for challenging these middle School Students to be the very best they can. See, these things dont happen overnight. These Science Olympiad Team training weekends, spending saturdays and sundays figuring all these mathematic formulas out and figuring out this science. I also want to wish the best of luck to all of you as you make your way to lincoln, nebraska, for the National Competition which is in may. Id like toned by saying may god continue to bless these students, these teachers and parents pearts. May god put a protection over them as they travel and may god continue to bless bell Street Middle School and may god continue to bless the United States of america. Id also like to take this opportunity to finish my comments here today talking about one of my heroes. My dad passed away tuesday a week ago from complications with alzheimers. Its a terrible disease. The Alzheimers Association and others are working hard to come up with a cure for that. My dad was amazing, 1961 graduate of Clemson University and sent my brother and i to clemson and my brother has one son graduated from clemson, one that is attending and i have a son. I believe when they prepared my dads body they found his blood to run orange and thats because of his love of clemson. I studied text tiles and went on to be a plant manager and supervisor in a mill in texas. He used to carry a marble in his pocket and that was the philosophy that helped him succeed not only in life as a general manager or a plant manager, supervisor in the textile industry not as a member of the community not as a father, but just as a human being, and thats a marble that had a saying on it that was given to us by jesus christ, lets treat others the way we would want to be treated. I think my dad using that philosophy as he walked the plant floor in the textile mills that he oversaw, i think he treated the people pushing the brooms or working on the looms or weaving or spinning the supervisors, he treated them all the same. I think my dad treated them the way he want be treated if he was working on that broom, or a weaver or supervisor. If we are able to do that in life, i think we will go far. Its an inspiration to me. So ill try to treat others as well. My dad was one of my heroes. I lost him on april 14 of this year, tuesday, a week ago. Going to miss him. He was proud of what i did. Proud of what i have been able to accomplish, proud that im serving this great country that i love so much. And if he was at home, he would be siticing in front of cspan watching me give this speech, and hed be proud. Thank you. God bless you. May god bless america. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. Sherman, for 30 minutes. Mr. Sherman thank the speaker. I rise today to address the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century. I know other members were planning to join me. There has been some confusion as to the schedule, but i hope that members interested in this issue would come to the floor and join me during the next 30 minutes. And i would like to thank the gentleman from from long beach, california, mr. Lowenthal, for doing for being at the subcommittee on asia, of which im the Ranking Member, so that i can be here on the floor at this important time. Mr. Speaker, today, it is the afternoon of april 23, here in our nations capitol. But in istanbul, it is night. It is about to be midnight, bringing in the 24th of april. So as we are here at this very hour 100 years ago agents of the ottoman government, went out into the night to arrest the leadership of the Armenian Community there in istanbul there, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Soon, the rest of the plan went into effect, having arrested and killed the leadership of the Armenian Community agents of the Ottoman Empire felt free to go into the lands and begin a process of ethnic cleansing to begin a process of mass murder to begin a process of sending people into the desert to die or simply annihilating them on the spot to begin a well thoughtout plan of genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century. Now im asked why is it so important that we remember this genocide. Well first, genocide denial is the last step of the genocide itself. And when i say genocide denial, you might think that in recounting history of 100 years ago, that i was simply here to commemorate and to mourn. But unfortunately the government of modern turkey has begun and continued a multimillion dollar plan of threats of lobbying of secret money, all designed to deny the Armenian Genocide. And that genocide denial is the last stage of the genocide that began 100 years ago this hour. First, in a genocide, a people is destroyed, and then we see the destruction of the memory of their annihilation. But worst than genocide denial being the last step of a genocide, it is the first step of the next genocide. When Adolph Hitler was talking to his henchmen and wondered if they could get away with the total destruction of the jewish people, he was able to turn to them as he did and said, who remembers the annihilation of the armenians. So the genocide denial creates the expectation among other evil men that they can get away with genocide. Why do we here in the United States cowtow to turkeys demand that we fail to recognize the genocide. Last week, the European Union overwhelmingly passed a recognition recognizing not only the murders and atrocities that took place, but also using as was appropriate the word genocide. And a few days before, pope francis used the word genocide for the first time in the history of the vatican to commemorate this 100th anniversary. Over 40 state legislatures, 20 foreign governments have recognized that the acts of the ottoman in the early 20th september try constituted a genocide. It is time for this congress to do what then senator barack obama did and acknowledge that what happened 100 years ago today, what began 100 years ago today was indied a genocide. I see that were joined by the chair of the Foreign Affairs committee, and i will yield to him such time as he requests. I thank my colleague from california to yielding to me and i rise today on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Mr. Royce mr. Speaker that period of time represented a generation of armenians, a generation lost to assassination to deprivation, to assault to starvation, 1. 5 million souls, half a million others left homeless. Decades of armenian culture, history and religion erased from the landscape, and on this significant anniversary 100 years, we cannot remain silent. Pope francis said it clearly when he called on the World Leaders to oppose such crimes with a firm sense of duty without ceding to ambiguity or compromise. Our National Archives is filled with thousands of pages documenting the premeditated ex termation of the armenian people. Our own ambassador to the otto marn empire recalled in his memoirs that that empire never had the idea of reestablishing the armenians in the new country, those were his words, knowing that quote, the great majority would either die of thirst and starvation or be murdered by the whiled desert tribes. Go growing up in anaheim, i knew one who survived the genocide only because of a compassion nature turkish family that hid him from sight. And he was the only one in his village that survived. The u. S. Has long been a Global Leader in promoting human rights around the world. The issue of the Armenian Genocide is taught in our textbooks. The french swiss swedish german governments the russian government they recognized the Armenian Genocide as does the e. U. As a Global Leader in human rights it is important for the u. S. To stand on principle and recognize the annihilation of the armenians as genocide. And while the Armenian Genocide was the first of the 20th century, the blind eye cast to the slaughter of the armenians was a point used by hitler when he said to his officer corps who speaks today of the annihilation of the armenians . You know, my friends history is a continuum. Yesterday impacts today which impacts tomorrow. Its much harder to get tomorrow right if we get yesterday wrong. The worlds strength to oppose killing today is made greater by accountability for actions present, but also past. Its weakened by denial accountability of past acts. Not recognizing the Armenian Genocide as such weakens us. I wanted to say a bit about the near east relief, which was the name of the American Charity specifically organized in response to the Armenian Genocide. I quoted our ambassador at the time, Henry Morganthau and urged support. And through public rallies and Church Collections and with the assistance of charitable organizations and foundations, that committee raised millions in its campaign to save the starving armenians as the campaign went across the country with that theme. And between 1915 and 1930 when it ended operations, near east relief administered an amazing 117 million in assistance and delivered food and clothing, materials for shelter by the shipload from america. Sent up clinics and hospitals orphanages and centers for vocational training. Near east relief is credited with having cared for 130,000 armenian orphans scattered across a region that stretched from tablisi to istanbul, beirut where they could find those orphans, they cared for those orphans. Near east was an act which quite literally kept a people a nation alive. And unfortunately, since 1915, hundreds of armenian religious cultural and Historic Sites have been confiscated they have been destroyed, they have been vandalized. Turkish leaders must act now to prevent losing anymore. The United States must keep pressing turkish leaders until they commit to protecting these sites and to return all confiscated Church Properties to their rightful owners. And in addition, we must work to protect those armenians who are living under the threat of violence today. Armenians in syria are targeted to violence due to their religious beliefs and armenians suffer under the greatest escalation along the line of conflict in 20 years. As we remember the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century, let us commit to working for the safety and freedom of their descendants, such efforts would be a needed tribute to the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide. And i thank again the the gentleman from california for yielding. I thank the distinguished chairman from the Foreign Affairs committee. I want to associate myself with his comments. Mr. Sherman and particularly thank him for focusing our attention on the struggles of the people. One should remember that when the support of the government with the support of the government of turkey, the government of azerbaijan has threatened to shoot down civilian airplanes headed to that airport. That is the kind of threats and intimidation that the people of armenia and of that area face today. I see the gentleman also from california mr. Rohrabacher, and will yield to him at this time if he requests. Mr. Rohrabacher let me thank my colleagues from california for taking the time and effort to come here and to put these very important expressions of outrage onto the congressional record. Yes, we are outraged that people today would even consider not acknowledging the fact that there was a genocide that took place 100 years ago. I am a friend of turkey. I believe that the curtish turkish people and the people of the United States need to be close and we were in the cold war. I am grateful to their contributions to our security over the years. But this doesnt mean that we should not be totally honest with each other and with them as friends, that all of us have made mistakes, certainly the United States committed errors in its past that we should agree to to acknowledge, and this demonstration today we are putting ourselves in solidarity with the families of those who are victimized 100 years ago by this the Armenian Genocide, and we also express ourselves to our friends in turkey. This is time to just acknowledge that in the past mistakes were made and that indeed its time to move on and to make sure that people today in turkey are treated with greater respect for their rights and in cooperation, continued cooperation with the United States and other free people in the world. So i thank my friend, mr. Brad sherman, who has been a leader on this issue, for acknowledging the and being here today to make sure that this got into the congressional record on this very important day. Germ mr. Sherman i thank the gentleman for his comments. Im here on the house floor where we today should be voting on a resolution to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Several of us, i believe including the gentleman from california introduced the Armenian Genocide truth and justice resolution. But that resolution is not on the floor today. Because of the pressures arguments and an incredibly expensive lobbying campaign of the turkish government. Now, it was 100 years ago today, as i pointed out in the beginning, that 650 writers, lawyers, poets doctors, priests and politicians were rounded up deported and murdered by the ottoman government. No one should assume that or no one should give any credence to the argument that somehow this was a few individuals acting alone. This was not a coordinated governmental campaign. One million to 1 1 2 Million People died and it was because of a premeditated and carefully planned effort of the ottoman government. Now, we are told that turkey is an ally of the United States and therefore we dare not recognize the genocide here on the house floor. First, i believe that there is nothing that we could do that is more important for the people of turkey than to recognize the genocide and to urge them to do so as well. How will curity be a great country how will turkey be a great country in the future if its so focused on lying about its past . What relationship would we have with a government in berlin that was engaged in Holocaust Denial . And where in the who in the world would trust American Leadership if the government here in washington was lying or denying slavery . Every nation has a past, every nation ought to honestly come to grips with that past. Then we are told that we cannot recognize genocide because of threats from the turkish government. Never have i ever been more ashamed of this congress than in cottowing to threats that turned out to be not only dangerous but illusionry. Turkey threatened harsh retribution for those who recognize the genocide and then took only token steps against canada, france germany, italy, belgium, argentina, and 10 other countries. Some 40 americans state legislatures have recognized the Armenian Genocide and have not lost a single dollar of exports to turkey. The greatest attempt by the turkish government to muscle a National Muzzle a National Legislature was their effort roughly a decade ago to prevent france from recognizing the genocide. They threatened an economic boycott and in the six years that followed, frances courageous recognition of the genocide followed frances courageous recognition of the genocide, exports from france to turkey increased four fold. The only thing worse than cow towing to ridiculous and outrageous threats is to cow tow tory duck louis threats that turn out to be threats that turn out to be illusionry paper tigers. Finally, i have to comment on just how outrageous it is for turkey to be threatening the United States. Because look at what weve done for turkey. In the years since world war ii we saved them from communism in the soviet union we disbursed over 23 billion in aid, we prevented the creation of a fully sovereign and independent kurdish state. We helped build the pipeline that brings them oil today. And we have been the loudest voice urging that turkey be admitted to the European Union. And after we have done all that , they say its not enough. That we have to be accomplices with them in denying and hiding first genocide of the 20th century. This is outrageous. It is time for this congress to show that america is worthy of World Leadership, not only because of our values of freedom and democracy, but because we have the courage to acknowledge the facts that actually occurred and we are not tempted to make up some sort of advantage by denying the greatest crime that a nation can commit. So i think that as we see the last persons who had survived the genocide or the nieces and nephews of those who died come to the end of their days, that america should recognize this great genocide. At this point im looking to see if there are others who would want me to yield. And i would ask i would yield to the gentleman from california if he had further remarks. But he does not. I want to thank the chair and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from california mr. Rohrabacher, for 30 minutes. Mr. Rohrabacher i thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman let us note in this great hall of freedom that this is the culmination of over 200 years of sacrifice and hard work and commitment by generations of americans who started back in the 1700s to build a country that was based on freedom, liberty and the democratic ideal in which all peoples rights are respected and that laws are made by the consent of the governed and that indeed we could have established a government in the federal level which had its areas of authority, but other authority was vested in the states and in the people themselves. This great wondrous experiment of democracy in great danger today from a number of areas. Overseas of course we see radical islam on the rise who would like to terrorize the population of western civilization. Especially those of us in america. But we also have people who fear forces within our own society. Ironically one of the things most of our people fear is that our own government is out of control and that we have a government today that in no way matches the model that our Founding Fathers had in mind for the United States of america and the people of this country at this time. They looked forward to a shining city on the hill and what we have is instead an ever more controlcentered government that is not democratically oriented but instead run for special interests, run by crony capitalists, run by bureaucrats in the nations capitol themselves, run by rogue elements within our own government run by a too decentralized system thats emerged over these last several decades. The United States was created by individuals who proclaimed a commitment to liberty and to pursuit of happiness and life. Even though and even as the declaration of independence declared our independence from Great Britain we declared that we were not just a country that was free of Great Britain, but we were going to be a special country in which peoples rights were respected and even as we did declare our independence in that same document what did we do . We listed the Horror Stories that were going on, that the great oppression that our Founding Fathers were experiencing by the british who were trying to suppress their desire for liberty and independence. And many of those items that were declared in our own declaration of independence, that were reason enough for us to declare independence, and declare ourselves revolutionaries and patriots, instead we see many of those same items now being part and parcel of our own government, our own bureaucracy claims the rights to do some of the things that our Founding Fathers felt should have been left to the people and should not be permitted by any government. So today i would like to mention two significant issues that are at play in washington, d. C. , that will play a prominent role in the degree of freedom that is enjoyed by our people. And these are issues that the second issue that i will mention gets a lot more publicity than the first. But the first issue id like to talk about today, which is a dramatic diminishing of the freedom and liberty of our people, is a bill that is designed to change our patent system, dramatically change our patent system, oh, yawn, patent system, who can understand that . No, its eeasy to understand. Our founding no, its very easy to understand. Our Founding Fathers wrote into the constitution that americans would have the right to own and control the product of their own Creative Genius for a period of time. That way we would encourage people to innovate to come up with new ideas and in fact that patent concept was so revolutionary that it was what catapulted america into a major power in the world. It was a power in which the security and the prosperity of the average person and the rights of the average person were respected. This all much of it can be traced back, yes, to the back to rights and especially the patent rights because people had the right to own their own Creative Genius and we developed the technology that uplifted americas we have in this people who have always had a higher standard of living than other countries in the world. Now, why is that . People all over the world and in the United States work very hard. They are hardworking people all over the world but it was here where hardworking people were able to prosper and live in dignity and have families and look forward to owning things of their own that they could then possess and enrich their own lives. There was nothing wrong with that, and in fact, it was our technology that permitted that to happen. Well that technology was based on a legal foundation, as i say in our own constitution. Benjamin franklin saw to it that wise men and those captured by the idea, Thomas Jefferson another man who believed in technology, benjamin franklin, these were people who knew with freedom and technology, there is no limit to what america can accomplish and we set out to build the freest, most prosperous land of all and they succeeded. But today, they are taking elements away from our freedom every day. And this attack on the patent system and not people see it, is a huge attack on the wellbeing, the prosperity, the security of the American People. Now, what weve got and whos trying to bring about these changes in our patent law that will hurt the little guys hurt the individual inventors, make sure that the American People dont see this as an individual right but look at it as something that corporations do. No. No. What we have are huge Multinational Corporations that are trying to do their best to undermine the patent rights that we have enjoyed as americans for over 200 years. Yes, it is a sinister attack on the rights of the American People and we are talking about crony capitalism at its worst in that these are huge corporations having their say in the Nations Capital and in congress, because they have influence here. Now, im not saying that people are being bought off in their votes. Im not saying that at all. But as this system works, every member of congress and every person here just like most americans are busy with their lives and busy with specific responsibilities and what we have are these huge Multinational Corporations that are giving big donations not to buy a vote but to buy someones attention. So about 10 of the people here know anything about this these patent proposals that are now working their way to the floor of the house. And these 10 unfortunately, they know over the years, they have been given donations by major Multinational Corporations that explain their point of view. Its just that the other side has never gotten explained and nobody knows about the other side. So thus what we have is coming to the floor a bill, h. R. 9, that will greatly diminish the patent rights of average americans of the little guy and in a way that will help these great Multinational Corporations steal the technology that they did not create. This is the big guys versus the little guys. And i will tell you that the little guys dont always win and the big guys dont always win. But if the little guys become active and they make sure that their representative in washington knows whats going on and know that they stand for strong patent protection of the american citizens, patent rights, the little guys will win. Otherwise these huge Multinational Corporations who dont care about the American People but care about their profit at the end of the year which may not go to americas warehouse or americas banks, may go to overseas because these are huge corporations that owe no allegiance to the United States. So what we have got is a bill coming before the house h. R. 9, every one of the provisions in this bill has been designed to weaken the ability of americans inventors, to be able to defend their patent rights in court against major corporations that are trying to steal from them. How did it get this way, where a bill may come to the floor and it passed last year. We stopped it in the senate. But how is it possible . Well its possible because not because these Multinational Corporations said, oh, we want to weaken the patent protection of americas inventors. No. They said we have a problem with trolls. Trolls what a sinistersounding word. When i came here 20 years ago, they were talking about submarine patents. There is always some sinistersounding threat that is being used in order to diminish the actual patent protection of our average inventor. And today its trolls. What does a troll mean . According to these corporations, its someone who did not invent something, but has purchased the patent rights from the inventor maybe because maybe that inventor doesnt have the money to go and enforce his or her own patent rights upon some huge corporation. So you have some people who come along and say, i will be your partner or ill just buy these rights from you. This is an important part in our whole process. You take that away, which is what these big corporations want to say, unless you invented it you cant make a profit from it. No. No. No. This is a property right. And if they take that away, individual inventors will never be able to raise the money for their own research or sell their product. Thus, the number of people who can buy it from them will be so greatly diminished, that the value of their patents will be dramatically cut by this bill. But, of course, these huge corporations dont care. They just want to use other peoples ideas and creations for their own profit. They dont care what happens to these little guys. Although we know its the small inventor who comes up with the genius that changes the lives of these people. These huge corporations are interested in a profit at the end of the fiscal year. Well this is a huge threat. And people are being told that the trolls, these are people that didnt invent and going to benefit by bringing a lawsuit but they are trying to claim that the lawsuits brought are frivolous lawsuits. We have a problem with frivolous lawsuits throughout our system. Throughout our government, we have frivolous lawsuits in every area of our economy. Yes, there are frivolous lawsuits. But this is the equivalent of saying that some lawyers have frivolous lawsuits, we are going to december imate the rights of those who caused them damage. We dont want to eliminate the rights of the American People because someone has frivolous lawsuits. Let me note that the frivolous lawsuit end of this equation has been corrected in the course, but they continue to press for h. R. 9, because their real goal is to diminish the rights of american inventors to sue huge Multinational Corporations who are stealing technology. And lets just note the trolls. The trolls. Where did this come from . To show you how cynical this debate is, the word troll has actually been created as a p. R. Device to trick the American People into believing that the changes that are coming about are going to hurt a troll. When, in fact in fact every provision were talking about hurts the honest little guy who is struggling to develop new technology or the fact that if he develops something important, but doesnt have the ability to enforce it, he can at least enforce it by selling it to someone who will give him a price for his property and by the way, its only for about 15 years or so that someone is going to own that. But he has a right to do that. But we are going to eliminate that right for the little guy so he and nobody else can sue a Multinational Corporation that is stealing from them. How did that word troll come about . I talked to a business executive, who was in the room with various Business Executives from major corporations, trying to decide how will we deceive the American People . Buildup a straw man and make it sound like this is a horrible person, the straw man, thus we are going to pass laws against that straw man, where in reality, they are trying to get the little inventor here. What name can we think of. And my friend told me, that we should call them patent pirates. That wasnt sinister enough, because one of them came up with patent trolls. Well ok. Patent trolls. Thats just how cynical this is, that we have businessmen who are sitting in a room trying to decide what word can be used to fool the American People in the ack we essence inletting their inventors have their patent rights destroyed. Its not just the small inventors that are hurt by this change of patent law. Our universities which now have many patents our laboratories which come up with new innovations, they are hit dramatically by this. This would probably decrease the value of our patents and people who have whole collection of patents as part of their economic package it decreases their value perhaps by 50 . And the major universities stepped forward and stopped it in the senate, this bill, last time. H. R. 9 is coming up again. We need to stop it here and we need to stop it here in the senate. Whether you are someone who depends on a job that is a technologyrelated job whether you work in a university or a technology laboratory, we need to make sure that freedom of Technology Development is maintained in our country. This is the necessary for my colleagues and the American People to become active. The little guys can win as long as we are active. We can beat the crony capitalists who try to diminish our freedom. The second bill i would like to mention today is h. R. 1940. H. R. 1940 was submitted by me yesterday. And basically, i would like to call the attention of my colleagues and the American People to the importance of h. R. 1940. What it does is sets a policy concerning the federal government that if a State Government has legalized the medical use of marijuana last year and now were going to include whatever marijuana laws are on the books of various states that the state law should be what is respected and not the federal government coming in to states and local communities where people have decided that they dont believe that the police and federal action and court action should be used against people who use marijuana. Last year, i had a bill that became part of our appropriations process and for d. O. J. And basically said for medical marijuana, if a state has a law that legalizes medical marijuana, the federal government cannot come in and supersede that state law and h. R. 1940, i extend that, it will be the same as it was before but this will include states that made marijuana for personal use legal. And what this bill is is a lets respect the 10th amendment to the constitution. Lets respect states rights. Lets respect local communities rights to control whats going on in their communities. Let us not have a federal aggressive federal Law Enforcement bureaucracy making decisions for us and superseding what local people want to do with criminal justice in their own neighborhood. 1940 h. R. 1940, has been submitted, and i would hope my colleagues read this and take this into consideration perhaps coming on board to support this effort. Last year, we passed that bill and passed the bill just for medical marijuana and put it in as an amendment that said that the federal government cant use any of its resources to supersede state law if they made medical marijuana legal. We got that in last year and there were 50 republicans that signed onto the argument that the states have a right to make their determination on these types of things. Our Founding Fathers didnt mean the federal government to have criminal justice control over this country. That was supposed to be left at the local level and at the state level. Our Founding Fathers did not want there to be a federal police force, but yet what we have done is create a military police force that comes into peoples neighborhoods and now is insisting insisting that even if a state and local commount doesnt want something illegal, we are going to enforce a federal law on them that is a criminal justice law that the local people dont want. Thats not what our Founding Fathers had in mind. They wanted local people to control their communities wanted criminal justice to be a state issue. They didnt want to have the federal government to have such control over our laws. And how heinous that law was it won by a solid majority that we would not supersede state law when it came to medical marijuana, yet we have prosecutors in the United States who are still moving forward filing charges, bringing people to court even though the states in which they are have agreed to legalize the medical use of marijuana. This is what happens when government gets too gets out of line. Gets away from the constitution. The constitution wants us to control our lives at the local level and the state level. They want the federal government to happenedle things that are international handle things that are international and crosses state borders and are important for trade, etc. , and our National Security. They did not have in mind that we would have federal prosecutors coming in and stepping on local authority and stepping on local prosecutors and insisting on people being prosecuted, even when the United States congress is telling them not to do it. To say that this is arrogance and a threat to our freedom is an understatement. We need to Pay Attention to this because we have built up in the name of protecting people from themselves we have built up a Law Enforcement drug policy that is a dramatic threat to the freedom and wellbeing of the American People. We dont need a militarized police force. But yet what we have done, we have insisted that policemen who used to be known as peace officers, when i was a kid we called our policemen peace officers. Im a peace officer. That means they were there to protect us from each other. Now we have over the years evolved into the police are called Law Enforcement enforcers. Well, think about what that does. You changed the relationship between the law, between the police and between the citizenry. We have created anmossity, weve created fear weve created violence where there wasnt violence. When someone breaks into someones home because they have a little baggy of marijuana, that is unconscionable. Breaking into their home with guns drawn. And this happens. And, of course, we have an attorney general who is insisting not only are we going to supersede states a states rights, but we are going to have asset forfeiture. If someone is providing medical marijuana for one of our veterans or for some people who are suffering, were not going to give the parents the choice or someone who is older father mother, are in agony, the chance to try medical marijuana. No, what were going to do if somebody does that, were going to seize their property. Were going to seize the property of the person who sold them the marijuana, to alleviate their suffering. This is contrary to everything that our Founding Fathers had in mind. This is contrary to the ideal of American Freedom. And respect for individual rights. The republican party, i was one of Ronald Reagans speech writers, as everyone knows, i have been a republican all my life. And here i am with my fellow republicans and we talk about getting the government off our backs. We talk about states rights. We talk about individual responsibility all the time. And we talked lately about the doctorpatient relationship as being so important to us. And then we turn around and a majority of my colleagues on the republican side vote to have the federal government come in and step all over states rights, make sure step all over the right of the individual to control his own life and consume for himself, make his own determinations. Individual freedom limited government, these are things that we supposedly believe in, but when it comes to the drug issue, no, no, we think the federal government has to come in and make that determination for people in their own lives. This is a threat to our freedom. My legislation will take a long step forward to making this a public issue. We should be debating this. A few years ago, ive been sponsoring legislation, my first legislation that was successful was the last term in congress. The one that these arrogant prosecutors are ignoring now, it has been put into law that they cant use their own resources, meaning their pay, their time, and their office, in order to prosecute medical marijuana, but yet several of them are doing exactly that. That shows you how the law and how our Constitutional Rights are being threatened. But i didnt know what reaction my friends, who are more conservative, would have. I did not know that. I didnt know that maybe some of them would just say, well, thats a lot of bologna, and just go on using the cliches about the states rights and individual freedom and not really confront my argument. Thats what i thought most of them would do. But i asked conservative a conservative friend of mine just to see what hed say. Hes a retired naval officer, a pilot. Hes a typical conservative voter in my district. Or in our area. So in Southern California in Southern California. I asked him, what is your reaction that the fact that the guy you supported these years is now the point person in legalizing medical marijuana . And this officer said to me, he said, you know you dont know me very well, do you . I said well, i know you supported me and youre a retired military officer and youre now engaged in the Aviation Business and he said, yes. He said, but what you dont know is i have three sons. And the day after 9 11 they all enlisted. I said, yeah. He said, and let me tell you what happened. Two of my sons came home whole. One son came home having seizure after seizure after seizure every day. Think of that. Your child your hero marched off to war and there he is and you cant control the situation. Hes having seizures. They took him to the Veterans Hospital and the Veterans Hospital couldnt do anything to help him and then one vet ran veteran doctor pulled him aside and said, come see me offcampus. I have to tell you something. He said, here is a prescription for medical marijuana. Thats what your son needs. Im not permitted to tell that you at the v. A. Hospital. They did it and this supporter of mine said, my son hasnt had a seizure since. I saw him just a while ago and he said, its been four years and my son is still not having seizures. How do i feel about you being the point man on legalizing medical marijuana . I want to give you a big hug. Well guess what . There are people whose parents are dying or children that are going through seizures. My child recently had a problem with leukemia. Why would i think that if she was having a seizure and that would help stop it that the federal government should step in and prevent that . Thats what were doing. The American People need to wake up. My bill will take us in a step in the right direction. Im asking my colleagues to support h. R. 1940. Do it because we believe in freedom do it because we believe in the wellbeing of the American People. And that we believe in the system that our Founding Fathers decided, of ultimate individual responsibility and freedom. Thats what this we are deciding as well as the issue of whether or not some poor suffering soul shall be prevented from getting something that might alleviate their suffering. That is not the job of the federal government. We need to stand tall on this. My republican colleagues need to be honest and open with their own constituents and theyll find that theyre more supportive than they think. With that said i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Does the gentleman have a motion . Mr. Rohrabacher i do now here move that we adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 8 00 p. M. On monday next. And portman. 10 republicans voting in favor of the final vote 5643. Loretta lynch being confirmed as the next attorney general. Replacing eric holder. Republican ted cruz was the only senator not voting on that final vote on confirmation. Now were going to show you some of todays Senate Floor Debate ahead of that confirmation vote. Ths, ive called on the republican majority to block the confirmation of president obamas executive and judicial nominees other than Vital National security positions unless and until the president rescinds his lawless amnesty. Im sorry to say the majority leadership has been unwilling to do so. The republican majority, if it so chose could defeat this nomination but the republican majority has chosen to go forward and allow Loretta Lynch to be confirmed. I would note there are more than a few voters back home that are asking what exactly is the difference between a democratic and republican majority when the exact same individual gets confirmed as attorney general promising the exact same lawlessness, whats the difference . Thats a question each of us will have to answer to our constituents when doesnt matter if youre qualified. It doesnt matter if you are one of the most qualified nominees for attorney general in the history of our country. That makes no difference. We have a new test. You must disagree with the president who nominates you. Let me say that again. Because we love common sense in missouri and this defies common sense. You must vote against a nominee for the cabinet of the duly elected president of the United States because she agrees with the duly elected president of the United States. Think of the consequences of that vote. Think what that means to the future of advise and consent in this senate. If we all adopt this base politics play to the cheap seats, i cant get elected president unless im against Loretta Lynch if we all adopt that in the future, how is any president elected in this country going to assemble a cabinet . Because it will be incumbent on all of us to be against cabinet members who have the nerve to agree with the president who has selected them for their team. It is beyond depressing. Its disgusting. She is so qualified she has worked so hard all her life, she is a prosecutors prosecutor she has prosecuted more terrorists than almost anybody on the face of the planet. And the notion that this has occurred because she agrees with the man who selected her, i think Everyone Needs to understand what that means for the future if all of us embrace that kind of base politics in these decisions. It is not a happy day. It is a very sad day. I am proud of who Loretta Lynch is. I am proud that shell be attorney general of this country. I am sad it will be such a [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] we invite you to continue weighing in with your thoughts on facebook. Com cspan. The u. S. Recently concluded that american warren wine steyn and the italian national, hostages held by al qaeda, were killed in a january operation in the boarrd border region of afghanistan and pakistan. The United States said it believes two others were killed in a counterterrorism operation in that same region. Heres that statement. President obama this morning, i want to express our grief and condolences to the families of two hostages. One american, dr. Warren weinstein, and one italian, Giovanni Laporto who were tragically killed in a counterterrorism operation. They were aid workers in pakistan devoted improving the lives of the pakistani people. After warren was abducted by al qaeda in 2011, i direct id i directed my National Security team to do Everything Possible to find him and bring him home safely to his family. Dedicated professionals across our government worked tirelessly to do system of we also worked closely with our italian allies on behalf of giovanni who was kidnapped in 2012. Since 9 11, our counterterrorism efforts have prevented terrorist attacks and saved innocent lives, both here in america and around the world. And that determination to protect innocent life only makes the loss of these two men especially painful for all of us. Based on information and intelligence and intelligence we have obtained, we believe that a u. S. Counterterrorism operation targeting an al qaeda compound in the afghanistanpakistan border region accidentally killed warren and giovanni this past january. Yesterday i spoke with warrens wife elaine and Prime Minister renzi of italy. As a husband and as a father i cannot begin to imagine the anguish that the weinstein and laporto families are enduring today. I realize there are no words to equal their loss theres nothing i can say or do to ease their heartache and today i want to say this. As president and as commander in chief, i take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations, including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and giovanni. I profoundly regret what happened. On behalf of the United States government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. As soon as we determine the cause of their deaths, i directed that the existence of this operation be declassified and disclosed publicly. I did so because the wine steyn and la the weinstein and laporto families need to know the truth and i did so because even though our actions some of our actions need to remain secret to succeed, the United States is a democracy, committed to openness in good times and in bad. Our information indicates that this operation was skivent with the way we focus on counterterrorism in the region, which we have focused on for years because it is the home of al qaedas leadership. Based on the intelligence we obtained at the time, including hundreds of hours of surveillance, we believed this was an al qaeda compound, that no civilians were present and that capturing these terrorists was not possible. And we do believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of al qaeda. What we did not know, tragically is that al qaeda was hiding the presence of warren and giovanni in this same compound. It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the war generally and our fight against terrorists specifically mistakes, sometimes deadly mistakes, can occur. But one of the things that sets america apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional, is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes. Already i have directed a full review of what happened. We will identify the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy and any changes that should be made. We will do our utmost to ensure it is not repeated. And we will continue to do everything we can to prevent the loss of innocent lives, not just innocent americans but all innocent lives, in our counterterrorism operation. Today we join their families and friends in honoring warren and you vaw nee, two humanitarians who came from Different Countries but who were united by a spirit of service. For decades, warren lived the ideals of our country, serving with the peace corps and later with the United States agency for international development. He devoted his life to people across africa and south asia. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather who willingly left the comforts of home to help the people of pakistan. At the time of his abduction he was a usaid contractor focusing on helping pakistani families escape poverty and give a better life to their children. Giovannis humanitarianism also took him around the world, to the Central African republic, to haiti and ultimately to pakistan. Like warren, he fell in love with pakistan and its people and believed passionately that he could make a difference in their lives. Giovannis service reflected the commitment of the italian people, our great allies an friends to the security and tignyity of people around the world and today as a reminder, the bonds of friendship between our countries and the shared values that bind americans and italians together. There could be no starker contrast between these two selfless men and their al qaeda captors. Warrens work benefited people across faiths. Meanwhile, al qaeda boasted to the world that it held warren, citing his jewish faith. Al qaeda held both men for year, even as warrens health dee tieror ated. They deprived these men of years with families that missed them terly. Terribly. Though their grief is unimaginable i pray these families find some solace in knowing that warren and giovannis legacy will be will endure. They will be remembered by the pakistanis whose lyes they touched and made better. They will be in our thoughts and prayers, especially warrens wife elaine, their daughters, jennifer and alisa alicia, and their family and their families. I hope they will be remembered as people who see war and work for peace. May god bless these two great men and may he watch over and comfort their families for all the years to come. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi briefed reporters today as well. She also commented on the deaths of the hostages held by al qaeda. This briefing runs about a halfhour. Ms. Pelosi good morning. Not such a good morning. So sad about the american hostages killed by an American Strike on an al qaeda compound in january. Just listened to the president s really very moving comments, his condolences to the family which we all extend as well. He took full responsibility as commander in chief, apologized to the family for the tragedy and i look forward to what he called for, the declassification of all the information related to the strike so that the families will know the facts and so will the public. I commend the Service Public service of a neighbor here in mr. Delaneys district, dr. Warren weinstein and Giovanni Laporto, both of them Public Servants trying to make the world a better place. Very sad. So here we are in another week, the republicans embrace what trickle down trickle down economics over middle class economics. Todays manifestation on the floor this week when they took the republicans took a perfectly good well, nothing is perfectly good here. A bipartisan bill that was well received to strengthen the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and just as we thought we were going to have Bipartisan Legislation to do just that, they turned it into one of their insidious schemes to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This is the first bureau that is there to really protect consumers and taxpayers. So you know, its a vital consumer watchdog and some recent revelations are that overall, 15 Million Consumers have benefited from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus actions. Enforcement actions. Recently they successfully provided a half billion dollars in relief to families who were overcharged in private student loans. On monday they took action to refund . 1 million in illegal, undisclosed funds to service members. What did republicans republicans response to that is seriously underfund and undermine it in a bill disguised to strengthen it. Instead of doing that, we should be working on a valued valuesbased budget. Instead the republicans have taken one bad bill, the house budget bill and another bad bill, the Senate Budget bill, into seclusion keeping out the democrats, and any agreement reached between two bad bills is a bad deal for the American People. They do this, theyre going after womens personal Health Issues in the District Of Columbia. Why dont we just focus on what were here to do, what our responsibilities are. Instead of meddling. Theyre not in favor of Big Government except when it comes to women especially if they happen to live in the District Of Columbia. Theyre wasting time again on the cfpb. Its no wonder again, that the negotiations on the budget are delayed. They have missed their statutory deadline, which of course they say they wont do. But they have. Today is a good day in one respect, in that the senate is expected to move forward on a vote to confirm the highest Law Enforcement officer in the land. First time an africanamerican woman will hold this position. Shes brilliant, hes experienced, hes been fighting corruption terrorism, Human Trafficking, fighting for sill rights. Its going to be a great day for america when shes confirmed. Sad to say she was nominated 165 days ago, more than 55 days ago her confirmation was approved by the committee and its taken more than 55 days for it to be brought to the floor of the senate. Now, since thornberg, its been like under 10 days if you add all the attorneys general in that period of time together. Its more than all seven of them combined to approve her nomination. But at long last, this embarrassment for the senate is over and theres triumph for the American People and this triumph for the American People will occur, in a matter of hours. When it happens, well celebrate. I want to make a mention about trade. We think that the opportunity with the t. P. P. Is one where we can leapfrog over past debates about trade and do something glorious, do something where people come together to honor the principles for labor that are contained in the i. L. O. , the International Labor organization that recognizing that commerce is directly related to our environment and to address those issues, to make sure that in conflict resolution that the american taxpayers and worker is protected to speak to the issue of currency manipulation which has had an impact on job a negative impact on job loss in our country, and to do so in a way that puts the past behind us. To say that was business as usual, were leapfrogging over that to do something quite special. I still believe that that opportunity can be achieved. I said im looking for a path to yes. There are we recognize there will be bumps in that road, that path. I think what the republicans put out, what the senate plus ryan put out is not a bump in the road. Its more like a pothole. And we can do better than that. And so i support what congressman levin who is striving so hard to get to a yes on this, the proposal that he put forth. Unfortunately, the republicans may not allow it to come up in the ways and Means Committee. They say it has not been the jurisdiction of the rules committee has not been waived on it. But yet they waived the jurisdiction on the senate plus ryan bill. They said they waived jurisdiction on that, but they wont waive jurisdiction on the House Democratic proposal put forth by mr. Levin. So thats unfair. That doesnt seem like a Good Intention of trying to find a way to come together. As i have said, the real measure of all of this is what does it do to the paycheck of americas workers . I think what mr. Levin puts forth, is that he recognizes the t. P. P. Has the potential to raise standards and open new markets to u. S. Businesses, workers and farmers and he makes positive suggestions on how to do so. Thats why i support the levin substitute and hope that in the course of the debate on the trade promotion act, that they will say, no we should have some more congressional consideration, congressional transparency, congressional consultation, more leverage for the congress in that bill. I also want to put to rest some things ive seen in the press lately that we that democrats voted for fast track, for president clintons fast track that really didnt happen. The fast track vote in the late 1990s not talking about the post nafta in 1999 a bill was brought to the floor and only 29 democrats voted aye for fast track. 1999. And the bill failed. An president clinton did not get fast track. In 2001, under president bush, the democrats, 21 democrats voted for fast track. That bill prevailed with the republican vote. But although a majority of the republicans it was tied, 215214, the republicans were equally divided. Then with president bush, the may 10 is what we gave him, you can consider these bills in the congress under fast track, if you abide by the may 10 agreement which we worked with the administration on that honored the i. L. O. Principles. Its a whole list of standards that had to be met that related to freedom of association, rights of collective bargaining, those kinds of issues as well as issues that relate to endangered species, montreal protocol, other Environmental Issues that were contained in that. So i wanted just to say, weve always had kind of a lively debate on this subject, on the substance, regardless of who was president of the United States. Its not a question, oh, well, they were able democrats stuck with president clinton but didnt stick with president obama. That is simply not the case. Subjecting whatever is put forth to the scrutiny of what does this do to the paycheck of American Workers. Is this and this is the debate were having. Is what is being put forth better than the status quo . In some cases yes, in some cases no. But what does it come down to for increasing the paycheck of American Workers . Thats what were dedicated to. Thats what mr. Levin is committed to. And he is, you know, he is just so eager for us to come to yes on this, as am i, and were not going to give up because we think it would be a missed opportunity not to be able to say were concerned about the safety of food coming into our country. Maybe this bill can improve things. But the status quo is not good. But in some cases, where the bill validates the status quo, thats not a positive, thats not viewed in a positive way because thats viewed as a setback. Id be pleased to take any questions. If the levin amendment is rejected, how will you vote on the bill . Ms. Pelosi im not giving up if its rejected, well fight to get some of those consideration in the bill. With 218 republican votes, i dont know that theyll pay much attention to our concerns. Madam leader, obviously president obama is in support of this ryan bill. Have you spoken with him about it . And its an interesting place for you to be, lobbying against something ms. Pelosi im not lobbying against anything. Im lobbying for a positive trade promotion and a positive bill. Its a chicken and egg. If you were asked to approve, to give fast track to something that is realy not clearly known to you youd say why should i fast track something that i am not inclined to support but maybe you could convince me with the substance when that bill is not even finished. So there are two arguments there. Some members are saying, well im not going to give fast track to something i dont know what it is. Others are saying that you know, well lets do fast track so that we can see what it is and then we can vote it up or down. Again by then it may be too late to make improvements in the bill. Im not lobbying anything except for taos arrive at an agreement where we can have 150 democratic votes for the bill. You just called this bill a pothole. It is a pothole. So the president ms. Bepelosi thats what that bill is. The Bicameral Legislature the senate excluding our House Democratic member who could have helped improve that bill, but clearly they decided they may have had the votes in that little circle of senate plus ryan and so thats i dont subscribe to that. I think that does not inserting the prerogatives of congress on trade where we have a strong yes or no on the bill. Thats something on the table, sandy has Something Else on the table. If they had 218 vote, they dont have to care about that. But i do think we can do much better than that bill and thats no secret. Are you ruling out the underlying bill . Ms. Pelosi im not telling you how im voting on anything because we dont have anything yet. Are you comfortable opposing the president . Ms. Pelosi im not opposing the president. I think the president wants what we want. Thats the t. P. P. I dont want to make any comparisons or contrasts to other president s, he believes in all that we want. Thats why its important that trade agreements are part of the bill not a sidebar as theyve been in other agreements. Thats why the Environmental Concerns are part of the bill, not a sidebar. I appreciate that. But the what is the opportunity that we have . Why cant we take this to a higher place where we understand what trade is about . As a californian, id have concerns about any conflict resolution that says a tribunal will make decisions as to whether our environmental laws in california prevent a company from making a profit and therefore thats a strike against our Environmental Standards in california. There are lots of specifics in this bill that deal directly to our own state and the differences that we have among them in relationship to the environment and other subjects, whether its consumer protections, whatever it happens to be. So this is not a fast track thing. S that very big deal. And its a tremendous opportunity and i hate to see it i hate to see a missed opportunity to do something real. We all know, i grew up in baltimore, a city built on clipper ships and trade, represent San Francisco with the same kind of heritage in terms of being open to trade and to the world. The president president kennedy had made us a party of free trade the democratic party. But it has to be fair trade in terms of what it means to our workers and so this isnt about the president said this or that. This is about the substance and how it affects americas workers. One of the things that has prevented us from having a full recovery in our economy has been that the paychecks of middle income americans has not increased. The stagnation of wages. The disparity of income. But mostly the stagnation of wages. We want a trade agreement that grows our paychecks but does not hinder that growth. I think we have an opportunity to do it and if they dont have 218 we have a further opportunity to say what are some areas where we can come together to ensure that while we have trade, which most people think is an exchange, you buy this from me, i buy that from you, but its about investment, about insurance, its about a lot of other things and we dont want some of those other issues to undermine the opportunity for American Workers as sometimes people believe our trade agreements have done. Madam leader, conflict resolution which you mentioned, are there statistics or provisions you believe must be in this bill for currency manipulation ms. Pelosi let me say this. I have tried to to have to have this be as thoughtful a process, if people realy knew what they were talking about and not just fighting old wars or whatever, and we just dont know everything yet thats in the bill because some of it that is in the final product of the t. P. P. Forgetting the first part of it, the fast track well call it fast track to keep the names clear. And so the concerns that are that our members have, the concerns that our members have relate to as i mentioned earlier, and as you asked currency manipulation. There are people who think that more than a million, maybe as much as five million jobs have been lost because of currency manipulation through other countries. More than subs dye diesing their products directly but by subsidizing thru currency manipulation. Thats one thing. Another is conflict resolution, that is a very big concern and theres some unresolved cases or those that had been resolved have not given people reason to be encouraged. This is not a new subject, as you probably know, and our u. S. Australia deal, conflict resolution was taken out of the bill. Issues that relate to the environment, food safety, agriculture, Market Access in those regards, in terms of access are not resolved yet in terms of some big countries, issues like food safety and workers rights in a country like vietnam. So there are different things. One, well do more on vietnam next week but we have addressed most of the issues i just talked to in terms of first look at where they are now. From the administration the trade representative is a remarkable, remarkable trade rep, michael trowman, hes been boundless in his willingness to spend time with members to go through this. That doesnt mean they like all the answers hes given, but also outside, labor environmental just lawyers to talk about conflict resolution and the rest to talk to members. Theyll make a very informed vote that perhaps past trade bills may inform their decision but we dont want to be fighting past fights. We want to be seeing future opportunities. And so again, at the end of the day, you weigh the equities, is this better than the status quo . How much better . Or is it a wasted opportunity . And right now, im disappointed in what the two plus one, how can you refer to, the hatchwydenryan puts forth i know senator wyden fought hard and the bill is much better because of his leadership and participation, but you know, we shall see. I dont think anybody i think there are many people who are still waiting to see, well see what happens in the senate, well see what happens in the committee today. But why wouldnt why wouldnt the ways and Means Committee give equal treatment or at least the time to be heard by the proposal which is a substitute but based on the realities of life, its a trade agreement its a compromise. So theyre saying we cant hear yours because it wasnt waived by rules and wouldnt let rules waive yours but we insisted that rules waive our bill. They must be afraid of something. They must be afraid of something system of what my view is, if we just all say no and they have 218 votes, we have lost an opportunity of probably a lifetime a generation, a long time to come, to do something special. In my view, those of us who appreciate the value of trade and whose communities benefit greatly from it but have concerns about issues that relate to climate, which are not which are ignored in all of this but thats a decision they made, its not a reason to vote against the bill but it is a statement of values. That we can again be in the forefront of something new and special in terms of trade. We thought may 10 was a breakthrough when we did that with president bush and said no, were not giving you fast track but we gill but we will allow bills to move on a track like that if they meet these standards. That was great progress. We have to do better than that on this because they were bilateral bills. Colombia, peru panama. This is who knows how many nations, but in the teens. Well see if korea comes in. I guess what were trying to get at in the questions ms. Pelosi like what my vote will be on the bill . No, but if you dont like what the senators come out you dont like the process and the republicans on ways and means, why, then would democrats, when the president , the democratic president say we want to do this wouldnt he be wrongheaded about this and not put this on the republicans. Ms. Pelosi the president is trying to do what were all trying to do. We all have different roles. We have a congressional responsibility when it comes to trade and we have a vote on what that is. And people see things from the perspective of their bosses the people they represent. And the people they represent, my district its mixed bag because trade is really important to our state of california and we are on the pacific and theres a whole rebalance to the pacific strategically, i just went to five nations and then came home and went to Naval Base San diego on monday within about three weeks having been to six or seven installations, posts, or bases and understanding the face to the weths, which of course california is part of the forefront on the west coast. And so from a standpoint of trade thats an opportunity for us as well. So again, this isnt president clinton, we voted no. President bush, we voted no. And just see what it is that we can do to improve this bill. I dont know why its such a mystery that everybody wouldnt try to get Something Better where we have leverage. Where we have leverage. The president is the president. Hes there. He signs or not what we send him. We have an opportunity now when they need 18 votes to say this is a possibility. Why cant we just all come together and do this in a way that again increases the paychecks of the American Worker as we further engage in global trade but do not have our workers be the losers in a deal that is really perceived by some to have an opportunity to improve their lives. Any questions on another subject . Ive said all im going to say on this subject. Labor unions provide a huge part of the democratic coalition. President obama does not have to worry about running for reelection again. Do your members supporting a fast track deal, cothey risk losing support of the labor unions in their elections, that grounding they provide . Is that a danger . Are members talking about that . Ms. Pelosi theyre not talking about that. When Kayla Mueller was killed earlier this year, the administration said they would review hostage negotiation. Today the weinstein family put out a statement that said support was inconsistent over the last three year. They called on the government to have a consistent approach to supporting hostages and their families. Do you think the government did all they could about the weinstein family . Ms. Pelosi we just found out about this now. Id be curious to Read Everything i can about it. Im sad they think that because the president said in his remarks that for a very long time they had been trying, the full force of what they could do to find him and both of those hostages. What about in regard to other hostages that have been killed . Ms. Pelosi its about all the hostages but it is beyond collateral damage, it is something that should never happen and you know, the question is, how much tissue my understanding is they believe they had what they needed to know that led them to believe there was nobody there except their target. And again, youre asking me a question about i dont like to answer questions where i dont have the full information and since this is very new but what we all know is that its very tragic. It is so sad that people who want to make the world a better place, idealistic, go there to work and are meeting the needs of people would be taken hostage and that unfortunately would more than unfortunately, tragically would be not only not apprehended and saved but killed by our own fire. The president , i thought, took full responsibility, apologized. A poling isnt enough. Words are totally inadequate to loved ones. As he said as a father and a husband, he cant even imagine the sadness of it all. The sadness of it all. And especial especially such a long time. He was captured, weinstein 2002 . Isnt that when he was captured . One was much longer than the other. Im only going by what was flashed on the screen. I better go back to that tv station and see what they said. Its been years for both. Its been a while and theres been an effort, you used the term 3 1 2 years so that would conform to the 2012. But it is it breaks your heart. Its just very just takes us back to the fact that the fight against terrorism is a terrible one, that we have to take a look at this. I met with a lot of people in california on this on the subject of fighting isis, in that case it was isis, and al qaeda, and they said we should start to oh, i have to vote. I didnt realize we have a vote. Anyway, the recommendation of these people from the middle east and iran and places like that, we have to start looking at this not as sunnishia, but as terrorist and moderate islam. Because thats really the distinction. When you look at who iran is supporting, theyre supporting hamas, theyre sunni iranians are shia. They support hezbollah. Shia. Those who are supporting people whose behavior is can be viewed as terrorist, its not sunnishia, its so much as it is fundamentalist terrorism versus believers of islam and the koran, a message of peace reconciliation and that, and thats really what the division is more. So its a terrible situation that when we have to use all the intellectual Resources Available to fight it, its a big issue in terms of social media because the terrorists have really, i dont want to say mastered it but they a certain extent they had mastered the social media, the propaganda is something to be reckoned with and we have to deal with it in a way that is commensurate with the threat and proportionate to the risks that it is to the American People. And our National Security. So its a tragic, terrible, terrible day. Theres no way to say anything less than our thoughts and prayers are with the families, their sacrifice is a big one, the idealism of their family members is to always be remembered and that will be part of their legacy and part of their legacy is for us to do better. When it comes to fighting the fight and not losing the lives. Lives of those who are there in hostage situations. Thank you all very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] good morning. On behalf of the u. S. House of representatives let me begin by expressing our condolences to the families of Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Laporto. Mr. Boehner as president obama indicated, this is not a time for excuses. The president announced an independent review is under way and thats entirely appropriate. We need all the facts for the families and so that we can make sure that nothing like this ever happens again in our efforts to keep americans safe. Here in the house, the peoples priorities are our priorities. The American People didnt send us here to sit on our rear ends and do nothing. They sent us here to get things done and 100 days into this new republican congress, thats exactly what were doing. Some things we have passed, like the Keystone Pipeline bill and ambush election bill, to protect American Workers are still being blocked by washington democrats. Some things, like our balanced budget, we can do on our own. But after years of gridlock under president obama and senate democrats, were making progress on areas of Common Ground. Weve passed and the president has signed the first real bipartisan entitlement reform in nearly two decades. We have passed and the president has also signed a bill to prevent suicides amongst our veterans. And shortly well pass bills to protect consumers and our economy from making and cyberattacks. Were getting things done but theres a lot more to come. This week, committees in the house and Senate Passed trade bills that will make it easier to reach trade agreements that will help our economy and give congress a bigger role in making sure that those agreements are fair. This bill is always a heavy lift but im confident that well get it done. In order to accomplish our goal were going to need some bipartisan support. This bill will have strong support from house republicans. Well do our part but the president must do his part as well. Were also working in a bipartisan way to reform and reauthorize the foreign intelligence capabilities that help keep americans safe. After the white house saw the writing on the wall and withdrew its objections, were going to have a bipartisan, bicameral bill to ensure that Congress Reviews any potential agreement with iran. Because there really are concerns shared by members of both parties that are being discussed that could lead to a Nuclear Armed iran. Like American Families and Small Business American Families and Small Businesses are still struggling. Many are asking the question where are the jobs . Some americans are doing better, and frankly thats great news. But most middle class families arent seeing improvement in their daily lives so weve got a lot more work to do. That said, finding Common Ground, getting things done for the American People, thats progress. The bill passed by congress so far im sorry, by the house rather when you add up the c. B. O. Scores are about 600 billion over 10 years. Yet you guys are doing a balanced budget, nonbinding documents. How do you square these two things . Mr. Boehner if you look at our plan to balance the budget, its what weve been trying to do for a long time. We had planned in 1997 to balance the budget signed by president clinton and frankly we were able to balance the budget four consecutive years in a row. Leading to some 600 billion in budget surpluses. That effort can happen again but we know that the real drivers of our debt, runaway entitlement programs, must be addressed. Im glad that we were able to address at least to address, at least begin that process with the bill the president signed last week, making the first changes to medicare in a long long time. Were going to continue our efforts to do that. You see how thats, between the medicare and the tax bill and other bills, people have questions about. Mr. Boehner i would argue youre arguing apples and oranges here. Theres a bipartisan letter from representatives schiff and cole asking for the aumf or an aumf to go to the floor soon so the house can work its will. Is there any plan to move forward on aumf . Mr. Boehner the president was asking for less authorization than he has today to fight isis and those of their ilk. I frankly didnt think that was a very good strategy if our goal is to destroy and defeat isis. And so until the president gets here gets serious about an overarching strategy to take on the terrorist threat, i dont know why wed want to give him less authorization than he has today. Are you protecting hymn from himself then . Mr. Boehner as you all know, ive called for a broader, overarching strategy to deal with this terrorist threat and the president seemed reluctant to want to do that. Having gone to the middle east just before easter its pretty clear to me, talking to our allies in israel, jordan, iraq, and saudi arabia, that while theres a lot of efforts to defeat this menace, their ability to grow continues in spite of all our efforts. So the current strategy in my view is not working. And frankly its not enough to keep americans safe. Mr. Speaker, the allocations set up spending issues, with the fight over the defense spending in the budget process, why do you think we are barreling forward like we had two years ago, getting these bills passed, the fights over sequestration, maybe turning off sequestration this fall . Mr. Boehner i think the house and senate did a good job on our budgets. The appropriators are beginning to do their work and we expect next week to have our first Appropriations Bills on the floor, the earliest beginning of the appropriations season in some 30 years. Were going to have our disagreements, clearly work the white house. And well work through the appropriations process and deal with those problems as they come up. Having said that, if theres a way to reduce mandatory spending in a way that would provide relief to the sequester, like we did with the ryanmurray budget plan having at it. That was a bipartisan agreement and thats why there was a way to do that. Here you would have partisan documents in both parties being ordered to Conference Committee so why would there be an option to get a murrayryan deal . Mr. Boehner there may be, i havent seen the budget agreement yet, im not sure theyve got it finished but if in fact we can come to another budget agreement that the president will sign that will change the caps, listen, the sequester was the president s idea, it wasnt mine. And the ryanmurray effort we had several years ago worked to provide relief and that could happen again. Chairman gowity is planning to announce the next steps in the Benghazi Committee today. Are you spoken with him about that . Mr. Boehner i have not seen what his steps are but i do expect hell Say Something later on today. Im interested in this ryanmurray idea that youre floating. Mr. Boehner im not floating it. All right. Youve spoken out more fragly than you have in the past about the possibility of reprizing it. As you know, ryanmurray happened after a shutdown, after september 30 after the process came to a halt. Are you open to doing that kind of negotiation or blessing that process in summertime before you have a potential shutdown . Mr. Boehner nobody is interested in shutting down the government. Were interested in real fiscal responsibility. And if such an effort is called for in the budget agreement if such an effort can get off the ground, hope springs eternal. Mr. Speaker, did you have any conversations with the president about the death of these two hostages prior to him coming out this morning . Im wondering if youve had preist consultations with him. Mr. Boehner he and i have not talked about this. On that same issue, you said we need to have all the facts. Were you briefed on the counterterrorism operation that caused the death of these hostages ahead of time . Do you think the u. S. Officials who authorized it did everything they could to ensure there were no hostages . Mr. Boehner im not going to put myself in a position where im going to disclose classified information but i was notified prior to the Public Disclosure of this, yes. Do you think congress should have some sort of oversight role in investigating this incident . Will you hold hearings . Mr. Boehner im sure the House Armed Services committee and or the Intelligence Committee will look at this. My guess is well wait to see what the review board develops and then take a look at that to make sure that this kind of ocushes does not happen again while, you know, we work to protect american lives. Should bill shuster remain overseing the auation industry while hes dating a lobbyist with millions of dollars in lobbies the committee . Mr. Boehner im not going to discuss mr. Shusters relationship with anyone but im also comfortable that proper procedures were put in place to avoid a public or professional conflict of interest. Thank you. Loretta lynch was confirmed by the senate today on a vote of 5643 to become the next attorney general replacing eric holder. 10 republicans including majority leader Mitch Mcconnel all voting yes. Again, that happening today in the u. S. Senate, Loretta Lynch confirmed as the next attorney general. News today from Bloomberg Business Comcast Corporation planning to walk away from its proposed 45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable incorporated. People with knowledge of the matter said after regulators planned to oppose the deal comcast is planning to make a final decision on its plans today and an announcement on the deals fate may come as soon as friday this week, u. S. Federal Communications Commission staff joined lawyers at the Justice Department in opposing the planned transaction. Again, that from Bloomberg Business. This news item from the associated press, former c. I. A. Director David Petraeus has been sentenced to two years probation and a 100,000 fine. Petraeus career was destroyed by an extra marital affair with his biographer he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of unauthorized removal of classified material with he gave to Paula Broadwell as she was working on a book. That from the a. P. Today. Coinciding with the release of cspans new book first ladies a national ar the National Archives is hosting an event to explore these women and some of the themes over the some of the themes over time that is that tie them together and some that differentiate them as well. Speakers tonight include carl anthony of the National First Ladies Library carl cannon of real clear politics, Howard Universitys ednaed meford and Washington Post reporter edna medford and Washington Post reporter Krissah Thompson. That starts later hooven on cspan. Heres whats coming up this weekend. On cspan, the white house correspondents dinner, it begins at 6 00 p. M. Ian, with red carpet arrivals, remarks by president obama and entertainment by saturday night lives sessly strong. On q a former reporter jew did miller on her time in prison for not revealing the source of her reports before and after the invasion. Cspan2, the indianapolis book festival. Authors include former attorney general Alberto Gonzales on immigration, and sara wildmanned on world war ii and the holocaust. Sunday night at 1 30, coinciding with the release of cspans new book first ladies president ial historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women, carl anthony, Krissah Thompson and others discuss the lyes of the first ladies. Saturday night at 8 00 eastern on lucktures in history Stanford University professor on some of the issues debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. And sunday, 40 years after the fall of saigon, south vietnamese veterans talk about their war experiences. Get our pleat schedule at cspan. Org. Our complete schedule at cspan. Org. Sylvia burwell testified before a Senate Subcommittee on her departments 2016 budget request that request totaling 83. 8 billion. Secretary burwell said theres no plan if the Supreme Court rules against the government in the king vs. Burwell case because that would essentially mean that the health and Human Services department doesnt have authority to provide subsidies and would not have authority to resolve the subsidy question. This hearing is two hours. The appropriations subcommittee on health, Human Services and related agencies will come to order. Senator blunt we are pleased to have the secretary with us today, secretary burwell thank you for taking your time to be here. One of my concerns that we have already talked about is finding out what spending number we actually have to work with and how we can work within the proposal that weve got from the department which is substantially higher than last years level. I hope we can find Common Ground so we can really prioritize the concerns that we share with you and get the information and understand where we need more information to figure out why we need to look at this a different way, when we need to look at this a different way. The bill that the congress has passed on the s. G. R. Issue i think gives you some ongoing capacity to look at how doctors deliver care in different ways, certainly the Community Health Center Element of that bill, the ability to fund the shortfall and where the Health Centers would have been and where theyve been for the last five years was a significant part of that bill. There are 23 million patients in 9,000 communities are now served by those Community Health centers. The 150 per encounter cost is obviously a whole lot less than many of the alternatives, particularly the emergency room as an alternative and this committee and the senate generally have been very supportive of the Community Health Center Concept and we look forward to you continuing to work with us and us working with you to be sure were fully taking advantage of that. Last year the Congress Overwhelmingly passed reauthorization of the child care and Development Block grant to improve health and Safety Standards and overall quality of child care programs, this is another area where the congress has spoken. We look forward to working with you to see what we can do to meet the goals in that. And finally, as we continue to work with limited resources we are likely to have funding should be targeting programs that have shown proven and effective results or programs that we all become convinced have that effective result potential out there. Im pleased that the department has requested a billiondollar increase for n. I. H. The focal point of our nations medical research capacity. One of the things that happened when i was in the house was a doubling of that funding but then once we got to the doubling goal, that seemed to be the place to stop. I know that dr. Collins and you and me and others dont want that same experience to repeat itself, that we set a worthy goal bow dont understand the importance of having that goal extend beyond achieving the first marker in the goal. So well continue to work with you and n. I. H. On that as well. Pleased to be working on all these issues with senator murray. Were also lucky on this committee to have senator mikulski, vice chair of the committee and senator cochran often contends as does senator alexander, the chairman of the authorizing committee. A will the of people here very interested in what youre doing and appreciative of the work youve done in the time youve already been there. So senator murray. Senator murray thank you very much. Good to be here with you again. Im pleased to welcome secretary burwell today to discuss the f. Y. 2016 budget request for the department of health and Human Services. I really want to thank you for all you do to improve health and well being for our families and communities across the country. Theres realy no question that when it comes to health care, we have taken historic steps forward in the last few years. As a result of the afordable care act more families are getting the quality, affordable coverage they need but the work didnt end with the law that was passed. Far from it. Im focusing on continuing to build on the progress made so far to make sure we do keep moving forward with more coverage, not less, more affordability, not less, and more quality, not less. Secretary burwell, i know the continue i know that continuing to make our Health Care System work better for families is a top priority for you as well. The role of your department is absolutely essential in this effort. The programs administered by the Department Impact families in a lot of important ways from supporting Biomedical Research to fighting Public Health threats, to expanding access to Quality Health Care Coverage for millions of workers and their families. Each of each of these investments are necessary if we want to improve our Health Care System and puts patients first. Im disappointed that the budget resolution passed in the house and Senate Double down on the harmful sequestration cuts that are set to kickback in. I was proud to work with democrats and republicans to break through the gridlock and disfunction and reach an agreement that rolled back those harmful automatic sequestration cuts of 2014 and 2015 and i believe we have got toll build on that agreement now and lift the caps so we can invest responsibly in areas that are so important to our countrys health, education, jobs and defense. The president s budget, i was very pleased to see does exactly that. It rolls back the unsustainable cuts to defense and nondefense Discretionary Spending and is able to support critical efforts to help our families and communities stay healthy. The departments budget request for programs within this subcommittees jurisdiction totals 76 billion. That is an increase of 4 billion or 6 over last year. It props additional sensible investments in Biomedical Research in Public Health, in programs that provide access to Affordable Health care and learning programs and affordable child care for working programs. I am interested in learning about the elements of the departments budget request. These include an increase in n. I. H. And helping our nations biomedical innovation. And other proposals that are important to strengthening our economy now and over the longterm. I was pleased that the budget includes 1. 5 billion increase for head start. That includes 1. 1 billion to make sure every Head Start Program serves children for a full school day and a full year, which will help make sure kids start kindergarten ready to learn. Im pleased to see the president s budget includes increase 370 for the child care and Development Block grant. This is to the safety and Quality Improvements that were contained in last years reauthorization which the Senate Approved last november with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 881 due in no small part to the leadership of vice chairman mikulski. This bipartisan support shows we agree that quality child care is essential. The childrens learning and development and helps parents to work and i hope we can all agree that that funding is needed to help working families to succeed. The budget also request 490 million for departmentwide initiative to address the growing problem of eabt resistance. Virginia Mason Hospital in seattle experienced an outbreak earlier this year which sickened over 30 people contributing to several deaths. These superbug outbreaks in hospitals are tragic and concerning. Secretary i aplowed you to address this increasing threat. Im pleased that the president s budget maintains investments in helping families getting high quality Affordable Health care, 629 million to help marketplace functions in over 30 states. That will allow congress to continue working to improve quality, expand coverage and drive down costs for our families. The departments request takes important steps in helping seniors get the care that they need. Every year, over four million americans, average of 10,000 a day turn 65. The growing medicare population is straining c. M. S. s operating budget, so im glad the budget proposes Additional Resources to support that increasing work load. The budget includes funding for the administration for Community Living Nutrition Services 60 million increase which provides support for Older Americans nationwide many of whom are low income. I believe that all families should be able to get the health care they need when and where they need. Why these are priorities of mine. The agreement to fix the broken s. G. R. System offered support for Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps and the president s budget would further expand access to these important resources for families across our country. Now while i strongly support many of the priorities reflected in this budget i want you to know im concerned by the proposal to cut funding for breast and Cervical Cancer screenings for women. The Affordable Care act expanded Preventive Services to millions of working women and has helped them save 483 million in out of pocket costs but there is an estimated 4. Million women who remain uninsured and are eligible for the Cancer Screening services. Mr. Chairman, i hope we can Work Together on a way to avoid cutting that extremely important program. Our country has come a long to providing Affordable Health care but there are many challenges to making our Health Care System work. And families have made it clear that they dont want to go back to the bad old days when Insurance Companies, not patients, not the families themselves have the power in our Health Care System. Secretary burwell, i know you share my hope that both parties can Work Together to build on the progress we have made thus far and continue making improvements. That is something i hope we can do in this committee and i look forward to working with you and my colleagues today in the coming weeks and months. Senator blunt thank you. We are looking forward to your opening statement. Secretary burwell thank you so much. Thank you all for having me out today to have the opportunity to talk about the h. H. S. Budget. We saw the power of Common Ground in our recent bipartisan s. G. R. Repeal and i applaud all of your efforts and hard work that got that past. The president s budget proposes to end sequestration reversing it for domestic priorities in 2016 matched by equal dollar increases. Without further congressional action, sequestration will return in the fall of 2016, bringing discretionary funding to its lowest level in a decade adjusted for inflation. We need a whole government solution and i hope that both parties can Work Together to achieve a balanced, commonsense greem. The budget before you makes critical investments in health care science, innovation and Human Services. It maintains our responsible stewardship of the taxpayers dollars. It strengthens our Work Together with congress to prepare our nation for key challenges both at home and abroad. For h. H. S. , the budget proposes 83. 8 billion in Discretionary Budget Authority 75. 8 billion is for activities funded by this subcommittee. The 4. 8 billion increase will allow our department to deliver impact today as well as lay a Strong Foundation for tomorrow. It is a fiscally responsible budget which in tandem with the legislative proposals would save taxpayers a net estimated 250 billion over the next decade. In addition, it is projected to continue slowing the growth in medicare spending. It can secure 423 billion in savings if we build a better system that is smarter and healthier delivery system. In terms of providing all americans with access to affordable Quality Health care it builds on our historic progress in reducing the number of uninsured and improving coverage for families who already had insurance. We saw recent example of this progress with about 11. 7 million americans signing up or reenrolling through the marketplaces during this open enrollment. The budget covers 28 states plus d. C. Which expanded medicaid and expanded access for health care for native americans. It invests 4. 2 billion in Health Centers and 14 billion to bolster our nations work force and supports more than 15,000 National Health Service Corps clinicians serving 16 million patients and helps address health disparities. To advance common interests to build a better smarter, healthier delivery system, it supports way health care is delivered and information is distributed. To advance our shared vision for leading the world in science and innovation, the budget increases the funding for n. I. H. To advance bifrle and Biomedical Research. In addition, it invests 215 million in the Precision Medicine initiative, a new cross departmental effort focused ol Prevention Strategies to the care of individual patients. To further accommodate americans for the Building Blocks of success in every stage of life, this budget outlines a plan to make affordable quality child care to working and middleclass families with young children. It supports interventions to help youth in foster care and help Older Americans live with dignity in their homes and communities to protect them from identity theft. To keep americans healthy, the budget strengthens our Public Health infrastructure with 8975 million for domestic and International Preparedness and critical funds to implement the Global Health security agenda and core strategy of prevention, detection and response. And invests in Behavioral Health services and Substance Use prevention and includes 99 million in new funding to prevent abuse dependents and overdose. This is a top priority for our department and thank many members of this committee. Finally, as we look to leave our budget stronger we invest in shared priorities on cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse, initiative projected to yield 22 billion in gross savings from medicare and medicaid over the next decade. We are addressing our backlog with a coordinated approach. I want to assure that im personally committed to responding promptly and thoroughly to concerns and communication with and from members of congress. By taking a moment to say how proud i am of our h. H. S. Employees from combating ebola to the commitment they show day in and day out as they go above and beyond the call of their work. I look forward to working closely with all of you all as we advance our common interests on behalf of the American People. Thank you, and with that, i look forward to your questions. Senator blunt we have votes scheduled at 11 45. So it will be my intention to be done when those votes occur. Well do fiveminute rounds and well go with senator murray and i and the Ranking Member and the chairman of the full committee and then well alternate by order of the arrival after that. And im sure we will have time for a second round and there will be a week to submit questions in writing if we dont get to those questions today. To start, im going to ask a couple of questions to start about Mental Health and hope to get other questions in later so everybody has time to ask questions here. First of all, we were able to get passed last year, the excellence in Mental Health act that senator stabenow and i cosponsored that allows states to be part of an eightstart pilot and thank you for working with us on those guidelines. There was one late thing that still hadnt been decided that was decided yesterday about what the boards of groups that apply need to look like. And you know hopefully well have not only a number of states apply, but some sense that there are more states out there and the country is ready to begin to treat these mental Health Issues like all other Health Issues. I think thats a very important place for us to go and hopefully we can do what we can in this committee to help us get there. On the g. A. O. Report on Mental Health as it related to the department could have been better. I believe in just the last few days, the department is going to move forward and look at those g. A. O. Recommendations. Of the 13 programs or 30 Mental Health programs out there 13 are under sampsa, four of those there was no real plan to evaluate those, and that was one of the criticisms in the g. A. O. Report. As you look at that report and Mental Health generally as it relates to health care one, your response to the g. A. O. Report and two, anything else you want to say about the direction you hope to go with these issues. Secretary burwell i think its an important and critical time with the passage of the Affordable Care act and legislation you passed, i believe as a nation we are poised to take the biggest step we kept taking in a long time to put these issues on parity and make progress on them. With regard to our conversations with you and senator stabenow and thank you for your leadership, we are going to try to beat the statutory deadlines to implement your bill because it is one of the things when you are nine months and so the idea we can get that done and done quickly and get these things in place so we have those eight up and running and the eight states up and running, but continuing to do the work that it takes to implement Mental Health parity. And thats about stigma, about how we implement our Grant Programs which brings me to the g. A. O. Issue. There was a report, i think there were two fundamental issues that we want to hear. One has to do with the issue of coordination and making sure we are coordinating across the government. I asked the assist tant secretary. With regard to the question of our grantmaking abilities and question of evaluation and quality of our grant making, we have a new acting deputy secretary, dr. Mary wakefield, highest ranking nurse in the federal government. And she comes from hersa and has made a lot of progress. And we are going to see if we can share our best practices and see how we can continue to make progress on this issue of evaluation. Senator blunt i think we want to look at what we can do to help enable you to do that. If there are things that need to be said in report language or moved around in the budget, lets talk about that and be sure we get on that track. Im going to go ahead and go to senator murray. A lot of my questions might be asked by others. Senator murray madam secretary for many women, the Affordable Care act expanded coverage of all f. D. A. Contraceptives and reduced their out of pocket costs and more effective methods of contraception. They have millions of dollars because of that provision. There has been ongoing reports of women across the country experiencing difficulties in securing guaranteed nocost coverage from their plans because the Family Foundation just released a report showing there is still variation of how insurance car years are adhering to the a. C. A. Requirements and not all methods may be covered. As someone who cares very deeply about insuring women have access to comprehensive health care, that is very concerning. Has h. H. S. Identified the car years that are requiring costsharing or declining coverage or otherwise limiting coverage . Secretary burwell to the issue that has been brought up broadly and its an issue we continue to work to make sure our guidelines are clear about the requirements of the a. C. A. And working across the issues of contraception and we have seen these in the pharmaceuticals and h. I. V. And other things. We are being much clearer with respect to our guidelines. With regards to the specific cases, the keizer report is a general report and its about where there are specific issues and where there are specific issues, we will follow up. It is a matter of the specifics being brought to us. We understand there is a general problem. So by putting out being clear and in our conversations with the insurers, it is one of the things i continue as i have conversations to make sure people know, making sure whether it is providing the transparency of information about what you do and dont cover and making sure there is coverage, what the law is and our guidelines. Senator murray i appreciate that. I was really pleased to see you are requesting 490 million to expand the multi Agency Effort to address ant ti by on theic. Superbugs are occurring. I talked about virginia mason medical center. In february, i sent a letter to the food and Drug Administration urging them to take action to improve safety for patients and followup letter in march calling for a review of f. D. A. s practices surrounding the types of scopes that were involved at virginia mason. We have to do a lot more to prevent these infections. And to dect them as soon as possible. How would the Additional Resources that you have requested in your budget help with an outbreak at virginia mason or any of these we are seeing . Secretary burwell combating the program has a number of elements in terms of what its going to do. We need to take the steps and action and put out a strategy in 2014 and in 2015 we put out the action and our budget is the budget to support the action plan. Making sure that we are reducing the overuse and that is in humans and animals and my partners, tom vilsack the issue is an animal issue as well. Some of the funds will be used to support the reduction of that in terms of humans prescribing as well as in terms of animals. We need to recognize quickly as in the case of virginia mason so c. D. C. And others have the funding to recognize that when we do it quickly, thats one of the things we have seen how quickly are hospitals trained and ready to do that. The third thing we need to do is make sure we are continuing to do the research to develop things that arent resistant as we go forward. Those are elements of the core strategy. Senator murray multipronged. Secretary burwell and much of this is with the department of health and Human Services but we work across the other departments as appropriate and as necessary with usda being our primary partner. Senator murray what about the issue of Public Health, like Public Health programs, what role can they play . Secretary burwell c. D. C. Is going to continue to work and education is an important part of that. When one gets to the issue of prescribing, making sure that the c. D. C. Is working with Public Health organizations and medical centers and Training Facilities to make sure people know about not overprescribing. Its the demand of the consumer the patient, they want the medicine to treat something. But its also the physicians. Its part of the Public Health and population health, c. D. C. s ability to go and make sure the training and education and tracking. Senator murray this is really important and we will see a growing number of cases similar to what we saw in other arenas unless we take it head on. Secretary burwell 23,000 people died last year, but there are millions and millions of people who are contracting resistant disease and many of that, and that is occurring in hospitals. Senator blunt senator cochran says he will speak in order of arrival, but when it comes to allocate subcommittee amounts that you can talk in this committee any time you want to. So on this side, i have mr. Lankford mr. Alexander mr. Cassidy and senator cochran. Senator mikulski, senator schatz senator baldwin and senator merkley. Senator lankford i thank you for being here and thanks for the engagement on this. Let me go through a couple of questions. There is a lot of conversation about the process. Thats not a new conversation. In your testimony you even note that starting in 2009, there is a 1,300 increase in medicare and the auditing and what is happening in the appeals process. There is a problem that has happened. While you are accelerating the appeals process i would like to get down to the root causes. What is pending right now to continue to reform the process in the days ahead beyond the appeals process, which we can talk about separately. Secretary burwell i think its important to step back what was put in place and work on Program Integrity issues in terms of medicare spending. This is something dr. Coburn and others helped us focus on and this was put in place so we could track. It has tracked many and returned quite a bit of money in terms of what goes back in the trust fund. There were negative consequences. The congress has put a hold. Administratively, we have taken steps to change the process. Senator lankford whats next . Secretary burwell there are constraints that have been put on the congress and our ability to go forward. There is contracting. We have had challenges to the contracting. We need to get through those challenges and go through the regular process and need to get it back up and running and need to put in place and implement the Administrative Changes changes like if it is not resolved within 0 days. We have done them administratively but not being able to act on them fully as we like. Only on part b. The other thing that it does interact. There are a number of changes. If the case does not go forward, there will be nothing paid. We tried to fix some of the incentive issues that were causing problems. It is related to the backlog issue and the place where we believe we need some help from the congress and have had these conversations across a number of committees are in that backlog process. Senator lankford putting that in place to make sure you have contracting and contractors doing multiple claims. Last year there was a statement that came out to say that is in the process of trying to reform that to make sure do you know if there is any progress . Secretary burwell i have to get back to you on that. Senator lankford dealing with a good provider. At least have a consequence for any contractor that is pulling a lot of files. So on both sides of this, there is an incentive for the contractors. And the providers also. Secretary burwell the provider review is something we have put in place in these Administrative Changes. Senator lankford let me ask about another issue i. C. D. 10. This process transition, everyone is concerned about it and you have dealt with a long time. A lot of conversation about the advanced payments, what happens in the transition, how many small priors will be vulnerable in that time period. They can be managed by large providers and small priors and difficult for them to have large files to be pulled. What happens in the transition there. The in between. The discussion has been out there on advanced payments. Is there a process or details coming out how we handle it or is it still being considered . Secretary burwell we plan to go forward in october. Fl was a delay that was legislation. In terms of moving to i. C. D. 10. We have been doing testing and communication with large players and small players. Most of the large players have been ready. It has to deal with costs and the question of fairness and equity. The hospital associations have done surveys and High Percentage of people that are ready. For those who arent, we will provide the Technical Assistance and go in. Senator lankford what about the advanced payments side of it . Is that still being discussed . The concern is there isnt going to be a smooth transition. Is it your confidence that there will be a smooth transition . Secretary burwell numbers we are hearing is indicating that they are ready and only a very small group that is not ready. From now until october we want to if you are hearing from those, it would be helpful senator lankford you are confident there isnt going to be a gap in payments that are going to expose smaller providers. Secretary burwell we are planning to make sure we can go through so there wont be those kinds of problems. Senator mikulski thank you very much, mr. Chairman and we welcome secretary burwell. Before i go to my questions to her, i would like to bring to your attention and the committees attention that a very dedicated staff member of this committee for 13 years who has worked for was respected by senator specter will be leaving. Worked for the committee for 13 years will be leaving to go to the executive branch. Leaving to go to n. I. H. , not for a clinical trial, but help dr. Collins. I would like the committee to give adrian a round of applause. Im glad to see you. So many of the great federal assets of h. H. S. Is in maryland. N. I. H. F. D. A. And they have a tremendous impact on our economy. The jobs they provide and the jobs they stimulate. We couldnt have the robust Biotech Community we have in maryland without you. We will be talking about those issues, but im going to a maryland issue in a part of the state that is very familiar to you. My mountain counties up in appalachia i have a situation where due the census, they are telling me that Allegheny County has lost their designation for federal funding to qualify for the Affordable Care. I wrote you a letter in february. Your staff has been calling back and forth but we have been told recently there is nothing you can do. Madam secretary, i need you to look into this. You know western maryland. You know those mountain counties. You know they have lost population. You know that they have lost jobs. We dont want them to lose hope in the government. The impact is 2 million. Might not be a lot, but our spending up here, but that enables them to attract doctors and harness volunteers. Could i have your assurance that you will actually look into this and not just have a lot of bureaucratic phone calls back and forth where they just say no . Secretary burwell i will look into it and see about supporting this county. Senator mikulski they are not an urban county. So let me go on to another issue, which really was the source of great interests among many of us. We worked on a bipartisan basis to pass the Child Care Development block grant and working with senators ex deer and burr senator harkin and myself. We passed an authorization, what you are doing to implement it and particularly where we worked so hard. Surely wanted more money and more slots. Could you tell us within the money to implement the ball and then than hans the quality and safety of our children. Secretary burwell so the quality and safety are a large part of the implementation and what the money is for and implementing the standards you all put in. With regard to increasing the questions of safety and quality on an an evidence based and that is part of the money and money that is in there in terms of the implementation and thank you for your leadership, there are funds, one of the other things we were asked to do is make sure that child care for unusual circumstances, parents who work different hours, for places that are not receiving and hard to reach, that we do work in that space to understand how we can help and quality in terms of the standards and those are standards we need to apply and implement and we will do that as well as the quality issues. And this cuts across the entire suite, home visiting, child care in terms of implementing the authorization that you gave us. Also in the budget is the child care expansion that senator murray mentioned, 82 billion over the 10year period would make sure that working families have access to that and dont forget head start and Early Head Start and those partnerships. This is a continuum. We work to implement that piece in the context of improving quality and safety. Senator mikulski in a nutshell 370 million increase from last year is that correct . Secretary burwell that is correct. Senator mikulski of that 370 million, 270 million is for the new quality provision. Do you feel thats adequate . Secretary burwell we do. What we want to do is get the implementation started and as we look at next years budget, we will understand more. Senator mikulski i say to my colleagues, the nurses who are working the night shift. I have the National Security agency that works 24 7. Many are women keeping america safe often single mothers. My time is up, but i hope we could have additional conversation on the work that youre doing on both foster care and also on the unaccompanied children. Though the children dont seem to be at the border, but they are in our country and could continue to come. We cannot turn away from this important issue. I look forward to dialogue with you. Senator blunt senator alexander. Senator alexander welcome madam secretary. Senator murray and i on the Health Committee are trying to get a few things done. Weve reported a bill on elementary and secondary education. We are moving ahead on Higher Education. We are going to get into innovation in medicine. And one other area i believe we could get something done is Electronic Health records and you i talked about that. You talked about a year and nine months left for you, and what i would like to do is move up toward the top of your list and our list. The company spent 28 billion subsidizing Electronic Health records. Half the doctors are choosing not to participate in the program. Instead, theyll face medicare penalties this year. Doctors dont like their Electronic Medical record systems by and large. They say they disrupt the work flow and interrupt the doctorpatient relationship and a. M. A. Found Electronic Health records is the leading cause of physicians dissatisfaction. 70 of physicians say their Electronic Health records havent been worth it. I have met already with and you suggested i meet with dr. Desalvo well, one other thing, senator murray formed a Bipartisan Working Group on the Health Committee to identify five or six problems in the Electronic Health records system that we could address administratively in other words you could do it or legislatively if we have to. What i would like to ask you, will you commit putting on your list of things you would like to get done in the year, ninth months, working with us identifying five or six things that would make this promise something that physicians and providers look forward to instead of something they endure. Secretary burwell yes. After our meeting and our conversation, i think we got a working group of staff ready to go and we are committed to do it. This is extremely important. We are going to talk about so many things that affects us. Electronic records touch that issue. The Precision Medicine issues that we are talking about. Electronic records touch that issue. Delivery system reform, creating a system of Health Care Delivery that has better quality and more effective and efficient. It touches that. And so we should focus on it. In and of itself it will have so many where health care is going in terms of our ability to serve the consumer the patient, in the way we need to. This is a core part. Welcome the opportunity and look forward to putting the list together and getting it done. Well look at our administrative things and will work with you legislatively as well. Senator alexander senator cassidy has expressed interest. He is a physician. And one other area where i think we should Work Together. And we talked about it. Senator mikulski and i and burr and bennett asked some Higher Education folks to give us a report the cost of overregulation and give us 59 recommendations about what to do. We are putting it together in legislation and will incorporate these ideas as much as we can in the Higher Education act. The National Academy of sciences has said that principal investigators at Research Projects spent 42 of their time on administrative tasks instead of research. We do a lot of talking about needing more money for research. Taxpayers spend 30 billion a year at colleges and universities. N. I. H. Spends 24 billion. Vanderbilt hired a Boston Consulting Group to tell vanderbilt how to comply with rules and regulations and the answer was 150 million for one year and a lot of that had to do with research. Not all in your department or education, but will you work with us and help us work with other agencies to see if we can work with the National Academies and take that 42 down, releasing maybe billions of dollars which could be used for Important Research in the kind that all of us hope there should be more of. Secretary burwell when i was at the gates foundation, our grantees would ask us to pay at the federal level. Having been in a position thats what you are asked to match. As a new organization, and do we need to do that. I believe we need to work on it and need to work on it. But across, it will help even beyond the work that we do and some of these things we need to figure out where we are willing to take certain risks or not. Some of the administrative costs have to deal with important things like tracking conferences and provisions that are put in. This is a place that is right for us to have quality conversations about what are the things we can do to reduce that burden and reduce that cost and make sure what does it mean when we do the changes. Welcome that chance and i know our n. I. H. Colleagues there are things on that list. Senator alexander thanks, mr. Chairman. Senator blunt senator reed. Senator reed let me focus on a topic of liheap. We have been committed to ensuring they have adequate resources. There is a slight increase from previous years 200 million below the previous authorization and appropriation. So what can we do to get liheap further funded . With weather patterns the way they are, not just cold in the northeast, but increasingly hot summers where air condition is for people in the southeast and southwest. Can you help us . Secretary burwell so we in the budget proposal, we proposed the base level of liheap and proposed a Contingency Fund and this gets to the issue of the variability and what liheap is about and we are having these huge changes and we were trying to create a way to respond to the type of increasing erratic weather and the Contingency Fund would be our ability in terms of how much we need to put in the budget. But it allow us to have the flexibility. But add a Contingency Fund that could help us. That was our approach to get additional liheap funding. Senator reed i commend you for the increase. We have to do and we look forward to work with you. As a related issue and as you have the Discretionary Authority to move aside 1 of the appropriate funds and you consistently do that with liheap. There is 34 million of liheap funding that has not been spent and there is certainly the need out there. Can you work to release those funds or make sure they are committed to liheap. Secretary burwell we are doing the final review and will work with you on that issue. We are 99 there. And we will work with you. Senator reed let me turn to another topic c. D. C. Immunization program. Vaccine for many middle and lowincome families. It provides the structure for vaccination which is a critical Public Health initiatives that we have taken in the history of Public Health. It is somewhat disappointing that your budget is going to cut this program by 50 million next year. And particularly disconcerting because we are seeing the outbreak of some disease that we saw in my youth like measles and this section 317 is to respond to that. Look at all these issues, why are we cutting these programs . Secretary burwell we are concerned about the vaccination issue especially in the Measles Outbreak that we have seen. With regard to 317 there is the additional complementary program. When you combine the two of those programs, there is a net increase of 58 million in the budget overall. With regard to 317 as we are implementing the Affordable Care act, parts of 317 were used for those that were underinsured and when the a. C. A. Was passed it was required all plans do know cost sharing. When i take my child in for the wellness visit that vaccination doesnt have a copay. The 317 money we reduced was for vaccine purchase that is being reduced because we have people who are now in a fully insured space. The funding in 317 that does the important things that you mentioned, which are the issues of educating and something we are doing more and more of. None of those funds were cut as part of this. Senator reed you are doing analysis to ensure there is no gap, that in fact children are getting the vaccines through the a. C. A. Mechanism . Secretary burwell the problem that senator murray raised with regard to contraception, we have not seen with regard to vaccination which is that people are not covering that. It is the way that we it is when we hear we go back out with the guidance. We have not heard that from anyone. That is a part that seems to be being implemented correctly. If you are hearing something different, we want to know. The measles issue yesterday, i did the formal swearing in of the Surgeon General and that is one of the issues he has been focused on including the Public Service announcement with elmo, trying to work with the states, educate, anything we can. Senator reed i think elmo is a good point. Secretary burwell when i took the picture of me with elmo, that they appreciated. Senator blunt they knew the moment arrived. Senator cassidy. Senator cassidy couple of things. First, you had mentioned this question has bugged me for a year. When you mentioned the effort that c. M. F. Made the effort helping children coming through the board. When i was in the house i recall c. M. S. Had 800 million to care for the expected surge of unaccompanied children and there was a physician there and she had the Public Health Service Uniform on and i was a little critical because the response had been so poor and she said im the first doctor and i was just hired two weeks ago and this is like july. I dont expect you to have the answer of how that 800 million was spent but expect a question for the record. C. M. S. Or h. H. S. Had 800 million and the first doctor was hired in the middle of the summer when they requested a bumup in a surge of unaccompanied children. You can follow with that because i dont expect you to have that. But nonetheless, when you mentioned it it just popped up and has bugged me ever since. She was a dedicated physician but hired as the first physician. She said there were two or three nurses working on it. No offense the nurses but so few of them. Im going to speak to the physician who is a smaller practice. The big hospital chains are ready, but what im reading here, quoting c. M. S. , it estimates that in the early stages of i78 plementtation denial rates will rise up to 200 and accounts receivable will grow from 20 to 0 . According to your own website, that urologist in south louisiana who is in a one or twoperson practice she cannot afford to have denials go from 100 to 200 and a. R. Growing up to 40 . The reasonable thing would be to delay the penalty phase as people transition because it is that doctor who is struggling to see how many patients she has a day and comply, suddenly grow have her denials grow from 100 to 200 . Unless we are sympathetic, we are going to drive her out of practice. And that is also what is happening. Put that plug in for all those physicians. Perhaps this is something you can address, the c. B. O. Projected in february, 2013, the per person cost of medicaid for for just that portion of acute care, the person, the expansion population under the Affordable Care act would be 2,500 in 2014 only including estimates for the fully eligible. Last month the c. B. O. Projected an average per person of 4460 including eligible and partially eligible. This is a jump over the entire nation which is a 40 increase. Whats going on with medicaid . Well disagree, but the Affordable Care act is unaffordable for the taxpayer if year to year we had a 40 jump in per person medicaid costs. Secretary burwell across the Affordable Care act in the system medicaid as you probably know is generally the least expensive option in terms of service and care for individuals. So im surprised and surprised by that c. B. O. Number because you and had the chance to discuss in terms of the net and overall costs we have seen that not happening and in terms of our own medicaid increases in costs, both that and medicare, we seen deep control of costs. I apologize, i havent seen that number and not indicative senator cassidy one more thing you started off talking about the Affordable Care act. 2 of those with 400 or above income are not eligible for subsidies. 2 of those eligible have signed up. So the middle class is getting hosed by premiums and we are going to leave the middle class behind when it comes to Affordable Health insurance. Secretary burwell with regard to premiums senator cassidy this is in the exchanges. 2 eligible have signed up. Secretary burwell with regard to the number that we have seen in terms of those eligible to receive insurance through the marketplace as we have talked about, its about 16. 4 Million People is the reduction, which is the largest reduction we have seen as a nation. Senator cassidy we can debate that. As we talk about c. H. S. C. B. O. Reduced their baseline and the numbers i have looked at, most of those newly insured have signed up through medicaid not through the exchanges. Secretary burwell c. B. O. Reduced their baseline of those uninsured. So what c. B. O. And the recent numbers, they reduced the cost of the Affordable Care act by billions in terms of their estimates. Senator cassidy thats because they didnt do the Medicaid Expansion. Secretary burwell it was an expansion. Through the expansion, Health Care Cost increases were much smaller and premiums were much lower than they had expected in their original. Fewer people moved from employerbased care to the marketplace. It was the combination of those three things that had the reduction. And c. B. O. Went from a number of about 55 million being uninsured. That is total, to 52 million. C. B. O. Reduced the number and therefore the percentage of uninsured that we now have, that makes actually the percentage in terms of if you want to measure it as a success measure would go up based on that change. With regard to the question of number of people in the marketplace, we want that to continue to go up and do everything we can. I think you saw we worked hard to have an open enrollment that served the consumer and whether that was having the web site i know this is highly controversial and i do this at my own peril but it is important for us to have the conversation so i welcome it. We were trying to conserve the consumer and we continue to see growth. Can it be more, can it be better . We would like to do that and have the consumers come in. Having traveled around the country and woman says, working woman, three children, you get sick enough to go to the emergency room and theyll treat you. Senator cassidy the woman i spoke to who says senator blunt we are three minutes over. Senator cassidy im playing 500 more and i cant believe what im getting. Senator schatz im a big believer in telehealth. D. O. D. Has done good work. Private Health Care Providers are really expanding their services as a way to improve clinical outcomes and a way to save money in systems. And i just want to know what medicare in particular is doing. What you think you can do additionally within the confines of 1834m and what statutory restrictions you may have. Could you divide your question into those two categories where you think the law needs to be changed and what you are doing in terms of the confine of the statute that you arent doing yet. Secretary burwell the places we can do more is in our innovation center. The funding we received and that was part of the Affordable Care act, there we are seeing and doing a number of innovative projects that are including telehealth. We have several of the things that we have funded that include telehealth components that are important and you all know the statutory requirements with regard to meeting success is very high and will take time and measurement to improve that. Thats when you can scale them. We have to be able to show rightfully, you asked us to show quality and costs. We have to do that. The authorities that we currently have to do with some of the a. C. A. Work we just recently account care organizations. We put a version 2. 0 and telemedicine was increased. With regard to statutory issues. There are some places and we need to have those conversations about are there places we can talk about that would free us to do more telehealth and that is on the medicaid payment side. Senator schatz lets Work Together and i know senator wicker as chairman of the subcommittee had a really good bipartisan carrying on the potential for telehealth. 17 members of the subcommittee who attended. There was broad and deep enthusiasm on a bipartisan basis. I want to work with him and other members are anxious to get going in that space and i think hes going to work on legislation to introduce in this congress. So first of all, we have to work on whatever changes in the law are necessary. I would encourage you because during that hearing the National Organization for telehealth, i think thats what theyre called but the National Organization that advocates in this space think you can be doing more even within the constraints of 1834m i know you did this next generation a. C. O. , but my staff are saying you could move a little quicker in some other areas. I know you believe in this. I know the administration believes in this and i know there are other executive Branch Agencies that are moving faster. Now some of that is because of the law itself. But some of may not be. If you could check with your staff to see we are doing absolutely everything that we can possibly be doing to advance the ball on this. You are one of the biggest payers around. On the telecom subcommittee, a lot of questions were setting up markets and the rest of it and a lieutenant of those problems downstream gets solved if the payer gets to the table. That all gets settled because there will be a builtin market. You can make progress as we work on legislation together. Secretary burwell the payment has to do with, does it exist or does it have a certain proof point. Those are the places that we can push our authorities. If you have ideas, we welcome that. Senator blunt senator capito. Senator capito we were both daughters of West Virginia and very proud of the secretary. She does a great job representing our state and nation. Its an honor to be here with you for the first hearing. The question i had specifically and i mentioned this the other day is about the black lung clinics. Hrsa made a change in their allocation to cap it at 900,000 which cost West Virginia some federal dollars trying to make sure we meet the challenge of ridding ourselves and treating black lung disease. Whats the rationale for this program to cap, is this going to continue . We were able to recover through a grant process, but im concerned about this because of the deep need that we have in our home state. Secretary burwell our i had some conversations about why the changes were made and the changes were made in the program to make sure i think there were some questions about whether or not we were fulfilling the statutory obligations with regard to the quality of grant making. That was a large portion. One, the question of making sure we are getting to quality, but the second issue was getting closer to the community when all of the money was being funneled through state grantees. There were grantees in states that were serving communities as well. So opening the door for others to serve as well, and i know i went to look at our state to see what had happened. And the year before the state, the department , another player came to one too. It was a 200,000 reduction in terms of what the state receive. The objectives were to try to improve quality and get some grantees closer to the local communities. Senator moore capito so thats just the cap that would go to the actual State Government and if there were other grantees you could apply through this . Secretary burwell thats right. In West Virginia, we did. We were very fortunate. Someone had also raised this last year with me and i had asked could the state still another grantee came forward in the state. Senator moore capito the money needs to flow to the need obviously and the quality issue i understand. Secretary burwell i did ask them about the question of need because being from West Virginia i argued that everything from our type of coal to the population that we have would be greater need. And so one of the things though i think there is difficult any difficulty in measure and we need to get to a place where we can measure better. Senator moore capito ok, well follow up with you on that. Secretary burwell and thats a place we may need help, measuring that. Senator moore capito you mentioned open yoid addiction, we seem opioid addiction, and we seem to have a rise in heroin and other addictions. Help me out here, how can we stop this . Secretary burwell building on the work that had been done and being focused on since i arrived, when i arrived june 9, this was the first thing i asked the team to come together. They had made that in into a consolidated strategy. We need fob focused with you all, the congress, and we need to be focus wed this governors. It has three basic elements to it. The first is prescribing. Thats where much of this starts. Thats the only one that addressing prescription opioids and not heroin. We need to get to a better place in terms of prescribing. Theres overprescription occurring and thats a large part of it. We need to make sure doctors have the right guidance, ahead of the a. M. A. , in terms of they need the right guidance. Number two is access. Thats an important part of the budget conversation because we need to give the states the money so they can access the nulaxone. Ms. Moore senator moore capito our state can do that secretary burwell West Virginia is good and some of the other states are good. The third has to do with medicated assisted treatment. Sadly for both heroin and opioids we have so many people addicted we have to use medication as part of the treatment. Those are priorities we need to work on together. In terms of congress, its about funding, in terms of the conversation were having. Its also about something called buprenorfine, how we prescribe and how we control prescribing. At this point in time its agreed its too controlled but the changes we need to make we need to make in conjunction with congress. And the other thing is the states make sure they have make sure they have Prescription Drug monitoring plans, pdmps new york place. We need to make sure those plans are going across states. Kentucky does, in West Virginia, the boarder is po rouse. And if we cant know what that person in pike county is prescribing, you know, in mingo county, people are going across. Those are the kinds of steps we need to take. Senator moore capito thank you. Senator senator blunt senator baldwin. Senator baldwin thank you. I want to thank you, secretary burwell for being here and share with the committee that im hopeful that we can find relief from the budget control act to allow this subcommittee to draft a bill that provides the funding that h. H. S. Needs for its critical programs and to carry out its mission and serve the very people that we all represent in our home states. And as another side note, as someone who was raised raised by an n. I. H. Funded scientist, my grandfather, i am certainly a strong supporter of our research and n. I. H. Budget. But in particular knowing the impact that our scarce funding has had on young researchers, im especially concerned that the budget control act continues to put our next generation of researchers at risk. But as i said i want to focus in on the opioid prescription initiatives that are in your budget. This is an issue that, obviously impacts many of our states, i would dare say all of our states. Im interested in hearing more about the c. D. C. s plan about opioid prescribing guidelines. In particular, i want to ask some specific questions about that. Number one weve seen in wisconsin some particularly tragic cases involving our v. A. System. A number of deaths of patients who were treated at our v. A. Center so part of my question is, will these guidelines be applicable to systems like the v. A. Systems . And then secondly, guidelines are just that. Guidelines. Theyre not man tates. And so weve had channels when guidelines have been articulated before in getting the Widespread Adoption of those in our medical and prescribing community. Please speak to that too. Secretary burwell with regard to the guidelines, one of the things people feel is they need more clarity. There are important issues of pain that need to be treated and treated with the types of drugs we are talking about. We dont want to deny those who their daily living is dependent on that so getting clarity in the guidelines, c. D. C. Will work with f. D. A. And n. I. H. And other parties to develop those guidelines. With respect to what you articulated with guidelines, this is another space that i think we may need to have a conversation about potential legislative help. And that has to do with training. Because even if we put the guidelines out, the questions of whether or not those existing physicians and even those coming through will be trained in these mechanisms and trained in these guidelines is a question that i think is an extremely important one and so how that, and where that occurs may be a conversation that we need to continue as we put together the places and spaces where we think, you know, legislative states and what prescribers and others need to do. Thats how we thought about the strategy. That is a very specific issue that is on our list to continue to have a dialogue and conversation with you all about. Senator baldwin i would welcome that followup. The tragedies we have seen in our states, that i have seen in my own state deserve a response of the utmost seriousness. In fact, i think were coming very late to this issue. Your testimony, secretary burwell, highlights that in 2009 total drug overdoses overtook every other cause of injury deaths in the United States. And yet we have we have yet to implement a comprehensive strategy. So in addition to working together on future perhaps legislative measures, what i want to ask you is, how will the administrations proposed initiatives that address this growing nationwide emergency be impacted if your budget request is not funded . Secretary burwell it will be extremely important. The funding is very important to the states. Thats one of the most important parts of this because it is implemented on the ground system of the funding goes to samsa and c. D. C. Those are the places where the money is going directly to the states. So having that money available for the purchase and use of niloxone and the training and states are providing legislation so more and more people can use it. There was a question of what type of e. M. T. Did you need to be to use it in a number of states. West virginia, massachusetts kentucky, there are places making good progress. Even when they make that progress there are funding issues so it becomes very important that we make progress this year on these issues. I also would think its important to reflect that this is done completely in coordination with ondcp, the office of National Drug coordinator in the white house. Thats our policy counsel for purposes of these issues to make sure that we are coordinated h. H. S. D. H. S. , and department of justice. Its mainly us and justice are the two places that interact. Its many Law Enforcement officials who are the people who need to know how to apply niloxone, they are the people on the scene when theres a drug overdose. We need to make sure were closely tied and the funds are part of that on your thoughs about legislative health there for connecting people and places and spaces with what they need to know, do you need more authorizing language or is the kind of help youve asked for in the appropriating budget . Secretary burwell i think we may need further its not just money. I think it is other questions about how people are willing to implement the guidelines. And make sure that people are trained. The question of continuing medical education and you know how this touches upon that are the kinds of questions we think we need to talk about. I think the ive spoken, i think the a. M. A. And others are thinking through this so lets all understand but i think its an important enough issue that we as a nation at this particular point in time need to make sure that if we have tpwhrines that people are being educated. Senator blunt chairman cochran. Senator cochran even though i know this has been asked by one of our members, it relates to the immunization program. Funds are provided to all states to help provide vaccines and to those who are not able to buy them because of their own difficult economic challenges and there is a majority of funds that are available for Childhood Vaccinations. In our our state has to win the prize as the highest Childhood Vaccination rate in the country, were proud of that, because a lot of people spend a lot of time and effort in making that possible. But it all fends on funding from the program. So in looking at the budget request, were disturbed that over 50 million in advance funding is recommended to reduce funding for that amount would be devastating, we think, to the Affordable Care act. Whats your reaction to that . Do you have any thoughts about it . About what we can do . Secretary burwell what we have tried to do is design a vaccine budget that included both childrens vaccine and immunization which actually increased well over its close to i think 70 million, the increases in the childrens vaccine fund that we do were greater than the decreases in 317 which is the place where the decreases. Netnet it was about a 50 million increase. What we were trying to do is make sure the places where we did do decreases were funding for those underinsured and those who were underinsured, because of the Affordable Care act, that is not occurring because it is covered. If you have insurance, there isnt an uninsurance issue that youd have to pay a copay for your childs vaccination, you no longer have to do that. Thats where we were, the cost of the vaccines we were purchasing for use in the facilities that youre talking about, thats whats been reduced, thats because we believe because of the Affordable Care act thats being taken care of through private insurance now in terms of people who are insured. So weve tried to implement a policy that actually increases overall vaccination funding but decreases it in a place that because of the Affordable Care act, those people who were uninsured, who had insurance but it didnt pay for this, now it does. Thats the objective of the policy that were trying. Senator cochran thank you. Thank you mr. Chairman, thank you, madam secretary. The number i had seen before was 16. 4 million americans who were previously uninsured have now gained Health Insurance coverage through the different facets of the a. C. A. Am i interpreting that correctly. Secretary burwell because i always want to be careful with number that number we think the vast majority of that includes a. C. A. Provisions, but the economy has recovered and some of those people may be people who found jobs. Some of thate could be from a positive thing, people who have employerbased care. And you have numbers, 11. 2 million additional individuals are enrolled through medicaid and chip. So roughly five million of the 11 million on the exchange are people who previously didnt have insurance . Secretary burwell yes. Those have to be derived because we dont ask anyone when they come in because there are no preexisting conditions or anything. Senator merkley is that roughly the ballpark . Secretary burwell im not sure i dont think we have put out a number of exactly the number in the marketplace who are uninsured. Senator merkler i was senator merkley i was struck by the number that eight of 10 of those who go to the exchange after tax credits get Health Insurance for less than 100 a month. 80 of that. Secretary burwell are eligible, can find a plan thats 100 or less. Senator merkley its been a huge change in the Unemployment Rate in oregon. Our hospitals are seing a dramatic drop in the coverage of the uninsured, which gives them more dollars to provide health care and stops the transition in which folks who have insurance have to pay through their rates for people who dont have insurance, the uncompensated care. I want to turn to another area i have concern about. A year ago when commissioner hamburg was testifying, i raised the issue here of concern over the explosion in the use of ecigarettes. And these are the or vaping. The Electronic Devices that vaporize liquid nicotine that comes in little bottles like this and i showed these same two bottles, j juice scooby snacks labeled and j juice gummy bear. This now has changed dramatically in a single year. We have a new report from the c. D. C. And its titled egreat use triples among middle and high School Students students in just one year. It goes on to detail that for High Schoolers its gone from 4. 5 to 13. 4 . Middle schoolers 3. 1 to 14. 1 almost a quadrupling. All studies show that nicotine for adolescent brains is a bad combination thus its important that we regulate this. Back in 2009, Congress Gave tower to the food and Drug Administration to regulate flavors and basically all aspects of Tobacco Products so now were here six years later and we dont have those regulations yet and i very much appreciated your call to update me on the process. The process goes from f. D. A. And then it goes to o. M. B. And has that transition occurred yet . Is o. M. B. Now reviewing . Has f. D. A. Shipped its draft final regular ligs to o. M. B. . Secretary burwell were still reviewing the contents at our end. At h. H. S. Senator merkley it has wret to go to final review at o. M. B. . Secretary burwell no, we complete the process of the review. Senator merkley you know i was going to ask you about this, but when coyou anticipate that will be completed . Secretary burwell the question is the overall rule making. We have a notice of proposed rule making we have a rule making that were in the middle of receiving comments on and that will process the deeming of these products and other products as well. Its our hope that over the summer, sometime this summer, well get to a final stage. Senator merkley i hope its morn hope, i hope its a reality. I appreciate your personal efforts to accelerate this process. The but i still am deeply disturbed by the fact that it has taken this long. Had this taken two years less, four years instead of six year, and i dont think anybody thought it needed to take four years, then we would have many thousands of high school and middle School Students who are not being basically brought into the nicotine addiction world through these flavors designed specifically to appeal to children. You have chocolate and strawbury and gummy bear and scooby doo and the statistics show that 90 of smokers first began smoking, and im including vaping in this, as teens. Three of fourteen smokers continue smoking as adults. In other words the industry understands that its in childhood, in the teenage years that you must secure the addiction which then has huge consequences for the quality of life of the next generation and huge consequences for the cost of our Health Care System. So this is one of those opportunities to make a dramatic improvement that make a tremendous amount of sense from every direction and for every month of delay its additional americans who are damaged. And its not just in the smoking, its also in the poisonings. The poisonings have exploded in the space of time since 2011 until now, its a 14fold increase in the poisonings because these little things, jars look very appealing. They look very appealing and theyre labeled juice and theyre called gummy bear, must be something good to drink and do you consider it irresponsible that people are making these things and not putting them in child proof bottles . Secretary burwell with regard to that, i think the question of how everything will be regulated once we get to the deeming those are the questions were going to have to work to answer and answer quickly. Senator merkley am i over time . Ok. Thank you very much. Congratulations to you and senator murray for your leadership on this subcommittee. Secretary burwell thank you for reaching out to me, to see if we could have a conversation on the phone, its my fault it didnt happen. Senator moran but i appreciate the fact that you reach out to have contacts. I think i have time for a couple of questions. Let me ask first an Early Childhood question. This Committee Last year allocated 500 million to be used to expand access to infanttoddler services through Early Head Start. And the goal was to expand child care partnerships. My question is, tell me about implementation and particularly assure me that Rural Communities where even licensed child care is a rare commodity, that they are being considered appropriately for those services. Secretary burwell the issue of the we have worked toward implementation and i think because the program had both Early Head Start and child care partnerships that that expanded our ability to serve in communities where various types of care would be provided. We want to make sure were meeting standards in terms of some of the conversation we had earlier but our working but are working. The issue of Rural America and the issues of rural access to these types of programs are something i think you probably know are deeply important to me as someone who participated in head start many years ago. I understand the questions of the limited access that anyone has to quality early education. So issues that we are working toward there are things you are hearing that rvent consistent with that, could you please make sure we know. We havent heard this issue so if theres something you have heard from your state i really would like to know about it. Senator moran whats the status of inch implementation. Secretary burwell grant making is occurring. I remember the point at which the announcements went out to solicit grant bus im not sure where we are in the process. We can get back to you on that. Senator moran i would welcome that. Let me change topics and talk to you about dietary guidelines. You and secretary vilsack, secretary of agriculture vilsack are charged with developing dietary guidelines and in that process you have an Advisory Committee, the dietary guidelines Advisory Committee. Theyve issued a report and at least to many of us its a very controversial report. Because it includes in their recommendations, and they admit theyre taking into account topics outside nutrition and diet and specifically considering environmental sustainability. So dietary guidelines which in and of themselveses are hard to determine what the right answers are, at least by your advise arery committee is now being expanded to include consideration of environmental sustainability. Contrary to the statutory framework by which you and secretary vilsack are instructed to develop the guidelines. Ive had conversations with secretary vilsack in person in my office as well as in the hearing in front of the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture in which he indicated to me that he will color within the lines. By that, i assume hes assuring me that he is going to abide by the statutory framework for those guidelines and ive also asked him if hes had conversations with you about this topic and what interface is occurring and my impression is at this point thats probably not occurring at least at the secretarial level. So my question to you is the same as to the department of agriculture, i want to make certain that you agree with the sentiment expressed by the secretary of agriculture. I want you to assure me that you intend to, in developing the final guidelines, that you will disregard areas that are outside your instructions in developing dietary guidelines, that you will stay true to the issues of diet and nutritional science and not expand the dietary guidelines to something beyond its intended scope. Secretary burwell so, actually the secretary and i have spoken it was about an issue he took up with me and i received your letter after, a letter signed by many folks in terms of, we received two different letters and we expanded the period of comment. Right now were in a period where its been put out, we have extended that. I talked to the secretary. The first issue, the process issue he and i had a chance to agree, extended it by 0 days, for the reasons we want to see what the comments are and what we get back. When the process comes to h. H. S. , we receive what the Advisory Committee does but we also n. I. H. , c. D. C. , f. D. A. , well have the full spectrum of our Health Participants as well as the Surgeon General and the secretary of health will be part of the conversation as we develop with usda will be the final. With any issue i will always want to abide by the statute and as we work to implement that, thats what well do. Senator moran i gave you too easy an out, because of course you say you want to abide by the statute. So do you share my view or the view, let me say it this way do you share the view that the dietary guidelines are to be developed around dietary and nutritional science and nothing more . Secretary burwell i have to be honest and say i have not reviewed the is that chute closely enough to be able to answer that question in the specific way you have posed it. With regard as i think i was indicating the people that are involved in terms of our issues around science and health, f. D. A. N. I. H. , those are our players, thats where our sweet spot is. These are the things that are probably where were have the most senator moran does that suggest youre going to color within the lines . Secretary burwell it suggests i need to read the statute because i shouldnt answer a question until i know what the statute says. I do want to abide by the statute. Thats something at this point in the process, i apologize, i havent gotten to. But i hear and understand thats something you will be following up on. Senator moran thank you, secretary. Senator blunt senator durbin. Senator durbin let me include myself with the remarks with deeming ecigarettes, i dont know where this has come to a halt, whether its in your agency o. M. B. Or some other place but im going to try to find out and move it along. Secondly i met with dr. Francis collins a couple of years ago out at n. I. H. And i said to him we cant aspire, sadly, to those glory days when harr kin, specter and porter doubled the budget. But what can we do that will make a difference . He said, i would tell you 5 real growth for 10 straight years. He said will light up the scoreboard. We will provide cures that more than pay for the cost of this research. And alleviate the human suffering involved. So ive been watching the standard and i have to tell you we are finding we are falling short of it. Over the last 0 years we have fallen short by 23 of keeping up with inflation so the number of grants awarded have been cut in half. That is discourage that has discouraged researchers from staying. When i look at the president s budget request for n. I. H. And c. D. C. , i find for each of them roughly 3 increase over last year. If you assume 2 inflation, and im i understand nobody no longer assumes inflation, i guess thats how they avoid that conversation, if you assume 2 inflation, you can see the minuscule were increasing n. I. H. And c. D. C. I dont ever quote, and i rarely ever praise Newt Gingrich but im going to. He ends up writing in the New York Times this week, what are we thinking . Were spending a fortune on all the medical care associated with illness, disease, yet were not putting money into the research to alleviate it as we should. I would just go a step beyond that and say he fell short of suggesting how we would pay for that, which would be the important ending to his story. But i would like to say for the record, i have spoken to senator murray and senator blunt, to senator alexander and others about this. I think it is time for us to step up as a congress and do something truly bipartisan that the American People will applaud and say were going to start a commitment of 5 plus inflation to key medical research and were going to do it on a bipartisan basis, no ifs, and or buts about it. I would just say for the record, since i rank on the Ranking Member on the defense appropriations subcommittee, if theres going to be some conversation about money riding to the rescue of the pentagon i want to be part of that conversation too but i want to stick to the basic rules that paul ryan and betty murray came up with that its shared equally with nondefense, that we make sure theres money coming back into nondefense. So i hope the administration will take the same position if we can find money to help the pentagon im for that but lets not do that at the expense of nondefense and i hope, i hope that we can come to a conclusion that were going to make our mark in bipartisanship when it comes to Biomedical Research. Cant think of a more bipartisan issue. Secretary burwell i would just make two comments, one is that we too believe that in terms of the numbers and the investment and the tradeoffs and choices, we need to make those in terms of getting the nation to function right now but preparing for the future in the way that youre talking about. Thats why we make the choices that we do in the president s budget and i just would also repeat what you just said with regard to the match of increases in defense spending and nondefense spending. In terms of the health and security of our nation, i think we saw what happens when ebola comes to our border and thats a health and National Security issue but its one thats funded on the nondefense discretionary side system of making sure that we keep these two things moving and moving together is something that i think we think is extremely important. Senator durbin one other issue w. I. C. Program i hope we expand it and make it better. Do you have any idea what the qualifying income for w. I. C. Is in the state of iowa . Audience member i do secretary burwell i do not. Senator durbin spst 90,000 a year. Theres a great disparity among the states as to whether or not you qualify for w. I. C. I would like to suggest that the statutory standard we used to have is somewhere near 45,000 as a maximum income you could qualify for w. I. C. And because of this coordination of the Medicaid Eligibility and w. I. C. Eligibility, there appears to be some gross disparities in some of the states. Would you look at that . Secretary burwell happy to. W. I. C. Happy to work with secretary vilsack on the these on these issues. Dont see that in tanf. This is a number i have never seen but ill look into it and understand it. Senator durbin thank you. Senator bunt b senator blunt we have a little more time before the vote here. On the issue of dietary standards that senator moran brought up he, brought that same issue up at the f. D. A. Hearing and commissioner hamburg stated that she really didnt have a direct role in this and she was an advisor. Today, youve stated that you hadnt really looked at the law yet. Seems like theres a certain running for the hills here. Secretary vilsack said that sustainability falls outside the guidelines. So the one person weve talked to who has looked at the law appears to think that sustainability is not an issue, you may want to argue it should be, and all youve got to all youve got to do is change the law for that to happen, not add it to the law. Well be watching that im sure. On ive got a question on ive got a couple of questions for the record. On risk corridor, the Risk Corridor Program, secretary, the Affordable Care act or at least last april let me be sure im right here. The Department Released guidance stating that the Risk Corridor Program would be implemented in a budget neutral manner. My impression from what the discussions im hearing now that somehow the Risk Corridor Program would find revenues somewhere else to make up the difference. Is that your view . Secretary burwell with regard to i think the guidance put out at that point in time, and i think that im trying to remember, at that point time going between but with regard to risk corridors, a program that is about making sure we have premium control and put downward pressure on premiums which i think is something we all think is important. With regard to the program, we believe it will be budget neutral. C. B. O. Has scored it as budget neutral. The question i think your followup question will be what if it is not. At this point in time what we have said is, it is our expectation it will be budget neutral, c. B. O. Agrees it should be budget not ral. Certainly in this year what would happen if it werent is it would fall other into the next year in terms of payments that come in to pay that. But if in the end, and the end so were clear of when the end is its 2017, if there were any issues i think the insurers believe that commitments have been made and at that point one would have to find appropriated funds. Senator blunt 2017 is the end of the program. By then Insurance Companies should have figured out how to set up the structure and the marx place and profile. Secretary burwell thats correct. With regard to the three rs, the risk corridors, reinsurance and risk adjustment two of those go away on that timetable. One of them was based on what we used to Medicare Part d that actually didnt go away and that kind of short time frame but yes, the idea is by that time people understand the marketplace well enough to get this. Senator blunt money from discretionary dollar thats necessary, would be something wed talk about next year, you would think . Secretary burwell the question of whether or not it needs to be appropriated the question is to you need appropriated dollars . I dont know that were going to have any signals, we certainly wont have a signal even about this year until about the end of the summer and then well know because its a threeyear program and right now all the data is starting to come in senator blunt designed in the scoring of the Affordable Care to come in. Senator blunt designed in the scoring of the Affordable Care act not to cost money. On iraq audits what i heard you say in response to senator bangford, one of the things you were looking at was the ensentiv structure to bring these cases . Secretary burwell yes. What were looking at in terms of the structure to bring the cases and to bring any case you wouldnt win system of if you bring a case youre not going to win, youre not getting anything. If you bring a case that you cant get done in a set period of time you dont get anything either system of changing some of those incentive structures in terms of things we can do administratively is important. I think the other thing in terms of the increase that occurred in cases, we kind of didnt get into this because he distinguished wean the backlog issue. Part of the backlog occurs because there is no real cost for a provider to bring all their cases, appeal so many because theres no theres only upside as the provider. So making sure that we have any size and amount, i mean the amount, the cutoff is very low. I think we need to look at questions of what should the cutoff be for how little money you can appeal for because of the question of the processing and then the second question is what are the steps for you and is there any bar in terms of you appealing everything . So theres the issue of the racks, theres the issue of the providers and theres the issue of processing. Ic all three of those things we can put in place improvements to reduce the backlog which is essential and have been working with the congress and have been working with others about in a bipartisan way to make those emprufmentes. The funding will be important from the perspective of this committee. Funding additional ability to review those cases baung i think you know those are its a swruedirble process so we have to have a certain type of judget, an appeals judge that can review. So we have a strategy thats about taking administrative actions, things that can get rid of some of the backlog, additional hires that we need to do to process the cases that are before us, and creating prevent prevention in the pipeline so people arent as encouraged to do certain types of things, some of it related to racks to come into the system. Senator blunt are you allowing new cases to be brought while you have this backlog out there . Secretary burwell the issue is how the cases get brought its divided in terms of the way the legislation was passed and what it banned that racks could do. Theres a limitation, a time limitation with regard to the racks. Some some thins are coming thru but portions are not. Senator blunt senator murray. Senator murray as you know, this year marks the 50th anniversary of head start. Very exciting. Im really pleased to see the administrations request for signt investment to make sure head start kids get access to fullday program. Some of the Early Childhood research on this is incredible, but extending learning and effective teaching practices, strongly suggestion that the current 3 1 2 hour kay is inadequate. This is an important step in making sure head start prepares our children for success in kindergarten and laettner life. I wanted to ask you, what is the administration doing to improve quality and make head start more effective. Secretary burwell the quality progress has been over a number of years. Part of it is is that we are requiring that certain of the grantees now there would be automatic renewal but were reviewing grantees with regard to certain measures of quality and people are going to have to repie aply. Weve seen that happen across the country, in terms of those not meeting the standards so we are enforcing quality standards. Thats in the head start space in the child care space. In the child care space, the work you did, thank you, in terms of the authorization last year, has fwiven us guidance in that space as well. Senator murray one of the things im hearing back home in Washington State is the lack of getting and retaining quality teachers. What is the department doing to deal with that . Secretary burwell right now, and thats part of the quality standards in terms of what types of degrees and training that teachers do have and that is a part of what we are trying to do and we are seeing some increase in terms of measurement of quality, in terms of educational background of teachers. That is not the only measure of quality but we are seeing some progress in that number. Senator murray. I think thats important my last question and one that is important is the f. Y. 2015 omnibus represented the first time the laborhhs bill utilized the budget control act cap adjustment to fight fraud, abuse in medicare and medicaid since it was enacted in 201. Current data indicates that for every dollar spent to address fraud, 7. 67 7. 60 is recovered by treasury. Utilizing that cap adjustment, the omnibus should create 5 billion in deficit reduction a goal we all think is critically important. I dont understand why anyone would want to cut why anyone who wants to cut the deficit would not o would oppose oadditional dollars for that fund. I know the neither the house nor Senate Budget resolution include funds for that you did. Can you talk about how you can use these targeted resources to help us save money . Secretary burwell so the amount that we put into the budget, we estimate based on the return that we have been seeing and weve used the conservative end of that to do estimates. It would be about 22 billion in terms of the proposal from the president in terms of savings if we continue on our path were seing in terms of medicare issues. As i mentioned to you all before we came in, having seen and had the privilege to the awards for Public Servants across the entire federal government, when those awards went to the people who were it was called the miami heat its the heat task force across the department of justice as well as h. H. S. Pursuing this fraud, when we can see that kind of success that cross government work we want to do more of it. And we also know, you know, the issues of fraud and improper payments in medicare, you know, it is a large portion of what we see in the entire government, having come from my o. M. B. And spent time with mr. Carper and dr. Coburn on this issue its one im happy to be at a place where hopefully we can bear down and make some progress. Senator murray if the cap adjustment is not allowed to be utilized well see an increase in spending . Secretary burwell we wont see the benefits we would have gotten. We see those benefits coming every year. We report the numbers every year. It was one to eight ratio last year this past year its been a one to almost eight. 1. 7 ratio in terms of the return were getting. Senator murray thank you very much. Thank you mr. Chairman. I had an addition question. In your statement you talk about the a. C. A. Provides full funding in the medicaid area all the way through 2016. Senator moore capito and then in 2017 the state share then goes to 90 or less. No, 10 or less. The state of West Virginia the legislature this year before the expansion had to fill an 80 million hole in their Medicare Medicaid budget this year. With no cost of the 140,000 new expansion medicaid recipients. I raised this question when this was going through, when we were voting on this, when it was passed. How are the states, my state, our state, going to be able to meet these budgetary expansions that theyve taken on themselves because theyve expanded medicaid by 140,000 people when theyre already short 80 million this year without expansion . Secretary burwell i think two things are as we think about this the answer to that question of how you financially do the Medicaid Expansion in a state. The first is, when in kentucky they did a Baseline Study before they expanded medicaid, think he did a followup study. It was about three months ago in terms of what actually has happened with the Medicaid Expansion and how you predict that out economically. In the state of kentucky what the study showed is that there would be 40,000 more jobs and 30 billion to the states coffers in terms of what the Medicaid Expansion would result in. In terms of the economic growth. I think thats one part of the answer. I think the other part of the answer to the question, which is an important one has to do with system reform. That has to do with why we are so deeply focused on changing the way care is delivered and the quality of that care. You and i had an opportunity to talk about one of the things that drives us is emergency room use. And while the analytics are not Strong Enough yet, we are starting to see indications where people who, some places that are ahead, that we decrease that. I think what were trying to do to make sure we get to the place where people are notudesing the most expensive care and doing the care in ways we can save and have quality prevention is coverage to care. And that is an effort that right now were very focused on with c. M. S. And moving people to understand, new people who have never been insured before not understanding except to go to the emergency room how to use the care in ways that, one, they understand how to access the care, two they understand how to read their bills and three they understand that there are tools to keep them healthy. The diabetes numbers were seeing out of states that have expanded is increasing but what that means is theyre getting the care and hopefully thats going to drive down a part of the cost. Senator moore capito that all sounds like its going to solve this problem but were talking about, this is on the horizon here. An 80 million budget hole shortfall already without the expansion, you know, youre talking about changing behaviors and we know its not going to take a year, its probably going to five or 10year kind of thing. With the creation of 40,000 jobs, i wish i saw jobs growing in our state but unfortunately thats not happening. Weve got a lot more people unemployed in higher paid areas and you know what im talking about. Weve got a real problem here. And im very concerned about that. But its time the president and you will be gone by the time 2017 comes along and were going to have a new governor in our state and thats going to be a difficult challenge for that governor. Last question, this should be a simple answer and i think im just not seing the numbers correct. If you expand medicaid, which we have in West Virginia, and youve asked for an increase in budget in childrens Health Insurance program sizable 3. 9 billion, it looks like if im reading the numbers right. Somebody asked me this i thought it was a great question and i didnt have the answer. If youre expanding medicaid, pulling in those families and children, wouldnt the cost of the childrens Health Insurance program go down because a lot of those children are being pulled into Medicaid Expansion . Secretary burwell the children covered by chip are staying in chip and that was part of what the extension that the s. G. R. Bill just did. Those children are actually not moving over. Senator moore capito so if youre in chip and your mom and dad go into medicaid, youre not required to pull that child into medicaid with you . You stay in the chip program . Secretary burwell thats correct. Senator moore capito i worked on the chip program as a state representative, ive always voted for expansions of it because its important in our state, so i guess youve answered my question, i guess my followup question would be, from an economic standpoint is it more beneficial to the state an federal government to keep that child in chip financially, im not talking about quality of care and all that because i believe in that, or to go into the Medicaid Program . Whats less costly . Secretary burwell that is a piece of work that i think actually is coming out in the next weeks in terms of an analysis we have been asked to do. With regard to the question of does chip i think the basic question is chip costs more or does medicaid cost more . Thats something were coming out in the next weeks as part of the followup to the a. C. A. Reports weve been asked to do senator moore capito i look forward to seeing the report. Senator blunt one last question, then therell be questions for the record ill have them and others will as well. My next thing on my schedule is to go to a meeting of senators who are talking about what to do based on the result of king v. Burwell. In the past you have said there really, you are not looking at options if the court rules that the subsidies arent valid in a number of states. Is that still your position . Secretary burwell what i have said is that the three things and i think its important for me to state we believe we would win the case and that based on both the letter and the intent as well as c. B. O. Scoring over the periods of time in terms of the interpretation of the law that we hold the correct position. With regard to if the court would decide and decide against and for the plaintiffs, at that point the court will have said we cannot provide those subsidies. And the point at which that happens, our ability to have authorities to do the subsidies is not something that exists. So the real problem, which is people lose subsidies, they then become uninsured because they were insured because of the affordability, the question of a death spiral in the marketplace because now sicker people are in, drives premiums up and the question of how that affects states in terms of costs, some of the issues we were talking about with the senator, all three of those things result from the loss of subsidy. Thats the problem were trying to solve and the question is if the court says we dont have the authority, the question of a plan for me to have an authority that if the court says i dont. So thats why when asked about the question of a plan to resolve the massive damage, thats not necessarily something, if the court makes that kind of decision, that we believe or have seen that we have an authority. Senator blunt well see what the law says. Or the court says, rather. The record will stay open for one week for additional questions. The subcommittee stands in recess until 10 00 a. M. Thursday, april 30. Thank you secretary. Secretary burwell thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] Loretta Lynch has won confirmation to serve as the nations attorney general ending months of delay. The vote today 5643. Shell replace eric holder and becomes the first black woman in the nations top Law Enforcement post. She currently serves as u. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of new york. Her confirmation was delayed for months for a variety of reasons. Most recently a lengthy dispute over abortion on an unrelated bill to address sex trafficking. Here are some of the todays remarks from senators harry reid, Jeff Sessions and ted cruz. Would. We had senators, republican senators who were saying what a wonderful woman she is. Shes great. They were very vocal in their support. The senior senator from utah, the senior senator from South Carolina, senior senator from arizona. But it soon became apparent the republican leader pressed these people a little bit and suddenly they werent as interested in moving the lynch confirmation along, even though thats what they said it they should do. Her nomination dragged on, has dragged on for months. In fact, i repeat, shes waited longer to be confirmed in the first 54 attorneys general combined longer than attorneys general nominated by every president from George Washington to Woodrow Wilson and beyond. What should have been by the American People. I think we should do that. Let me note im goings quote i was going to say this anyway but i was pleased that mr. Andrew mccarthy, who prosecuted some of the top terrorist cases in america former u. S. Attorney, assistant United States attorney, very critical and very strongly of the belief that she should not be confirmed but he says this a vote against ms. Lynchs confirmation is not an assessment that she has performed incompetently or unethically in a prior government position. It is a vote against the president s blatantly unconstitutional policy and against mrs. Lynchs support of that policy. Senators are bound by oath to uphold the constitution. Ms. Lynchs prior laudable record has a federal prosecutor cannot overcome her commitment to violating the constitution. Requestings we have a right to assert that. Were paid to make decisions about that. And i think mr. Mccarthy is correct. Congress was given certain powers as a coequal branch of government not only to protect the congress as an institution but to restrain other government branches from overreaching. And one of those powers is the senates power to confirm or not confirm, and this check on executive powers can be used as Congress Sees fit. But, it should not be abused, as the president should not use his nominees to abuse the constitution or to advance an unlawful agenda. The attorney general is the top Law Enforcement officer in the country. This is not a tra traditionally a political position. It is a law position. Anyone who occupies the office must serve the American People, and under the laws and the constitution of the United States. Theyre not above it. The Supreme Court has clearly held the president is subjected to the laws. Its always been a part of the law of the land. The senate must never confirm an an to an office such as this who will support and advance a scheme that violates our constitution and eviscerates established law and congressional authority. No person who would do that should be confirmed and we dont need to be apologetic about i onus falls on the new republican majority. For several months, ive called on the republican majority to block the confirmation of president obamas executive and judicial nominees other than Vital National security positions unless and until the president rescinds his lawless amnesty. Im sorry to say the majority leadership has been unwilling to do so. The republican majority, if it so chose could defeat this nomination but the republican majority has chosen to go forward and allow Loretta Lynch to be confirmed. I would note there are more than a few voters back home that are asking what exactly is the difference between a democratic and republican majority when the exact same individual gets confirmed as attorney general promising the exact same lawlessness, whats the difference . Thats a question each of us will have to answer to our constituents when Loretta Lynch confirmed today to be the next attorney general. She senate voted 5643. Shell replace eric holder and become the first black woman in the in additions top Law Enforcement post. She currently serves as u. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of new york. 10 republicans voted yes today, kelly ayotte, thad cochran, susan collins, sneff flake, lindsey graham, majority leader Mitch Mcconnel, mark kirk ron johnson, orrin hatch, and rob portman. Ted cruz did not vote. This morning there was a discussion of thousand move forward on a future trade deal in the talks. This is just over an hour. Good morning, everyone, if you take your seats were about to get started. Can you hear me . Is that all right . Do we need a little more volume . Were all right . All right. So good morning everyone, im fred camp, president and c. E. O. Of the Atlantic Council. Youre all joining us for what ini hope will be a historic moment. Secretary of state john kerry will be joining us at 10 00 a. M. This morning to proceed keynote remarks for the launch of our new trade and National Security initiative. Were also building a Business Coalition for trade and security to help highlight the geopolitical implications of the obama administrations ambitious global trade agenda to draw attention not just to the benefits of action but to the costs of inaction and failure. And so any of you who are interested in getting more information on that, please contact me in my office directly. The secretary kill discuss the vital importance of trade in securing the future of u. S. Leadership in the world, making strong partners, stronger partners, avenue our allies and strengthening their economies which in turn helps us here at home. American leaders have understood the Strategic Logic of trade at least since Franklin Delano roosevelt signed the reciprocal trade Agreement Act of 1934 which through its five years ultimately included 19 trade a trade agreements. Dont forget what a historic moment that was in the history of the 20th century. Many years and a world war later, president kennedy called the reciprocal trade program quote, an expression of Americas Free World Leadership. President kennedy made a lot of news around the world in 1963 with his speech ich bin ein berliner, as he stood up for free west berlin. Less remembered was his speech the same week, a bit earlier at the st. Paus church in frankfurt where he talked about st. Pauls church in frankfurt with where he called for an Economic Alliance that almost sounded like an economic nato. Economic freedom is needed, by opening our markets by contributing our capital and our skills, by stabilizing basic prices, we can help assure them of a favorable climate for freedom and growth. Then he ended that quote with, this is an atlantic responsibility. So today we gather at a moment of new atlantic responsibility. The idea of trade being geopolitically important isnt the particularly new one, but we do have an important new inflexion point, which we here at the Atlantic Council, and i have said this quite often, feel is as important as the end of world war i in 1919, the end of world war ii in 1945, 1961 in berlin, the end of the cold war in 1989. What galvanizes our work at the Atlantic Council is a conviction that each of those moments of history, it has been u. S. Leadership among our friends and allies, or lack thereof, what has shaped the future. It is certain that if we dont lead, others will fill the void as weve seen in ukraine and syria. They will be less about a nevelenlt. As you all know benevolent. As you all know, president obama likes basketball and he has referred to the last two years of his second term as the Fourth Quarter of his presidency. And as the clock ticks down, hes making some big bets on Foreign Policy front, on iran in particular, and cuba and elsewhere. Yet for all the publicity those efforts have gained, their completion would not do as much to shape a new world order and ensure its norms of behavior through this defining moment as the obama trade agenda. Which could bring 2 3 of the worlds economies under a set of strictures that are very friendly to what we have tried to create with our allies after the end of world war ii. And thats what were here to discuss today. Timing couldnt be better. While secretary kerry makes his arguments here u. S. Trade representative Michael Froman is in japan negotiating to close the remaining gaps on the Transpacific Partnership. And the u. S. And e. U. Are hosting the ninth round of ttip talks in new york city. Last week a Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority bill was introduced in the senate. Republicans ted cruz and paul ryan endorsed it in the wall street journal yesterday. So with that scene set let me turn to a Foreign Press of individuals who are uniquely qualified to talk about the connection between American Economic strength and the place of these trade investment agreements and National Security and ill also ask them to come to the stage as i introduce them. For our audience and online we welcome your participation in this dialogue. Our twitter hashtag today is actrade. So let me repeat that. Actrade. Brief introductions. Carolined a kinson is the deputy National Security advisor for International Economic affairs of the us who. No one Better Qualified to address these issues and provide insight into the obama administrations trade efforts. General jones, you can start making it to the stage president on interNational Security and an Atlantic Council Board Director. Former National Security advisor to barack obama, former supreme allied commander in europe, theres perhaps noes one who has been more consistent perhaps noes one who has been a more consistent perhaps has been no one who has been a more consistent spokesperson about National Security. Ambassador, also a Board Director at the Atlantic Council, shell probably provide a republican view on this democratic president s legacy moment. And can give us insight into how the trade initiative is being viewed from the other side of the aisle. In many ways it was a midterm elections. This is the one legacy moment that gets made easier by the last midterm elections, rather than harder. She served as undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs. And were delighted to be joined by australias ambassador to the u. S. , kim beasley. Representing an allied nation with whom we already have a Free Trade Agreement and a key partner in the Transpacific Partnership. Hes a rode scholar, former deputy Prime Minister, minister of defense and finance so he can bring all those portfolios to bear and former prominent member of the australian parliament. So let me sit down and get this conversation going. The panelists dont have prepared comments so what ill do is ill ask some questions down the line. Just to make it as informal as possible, if you see even in this opening round that one of the speakers has said something youd like to comment on, feel free to free to jump in and well do it in a little less formal of a fashion. So for caroline, you know, how much of a legacy moment is this for the president . How does the president see this in the context of Everything Else hes trying to get done in the world and how are you going to get democratic members of congress to give you the backing you need to get it through . Because i think im right that thats more of a question at the moment than it is republicans. Caroline thank you very much. I want to say, even though these are not formal remarks, thanks for your leadership in having this session and with all these terrific panel members. I believe this is a really important moment. Of course for the president and the president s legacy, but more important for america and American Leadership around the world. This notion of that you expressed of trade that will link our allies and partners covering 2 3 of global g. D. P. , not just through Market Access, but with setting standards by which trade will be conducted in this enormous area, first in asia, the Fastest Growing region in the world, and then with europe, with our allies, is really an important moment both for our economy, because it will be good for American Workers and companies and others and consumers, but also for our leadership in the world. You mentioned about democrats and you pointed out at the beginning that there was a bipartisan bill introduced last week. Overnight the Senate Finance committee reported out a markup of t. P. A. , along with trade promotion authority, along with some other bills with a 206 majority, which is very strong. So the many people working very hard on this, including of course the president. So i think weve seen the president s leadership, hes been very clear, very much out there arguing for why this is a good bill for america. Its also very important for everybody in america and for our allies and partners. Fred so talk to me a little bit about that bill and then well get into the geopolitical arguments. If you look at the 206 vote, obviously thats not a vote for t. P. P. Its a vote for t. P. A. What will be harder in the t. P. P. Argument, the Transpacific Partnership, who does one have to convince and what do you think are the most important arguments, both for people, for workers of america and how do the, you know its very interesting most often administrations make economic arguments about trade. Were talking now about National Security arguments, geopolitical arguments. Talk about how, you know, who needs to be convinced, what are the questions about t. P. P. That need to be satisfied and how does the geopolitical argument work inside of this . Caroline i think the first argument is an economic one. People need to be satisfied that t. P. P. Will be good for america and will be good for American Workers and American Families. We believe and the president believes that it will be. We know that exports support in our economy 11 million jobs. We know that export growth has accounted for 1 3 of the growth that weve had since the crisis in 2009. And Research Shows that jobs supported by exports tend to be better paid than other jobs. By as much as 18 more than other jobs. So all of these elements are ones that are very good for American Families. Beyond that, the t. P. P. Itself includes not just Market Access but a wide range of local disciplines that will spread from our values and our standards on labor, labor rights, on the environment, on protection of intellectual property, which of course help to promote the innovation ma makes the American Economy so strong and many other areas that will make it much more than an ordinary Free Trade Agreement. My colleague always refers to it as a 21st century agreement. Setting Global Standards and norms for the 21st century. And its also being referred to as, you know, a progressive trade agreement. In the sense that it supports american values. So the economic argument americans need to be convinced that this is good for them. And actually recent polling suggests that a majority of americans do believe that exports are good for them and trade can be good for them. But of course there is a lot of concern about globalization, stagnant wages those concerns are very real. Which is partly why we need to make sure that we are in the lead, establishing a level Playing Field. We believe once youve got that level Playing Field through these rules, america can do well and can, you know be the other countries beat the other countries in terms of being able to sell our goods. On the geostrategic, which links with the economy, first of all, our economic strength and leadership and attractiveness, the products that we make and sell openness of our economy, kim was speaking earlier about how much American Investment there is in asia. All of these aspects of our economy help to build our partnerships with other countries and help to strengthen those partnerships. At the same time our leadership in developing and promoting and working with others on this agreement is helps to strengthen and deepen those ties were going to hear from our nation ties. Were going to hear from our nations chief diplomat on this, but i would like to remind everybody of what the secretary of defense, ash carter, said just a couple of weeks ago. He said, if he was asked to choose between t. P. P. And an Aircraft Carrier, he would choose t. P. P. From his Strategic Perspective of how to keep america safe and strong. Fred but he wouldnt be able to land jets on it. Caroline could he do much more than land jets. T. P. P. Does much more than that. Fred i think thats a good segue to general jones. How does a marine feel about this choice between Aircraft Carriers and t. P. P. . Thats kind of a frivolous but underlying serious question. You gave a speech to the National Defense industry, Industrial Association where you said that the administration should broaden the National Security councils role to encompass more energy matters. Are we just not looking comprehensively enough at, first, how we define National Security and how we use our National Security tools . And so and this i think grabs nicely off of the Aircraft Carrier t. P. P. Values. This is really an exciting time and im enthusiastic about what the administration is trying to do here. We have a great u. S. Trade rep and i think the secretarys use of global diplomacy or commercial diplomacy is one of the bright things thats really going on in our approach to world affairs. James and i think it recognizes that weve made the transition from 20th century problem solving to 21st century problem solving. Globalization is a reality. And the relationship, particularly in this country, between the public and the private sector i think is on a course of conversions diversions. Because one of the sectors that is universally admired and recognized for what it does is the American Private sector. When you think about the developing world and the growth of africa and whats going on, even dealing with the problems that mr. Putin can is causing, is causing a large part of the solution set are economics, when you think about it. Energy security is something that can benefit thats benefits are not going to be only one of the United States strongest card in the future, but its the way of showing leadership in a more globalized world that recognizes the important changes between the two centuries. This centurys problems are going to be solved not just by Aircraft Carriers and troops alone. I think the formula is, obviously you have to have security before you can have Economic Development. But Security Plus Economic Development plus governance and rule of law applies proportionately to each individual problem can bring about and prevent future conflicts, future afghanistans, future iraqs. Its a lot cheaper and its also a way in which you can answer the radical threats that face us by showing families around the world, particularly through the use of the internet and the social media, that there are better ways. And there are brighter opportunities for their families and their children and the economic trade issues that were bringing to the floor now are exactly i think indicative of the kind of potential that the United States can unleash with a tremendous private sector. So the coming together of organizations like the National Security council, to encompass a much broader response to what are the traditional threats the secretary of commerce is an aggressive program, the u. S. Trade reps work i think this is really the way of the future and im very excited by the potential. Fred drill down on that a little bit particularly in the energy sector, which you talk a lot about and are quite passionate about. The Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership t. P. P. , what could that mean for expanded access to suddenly plentiful American Energy . For our partners . Part of that is how do we use energy in term as a National Security tool . This may come back to you as well, caroline, because i think many of our allies would like an Energy Charter in ttip which at the moment i think is not also they would like to have finance in ttip but thats another issue. Should an Energy Charter be in this is the u. S. Open to that . For caroline. So first to you. Should it be there there . James sure. I think that the way we use energy and the way we see energy in the future has to be a global approach. It cant just i cringe a little bit when i hear the term , you know, that energy is weve got ours and everybody else is kind of on their own. I think that the difference between the russian president s position which tends to use energy as a weapon and ours is completely different. Should be completely different. We can use energy and our good fortune and energy and our technology to help developing countries skip the pollution stage of energy, for example sharing technology providing American Leadership and leadership of our friends and allies holistically, to help jumpstart economies from struggling economies all over the world. You need energy. Those who have it are blessed. Those who dont need it. To me, enlightened american Foreign Policy should include the ways in which were going to try to make energy and climate an issue that typifies all of the best qualities of American Leadership. So i think its a very positive opportunity and as i mentioned, i do believe that part of the response to mr. Putin particularly where europe is concerned, is to help the europeans become less dependent and give them choices. Theres exciting projects being discussed right now. The Atlantic Council has been at the forefront of this northsouth corridor from the baltics to the adriatic, involving at least 13 Different Countries, which if it comes to pass will have a u. S. European Transatlantic Partnership on using energy for a much greater influence on a geostrategic problem that mr. Putin deserves to pay a price for strategically. Well see what happens. But its very exciting. Fred for anyone who wants to look at that report its on our website, atlanticcouncil. Org. General jones is the cochair of this northsouth Energy Corridor idea. Its really getting traction at the moment. Both in brussels and here. A question of the Energy Charter. Caroline i would pick up on what general jones said which is that we need to and indeed are working on with energy and climate, seeing that as part of National Security and International Economic work. In my position, energy and climate is one of the three areas, including trade and investment and the global economy. So we already are seeing it in that integrated fashion. We are working intensively weve got most attention with china lat last year, on climate and clean energy and the link there. Sharing technology. Were working also with india and other countries intensively on how to work towards leap frog the dirty stage as the general was pointing out. As you know, Energy Exports the department of energy licenses gives license for export and they have now licensed very large quantities. It depends on the private sector to build the facilities. When you look and we also have a link that these licenses are freely granted to countries , with projects going to countries that have a Free Trade Agreement. So if these agreements get done, both t. P. P. And ttip, that will expand the almost automatic granting of licenses for projects in those regions. We have worked a lot with europe particularly in the last 15 months and theres a g7 energy track now with ministers and weve also worked about the fact that in europe, especially in some parts of europe, theres room for more energy efficiency. Theres also room for breaking down the European Energy market. At the moment we export people spain has an l. N. G. Terminal, but they do not send the gas into europe because theres no way to transmit it. So they sell it on to asia. You have wind power in the north sea that cant get to where its needed for the south because there arent transmission lines because nobody wants so there are many issues within europe which they are working on and which we can work with them. We certainly believe in promoting a strong Global Market for oil gas and other energy. And of course the clean energy. Fred at this point theres not a particular need for it to be in ttip. Caroline exactly. Fred draw upon your career in u. S. Government, talk both about the National Security objectives that are locked in, trade agreements, but perhaps you can also talk about how hard it is to get these deals done. Because i talked to someone from the Clinton Administration who was crucial to this, to nafta, yesterday and she said to me, she said to me, they have no idea what theyre getting into. It takes a huge amount of effort and it takes a huge amount of concentration of an administration to push one of these quite ambitious deals through. Not to mention t. P. A. To start with. Let me first congratulate you for bringing us together. Because the focus this morning, its not just on the economics. Which i think is really quite important. Its pointing out how these trade agreements really are absolutely crucial for our National Security. Let me start with that one. Obviously there are the political elements because trade, ones Economic Standing is so integral and inner woveg within ones military standing. Paula and ability to show strength and to be able to achieve ones National Security objectives. You know i remember when admiral mullin not too long ago, as chairman of the joint chiefs had said, you know, we have to really worry greatly about our economy. And the integration here, it isnt just about the Aircraft Carrier. And that matters. But it is also about your Economic Standing and what impact that also has. So in that sense, thats a key one. But let me mention two others that are sometimes often forgotten. Caroline referred to it and that is, she mentioned the importance of values and standards. And here theres also a paradigm thats been established. And again it is interwovegen with other paradigms interwoven with other paradigms. Our military alliances and what they mean. But not just only that, also the kind of humanitarian alliances we have. The rule of law, the values that we have. At this time, with many global challenges that we have around the world, you know, in this case, this adds great value. Because it does contribute to that International Global order, to that paradigm. And then theres a third id put forth. And thats a one that we look at but its also audiences in asia and also in europe. And that is how you build consensus at home. If you are able to bolster your economy, and these agreements will do that, that leads to greater consensus in the Foreign Policy arena. Thats been a real challenge for us here in the United States in terms of trying to galvanize that support and point out that steak that we have in events abroad stake that we have in events abroad. I believe strongly that these elements are all interwoven, if these, you know, you go forward, you have the agreements, it bolsters the economy, your Economic Standing and in turn it helps in building a consensus a domestic consensus at home for dealing with National Security challenges abroad. Fred so in short you see a direct connection, for example, maybe im taking this a step fu far, between the conclusion of ttip and the strengthen of nato . Paula there are direct connections. We know that with regard to nato one of the mandates we want to see greater burden sharing, and toward that end, if you bolster economies, youre going to have resources to be devoted in the National Security area. Secondly, a deepening of ties. A kind of a spree decor. Theres challenge here to the alliance. And in that sense, this can only undergird our strength and our foundation of strength. Not just in the military area, but economically. Even some basic questions of transport. I mean, when you think down to that detail, these trade agreements can have a great impact. You already discussed energy. I think the important element here is the fact that europe is looking at a diversified approach. And in that sense i think that only adds value and again, its interconnected clearly with these agreements. Its a winwin situation. On the other part of your question, its very very difficult. I have it from the other side of the ledger. Caroline mentioned labor and environment, and i spent my time when i was in government in dealing with Environmental Issues. Which were interwoven into these questions. But let me just say this. Its doable. It requires patience. It requires also being able to listen. Not only to put forth your own objectives but also to listen and you have to have give and take. I firmly believe that these agreements in the end, even with the kind of give and take and some of the challenges that exist, like in the agricultural areas, some other areas, that the bottom line is, everyone realizes who will be around the table and who are around the table, they realize look, in the end you give a little here but you get these benefits there. So patient, leadership, a broader perspective. A multilateral perspective. But of course looking at your own interests. And also i certainly would not forget in this i think also two other important aspects. I think the executive legislative relationships matter and i also i think the n. G. O. Community and the Business Community matter. So also in that sense, in terms of this Business Forum and a launch in Business Forum, it matters greatly. Because you have to have the voice of the Business Community and also the nongovernmental community. Patience and openness really matters. Fred let me turn to ambassador beasley. Im just going to be a panelist for 30 seconds, to agree violently with paula. But to add one other thing, and that is 15 years of europe having half the rate of growth of the u. S. Is actually not good for us. Its not and its not good for our security, its not good for geopolitics. And so we are seeing, actually potentially more resistance to the ttip in europe right now than in the u. S. We have to see how that unfolds. But the director of our Global Business economics problem is really pushing forward a europe growth initiative. Not just an economic story but also a geopolitical story and a National Security story. Just those couple of comments. Pastor ambassador beasley, since youve been appointed here as ambassador, youve been a strong supporter of free trade. Concluded agreements recently with japan korea, and perhaps most interestingly, with china. And thats where i want to go with this question. With the asiapacific economy growing faster than any part of the world how have these trade agreements benefited australia, but you already have this Bilateral Agreement with the u. S. Why do you need t. P. P. And then what do you do about china within this . Kim i think fred which is not part of t. T. P. Kim t. T. P. Is on a totally different plane. Theres a plethora of trade agreements in asia and there will be many more, negotiated after the t. P. P. Is put into place. The asian nations love organizing the trade agreements between them. Theyre not particularly exciting. I think the three that we have negotiated with, with korea japan and china are a bit more exciting. But probably thats driven by the education thats being delivered to countries in the region, following whats been happening with the t. P. P. The second point i want to make is the trade between this country and the asian region is intense and the character of that trade has driven asian prosperity. Its now selfgenerating to a considerable degree, but not in its origins. The u. S. Was the great importer of last resort, as has been the obvious and the debates that have been taking place in the u. S. One of the things i point out to my friends in the trade Union Movement is this currently your effective rate of protections for manufactured goods is 1. 5 . After the t. P. P. It will be 1. 5 . If the t. P. P. Is not done, it will be 1. 5 . What does that tell you . What that tells you is that you have been open to the manufactured product, the supply chains and operate out of the asian region, into the United States, for years. And you have driven the prosperity of those countries and now you actually have an opportunity to get some back yourself. So thats part of whats bound up in the argument for the t. P. P. , but it is not the argument for the t. P. P. The argument for the t. P. P. Is that asia was excluded in effect from the setting of the arrangements to govern world trade since world war ii. When the United States finally cracked open the restrictive european empires and started to introduce a level of principle into the way in which International Trading arrangements were done honesty, integrity and certainty. Thats what came through with the w. T. F. Not applied in asia. The chinese and japanese were prostrated at the end of the war. All rest were under european empires. Now theres a chance for the asian people to participate in rule setting. And when the t. P. P. Goes through, and i believe it will with the extraordinary superior character of the rules that are being put in place ecommerce protection behind the border removalal of restrictions on activities associated with the other sector, theres a range of sorts of things that are coming in through the t. P. P. That will be, in potential, the w. T. F. , the gas for the asiapacific region. And the strategic significance of that is that it will be a standard to which all will repair. The small number of nations, albeit with some very substantial economies, negotiating it now. But after it is put in place, many of the countries in the region will have as a first order priority, and ill include china in this working out ways in which they may place themselves within it. So in terms of the strategic position here, thats the american interest, if you like. This is not ganging up on the chinese. This is putting in place something that makes a real difference for the way in which the burgeoning trade of asia asia is conducted to introduce to it sensible rules integrity and the rest of it. Theres one other thing i want to say on the security issue. Because we look at Security Issues differently from you. The starting point of the way in which we look at global Security Issues is not who contains whom, but how strong is our principle ally . How powerful is the United States . How happy is the United States . When i first gave public evidence here to your Foreign Trade commission, a couple of weeks after i arrived, and i said, you know, the happiness the prosperity, the health of the United States, and in particular the american middle class, is an Australian National interest. The american middle class has been smashed. And the American Economy for years has been driven by domestic consumption by the american middle class. A combination of technology, a combination of the affects of other trade agreements, a the changes in labor laws, a whole range of things have contributed to that. Basically that would identify changes in technology, because the american middle class experience is not unique. What is going to give them a chance to drive prosperity and Income Growth in the future . Theres only one thing that will. And that is acquisition of access to the product you produce to another middle class. In asia now that stands at 580 million. Is in 10 years time. That will stand at three billion. 66 60 of the worlds middle class. Youll prosper in this country if you can access that fairly for your product. Youll not prosper if you cant. Fred that was just wonderful. I mean its rare where you have someone who has been both defense minister and finance minister. You heard him speaking as both. And for those of who you are tweeting happiness of america is an australia is in australias national interest, i want you to i would broaden that to global interest. But could you just drill down just a little deeper, as defense minister, does t. P. P. Reassure asian allies . And do they need that sort of reassurance right now . Kim theres no doubt at all that in asia we like to see the americans around. I often do point out in this country, you have great courage in going where you are hated. And you stick around where youre hated and i admire you for it. You should go where youre loved. I mean sort of the worst that you experience is from, well, lets leave the North Koreans out of this, but the worst that you experience really in the region is sort of quizcal cautious skepticism by the chinese, and that ranges through to outright love in australia. And everybodys in between. So the area is very accepting of u. S. Leadership. It is also very understanding of a value that the United States has been to the region in terms of the product being exported to the United States. The experience in the region of American Companies is ok. Theres an enormous amount of American Investment in the area. You have 650 billion invested in australia directly and indirectly which is twice what youve got invested in china. Weve got 470 billion invested in you, rising at the rate of 30 billion a year, and thats 20 times what we got invested in china. Its those sorts of stories, theyre all over the region. So the notion that somehow youre discorrected from this is a nonsense, of course disconnected from this is nonsense, of course. What you havent done is put intellectual effort into india. You put a lot of intellectual effort into europe and japan and were going to see over the next couple a years a very different sort of japan. But also a base for what youve been prepared to to do with them. But youre nowhere near that effort into asia and southeast asia. That gives you the chance to do that but more important than that make the rules right. Make the rules. There are no rules. There are agreements. And get a set of rules that the region can connect to, that have a bit of principle behind them. Fred thank you for that. Let me go back to caroline and also whether general jones and paula have any comments on what theyve heard and then well go to the audience. Caroline thanks. I want to jump in after kim. Terrific explanation of about happeniness of america and thats of course what drives me. Two points. The first is that hes absolutely right. About how welcoming and how important it is to establish rules, norms standards, that is what paula also referred to. I would argue that there has been intellectual effort put into that. But it will come to fruition when were able to close t. P. P. On the basis of a strong bipartisan supported t. P. A. Which goes to paulas point about a functioning and strong u. S. The other thing is that if we do not do this, and i agree with you that i believe this will happen, but if one imagines not going forward, the world wouldnt stay the same. Kim referred to the 500 Million Consumers in the asia pacific that are going to turn into three billion in 10 years time. 95 of the worlds consumers are outside america. Theyre going to go on doing that consuming and this straight without the rules and standards and norms that we have. Based on our values. Whatever we do. But if we do nothing. But if were there helping to set the rules with them, working with them to set these norms and standards and values, to set the level playingfield, then were showing leadership. If were not there, that would be a big absence, which i agree with tim, would be make not just us less happy but those in asia also. Fred in terms of windows of opportunity, its not entirely clear to me that if this fails now youll have another shot four or five years from now. Caroline this is the time to move. This is a tremendous window of opportunity. Weve been working on it, especially with the president s strong backing. This is the time to move. As somebody as you referred to, the Fourth Quarter. Theres a lot of things happening in the Fourth Quarter. We certainly believe that this is the moment for this one. Fred thank you. Do you want to jump in on any of the issues . Paula id just say, i want to agree wholeheartedly that this is the window of opportunity and i wanted to inject two words that i havent quite heard in the conversation, peace and stability. Because were talking about security. Here, as i was hearing you speak, i mean, thats also what undergirds all of this. Because when you do have a paradigm you do have rules and you have an order here, it is only going to contribute to that and it will counter conflicts. Conflicts that can arise when you dont have them. Fred when i spoke to you, general jones, actually of the Atlantic Council, while you were National Security advisor, i was surprised by your answer to one question i asked, which was, what keeps you up at night in terms of threats to the u. S. And you didnt say terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, you said, national competitiveness. Is this part of that piece . Peace . James yeah. I think that answer vocalizes my belief that, as you transition into this century, you know, i think a legitimate question, strategic question that we should be asking ourselves is, where do you want to be in 2050 . In 1945 we charted a course that got us to the year 2000 with some success. And i think the drivers to that position in 2050 are different than they were in the 20th century. Its not as onesided as it used to be. Its not the province of just the Defense Department and a little bit of the state department and a little bit of the National Security council. Its a big it has a lot to do with our Energy Department our secretary of commerce and just the whole government i approach. Approach. I think this transition of how we make all of these pieces work more in greater cohesion and to understand that this century is not about any one department solving any particular problem, its much more complex than that. And the problems arrive at us in waves now that we havent seen before. We built a world in the 20th century to deal with problems, serious problems, but with a sense of order. And we built the institutions that dealt with those problems and there was a sense of order as well. This world is more disordered. We have to deal with not only the National Community of nations, but also nonstate actors. And the evolution of, and the importance of organized crime and drugs and illegal trafficking of arms and Human Trafficking and terrorism and Everything Else. And these people are working much more closely together. So the way we respond to that has to be much more holistic and i think that one of the things that i hope comes as a result of this period is a reaffirmation of americas commitment to do what it can to not only participate but lead where it can and to also convey the image that were all in this together. And that, you know, the day where you can just throw it to the u. S. And say, ok, you guys fix it, you know, those days are probably gone. Thats probably a good thing. I think theres enormous opportunity. This is a time and this is a moment where friends and allies and the United States can Work Together and really adopt a spirit of what i would almost say is conflict prevention. How do you prevent these things from happening . If you can get to that point, the investments that you make will be a lot cheaper. And youll really i think strike a blow again to radicalism wherever it manifests itself. Because at the end of the day, if you can show people that theres a Better Future by using the toe toll tarity of your asset, your energy, your private sector might, you know stand with the Publicprivate Partnership that were increasingly talking about, where the United States is concerned. I think you can do some Amazing Things in the century and by 2050 i think the position of the United States in terms of affecting many things that are going on around the globe will be secure. Fred thank you very much for that. Questions, please. Identify your question to whom youd like to identify yourself and to whom youd like to pose your question. Questioner hi. I guess my question is for the whole panel really. But given the importance of this trade agenda, National Security agenda, are we going to oto use it, especially in the context of ttip, as an opportunity to fix our own agricultural problems with our subsidies, our local content requirements, a lot of things that are actually in violation of rules, but which domestic lobbies make it difficult to change . I think that would actually help the to create a sense that were all in this together and there is a free and fair Global Trading system. Fred ill give this one to you, caroline. What role will agriculture play in ttip . Caroline thank you. Maybe ill just remark that agricultures playing an Important Role in t. T. P. And t. P. P. And we look forward to getting that completed. American farmers are actually big supporters of trade in many ways. I think we have to, with europe, we will, you know, with we share much more we share much more similar economic structures. Whats particularly important about that agreement will be the setting of rules and standards, norms based on values and understanding in the field of agriculture that we should have sciencebased regulation and that sort of thing. I dont want to get into the details of how we might be negotiating on some of the different topics, i believe that we have, you know a very strong and ambitious negotiator on our side and also very good negotiators on the other side who want and the commission really believes in making a good deal. And a good deal, i think, we have to recognize in any negotiation, it has to be good in the end for both sides. You give a little, you take a little. But you have to believe that there is a whole that is in everybodys interest. Fred youre a wise public servant. [laughter] can we have the microphone up here, please . Questioner thank you very much. Thanks for putting this panel together. As someone who worked in the Clinton White house on the last time the democratic president tried to get fast tracked through, i know how difficult this can be. Newt gingrich as speaker of the house was unable to muster a majority in favor of fast track and it had to be pulled in 1997. Before a vote. And went down in defeat. Facing the difficult congressional agenda today caroline, youre faced with the fact that senator obama voted against cafta in 2005. How do you address those who raise that . Caroline i think the president himself has addressed remarks that he made about nafta and he said look, trade deals are not always deliver what had theyve promised deliver what had theyve promised. What were delivered what theyve promised. What were doing similar proving on previous trade dreels deals. You learn as you go along. Never before have issues of labor and Environmental Standards been included as enforceable parts of a trade agreement. Ambassador beazley referred to all of the nature of the sort of modern nature of this agreement that is being negotiated with the asiapacific. Of course the politics are difficult and the politics are difficult because when middle class families have been disappointed and seen stagnant wages for a long time theyre looking for what is going to make life better. We believe this will make life better, but we understand that there have been, you know, a difficult time. The president came in with a terrible financial crisis and to i think our answer is that this agreement is different from previous agreements. This is a better, stronger agreement. It may not be the final state of the art, where no doubt things will change in the future and require even more improvements but this is a step change from previous agreements both in its breadth, among different country, t. T. P. Ranging from vietnam to japan, but also in its scope of areas that it addresses. Kim i think i heard the president trying to articulate this in a slightly different way. The u. S. Has already given up the counter, right . In terms of the trading relationships with not simplyy with the countries signed up here youve got to remember the 11 are not as important as the outside waiting 20odd. Its the rules that will ultimately impact on them that really count. What the u. S. Is getting from this is a cracking open of barriers that others have always left in place. Those are the areas that matter. The u. S. Has collapsed the protective devices theyve had in place. Perhaps not in agriculture, but in the manufacturing area. So this is your one chance to get into other folks situation , as they are into yours. And its the only chance really. If this falls apart, if this does not happen, it doesnt mean trade agreements go away. Probably it will mean that, dont ask me to say what these initials mean, because i cant get them, were involved in negotiating it ourselves, as et. Which is by no means the comprehensive character of the rules concerned, but will be in the t. T. P. , but will be the rules that will go into place. This will disappear, it will ree reemerge probably about four or five years from now on the initiative of the chinese and there are idea of a Free Trade Agreement for the asiapacific region. This is the last chance cafe. James one of the most interesting things i was asked to do during my time in National Security advisor was to lead a delegation composed of the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, secretary of commerce and the u. S. Trade rep to capitol hill to meet with the leaders of the congressal the congressional leaders on both sides of the hill to talk about the importance of u. S. Export control reforms. Not something you would typically associate with a National Security advisor. But it really gave some insight into the president s thinking even back in 2009, about the urgency of doing that kind of thing. I think this is an opportunity for congress to really do whats in the best interest of the American People. I think most americans favor trade, they favor free trade they favor opportunity and growth. And they dont approve of anything that gets in the way. We have a lot of things that i think the congress could get together on to make it easier for our private sector to compete and to enter the markets and so on and so forth. And also to make other countries willing to invest in the United States. The emir of qatar announced not long ago an intent to invest 35 billion into the United States. And that is remarkable. And were working to try to make sure that when that happens thats done the right way, they get a fair return on their investment, that it also helps where we need help in perhaps our decaying infrastructure, and that it brings the bilateral relationship closer together. So trade is really an important not only economic issue but also a geopolitical and geostrategic issue and an interNational Security issue. Fred thank you, general jones. I saw at least two questions first. So let me go here. Well pick up both of those questions. Questioner thank you. Im an independent reporter. My question to atkinson about the a. I. B. , the china proposed asia infrastructure development, the bank, how do you explain to the audience and the American People that administrations handling the playout, that allies like britain and france and germany all joined the bank in defines of the u. S. Government opposition . Thank you. And ambassador fred that question is for . Am boss doer, you can comment on that as well. Questioner if i may. About australias china policy in a private conversation with visiting german chancellor and your Prime Minister said the china policies are based on two words. Agreed and fear. That was reported by australian media. But it was a private conversation reported. How do you explain that . Thank you. Fred thank you. Because were running short on time now, let me turn to that second question there and this may ill watch people, but this may have to be our final round. Well see. Please. Questioner sort of a followup there. Just to delineate some more differences between rsep and some other games in town and the u. S. T. T. P. Northwestern university. Caroline thank you very much. So first of all, i want to repeat what treasury secretary jack lu jack lew and maybe many others have said. That we welcome the provision of financing for infrastructure in asia. We see that there is great need for it. We are encouraging the existing institutions, the world bank and the Asian Development bank not just to move forward with their own plans for infrastructure but work with the Asian Infrastructure bank when it is established. We have maintained i think along with many of our allies that its important that this bank compliment the existing institutions and that if it is to be useful for borrowers that it has High Standards, High Standards of governance, and also High Standards of procurement, High Standards of for the Infrastructure Projects that are put in place, and were glad to see that there are active discussions along these lines. We believe that its important that this bank works with other institutions the other institutions work with it, and we have been and continue to be directly engaged with china on laying out what we see as the important standards. The question about rsep, there are fred before you go, ambassador, do you have thoughts on that . We have the i. M. F. Chief here and she was actually pretty embracing of it and thought this could be brought together with what i. M. If and others are doing and really be i. M. F. And others are doing and really be additional value. Kim it could be. When youre dealing with the situation where there are rising powers in the globe, you do from time to time have to make way to see, allow hem or to see what they have allow them or to see what they have to offer in terms of new thoughts they may have. On the way in which Global Financial institutions, trade arrangements and the like, should be conducted. I think the main point here, though, is to ensure that as the bank is developed, it does not underpline very strong standardses that are being put in place for governments, associated with banking arrangements in the region. I think the american position outside the negotiation, ours inside, and the british now inside, and the europeans and others inside, is to try to get into the structure before it was finally settled. The sorts of standards that are give you a level of confidence that what that what may become an important financial instrument in the asian region is also operated with the highest level of integrity and dispassionate character in judgments by its board on the loans that it ought to be putting out there. This is a very much a work in progress and from what we can see, the pressures from inside and outside are causing beijing to adjust quite a bit, with government arrangements theyre putting in place for the bank. So i think something quite much more interesting and a great deal better than initial offers will be created out of that process. The good fella asked me about fear and agreed. I think, god, my private i thank god my private conversations are not broadcast to the rest of the world because much of them would have meant my political defeat and demise an awful lot earlier than it happened. [laughter] but and agreed and fear, it has to be said, very strong motives in human intercourse and in relations between nations. We see the rise of china in the region as positive in principle positive in the possibilities of office. Mutual prosperity in the asian region. We dont accept the judgments that are made and eminating about the security interests in the region. We need a decent discourse with the chinese and if the americans are in, it will be a better discourse