Virus, ending gun violence and yet we have not been able to do anything about that. The Public Health crisis in flint, michigan, where 9000 children have been poisoned and the water is not clean, we have the ability to do something about that. And republicans in congress have done nothing. As democrats we have offered solutions to end and deal with the opioid addiction problem. And over does problem happening in communities across the country were 78 people every single day lose their life to opioid overdoses. We know that we can put the resources to do that. Democrats have offered solutions and yet republicans are on vacation and have done nothing. I join my colleagues today to say i do not want to just hang out in the Fourth District of maryland. I want to be here on capitol hill solving these Public Health emergency i cant wait. Making sure, sadly our families and communities and children know that we are here to do their work. 52 days of vacation. Children will be back in school fo
Question, first. In terms of the input, my opinion the devil is always in the details. I would want to understand the specifics of what we are talking about. That is a good duck. It just doesnt crack. Lets move on, i want to ask you about the use of encrypted information by terrorist and criminals. The fbi director came before us and gave us stark testimony about going dark and how big the problem was. Did you believe the increased use of this kind of encryption and apps as you pointed out poses a National Security threat . Yes, maam, i am concerned the direction we are going, if we make no changes is minted we have to get together with the government and industry and policy side. This is a complex network and there is no simple answer here. If we put our mind to it, we can come up with a solution that is september acceptable. You dont want me or an Intelligence Organization making those kinds of decision. You dont want us to unilaterally do that. I am the first to acknowledge that. Th
Shuster was touting the open process laid out a Leadership Conference today to reporters. Its boasting that this process, which basically splits consideration of the highway bill from the house policy portions today and the senate and other provisions tomorrow and for the rest of the week as a process that gives members greater time and greater levels of consideration on both bills. However, the house rules process limits amendments on the floor. So technically, this isnt the most open process but with a highway bill thats spanning hundreds of pages and over 200 amendments submitted from the house, leadership has to do something to try to kind of limit the floor procedure process. And you mentioned bill shuster. Heres a tweet that you sent out. Ive been waiting three years for this, so here we go, he tells the house rules committee. Why did it take so long and what is the current deadline . One of the major contentions behind the surface transportation reauthorization bill is the diffi
Respects it achieves the house goals. To shorten the time it takes to conclude education over federal we requiredecisions, litigants to present the substance of claims during their administrative reviews. The senate text 12 short in the third key respect. The Senate Language includes many important steps towards this goal, but multiple loopholes open the door for agencies to extend administrative deadlines without and and without standards. Byoffer to fix this problem establishing firm checks and balances through which the prevente director of owe can extensions. Bipartisan and has worked very closely with the white house. We would all like this to move a forward. The house version has already passed through the house and has been carefully negotiated with all parties and is ready to go. The other amendment i would like to call to your attention is this. Into deals with language to simply give states that are included in the interstate 73 and thent avenue i opportunity to band together
Certainly my state as well. This also represents a milestone as members of this Committee Work to complete a multiyear highway bill the first time in a decade. And long overdue. With Service Transportation programs set to expire on friday, it is imperative we work quickly to reach a bipartisan and by cbicamybicameral agreeme. A number of issues happened to be particularly important to my state. For example, upgrading the freight corridors and interstate system that moved goods through my state to Global Markets every day and providing Additional Resources for Public Private partnerships and border infrastructure. Delivering investment certainty so we can plan for and deliver the highquality infrastructure that our country and my constituents deserve. This bill is important. But im proud to say the leadership in texas havent waited on the federal government. In november 2014, 80 of texans approved a Ballot Initiative that provides 1. 7 billion to upgrade and maintain the Transportation