Transcripts For CSPAN Trump Cabinet Officials Confirmation Hearings Opening Statements 20170423

He did not have to do this. That is apparent. He did not have to choose education as you like ambition, but you did. I thank you for the investment and all the kids that you have impacted, for the unbelievable statistics. I am sure you and the senator from minnesota can come to a agreement. Ive sat here and i remember in my first election. I was two minutes into what seemed to be a 45 minute question and answer. After 10 minutes i said are there any questions that deal with kids or outcomes . They said no. I got up and left. We can ask you all sorts of questions about you personally and what you have done, but you came into my office, and before i asked the question, you convinced me that you are passionate about making sure that every child had the opportunity to get a successful education. From not that every child that got that education would have an opportunity to reach for the American Dream of a life that is unlimited in opportunity. You convinced me without me asking a question. I only have one question today. Why is it so difficult for us to figure out how to focus on outcome versus getting hung up on process . Ms. Devos i think that is a very good question. I think we could have a very robust debate in this room of the about that. Human tendency is to protect and guard what is because change is difficult. Yet we see the fact that there are millions of students who are simply not getting the opportunity for an equal opportunity for a quality education. We try to tinker around from the top. We try to fix things, but it becomes more about the system than it does about what is right for each child. I thank you for your support and your encouragement around the notion that every child should have the opportunity. Every parent should have the opportunity on behalf of the child to choose the right educational environment for them. I am hopeful that if we can continue having a robust conversation about this, that we will talk about the great school that our children have the opportunity to go to 10 years from now, which many may not exist today or look very different from what exists today. I think the opportunity to innovate education is virtually unlimited and has been untested to a large extent. I am very hopeful we will have that opportunity for that kind of conversation. Sen. Burr i think we will and i hope the Committee Sees it in their actions to make sure that you are at the helm of the department of education. As i look across america and the world, i have seen an age were technology is going to impact things that we did not even dream about five years ago. What we have seen happen to our health care in manufacturing. I remember my father at 90 years old looking at me about five years ago and saying i do not understand how a fax machine works. I never was able to explain it to him, but that did not limit my use of it or my belief that it served an important purpose. Education will change drastically. What is most foreign is to have someone passionate at the top, concerned about every child in every childs opportunity. I am grateful you are here. I think the nation deserves the secretary who the champion of public education. In a 2015 speech, you are really blunt. Government really sucks. You call the Public School system a deadend. In order to clarify, you never attended a Public School, did you . Ms. Devos correct. You never taught at a Public School. Ms. Devos i did not, but it i mentored at one. Teachers do better when their morale is high, do you agree . Ms. Devos yes. I support teachers. Just with reference to the quote i would like to introduce that for the record. I do not have any other questions about it and i have a limited amount of time. Another quote, you and your husband spoke at a conference a number of years ago. Your husband said the church has been displaced by the Public School as the center for activity and the center for what goes on in the community. Thomas jefferson did not view oublic education as contrary to religion. Do you . Ms. Devos i do not. Do you think school that receive government funding should meet this that meet the same accountability standards . Ms. Devos all schools receiving funding should meet the same accountability standards. Yes. Although you have different accountability standards between traditional Public Schools and charter schools. I am interested in this playing on level playing fid. So they should meet the same accountability standards . Ms. Devos yes. They should be very transparent with the information. Will you insist on the equal accountability for any school that receives federal funding, whether public, public charter, or private . Ms. Devos i support accountability. Is that a yes or a no . Ms. Devos i support accountability. Do you not want to answer my question. Mr. Moss i support accountability. I think all schools should be equally accountable. Do you agree with me or not . Ms. Devos no. Should all k12 schools receiving governmental funding be required to meet the requirements of the individual with disabilities education act . Ms. Devos i think they already are. I am asking you a should question. Should all schools receive receiving taxpayer funding meet the requirements . Ms. Devos that is a matter best left to the states. So some states might be good to kids with disabilities and some may not . Ms. Devos i think that is an issue best left to the state. What about the federal requirement . Lets limit it to federal funding. Should they be required to follow federal law you echo follow federal law . Ms. Devos as the senator referred to there are many parents who are very happy with the program there. I think all schools that receive federal funding should be required to meet this conditions of the individuals with disabilities act. Ms. Devos i think that is worth discussion. You cannot get agree with me. Finally, should all k12 schools receiving federal governmental funding be required to report harrassment . Ms. Devos federal funding certainly comes with strings attached. Think all such schools should report equal information about harassment or bullying, do you agree . Ms. Devos i would look forward to reviewing that provision. If it was a court, i would say that the judge tell the witness answer the question. Steve mnuchin was confirmed on february 13. His career in finance including years as a Senior Executive at goldman sachs. During the 2016 campaign, he served as Donald Trumps chair. This confirmation hearing includes questions from south Dakota Republican john thune. And colorado Democrat Michael bennet. What do you think is a reasonable expectation . Mr. Mnuchin i am looking at some of my notes. The short answer is i believe that we should be able to get 3 to 4 sustained gdp. I think that is absolutely important. The most important issue we have is economic growth. Whatever issues we have as republicans or democrats, i think we can agree that with more growth, it is a lot easier to solve these issues. We should all be focused on things to help grow the economy. In 1984 we had 7 . In 1998, we had 5 . In 2005 we had 3 . That was the last time we had appropriate growth rate. I share the president elects concern. I will work tirelessly if i am confirmed to create growth in the economy and create progrowth programs. I commit to work with all of you on all of that. Tax reform will be out first part of that. There are two areas where i think we can unleash the economy and achieve a higher level of growth. To what degree do you think regulations of volume coming out of this administration, even up to right now. As of yesterday, there was a 277 page regulation that affects farmers, Small Businesses, the folks that i represent. There was also in september, we sent a letter basically trying to get him to withdraw some regulations that dealt with evaluation discounts. That impact the state and make it difficult for a smaller business or former rancher to pass it on. When you get over there, will you hopefully look at the drawing those types of regulations and undoing a lot of harm economic harm which has adversely impacted the growth rate of this economy as quickly as possible . Mr. Mnuchin absolutely. We believe in appropriate regulation. There is excess regulation that is inhibiting jobs and growth and hurting the american workers. We are committed, specifically on what you have mentioned on the irs regulations on family businesses. Im committed to working with you and your office. We want to make sure that we cover the propriate loopholes, so that if people have businesses set up to avoid taxes any operating business, we need to make sure that people who own minority interests and operating businesses, that the valuation for tax purposes are reflected appropriately. Anybody who follows the market knows that there is a significant difference between control and noncontrolled. The irs should follow fair of valuations. We should collect the most money and not have lots of loopholes. We need to reflect fair valuations. Do you believe the dollar is too strong . Are we ever going to hear you say that it is too strong . Mr. Mnuchin as treasury secretary, i do not see it as my role, commenting on the dollar. I have commented on what i believe are the longterm. In 2011, due to the dysfunction in congress, we must we almost failed to raise the debt ceiling and as a result, the agency downgraded our nations debt rating for the first time in history. The stock market lost 17 of its value and did not recover for almost a year. A completely selfinflicted wound. In hurt American Retirement savings and dealt a blow to job creation. During the campaign, mr. Trump said that he could be financing or renegotiate our existing debt. Later in the campaign he suggested the country to pay our creditors less than what they do, specifically he said, you go back and say the economy just crashed. I am going to give you back half. He also said the United States never have to default. Do you agree with these statements . Mr. Mnuchin thank you for asking the question about the debt ceiling which i do want to comment on. I think it is a very important issue. If im lucky enough to be confirmed, please do not filibuster. Mr. Mnuchin the president has made it perfectly clear, and i think it is perfectly clear that honoring the u. S. Debt is the most important thing. I hope that when we get to the point, if i am confirmed, that we have the debt ceiling and we will not go to another one of these issues. I firmly believe the u. S. Has the obligation to honor can you commit to working with the congress to pass a clean that ceiling . Clean debt ceiling . Mr. Mnuchin i will commit to absolutely work with the congress, the house, and the senate so that we do not get to the last minute and run out of money. Is that a yes . A clean debt ceiling . Mr. Mnuchin i do not know what your technical issue of a clean debt ceiling . I would like as to raise the debt ceiling sooner rather than later as to raise cash us to raise the dead doing sooner rather than later. The tax plan would increase the debt by 7. 2 trillion over 10 years. The president elect has also proposed increasing defense spending and saying he will not touch entitlements like medicare or social security. He has only suggested reducing spending in 2015, nondefense Discretionary Spending comprised about 16 of the budget. Thisnclus nding for Veterans Benefits and our vestments in research. Even if we did not spend a single penny on any one of these priorities for an entire year, which i would not suggest. That would only pay for about 8 of his tax plan. It is a tax plan that increases the debt by 7. 2 trillion. Is that acceptable to you . Mr. Mnuchin that was the first tax plan and not this a the second tax plan. The first was 11 trillion. Mr. Mnuchin you must be referring to static and not dynamic. 11 trillion. Mr. Mnuchin you must be referring to static and not dynamic. The dynamic is 3. 6 trillion. We are adding mountains of debt. Mr. Mnuchin i discussed the debt with the president elect. We are concerned that we have gone from 10 billion to 20 20 trillion debt. Let me make a comment on the tax plan. Senator thune said that in our history the average growth rate is 3. 2 . You said between 3 or 4 , but there is no way that will fill the gap projected in these tax plans. I can accept the fact that the president elect might have changed your mind, i am trying to understand if you would find it acceptable to bury the American People under this kind of proposed debt. Mr. Mnuchin we had a rather modest Campaign Staff relative to the other people out there. One of the things i look forward to, if confirmed, is having access to all the people at treasury who are able to model these things. We had some internal models but were forced to rely upon external models. Certain of the assumptions we agreed with, certain of the assumptions we did not agree with. President trump has a progrowth economic tax plan. We are sensitive to the cost of that plan. Yesterday i had the opportunity to meet with senator wyden. I will be the person from the administration taking the lead on that. I would look forward to working with the house and the senate, both republicans and democrats, to move forward on tax legislation. I am out of time. I want to make one observation that he has twice praised employees of the treasury department. I want to say that that is a refreshing and Welcome Change from what we have heard of until now and a lot of these hearings. President trump chose longtime business associate wilbur ross for commerce secretary. Sorry secretary. He was confirmed in late february or a vote of 7227. He became an investor in the president s keynote casino operation. Wilbur ross spent most of his career restructuring Failing Companies in steel, coal, and, telecommunications and finance. Heres a portion of his confirmation hearing starting with questions from ron johnson. Senator johnson thank you for being willing to leave your life in the private sector to the and to serve our nation. Our number one priority has to be to grow the economy and realize the full potential of the american economy. What do you believe is t Growth Potential of the economy . Do you have a figure in your head . Mr. Ross i think we can reach 3 growth if we do all the elements of the president s program. Senator johnson that has been the average. I would hope that is a minimum goal. From my standpoint, they are forming reasons that we are not speaking that full potential. Were not using our energy resources. There are so many lawyers here. Could you talk about, from your perspective, what do you think are the primary reasons that we are not realizing the full potential of our economy . Mr. Ross i wrote an editorial that outlines four or five key points. Doing some costbenefit analysis and having sensible regulation. Second, improving our trade balance, particularly by stimulating exports. Third, having an Energy Policy that takes advantage of our Natural Resources and keeps Energy Prices low. Foru and Infrastructure Program that is a sensible one. Fourth, and Infrastructure Program. If we do all those and have a sensible tax system, i think the economy will do very well. Senator johnson talk about your plans are what you think would best suited toward stimulating exports . Mr. Ross the first thing we have to do is deal with the unfair tariff and nontariff other countries put on us. It is a little weird that we have very low tariffs and china has very high triffs. That seemed to be a bit of an imbalance. We would like to have our trading partners practice free trade and do it in a more balanced manner than what has been done at present. I think a lot of what we need is elimination of inappropriate and improper trade barriers to ask. Barriers to us. I think American Labor can compete very effectively if it is a fair fight. In a lot of cases, it is not a fair fight. Senator johnson talk about the nontrade barriers. Specifically talk and prioritize and rank how harmful those nontariff trade barriers are . Mr. Ross some countries with whom we have had treaties agreed to lower their tariffs. They will suddenly say that we have a different environmental standard than what you have, and your cars do not qualify as environmentally correct in our country. I cannot imagine that there is anything that our and buttermilk that our environmental has missed. It is a device to make it more difficult for American Companies to tailor make cars that market. The famous debate over mad cow disease are another very glaring example. I eat quite a lot of beef. I do not have mad cow disease. Some people think applying to be secretarof comrce is a sign at i do. Leaving that aside, it is hard for me to imagine that there is any legitimacy in saying that our beef should not be exported to wherever. If it is good enough for americans, it should be good enough for foreigners to eat. Those are a couple glaring examples. Other ones are inordinate delays at the ports for undue inspections. Just harassing the export process in general. As you can gather, i am quite familiar with a lot of the tactics because ive been a personal victim. Your approach would be to target those abuses . Yes or yes, sir. Welcome to the committee. I appreciate the time that we spent in the office together talking about a variety of issues. One thing i was pleased to hear was your knowledge of michigan and the industry there. The work you did with the Steel Industry and automotive sector. I particularly am pleased with the comments you made in regards to the question made by one of my colleagues related to ttp. It would have a very negative impact on the Auto Industry. Particularly with suppliers in that industry. It would have had a devastating impact on jobs, and it is not about protecting the Auto Industry but having a our rules where we Auto Industry and workers of america fairly with others. We can outcompete anybody if the rules are fair. I appreciate your stance on that. I want to address something that is critically important, which is enforcement. If we are dealing with any kind of rules, whether they are trade deals or Legal Authority under the wto, certainly the administration will play a vital role. You will play a vital role in eng thforcine rules. Under current law, the secretary can self initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. However, the use of this tool under previous administrations has been virtually nonexistent. I think the last time was in the 1990s. It has been along time since the Commerce Department has initiated these types of investigations. That is a very imperfect process. Normally we only have investigations after of formal complain by the industry. We know you know first hand about that. Usually it is Large Companies with highpriced lobbyists get noticed and get action in the Commerce Department. But if you are dealing with small and midsize businesses in michigan and around the country, they do not have the resources, and the impact of unfair trade necklaces goes unnoticed and not investigated. Will you commit to using your Legal Authority a secretary to enforce the rules protecting against unfair trade act this is and self initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations . Mr. Ross as we discussed in your office, i am an activist. I think that tool of self initiation is useful one for several reasons. One is the one that you mentioned. Industries have a lot of small companies. Very hard for them to get the data together. I think the duration of these cases has got to be shortened. Anything that can be done to shorten at the front and would be good. I think it is a good tool in another regard. Part of any negotiation is the psychology of the disappearance. To the degree psychology of the participants. To the degree we are willing to show them we will self initiate, that is important. There is the curative effect, the preventative effect, and the psychological effect on the cheaters. Sen. Peters i appreciate that answer, mr. Ross. The pushback from previous administrations has been they lack the resources. That is why our effort to fund the Interagency Center on trade enforcement, which is a mouth, which is a mouthful, what they do is assist our efforts. I hope i can enlist your support with bipartisan support in congress to devote the resources to this function. Mr. Ross we welcome resources. Sen. Peters great, great. I know you are committed to stemming the tide of jobs overseas and bring jobs back. What have found is it is often difficult to get information as to what jobs are being outsourced. Companies will report they are hiring workers. We do not necessarily know where they are. The information regarding outsourcing is opaque, and complete and often inaccessible. Will you commit to work with congress to develop some new corporate transparency measures that will allow us to have that information so we can make sure our policies are actively addressing the problem of outsourcing . Mr. Ross i have a heartfelt saying in management that anything you cant measure, you cant manage. One good thing about the Commerce Department, it has all kinds of measurement activities and i was not aware this was a particular problem. Certainly understanding the parameters of problems helps to figure out how to deal with them. I look forward to further discussions with you. Great, thank you. You are watching a special program on president Donald Trumps cabinet. The trade nominee robert litan heiser has not been confirmed. He served as deputy trade representative during the reagan administration, and before that, as chief of staff on the Senate Finance committee. Here is a portion of his hearing before the Senate Finance committee. I know it has been said many times, many ways at this hearing and there are several of my colleagues that it talks about it. But when it comes to agricultural trade, i cant emphasize enough, representing a state wher agriculture is the mberne industry, agriculture trade must be at the t of ur trade agenda. In terms of todays agricultural climate, we got a lot of producers that are counting on tariff reductions in expanding export markets with existing and new trading partners. The only nearterm relief for cowering crop and livestock production prices that are lowcost. There has been discussion from the senator from louisiana about nafta agreement, but can the and but canada and mexico are very important trading partners. I know you do not want to get into specifics, but i would encourage you to get into specifics on how you to intend to improve what is under existence under nafta. Do you have a timeframe . Will you negotiate separately with those countries . Will they be part of one agreement . Can you be that specific . Mr. Lighthizer senator, the decision whether it should be bilateral or trilateral has not been made at this point. I think the administration is good to engage quickly in this agreement. Forward, if confirmed, to being involved in that process but there is a whole consultation process and a time period after that. The administrations stated objective is to do this as quickly as possible. There is some anxiety and emphasizing that is in a lot of interest. That was a top negotiating priority for american diplomats under the tpp and i hope that will continue to be a high priority. Helping our companies expand their ability to compete in foreign markets as i said earlier is pretty critical. Princeton, in the past few years, the European Union has been ung its trade agreements to misuse of the concept of bygraphical implications reducing tariffs to trade with north dakota. Im very familiar with the it is an is organized effort on the half of on behalfan union of the European Union. We want to discourage other disagreeing to these geographic indicators and to resist them in the United States. The issue seems to be what happens in thirdparty markets. It will certainly be something that we will work on and we realize it is a serious problem. Trendsee a disturbing whereby some of our trading partners have ignored their commitments either by fully failing to implement agreements or by flaunting the rules to give their businesses unfair advantage . Discourageately investment and job growth, what would your agency due to ensure our trading partners are enforcing those commitments . We talked about intellectual Property Protection and it will be a priority of u. S. The art if i am confirmed. I realize how important it is theft,ellectual property weak enforcement and the like are serious impediments to boosting efficiency andelping u. S. Trade. Inky for th discussion in the past on trade issues and whatever we call these meetings prior to confirmation. I was feel that the capacity ue is one of the ohio lost 400 jobs in iron and steel. Our Steel Industry, and our Steel Workers suffer because china does not play by the rules. It flooded the Global Market and to maybe and made steel as true as aluminum. How do we get china to reduce a net of its steel and aluminum capacity and if it refuses, what steps you take in response . Thank you for your kind words. I do appreciate them. I am proud to be from ohio. Ive been to lorraine. We fight about this issue of overcapacity in chinese steel and aluminum. To some extent we have two economic models, one is the one we want and another is one of control. Aat i said is we have comprehensive approach on this. The chineseddress overcapacity issue and push back on that. Some of those discussions have possibilities for results. The second thing is going to be enforcing our on trade laws. We getrd thing is that others to enforce their trade laws all with an effort to make ofto make the maintaining noneconomic capacity which is hundreds of millions of tons of excess capacity. Many times the United States total capacity. And thirdly i think we have to sit down and have private discussions where we think about what other remedies we have. To me the objective is to make it uneconomic. To doe it expensive something that as inefficiency into the market. It is a multifaceted approach that i would recommend that i think part of it is going to be sitting down and deciding if we need a new remedies ourselves and what does remit these would be. We would like to work with you to figure that out. I called my longtime friend who is sitting here but was also heading the president s trade team for the transition and talked about tpp and ustr and trade enforcement and all followedafta, up with a letter to ask the administration to make it a priority to reset u. S. China trade relations. Should that be a priority in this administration with you as u. S. Trade representative . What steps do you take to make the u. S. China trade relationship more balanced overall . Yes, it should be a priority. Deficitook at our trade as an indicator of what is going on in the global economy, china is a good part of our problem. Engage and talk to china but we also have to think about some new remedies. We enforce our trade laws. Weve done a good job in the but i think we have to do it in other products also. Of moreto think systemic approaches. Some of that could be going to the wto or taking other actions to engage. This president is very focused on this issue. His views on this subject i dont know his views, that i think they are very close to yours in that this is a problem and it has to be addressed. Im eager to work with this committee and the ways and Means Committee to find a responsible way to address this problem. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Health and Human Services secretary tom price was nominated on november 29 and confirmed on the great 10 by 10 by vote ofry 5247. He served as a chair of the Republican Study Committee and Budget Committee chair. Tom price is an Orthopedic Surgeon by training who Practices Medicine at atlanta memorial hospital. Heres a segment of his hearing from january. I just want to talk about the Affordable Care act and the Health Care System. The historic mistake in passage of the Affordable Care act is it sought to expand a system that already cost too much. Of thoseur goal here who want to repair the damage of obamacare and replace part of it . Is it to lower the cost of insurance for americans . Choices give them more of that lowercost insurance and is it to put more decisions in the hands of states and patience patients . I think the issues you raise with choices and access and cost are at the center of where we should be putting our attention. In the principles i have four health care affordability, it is incredibly important. Accessibility is imperative. Today many folks have coverage but they do not have access to the physicians and they would like to see. Choices are absolutely vital. Ne of the primary means for achieving those choices, moving more Health Care Decisions out of washington, putting them back into the hands of states and patientconsumers . Keeping you focused on the patient, the better. If responsibilities are headed towards the they the states, would that not involve a fair amount of consultation with governors and state departments . Folks at the state level know their populations better than we can know them. Senator mcconnell said last week that obamacare will be repealed and replaced in manageable pieces. I would like to suggest of the pieces on a chart. There are four major areas, one is medicare, 80 of americans, employer in syrian employer medicaid, 22 , and the individual market is 6 . That is where so much of the turmoil is. Isat this is the bill that this is the bill to reform medicare . Absolutely not. So we would be focused on employer, medicaid and individual insurance . Would you categorize them in a different way . The challenges we have to address immediately are those in the individual market and the medicaid market as you identify. Ones it possible to work on of those areas at a time rather than a comprehensive i said dont expect senator mcconnell to wheel in a will barrow with a comprehensive Republican Health care plan. Barrow with a comprehensive Republican Health care plan. We want to work on it stepbystep, large piece by large piece. How do you respond to that . I think that is fair. The American People need to appreciate that the last thing we want to do is go from a Democrat Health care system to a Republican Health care system. Our goal would be going from a Democrat Health care system to an american Health Care System that recognizes the needs of all. I know your plan will not be presented until after you are confirmed, but the president elected said lets do repeal and replace simultaneously. To me that must mean that any repeal of parts of obamacare would not take effect until after some concrete, practical are turned it practical alternative was in place for americans to choose. Do you have a different idea of what the sequencing will be as we move through this process . One of the important things we need to tell the American People is no one is interested in pulling the rug out from anybody. It is imperative that the people have Health Coverage the of what to keep Health Coverage and opportunities for them to gain the type of coverage they want for themselves and their families. Theres been talk about individuals losing Health Coverage. That is not our desire or our plan. Areas,e three big individual market, medicaid and employer, my sense of it is we have been working on this so long, we all to be able to make most of our votes in the next few months about the implementation of whatever we decide. Ishere a difference between the votes and a longer time for implementation . That is fair. I would point out that our Health Care System is continually evolving and should. We should always be looking at how it is working, whether it is working for patients. When it is, that is fine. When it is not, it is incumbent upon policymakers to make sure we do the kinds of things that adjust that policy so it cant work for patients. Thank you congressman price. Forgive me, i was at another hearing so i might be a little repetitive. Virginian is your opinion about a whole range of programs that are basically about access and coverage. The safety net that provides coverage to millions of people. Deeper you propose turning medicaid into a blight grant block grantblac program. P socializedled chi medicine. Support repeal of the Affordable Care act. There is about half a million virginians on the exchanges and hundreds of thousands of others who is otherwise benefited. Thousands of virginians use planned parenthood as their primary Health Writer health care provider. These are the things that provide coverage for millions of virginians and tens of millions of americans and many of them have very limited. Limited means. I know that senors craig and murry use the do not harm pledge before i arrived. Congressdent and should strive to do no harm, do you agree with me . Absolutely. And we should try to do no harm by not reducing Health Coverage. To appreciatet there are challenges in these programs currently. Positions every three is allowed to see medicaid patients in this country does not see medicaid patients. One out of every eight physicians who is eligible to see seniors no longer sees medicare patients. If you are a new patient trying to find a position, it is almost impossible. Im all with you on fixing challenges. More coverage, more affordable. Thats what my proposals are trying to do. We should not harm people by doing things that should increase their costs, correct . I think we need to drive down the cost for everybody. We should not harm people by creating an anxiety about the mess important thing in their lives . One of my goals in this entire debate i appreciate you bring this up is it to lower the temperature about what we are talking about. These are real stuff for folks. I think we can move apace but lower the temperature. I will join you instability and to join you in lower temperature. I dont think lowering the temperature is consistent with rushing. My experience in going around we should not harm the american economy. Health care is the biggest sector of the american economy. We should try to fix the problems that you have identified are those i might iify that provides might identify in a way that provides stability and certainty. The Congressional Budget Office has told us of the aca by 2ecreased the workforce million. I hope we are able to Work Together to solve those challenges. You agree with the president elect that the for the Affordable Care act must ensure there is insurance for everybody . It is incredibly important that we allow a system for every single american to have access to the kind of coverage they desire. He stated that we should negotiate with pharmaceutical companies under Medicare Part d to bring down Prescription Drug costs. Do you support that position of the president elect . Is a real cllge for folks d we need to do all we can to make sure we bring those costs down. Announcer Alexander Acosta was nominated for labor secretary after President Trumps first nominee andrew poster puzner withdrew. Alexander acosta was also a member of the National Labor Relations Board and served as assistant attorney general for civil rights during the george w. Bush administration. Heres a portion of his confirmation hearing beginning with his Opening Statement. I want to thank my parents in particular and my parents are very important to me not simply because of what they had done for me but because my story really begins with them and on whatmy perspective it means to be a secretary of labor. They left cuba, came to the United States seeking freedom and they found it. They met in miami in high school. My mother was in her teens when she found out she was pregnant. Neither attended college. Growing up, they struggled. Not as much as other americans have struggled, but they struggled. At times my mother commuted 90 minutes each way for her job. My father served in the army. Later they tried to start a Small Business but he quickly found that his lack of higher education, his lack of ability to deal with forms and rules made it very difficult for him to be a Small Business owner. He ended his working life as an inventory clerk at a cell phone store. My family lived paycheck to paycheck. My grandmother cared for me while the europe and that was an incredible and very helpful and loving thing to do because both my parents worked fulltime. At times my parents went into deep debt. They went into that debt and they took on second jobs to make in meet and they did that to meet and they did that because they wanted to give me an education. They were able to give me these opportunities because even though they did not have a college education, they had something very important and that is a job. At times they lost their job but they are always able to find another job and that was very important. Mr. Acosta, lets start with the skills gap you talked about. If we are to think of you as secretary of the workforce, to help workers in this head spinning environment we find ourselves in adjust to it and stick into it. We already spend a lot of money on helping people get training. The average pell grant is about the same as the average Community College tuition. We spend a lot of money on student loans. Other countries to do other things. Germany has an apprenticeship system. Some people say our Technical Institute do a better job than our Community Colleges. If you are the secretary of the workforce and you see 2 million American Manufacturing jobs are going to go unfilled over the next 10 years due to skills gaps, specifically, what are the things we should be doing about it . First, let me touch on the first part of your comment which are the spending that we spent on education and i think it is critical that the department of labor work with the department of education. Thatnt to make sure individuals have the opportunity to align their education with the skilled the workplace with the skills the workplace will demand. You mentioned apprenticeships. Im a big fan of learning by doing. We recently started a program which is a full semester internship at a law firm in addition to Public Defenders Office or state Attorneys Office and the students have an opportunity to spend a full because they can learn by doing. If you look at some of the apprenticeship programs where individuals work and get credit while they are working or the other programs available in Community Colleges that focus on vocational opportunities in partnership with individual businesses. Alternative ways of educating and providing skills and is a way for students to skillskills and jobs to be used in job without taking on the enormous debt we are seeing in some secondary programs. Let me ask you one other question. Fortunately,rule, it is not in effect thanks to a court. In my view it is one of the worst examples of regulation by the previous administration. It caused millions of americans to punch timeclock that they do not want to punch. It raised tuitions, according to our universities, by hundreds of dollars per student. It caused my local Boy Scout Troop to dismiss counselors. It received widespread condemnation around the country and even in congress there was bipartisan opposition. There was a doubling of the threshold. There waan impact on profits. What are you going to do about the overtime rule . You mentioned, it is pending in litigation. The overtime rule has not been updated since 2004 and i think it is unfortunate that rules for that involve the dollar values can sometimes go more than a becauseithout updating life does become more expensive overtime. Threshold,ubling the applying so heavily the impact of it to nonprofits, doesnt that concern you . Mr. Chairman, it does. I think it is unfortunate that it goes so long without adjusting because when they are adjusted, we see impacts such as a doubling of the amount that does create what i will call a stress on the system. , bothularly in areas industry and geographic areas that are lower wage historically. One of the challenges that we face in addressing the overtime rule is, since 2004 there has been a change. Now there is a very large change. How should that be addressed as a policy matter is a very difficult decision but a very serious one. The economy does feel a substantial impact from such a large change. Mr. Chairman, let me follow on that. The department of labor did finalize the updated overtime rule last year and that rule helped restore the 40 hour workweek which is the core store which is the cornerstone of protection. Before that rule, workers could be asked to put in extra hours without earning a single extra dollar for the overtime hours they spent away om their families. That new ortime rule expanded the numb of workers who called five for overtime pay, increasing Economic Security for millions of families. After months of republicans in congress and big businesses trying to block that overtime rule, the court is about a court the rule is now considering the rule. Do you believe workers should be paid overtime for the overtime hours that they work . I do believe workers are entitled to overtime pay should we see pay for their overtime. Would you defend this ruling court . Rule in court . The overtime rule has not been updated since 2004. We see an update that is a very larger vision and something that needs to be considered is the economy, ons on the nonprofits, on geographic areas of that have lower wages. Im also sensitive to the fact it is not been updated since 2004. If confirmed, i will look at this very closely. A related issue to this is whether the dollar thresholds is in the authority of the secretary. When Congress Passed the one of the questions in litigation does a dollar threshold superseded the duties test. I mentioned that because i think the authority of the secretary to address of this is a separate address this is a separate issue. With respect to what would be an appropriate amount but also what is in the authority the secretary to do. I think it is an issue of fairness and i think the secretary of labors job is to make sure workers are treated fairly. Our profile of president trum ps continues with epa in epars. Pruitt administrator scott pruitt. During his time as Oklahoma Attorney general, mr. Pruitt filed more than a dozen lawsuits against the epa. Prior to becoming attorney general, senator pruitt served in the Oklahoma State senate. This portion of his january confirmation hearing includes fit ns from Alaskan Alaskan senator i want is, we all want clean air, we all want clean water. My state of alaska has one of the most pristine environment in the world. But your emphasis on the ability to do both to grow an economy and protecting the environment is very important and i appreciate that focus. I believe the epa needs a serious course correction. As the senator talked about, there is a lot of anger, even fear of this agency through parts of the country and i think youre the right person to provide that course correction and regain the trust of the American People that has been lost in a lot of places in america because of the overreach, because of the lack of focusing on the law. There is a lot of talk about cooperative federalism. Is that your term . Did you come up with that or was that something directed by congress . Directed by congress, senator. In the clean air act, in the clean water act, what entity in our republican form of government was given the primary responsibility over clean air and clean water in the United States . Under the clean air act, theres something called state implementation plans that the epa and the states review together but the states have that responsibility. In the law it says that the primary responsibility under the clean air and clean water act and who directed that . Congress. When you talk about cooperative federalism, you are focusing on the intent of the congress . Probably more so than any statute that have been adopted by congress. , manyvironmental statutes pieces of the legislation, congress has been pacific in saying that cooperative federalism, the roles of the states is important, should be respected and emphasized. This is the waters of the in the states and entities that sued to stop that ruling. 32. Democrats, republicans and independents. Do you think this is an example andooperatives federalism what are you going to do to go back to what is not a scott pruitt idea, it is the direct direction of the congress of the United States . When you think about the relation between the epa and the states, the states are not mere vessels of federal will. Substantive requirements, obligations, authority granted to the states under environmental statute. What is not respected, that is what sponsors most of the litigation referenced here day. The statesthat participate in the way congress is directed and they have been able and they had been unable to do so. Cooperative federalism, you are focusing on the will of congress . Knowledge,rtise, the the awareness of how to fix Environmental Issues at the local level. I am a former attorney general myself usc to the epa epa and some of my colleagues, they try to equate suing the epa, not caring for obamas children. Forcare about not carry oklahomas children. Do you care about oklahomas children . I care very much about the environment. Direct the role of the states in improving our environment. Those in oklahoma or alaska or other parts of the country do ranchers, farmers and most of them are very committed to that. When they have not been, we have taken enforcement action. A lot of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle spend a lot of time vilifying the oil badgas industry, sometimes actors, polluters, according to the American Petroleum oklahomans364,000 work in the oil and gas industry. Are these people bad actors, are they polluters . Who are these people . Are you representing them when you are bringing these kind of actions . Are they evil people . No, senator. They want to comply with the law. They care about the air they breathe and the water they drink. They want to make sure the epa is partnered with state agencies and industry. Are these thousands of people part of that industry . 35 of our state budget in oklahoma is from that industry. We have significant regulation in this industry. Fromve regulatory bodies the eq to the Corporation Commission that are involved in making sure the air we drink the water the water we drink and the air we breathe is clean and oklahoma. Commentsheard many from people in the state of vermont who take the environment very seriously, the concern is the nomination of mr. Pruitt is to protect the fossil fuel industry and not the environment. If i understood it earlier in this hearing, he said that mr. Trump was wrong in suggesting and stating over and over again that Climate Change was a hoax, is that correct . Yes. As you may know, some 97 of scientists who have written articles that are Peer Reviewed have concluded that Climate Change is real, it is caused by human activity and it is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. You believe that Climate Change is called is caused by human activity . As i indicated in my openings they meant, the climate is changing and human activity contributes to that in some manner. In some manner . 97 of the scientists who wrote articles in Peer Reviewed journals believe human activity is the fundamental reason were seeing Climate Change, you disagree with that . I think the ability to measure with precision the amount of human activitys impact on the climate is unclear. The majority of scientists are telling us if we do not get our act together and transform our Energy System away from fossil fuels, there is a real question about the quality of the planet were going to be leaving our children and grandchildren. Job as flying for a administration are of the epa to protect our environment. The overwhelming majority of Scientists Say we have to act boldly and you are telling me there needs to be more debate on this issue. , as ive indicated the climate is changing. You havent told me why you think the climate is changing. The job of the administrator is to carry out the statute of why is the climate changing . Issue,esponse to the co2 the epa administrator is constrained by statutes. Im asking you a personal opinion. My personal opinion is immaterial. Youre going to be the head of the agency to protect the environment and your personal feelings about whether Climate Change is caused by human activity and carbon issued Carbon Emissions is immaterial . Do you believe we have to transform our Energy System in order to protect the planet for future generations . I think the epa plays an Important Role in regulating transform our Energy System away from fossil fuels which is what the Science Community is telling us to make sure this planet is healthy for our children and grandchildren . I believe the minister has an Important Role in regulating co2. Oklahoma has been subjected to a recordbreaking number of earthquakes. Say that oklahoma is almost certain to have more earthquakes with higher risk of a larger quake and because of this is and the cause of this is fracking. Can you point me to any opinion that you wrote, any Enforcement Actions you took against the companies that were injecting waste fracking water. Im very concerned about the connection between activity and obama in oklahoma chemie tell you find can you tell me who you fined . You have made public statements state is seeing a recordbreaking number of earthquakes. You are the attorney general. Senator i have acknowledged im concerned. Your state of having a Record Number of if that is the kind of administrator for the epa your state has a recordbreaking number of earthquakes. If that is the kind of you can minister you will be, youre not going to get my vote. Announcer sonny perdue was one of the last candidates announced by the trump administration. The senate agricultureommittee overwhelmingly unweighted agreed with his nomination. He switched parties from democratic to republican in 1998. Will show you governor perdues Opening Statement from his confirmation hearing in late march. I know from visiting you with many i know from visiting many of you in your offices, there was some anxiety about who would be the secretary of agriculture. I think the president saved the best for last. I want to thank you for meeting with me over the last few weeks. I trust that our meetings will not be introductory episodes but an ongoing opportunity to listen and learn from one another. My goal today is to answer your questions transparently. Not only to our your affirmative and if youur trust will afford me the opportunity, i will carry out this awesome job with integrity complicit with the laws and policies set forth by congress and with the compassion of a golden rule part. Golden rule heart. I would like to introduce my family. My wife, mary. And fourandchildren children, who are more familiar with calling me big buddy. Im honored to have more than 40 of my former coworkers here who labored sidebyside with me while serving the state of georgia and its people. Part in this interruption. We would like for your family ancoworkers to stand. Thank you all for being here. Pardon this interruption. [applause] goodlooking crowd. Poured overbio and my professional history but if youll indulge me today i would like to tell you about myself. As a youngster growing up on a dairy farm in the middle of georgia, i never realized the blessings of purposeful, meaningful work. When i was a young boy feeding plowing thend fields my mother was an english teacher of 42 years. Cease fnor, if you just or a moment and we will take care of this problem. Please proceed, governor. My mother was also an english teacher for 42 years. I benefited from her teachings as well. Being an english teacher she made sure i knew about dangling participle. Upbringing with wonderful memories. My favorite hobbies as a youngster were playing Little League assad, training birddog trigger. G my horse, early on i set my heart on becoming a veterinarian having been influenced by a kind and gentle veterinarian who cared for our dairy herd. I played football for the university of georgia bulldogs. Play is probably not the operative word but i was on the team. I decided to apply myself to my studies. As i entered Veterinary School in 1967, you may remember the anon was broiling you may remember vietnam was broiling. I was assigned to columbus, ohio as base that marion whose primary responsibilities were food safety, Public Health, and sanitation. As the base veterinarian whose primary responsibilities were food safety, Public Health 1976,nitation area in girlsnd our two small moved back home. Ive been in agribusiness since 1977. The founder and operator of three agribusiness and transportation firms serving farmers across the southeast united date. Farming and farmers have been my life ever since. Ive lived and breathed the exhilaration of a great crop and the despair and devastation of a drought. I learned from experience with my father told me as a child, you take care of the land, it will take care of you. Lets fast forward to what you are probably interested in. My years as a public servant. I want to be clear, growing up i was not one of those young men and boys who aspire to run for office. I had absolutely no interest in elected politics. I did understand we all have civic rent. Service,years of that the state senate became open and i was asked to run for that seat. A preplanned Family Vacation to williamsburg, virginia, i changed my mind after observing citizen engagement. In 2009, i was elected as a member of the Georgia State senate. I was elected by my colleagues to be president for temporary president protemporary. I served as both a republican and a democrat in the Georgia State senate. Officee to that believing it was a big job, not just a position. Our teamwork to diligently for eight years trying to make georgia the best managed eight and the whole nation. As your member, the time from 20022011 were not the best economic times, but we learned we could provide value to the citizens of georgia even in times of extreme budget pressures. Although georgia may not compare to some fierce date in some may notural stickers s. Mpare to some of your state know, reaching across the aisle is common practice in this committee where partisanship does not get in the way of Good Solutions for americas farmers, ranchers and consumers. If confirmed as the secretary of agriculture, i look forward to working with you, all of you. This committee includes one guy who i picked watermelons with sidebyside in my youth. I have a lifetime experience with farming and agribusiness. Agriculture touches the lives of Many Americans including in a small way of improving the lives of the least of these. If im honored with senate confirmation, i will work tirelessly to advance four primary goals. Each of the goals is focused on a specific constituency. I will maximize the ability of the men and women of americas agribusiness sector to create jobs, to produce and sell the food and fiber that feed and clothe the world. We want to remove every obstacle and to give them every opportunity to prosper. Secondly, for the american taxpayers, our customers i will Prioritize Customer Service every day. They have every right to demand that we conducted the peoples business with the utmost integrity. Third is our taxpayers are also our consumers. They expect a safe and secure food supply and the usda will continue to serve in that Critical Role of ensuring the food we put on the table me to the strict Safety Standards we have established. I will never forget that we are the fortunate beneficiaries of the past generations who put a premium on smart stewardship, protecting, preserving and entrusting us with those bible resources. Bountyn agricultural comes directly from the land and today those Land Resources sustain more than 320 million americans and countless more around the globe. Chairman, thank you for your time this morning and rest assured that if confirmed i will look for to working with the dedicated men and women of the usda who are committed to serving the peoples department. I look for to answering your questions. President trump nominated a former rival, ben carson housing and urban development or terry. He was confirmed by the full senate march 2 by a vote of 5841. In carson grew up in detroit the home of a single mother. He went on to become a famous pediatric neurosurgeon. He ran for president as a republican in 2016 and the author of several books. This portion of his confirmation hearing includes questions from South Carolina republican tim scott and ohio democrat sharon brown. Announcer dr. Carson dr. Carson into your family, nk you for willing to be thank you for being willing to serve. If theres a person who has no reason to offer themselves to public service, it would be you. Yet been a great example for many of us and like senator menendez suggested, our backgrounds are very similar. I reached the kind of conusion thatou have. There is so mu potential inside the human heart and the human head that we aught to look for ways to expose of that potential. That is such an important part of the equation and i believe that the greatest thing we can do for folks is help them find a path to their on independence. It is not to suggest of the government does not have a role, it is to suggest that government does not have the role in someones life. I think your life to demonstrate to that as well as your answers to so many of the questions. I want to thank you for your desire to do a listening tour. Weve had many issues around housing for many decades. When i was on the county level, chairman of the county council in South Carolina, we had housing concerns and issues. Listening to the very people who live in the housing is an important part of the formula that we will produce that will benefit the American People and specifically the American People within public housing. I wish that the Outgoing Administration had the same objective of listening. Listen encourage you to to the senators and folks who point you to the position at hud. It is very important to remain responsive. I will use one case and point. There was a housing tragedy in florida where marco rubio and senator nelson spent enormous amount of time uncovering the challenges and the lack of inspections in hud housing. We invited hud to participate in one of the hearings, no one showed up. Gencyillion industry and we did not find anyone to listen to the elected officials who had a serious concerns about the Living Conditions of people in public housing. Not a single employee could find their way into the United States chambers. I cant imagine how that made them feel about their government, about their opportunity for success. About the opportunity for the next rung on the latter. Ladder. One of the things i found refreshing about your approach is that the notion of a fresh start and how someone who holistically appreciates and understands the necessity of affordable, clean, stable housing as a part of that journey to the American Dream. I would love to hear your thoughts on how you incorporate that holistic approach to the new opportunity that is presented to you. Thank you, senator. And also for the wonderful example. Concentrate so i much on the holistic approach is when i look back historically at an agency like hud, there have been a lot of good programs. They have been targeted at specific problems and it is good but the progress perhaps has not been as great as one would like to see. One of the things that i iscovered as a neurosurgeon your much more effective when you bring do not just look at the tumor that somebody has in their brain. But look at the whole person. How can you bring help to the entire individual and put them into an environment to thrive. That is the same principle i am looking at here. The programs that have been enacted in hud over the years, they are good programs but they are not bringing about the elevations of large numbers of people. That is what we are looking for. We do not want it to be a way of life. We want it to be a springboard to move forward. That is why i place so much emphasis on education. That is why i place so much emphasis on health care. Im not just talking about rent abatement, but perhaps putting clinics into neighborhoods so that people do not rely on the emergency room where it costs five times more and where you do not get the kind of follow that will help you from getting disease. That is what i am talking about. It saves us so much money if we begin to think that way. Fresh start. Thank you for the statements. Thank you for your statements. I appreciate many of the ideas and goals you expressed. , are inconsistent with statements you made over the past few years. If confirmed, you will be held to the ideas you have expressed today, not ones you may have written or talked about during the president ial race. He testified you want to make communities more inclusive. This seems at odds with one of the only housing policies that prior to this nomination you have taken a public stand on, fair housing. 32015 column in the Washington Column in the 2015 Washington Post critique hud. You likened it to a failed socialist experiment. Please elaborate on the view of federal implementing the fair housing had, especially the requirement that has grantees affirmative their housing. Thank you for that question. In the opportunity to explain that because it has been distorted by many people. Know, that act says that we want people who are receiving hud grants to look around and see if they find anything that looks like discrimination. And then we want them to come up with a solution on how to solve the problem. They are not responding to people saying there is a problem. They are saying go look for a problem and then give us a solution. What i believe to be the case is we have people sitting around desks in washington, d. C. Deciding on how things should be done, telling mayors and commissioners and people, you need to build this place and you need to put these kinds of people in it. What i would encourage i dont have any problem whatsoever with affirmative action or at least integration. I have no problem with that at all. But i do have a problem with people on high dictating it when they do not know anything about what is going on in the area. We have local hud officials and we have people who can assess what the problems are and in the area and working with local officials can come up with much Better Solutions than a one size fits all cookiecutter program from people in washington, d. C. That is the part. Im sorry, your objection is your objection is whether its done from washington or the hud office in columbus, ohio . Objection essential dictation of peoples lives. I want to hear your views on the housing rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. These people also face discrimination and alarming rates of Youth Homelessness and bullying. Your statement mentioned the desire to improve the lives of all families no matter their race, creed, color or orientation. Yet, you have raised questions about whether lgbtq people should enjoy the same rights as everyone else. Do you believe that hud has a duty to take actions that promote equal housing opportunitiefor lgbtq people . Confirmed in this position of course i would enforce the , laws of the land. I believe that all americans regardless of any of the things , that you mentioned should be protected by the law. What i have mentioned in the past is the fact that nobody gets extra rights. Extra rights means you get to redefine everything for everybody else. That doesnt seem to be im not i am glad to hear you say that moving forward you will respect that. Absolutely. Last question. We have seen a dramatic increase in Affordable Housing as he pointed out. 11 million families, one quarter of renters pay more than half of their income for housing. Struggling to make ends meet. One thing goes wrong, temporary layoff, hours cut back illness, they lose their home. We talked about the Matthew Desmond book evicted. I hope you will read and i know some of your staff is already. Peoples lives being turned upside down when they are evicted. Their Childrens School district changes, they lose their possessions. They never quite catch up again. Their credit all of those things happen when half of their income goes to housing. I am surprised that president elect agenda doesnt even mention housing. You had told me about your conversations about an urban agenda. Have you had discussions with him about your plans for housing . Or his plans for housing . Tell us what plans have come from those discussions. Yes. We talked this morning. You have to attack the problem that you describe from both ends. There are a large number of people spending 30 to 50 of their income on housing. That is unacceptable. What we have to do is raise their income or decrease the cost of housing. I think both of those areas are areas that we need to work upon. Do you support raising the minimum wage . Do you support the overtime rule . Which in my state alone or in your home state of michigan met more than 100,000 in each state. People got raises that are making 30,000 or 40,000 the year. If we are talking about raising income, the overtime rule would mean real dollars in peoples pockets. Do you support those . I support creating an environment that encourages entrepreneurial risktaking and Capital Investment which are the engines that drove america to the pinnacle of the world. I guess that means you do not support the overtime rule or the minimum wage. It means exactly that my philosophy is that we can increase peoples minimum wages by increasing opportunities for them and creating an environment where those opportunities exist. Rather than artificially trying to change it. I do not think it is artificial that someone that works 5060 hours a week can has been classified as management can work those hours over 40 making 35,000 a year and i could pay for those hours. I do not think that is artificial when the employer has denied them that time. Especially time and a half. I agree it is not artificial but you create the right environment, that employer will have to pay them more because the competition will require it. Transportation secretary elaine chao was confirmed on january 31 by a vote of 936. She previously served as labor secretary during the bush administration. Becoming the first asianamerican to serve in a cabinet position. Secretary chao also served as united way president and ceo. She is married to Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell. We will show you portions of her confirmation hearing with questions from washington democrat Lidia Cantwell and Nebraska Republican deb fischer. I think we had a chance to discuss the state of washington and how rapidly it is growing. Pacificgateway to the has made our Transportation System one of the key cornerstones of our economic success. Our state and local governments are making Strategic Investments in 2014 washington businesses lost 800 million because of congestion. We have very challenged infrastructure issues. For the third Consecutive Year seatac is the fastestgrowing , airport in the United States. In the last three years the passenger volume has increased by 32 . Railroads are moving over 105 million tons of freight. Sound transit is the fastestgrowing Light Rail Service in the country. The northwest Seaport Alliance the largest cargo center. And our gdp grew by 3 compared to the nation as a whole and which was 2. 5 . Washington employment grew 3. 5 the fastest in the nation adding , 109,000 jobs in 2016. We have growth. We have an economic engine but we desperately, desperately, desperately, desperately need Infrastructure Investment. I have listened carefully as you phrased out ways to get that Infrastructure Investment. Im all for creativity. I would take the last transportation bill stretched us to the limit. There are no more dollars to get for Infrastructure Investment. Its important we move forward. I just have a couple of yes or no questions. They are not trick questions, more just trying to get a sense of what you will prioritize as far as funding. Do you support the legislation that this committee passed that was implemented, the freight act and funding fastening Grant Programs to move freight more cost effectively and continuing to fund that program . In concept of course we want to make sure that it is moved efficiently. It adds to the productivity for the country and is good for the economy. As for the second part of your question, i am not quite sure yet because i have not been briefed on what the Current Situation is but i will be more than glad to do that. Ok. When it comes to the faa my colleague mentioned this and i just want to be clear. Do you support coming up with additional funding however it works out you do support in a new Infrastructure Investment in our airports . We need more resources to build, repair, refurbish our infrastructure, including those that relate to the aviation sector, yes. I mentned sod transit, one of the fastestgrowing commuter systems in the country. There are projects that are already in the pipeline. Do you support continuation of those projects . And you mention creativity one of the things that have been able to use is the master Credit Agreement so that they can get more affordable loan rates. Are those the kinds of programs that you would support from sound transit . At this point if i need to take a look at those projects. There are many projects that are on the books and there are differing reasons why some are faster, some are slower. I need to take a look at what is happening with each of those projects. Id like to follow up with you if i could in writing and see if we can get an answer to that. Of course. When you and i visited i , mentioned this issue of the volume of crude by rail going through the state of washington. Extraordinary growth rates of trains that have every city in my state concerned about the volatility of this product. Department of energy and d. O. T. Are working on an analysis of the volatility of that product. Will you continue to support that research . You and i have talked about this at length. The prospect of having these products go through urban areas is of great concern, but again, until im confirmed and i have an opportunity to be briefed on all of these, it would be premature for me to say anything at this point. Ok. But i will work with you on this. I definitely came here very interested in your nomination and very enthusiastic about the prospects of a former cabinet member moving over to focus on something that has been very, if you will, administrations sometimes choosing someone of the opposite party just because of the bipartisan nature of transportation. So i would hope you could look at some of these. Absolutely. And give me a more specific answer. Im not trying to box you in as much as the main debate for my state right now is are we going to fund Infrastructure Investment. We need to know that youre going to step up and say yes to that and work creatively with us to find those solutions. The way you have just phrased the question, absolutely. Ok. Yes. The specifics, you have. Yh, if im confirmed, i do need to take a look at the specifics. Im going to send you a few more in writing. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciated you coming in for a private meeting that we had in our office and i thought we covered a variety of issues and i just want to touch on a few of those today with you. Of course, on everybodys mind is the Highway Trust Fund. When you hear the president elect speak about infrastructure and putting money into infrastructure, part of that i would assume would go to the Highway Trust Fund. We are looking at a shortfall of 107 billion over the next 5 years following the expiration of the f. A. S. T. Act. What are your thoughts on addressing that longterm solvency of the federal Highway Trust Fund . The Highway Trust Fund is in bad shape. Because of a declining miles because of the increased miles per gallon that cars normally get, the gas tax, which is 90 of the funding of the Highway Trust Fund, is no longer is not as lucrative as it used to be, and the fund annually spends 47 billion, takes in 37 billion. Theres a 10 billion deficit every year. You cannot make that up on volume, so this is a huge issue. And the pay force for any infrastructure proposal are all challenging and all have their particular champions and also detractors. So once again, if confirmed, i look forward to working with this committee and also the congress on this number one priority among the Top Priorities of this president elect. Thank you. This and it will go bankrupt by 2021 if we dont do something, so we all know this. Yes. This is an issue i worked on in my state as a state senator. We were successful in thinking outside box on some policy issues and in a couple weeks well be putting forward a proposal here to start that conversation on how were going to be funding our highways. Another thing that identify i have worked on in this secretary chao, is addressing and reduce the growing number of those unnecessary regulations that we face and during the last congress, the subcommittee on surface transportation that i chaired held nearly 20 hearings and events on how best that we can keep goods moving across this country and do so safely. So i was pleased to be able to have language in the f. A. S. T. Act to reform the federal motor carrier safety administrations regulatory process by making it more transparent and responsive and open to input from our stakeholders. I would ask you, what do you think is the best way that we can keep passengers and freight moving across our system and how do you plan to approach looking at regulations that many consider to be a burden on how we are moving goods and people across this country . You and i had a long conversation during our courtesy meeting which im very grateful that you granted. Many of the transportation issues in your state. And it was very clear from your career in the past as part of the state legislature, that you are quite an expert on all of these transportation issues, yourself. So it was a real benefit for me to learn from you and hear your points and also see your passion for protecting interest of your state. What was the question . Im so sorry. How are we going to oh, regulations. Sorry. So on the regulations, i think the great challenge for all regulators is to balance the ultimate goal, obviously, of safety, but also to make sure that the regulations that are enacted are based on sound science, on true data, and that the underlying analysis is solid. That is the best way that we protect consumers and passengers. Right. I agree with you on that. Another point, were looking at shortages with regards to commercial truck drivers, with airline pilots, and that has a direct impact not just on our Transportation System, but on our country as a whole when were not able to move people, when were not able to move and seek products and see commerce grow, so i look forward to working with you on that as well. The final segment features Small Business administrator when the mcmahon was confirmed 8119 on february 14. She is known as the former ceo of World Wrestling entertainment, or wwe. She has been involved in a professional wrestling business since the early 1980s. She also ran twice for senate as republican in connecticut. We will show her answering questions from kentucky senator rand paul in hawaii democrat mazie hirono. You can watch confirmation hearings from all of the nominees by going to cspan. Org. Search by name. And welcome. Tions the chairman put it well when he said that Small Businesses are worried about regulation. The cost is important to Small Businesses. Particularly, if you have thousand banks or one bank, you your compliant costs is greater if you can spread it to a thousand banks or 10,000 employees. This goes on across america. We actually have big businesses that come to washington because they are in favor of regulation because they see it as an impediment to smaller competition. I think Small Business that you do voice and i hope you will be a voice for Small Business. What i would like to ask is in , your opinion, do you think we are overregulated or under regulated . The think regulations or problem . Do you have any ideas about how this administration might be run out the Regulatory Burden . What i heard constantly while campaigning for the state of connecticut from Small Businesses was the overregulation environment, which is costing time, effort, and money. They did not focus on their business. I think we forget that in small , especially momandpop businesses that are starting up and i have a special place in my heart for them, they are the chief, cook and bottle washer. They are the ceo, the cfo, the janitor, everything. When they get a packet of regulation forms they have to fill out in order to comply with regulations, they dont know what to do with it. They can afford to hire lawyers to get them to Regulatory Environment. They either become more at fault and not in compliance, or time away from the business to do it. It is really difficult for Small Businesses to have to suffer under that kind of burden in a Regulatory Environment. One of the other costs of Small Businesses is taxes. I wouldnt discount from regulations. I would say to the equal. A lot of Small Businesses pastor there llcs and are moderately successful Small Businesses that might be paying 39. 6 income tax. In addition you have the Obamacare Tax with 43 or 44 before the government with the northeast and have a 12 state income tax on top of that. I think there is a great burden. You wont get to address tax policy directly unless there are ways you can as a Small Business administration, but you will also be a voice in the cabinet. I would like to hear your thoughts on the same question. Are we overtaxed, undertaxed or is it an im impediment to the formation of Small Business . Well, thank you. Having first started out as a sub s corp, and womens leadership live i started as an llc, so i understand how that pass through aspect of the income works here at i think if we are involved in tax reform, we need to consider how to also make it a level Playing Field for this past through companies. I would be a strong advocate for that. First of all, i want to commend you for the comments you made regarding President Trump s comments about women. I asked you to be a strong voice for women, should you be confirmed administrator, would you commit to preserving the programs that fun work with this committee to improve these programs . I definitely want to be a strong african for women, for Small Businesses and yes, for minorities in business, our veterans. I want to work with the committee and members of congress to make sure that we have the right regulations to help our business grow. I think you have an understanding of the special challenges that are faced by Women Entrepreneurs having been , one yourself, minority owned businesses, veterans those are groups that i particularly them also focused on the mixture that have the kind of support from sba that they should get. We have heard a lot about access to capital. Thats something you mentioned hearing about when you were running for office. Have you identified the specific factors that lead to difficulty in accessing capital . Because unless you know the causes are, we cannot make the appropriate changes. Since access to capital has been mentioned by you and number of times, have you idd those causes and what you would do about them as sba administrator . Thank you for your question. Let me share a story with you. When i was running for the senate in nnecticut there was a company that was in the rural area. We call it the quiet country. It was an entrepreneur who made grips that looked set just look sort of like springs. He had eight to 10 mostly when making these particular grips and springs. And he built his business from two to three people. He added people. He gotten loans from the bank before bridge loans when it was time for him to expand a bit or he was cash shower. He knew his community banker. Cash shy. He knew his community banker. Now he as work orders and more business coming in, in order to do that he needed to add on to his facility. So he went to see his same community banker. And banker told him you are asset rich but cash poor. He said i get that. Because if i had the cash i would not need be to here to get through this time. What the banker told him was in the past i have been able to loan you this money, but today, under the new Regulatory Environment we find ourselves in, you no longer qualify as you did before. You would have to overcollateralize in order to make the loan to you. That meant he had to put up all his assets his house and other assets in order to collateralize a much smaller loan. While entrepreneurs are happy to take managed risks, that was simply too much. So he did not expand and he didnt grow his business, he didnt hire the next people. Thats an example of a Regulatory Environment that does not allow our Small Businesses to grow. Let me note that. I have heard those comments from Small Businesses in my state. I visit with a lot of them. Some of those resulted from the financial collapse and the underregulation of Financial Services industry on wall street. There is usually a cause and effect. Im with you in trying to resolve some of those issues. But there was a reason that the collateral rules changed. It was because there was uncollateralized loans which led to the economic collapse. I want to make the point that we hear a lot about overregulation. When i talk to my Small Businesses, its easy to say were in over regulated environment, but asked them what specific regulation is causing you trouble . Unless we identified them, we can sit here and talk about overregulation and not get to the heart of it. Ill give you an example. There was an orchid farmer. He could ship his cut flowers but for various reasons he cannot ship the whole flowers. They were clean flowers, all of them. So we worked to change that. , when weike to ask you actually moved to improve Regulatory Environment that you would ask this very specific kinds of questions so that we get to the heart of what ever the relation is that is causing the problems as opposed to some weref a, oh yeah, overregulated. That doesnt take us far in my opinion. Thank you for that comment. I dont know how you change regulation if you cannot identify them. Thats exactly what he said. Good. We can change them or enhance them. Im committed to doing that for sure. Cspans washington journal, let every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up on monday morning, Associated Press reporter catherine newsy, and political reporter discussed the politico reporter seung min kim. The future of loan forgiveness. Watch washington journal, 7 00 a. M. Monday morning. Join the discussion. Cspan, newsmakers is next with democraticjohn yarmut. A look at the results of the first round of voting in the french president ial election. Then Jonathan Allen of rollcall and amy parts from the hill newspaper talk about their new book shattered, a behindthescenes look at Hillary Clintons failed president ial bid. At 8 00 David Mccullough on q a. Host joining us is congressman john yarmuth, the senior democrat on the Budget Committee and he announced he will be a candidate for reelection. It will be his seventh term it successful. Thank issa much for being with us on newsmakers. Let me introduce the rte