Was trivializing what that was about. If anything, we give more protection to political speech. Not just speech in the theater or Something Like that. There is nothing that is more protected under american law band commentary about how the world ought to function, who ought to be elected, how government ought to behave, assessments of people. Under our law i dont believe the fire in a crowded theater motion really helps too much, because if anything it understates the level of First Amendment protection that is given and is needed with respect to political or socially relevant speech. If i go on television and suggest a really good idea would be to kill all the First Amendment lawyers in the u. S. , when you think that would be protected . [laughter] it is just an example. There was a cartoon was in the new yorker, with the Supreme Court sitting around a table and one of the justices says do you ever have a day when everything seems unconstitutional . [laughter] that is what your quest
That people will learn to live together in reconciliation and respect so that the terrors of war now raging in ukraine, syria, and threatening to spread will be no more. May your special blessings be upon the members of this assembly and the important often difficult work they do. Give them wisdom and charity that they might Work Together for the common good when issues on so many fronts present seemingly impossible roads to cooperation. May all that is done this day in the peoples house be for your greater honor and glory. Amen. The speaker pro tempore the chair has examined the journal of the last days proceedings, and announced to the house his approval there of. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. The pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from michigan, mr. Kildee. Mr. Kildee please join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under goivib, thibty andus
Are in the middle of delicate negotiations . Was it a wise move to ignore the administration in terms of appearing in front of a joint session of congress . What are your thoughts on that . Secretary kerry my thoughts are that you as a secretarys have leeway to make up your own minds about how you feel about this. My job is to work with the Prime Minister of israel to maintain security to honor our very strong relationship, and i speak with the Prime Minister more than any other leader. I speak with him later. I speak with him regularly. The enduring relationship we has, nobody should question that relationship. You all have to make up your own minds about the propriety of the way this unfolded or what happened. We are going to proceed about our business, which is protecting the country in maintaining the integrity of these relationships and that includes israel. I will be, i know i have been focused on iran negotiations in ukraine and afghanistan and a bunch of other things. I will be
Further, i plan to take advantage of the a scale to improve productivity and flow more people to the work. Its clear the va must be more efficient and more productive. The Department Needs to demonstrate that can manage a complex facilities portfolio, that it can create with the department of defense and integrated records system, that it can regularly and accurately produce key data for Decision Makers and oversight entities. And most importantly provide the veterans the highest quality and costeffective benefits possible. All of these things are possible. They are possible through some of the steps ive outlined. If confirmed, i will work to transform the department of Veterans Affairs. I will continue to partner with you at all the departments stakeholders. Va has made Great Strides in serving veterans thanks to the commitment of many dedicated employees, and the hard work with our partners and advocates in the community. But the va is in crisis. The veterans are in need. There is mu
Claimants who can file a claim. Third, i want to explain a bit the dollars and the compensation that is available under the program. We started drafting is protocol about two months ago at initially gms request. We have reached out to a wide variety of individuals and institutions to get as much information as we could about what ought to be in this program. I thank General Motors for their total cooperation in establishing this program, they are funding it, and they are funding it without any tap on the aggregate amount of money that will be available. Gm basically has said whatever it costs to pay all eligible claims under the protocol, they will pay it. There is no ceiling on the aggregate dollars. Also, gm has said under this program that anybody who already settled their claim with General Motors before they knew about this coverup or his ignition switch problem, meyrick up the release they signed and come back into this program to get additional compensation. So ive read that the