The republic of texas lasted for nine years. And then the majority of texans wanted to join the United States. I9 was not an easy task. Many people didnt want people to get texas. It was a treaty. United states is a country and texas would come in as a state as we know. Those folks down the hall in the senate, takes 2 3. 2 3 of the state would not have approved texas. How did texas become part of the union . They changed it. It takes the majority of the vote. Majority of the vote passed. Texas became into the when a louisiana changed changed his vote and texas came in. The republic of texas was no more and became a state in the union in 1846, 185, december of 185. When it came into the union. Texas was allowed to same the height at the United States flag. Texas was allowed to allowed to divide into five states. We arent going to do that. So we arent going to divide the five states. We have the right to decide and decide into five states. Going back into texas what happened to this land . Texas had this debt. And to pay off its debt sold this land to the federal government and wiped the slate clean and texas looks like what we know it looks like. And went to the union. I mentioned and talked about the san jacinto bay not so much because its really san jacinto bay but about the people who were there 179 years ago. I mentioned, they were all types of folks. But they are similar to our ancestors in the sole anyal days who said no. They werent going to tolerate. We still have oppression throughout the world that governments military dick dateors oppressing their people. They would like to be free and independent, but theyre not. And those folks back in 1836 made a decision that it was more important to them to be free than it was to be safe, secure, in their own personal life. So they were willing to give their lives for freedom. Its not a trite statement. We have had people from all over the United States that have done that, have fought for america, for freedom and for other people to sacrifice their lives so other people can enjoy that word that most people have never enjoyed, freedom and liberty. And when a dictator shows up, some people have the ability to step up and say, we arent going to take it. I will give up my life so there can be a free nation. Soy we are grateful for those folks in 1836 and the ones at the alamo and the ones that fought and lived, sacrificed their land, to make sure that freedom rings in our state. Text abs are proud of their history. And i learned about texas, san jacinto bay and Texas History. Kids have to take Texas History twice fourth grade and seff vent zpwrade. Our history is different than the 13th colony history. It was from a mexican dictator and we appreciate those folks sam houston davey crockett, jim bowii those men and women who sacrificed their wellbeing so we could be an independent nation. That tyrants will not rule. They will not be successful and they will be geeted and we should admire people. We do in the house of representatives. We have had people like that in all of our history. That makes us a unique nation. We could go back to the american independence and trace it back and the United States was at war and in fighting for our liberty. And we thank those people. We are still involved in war throughout the world today people fighting for america. We are grateful for them and we are grateful for those folks, sam houston and all of those boys of summer boys of spring that fought at the battle of san jacinto. We have seen the washington monument. Come to the battle, it has a big star on it and taller because its in texas. As a side note, the texas monument is bigger than this capitol. We honor them on san jacinto day. Kids dont get out of school. But it is my mothers birthday and i dont know if she is watching or not but celebrating her birthday down in texas. On behalf of those of us here we commend those folks at the battle of san jacinto a wish my mom a happy birthday on april 21 2015. And thats the way it is and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Snoosfa the speaker pro tempore does the gentleman from texas have a motion . Mr. Poe i move we adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the house stands adjourned until 10 00 the house of representatives today approved legislation Encouraging Energy efficiency in an open thing that federal buildings. Often has debated legislation to create three committees led by the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau on the Financial Products of small businesses, credit unions, and small banks. Democrats are against that bill because it would reduce funding for the Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau. Tomorrow and thursday, the house debates to Cyber Security bureaus bills. One provides Company Liability can protections. The other we designate how the Homeland Security department should handle cyber threat information from those private companies. The Associated Press writing this evening, the Justice Department announced today it has launched it utterly civil rights in addition into the death of freddy gray, a black man who died of spinal injuries he suffered after his arrest earlier this month in baltimore. Investigators will be looking for evidence that the arresting officer willfully violated his rights by using unreasonable force. The incident, one of several around the country recently, involving reports of Police Brutality and mistreatment of blacks, cspan talks about Excessive Force and corruption in one of the leaders of civil rights investigation, Baltimore Police commissioner. Here is a look. I need it very clear to my Police Officers from day one. I say the same thing, if you do a good job at there, and you make of mistake, make a mistake, i will back you and support you. If it takes losing my job, i will do that. At the same time if you go hurt the community, do something corrupt, i will hold you accountable. I will be the first one to bury you under the present. I make it very clear i will stand with them as they get their job done, but i will not stand for them being unconstitutional or hurting the community. Differing views on a trade Promotion Authority bill pending trade agreements from u. S. Chamber president thomas donohue. Bipartisan legislation was introduced leslie congressional leaders. Last week by congressional leaders. Fifth Senate Finance hearing leads up to Committee Action of the legislation wednesday. From capitol hill, it is two hours. Our intention is to mark up the t. P. A. And related bills later this week. This legislation is a long time coming. T. P. A. Expired in 2007. While talks with various trade agreements have gone on since that time without t. P. A. In effect, our neighbors and negotiators have been effectively negotiating with one hand tied behind their backs because they have not been able to assure that the deal they signed is the one congress will vote on in the end. Our legislation will fix that. I want to thank Ranking Member wyden for his senator and support and assistance thus far and also congressman ryan. We got a long way to go but working together im confident we can get there. Now, some expressed concerns about the process by which were moving this bill forward. For example, ive heard arguments that were moving too quickly without adequate discussion or examination. Those concerns are, in my view very unfounded. First of all, the bill on which our current t. P. A. Legislation was based was first introduced in january of 2014. Almost a year and a half ago. And since that time its been available for examination, dissection, discussion and comment. Thousands of organizations have weighed in on the merits of that bill, including Business Organizations, organized labor think tanks and advocacy groups. Many members of congress are on record either praising or criticizing that bill. Officials in the Obama Administration expressed their support for it. True enough in our discussions senator wyden, chairman ryan and i made some improvements of that original bill but the fundamentals remain the same and weve been very transparent as to what the changes really have been. Second, in the 113th congress, the finance Committee Held nine hearings on trade and t. P. A. Was wrote up in virtually every one of them. I know this because more often than not i was the one bringing it up. One of those hearings was devoted specifically and entirely to t. P. A. And included the testimony of witnesses across the spectrum, including one representing organized labor as well. Finally, since the 114th congress convened just about four months ago, this committee has had three hearings in which trade and t. P. A. Was a major topic of discussion. Todays hearing is the fourth. In other words, this is a wellcovered territory for this committee. So while i understand and respect there are sincerely held views on this topic, some of which are different than mine, any arguments that we have been less than forthcoming and transparent with this t. P. A. Legislation are to put to fine point on it nonsense. Ive been in the senate a long time and i think im generally considered to be pretty reasonable. Im certainly willing to listen to and consider any genuine concerns that some may have about process. I want all sides to be heard. I want to have a fair and open debate. Thats why were having this additional hearing. By all means, we should have a frank enough discussion about these issues and i hope we will continue to do so today. But lets not dress opposition to t. P. A. Is concern about as concerns about process. During the hearing last week i made two assertions about trade. I stated plainly that u. S. Trade with Foreign Countries is a good thing. And i said that t. P. A. Is the best tool congress has in its arsenal to help influence and facilitate trade. Those are pretty fundamental assertions and at the end of the day, people are either going to agree with them or they wont. Now, more hearings and weeks of additional delays wont change many minds one way or the other on these essential issues. With that in mind i welcome todays hearings. Like i said, we have a very distinguished panel of witnesses. It doesnt get more distinguished than these two gentlemen who are before us today. And i think they will speak to the heart of these matters. I look forward to a spirited discussion. For my part i want to make clear if its not clear enough already that i believe congress should be working hand in hand with the administration to break down barriers to foreign markets in order to give our businesses and job creators a chance to compete in the global marketplace. The United States should be a leader in international trade. We should be setting the standards and making the rules. We simply cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and let other countries dictate where the world goes on trade. Trade is an essential element of the healthy economy. We should be doing all we can to advance the trade agenda that works for america and advances our interest on the world stage. I might add this trade agreement will cover 11 nations in the Transpacific Partnership plus ours and 28 different nations in the ttip european Partnership Plus ours. So it involves High Percentage of trade throughout the world and it puts us in a position to be able to do a good job with regard to trade and to advance our country in many ways we will not be able to do without this agreement. Now, thats where we are. Ill stop right there. Senator wyden. Senator wyden mr. Chairman, colleagues, normally id make an Opening Statement the focus of which would be to lay out the significant differences between this bill and the trade bills of the 1990s. And under normal circumstances i would detail that before the committee at this time. Given the interest, however, with colleagues on the committee and engaging with our two witnesses and we thank them both, mr. Trumka and mr. Donohue. I visited with a number of the members of the chamber and the interest of my colleagues who are here to ask questions, i will fore bear any further statement at this time, mr. Chairman. Senator hatch thank you, senator wyden. Our first witness is thomas j. Donohue, the president and c. E. O. Of the u. S. Chamber of commerce, the largest Business Organization in the world. Representing the interest of more than three million businesses across various sectors and industries. Hes held this position at the u. S. Chamber since 1997. Weve had a lot of experience working together. Prior that i served as president and c. E. O. Of the American Trucking association for 13 years. Earlier in his career he served as a Deputy Assistant postmaster general of the United States and Vice President of development at fairfield university. Mr. Donohue seached a bachelors degree from st. Johns bifert university and an mba from a delphi university. So we welcome you, mr. Donohue to the finance committee. Were honored to have you here. We appreciate your willingness to be here today. Our second witness today on this panel is richard l. Trumka. Hes president of the 12. 5 million member American Federation of labor and congress of industrial nations or the aflcio. The Largest Organization of labor unions in the country. Hes held this position since 2009. I might add that this organization is has an effect for the american citizens all over the world. One of my closest friends is the international Vice President of the aflcio. Hes since passed away. What a great leader he was in this world. Prior to 2009, mr. Trumka served for 15 years as the aflcio secretary treasurer. From 1982 to 1995, he was president of the united mine workers. Mr. Trumka has a bachelors degree from Penn State University and a degree from villanova. Hes a tough guy and somebody i have a lot of respect for. These are two these are the two top people in this country as far as im concerned to appear at this hearing. Theyre widely divergent views, perhaps, but we need to listen to both of them. I want to thank you, mr. Trumka and mr. Donohue. Welcome to the Senate Finance committee and hopefully it wont be the last time you come before this committee. So with that well turn to you mr. Donohue. Youll be the first witness. Mr. Donohue thank you very much, chairman hatch, Ranking Member wyden and distinguished members of the committee. As you now know, im tom donohue and im president and c. E. O. Of the chamber of commerce of the United States. Im really pleased to testify today on behalf of our three million small and mediumsized businesses, state and local chambers of commerce as well as Large Companies that are members of the chamber and national federation. Im also pleased to be here with my friend, rich trumka. We appear quite often together on matters of immigration, infrastructure and a whole lot of things we agree on. When we retire well get a mike and ike show and go on the road. We think we can make a good deal out of it. The chamber strongly supports the bipartisan congressional trade priorities and accountability act of 2015 which will renew trade Promotion Authority. T. P. A. Is critical because Economic Growth and job creation at home depend on our ability to sell American Goods and services abroad. After all, 95 of the worlds consumers live outside the borders of the United States. Why does trade matter to our country . In a word, it comes down to american jobs. Already one in four manufacturing jobs depends on exports and one in three acres of American Farms is planted for consumers overseas. All told, nearly 40 million american jobs depend on trade. Nearly 400,000 jobs in utah and a half a million jobs in oregon depend on trade, just to pick two states at random. \[laughter] these numbers could even be higher but unfortunately the Playing Field for trade isnt always level. While our market is generally open, u. S. Exports face foreign tariffs and often soaring into double digits as well as a atlantic of nontariff thicket of as well as a thicket of nontariff barriers. No one wants to go into a game many points behind before the tipoff but thats exactly what american exporters are doing every day. These barriers are particularly burdensome for americas small and Mediumsized Companies about 300,000 of which are exporters from the United States. The good news is that americas trade agreements do a great job leveling the Playing Field and the results include significantly higher exports and