In income. So instead of standing in the corner and figuring out how to bring a trade bill to the floor they ought to be fixing equal pay for equal work, they ought to be fixing Student Loans for our students, they ought to be passing a highway bill, they ought to be increasing the minimum wage, and they ought to deal with currency fairness because our trading partners, they play with their currency in order to push forward their products. But oh, no. That is not on the agenda. We could have an agenda for a vibrant middle class but instead of that, we are moving toward a trade bill. Now, i know there are some who disagree with me, who come down this floor and say were going to create jobs with this trade bill its going to be great. Well let them explain how were not going to see some of the 12 million jobs that are manufacturing jobs in america not move to countries who pay 56 cents an hour. Another country 1. 19 an hour. I know theyll disagree with me. Theyre making all of these promi
Message where it needs to be delivered, that the time is critical and i look forward to being part of the solution. Thank you very much, mike, for your comments and your contributions. Ill take it a little bit out of order now and take my law partner and former member of congress, state of georgia, congressman Jack Kingston to give his perspective on some of the things theyre doing down in georgia, particularly in the port project area and hes now with us, with these projects probably had something to do with them back when you were in congress yourself. Jack, why dont you go ahead and tell us about what is happening down there. Thank you very much, senator. I have to take a point of personal privilege that i really came here to lobby jennifer on going ahead and getting a fast lane on 395. I think we all would like to see that happen. And, mike, i want to say my mother actually lives in louisville, colorado, and your toll road is great. Thank you. Ive driven it many times. It is such a
Schools, city hall, social well tear fair if blacks in baltimore and other cities if blacks are running those institutions and the promise of the Civil Rights Movement is if we were running them we would be different and better than whites well why are blacks failing in systems run by their own people if the issue was race. Youve listened to president obamas responses since baltimore, the public statements hes made. Hes giving a speak today at georgetown university. Its 11 25 on cspan 3 for our viewers if you want to watch. What are you expecting to hear from the president on this topic of overcoming poverty . First of all, im glad hes speaking out. Its been six years since the president has said anything. Hes probably spoken less about poverty than any previous president. He seems to be promoting the same strategies that have failed over the past 50 years. We look at the problem. First of all you cant generalize about poverty. Not everybody is poor for the same reason. Therefore, you
Captioning performed by vitac forward to hearing first from sloan gibson. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Chairman isakson Ranking Member blumenthal and the committee, were committed to making the Choice Program work and to providing veterans timely and geographically accessible care, using care in the community whenever necessary. Ill talk shortly about what were doing and the help that we need from congress to make all of that happen. First, i want to talk very briefly about access to care. Most mornings at 9 00 a. M. , for the last year, Senior Leaders from across the department gathered to focus on improving veterans access to care. Weve concentrated on key drivers of access, including increasing Medical Center staffing by 11,000, adding space, boosting care during extended hours and weekends by 10 and increasing staff productivity. The result, 2. 5 million more completed appointments inside va this year than last. Relative value units, a common measure of care delivered that measured car
Public of the need for validity of a broad program. The concept delineating between the number of people affected or how targets are picked, versus the program itself, i think is valuable, and it gets to a question that i would like a from everybody on. There is a trust problem that now exists, for whatever series of reasons. An example of a concern that i at least have was revealed through a usa today piece that came out last month that revealed that the dea had been conducting a Metadata Collection Program ten years before 9 11. One of the concerns and maybe this is pessimism or paranoia depending on who you ask, is that stopping a program like the telephone Metadata Collection Program that is ongoing under authority, how do we know it does not show up under another 30 . It is a sincere question that premuch everybody, because theres no reason to hold the community to such a paranoid standard, but how do we get to that point . I think this question is a real challenge because of the