Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20160101

Duty to determine whether it will keep us safe. Sadly this deal is far worse than anything i could have it is our his negotiators broke every one of their promises. Does this deal dismantle Irans Nuclear program or shut off their path to a nuclear his negotiators broke every one of their promises. Does this deal dismantle Irans Nuclear program or shut off their path to a Nuclear Program as they promised it would . No. Instead, it allows iran to keep thousands of nouk clear centrifuges spinning as they are today. And within 10 years in the best case it allows iran to achieve a nuclear status. Was this agreement built on verification . No. Why . Ecause the president and it appears the side deal with trust iran to selfinspect a key site where the regime conducted tests on nuclear it detonators. Havent seen that actual side deal and we dont know if there are any other secret components. Does this agreement allow inspectors to have anywhere, anytime, 24 7 oongsess as they promised it would . No. Inspectors will have to wait up to 24 havent seen that days fo suspicious sites. Well, sanctions snap back . No. The Administration Admits that nothing at the u. N. Happens in snap. Does it shut down irans ballistic milssles program . No. It lifts the embargos in five and eight years respectively and allows them to build icbms capable of delivering a Nuclear War Head here to the United States of america. Does this agreement affect irans status as the worlds leading sponsor of terror . Yes, it actually does. It hands iran billions of dollars to support more of their terrorist activities around that part of the world. And it gives amnesty to the shadow commander responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american troops in iraq. And this is all without iran cheating. This is such a bad deal that the ayatollah wont have to cheat to be steps away from a nurecleek weapon. So today we are going to cast two votes, these votes are aimed from stopping president obama from unilaterally lifting sanctions on iran and ensuring accountability. In pursuing this deal with iran president obama refused to listen. He ignored the concerns of the American People, National Security experts, and a bipartisan majority here in the congress. And now he is preparing to try to enforce this deal over our objections. Never in our history has so many with consequences for our National Security been rammed through with such little support. Today is september 11th, a day for all americans to come together and for us to keep the oath we swore to our constitution. So our fight to stop this bad deal frankly is just beginning. We will not let the american down. I yield back. [applause] looking at the senate side of this iran debate, democrats had the power in the minority to prevent this moving forward to a voted on down. This resolution of disapproval which the house had already moved on. What tactics did they employ . Well, the senate needs 60 votes in order to advance legislation and they prevented it from reaching that threshhold. With this review act that was signed into law earlier in the year, democrats made the point that the iran review act didnt say things only had to be an up or down vote. So they could justify that the legislation allowed them to make that move. In keeping with the iran review act, the majority, a bipartisan majority, is wishing to vote he opportunity on the substance of the of disapproval which the house had already moved on. Deal. What is happening and my friend, minority leader, is here. He began saying in august that he wanted to filibuster this. Is the nderstanding administration has supported that. So what we have now is a partisan minority of people that are keeping the spirit of the iran so what we have now is a partisan minority of people that are keeping the spirit of coming review act from nto play by blocking our ability to actually vote up and down. So thats whats happening. I want to make sure the American People understand ability to actually vote up and down. So thats whats happening. I want to make sure the American People understand that. I know members of this body understand that. And i just want to close with this. On every y leader occasion, when theres been an opportunity for this to devolve into something that was partisan, and there was concern side of the aisle about things that were occurring at every point the majority leader has allowed for things to progress in a way that the minority would feel that this was not a my friend, minority leader, is here. He began saying in august that he wanted to filibuster this. Partisan effort. I want to also point out that the majority leader when we brought this cloture motion to the floor filled the tree. He filled the tree. My friends on the other side of the aisle did partisan effort. I want not want a bunch of amendments. They wanted only to vote on a motion of approval or disapproval in this case since theres a bipartisan majority in support of disapproval that is what we are hoping to be able to vote on. But, unfortunately, what is happening again it appears on the spirit i hope something changes. But just last week, 42 senators blocked the ability of the senate to end debate and actually vote on the substance of the deal. So i hope that changes. I hope tonight at least two senators on the other side of the aisle will give us the ability to express ourselves on the substance of the deal and not block a bipartisan majority. Who wanted to express themselves through a vote of disapproval. The senator from tennessee is my friend. I respect him. I have said so on the floor and i say it privately among my colleagues. I want for the record to make it clear, senator reid and the democrats said there will be no cloture necessary on the motion to proceed. No motion to proceed vote necessary to go to this measure. We had an opportunity to obstruct, to block, and did not do it because we believe that what we had heard repeatedly that this would be a 60 vote final passage was ultimately going to be the standard. There is nothing in the statute that brings us to this measure that in any way eliminates the 60 vote requirement. It is just not there. There is nothing that does that. When your side discovered they did not have 60 votes which was the beginning of last week they changed the standard and said anything less than that is a filibuster. I would just say this. We have had eight weeks on this issue and we should have taken eight weeks on this issue, it is that important. And every senator i think should stand up and say where they stand on this issue and every senator has stood up and announced where they stand on this issue. This has not been glossed over. We have not made light of it. People arent trying to find some sneaky way to avoid responsibility. Each person is on the record. I know where you stand, you know where i stand. That goes for every one of our colleagues. So what are we doing tonight . Why are we going through a replay of last week and now with the threat of amendments . They wont be on the iran agreement, per se, on the adoption of the agreement on the underlying statute. Be on something else. But to say that we havent taken the time dealt with this in a bipartisan way, allowed open debate, we have done it and cooperated in doing it. You dont like the result, i happen to believe its a result that really reflects where we should be as a nation. I support the president. I believe that we ought to have two goals here. Stop iran from developing a nuclear weapon, stop america from going to another war in the middle east. Thats what i want to achieve and i think we can achieve it through this agreement. But its subject to inspection, subject to reports. And if the iranians decide they want to breach this agreement, then we start back on the sanctions. Were back where we started from. I would say to the the senator from tennessee, as he has faced these conscience votes on the floor about war and about the Death Associated with it, i conclude first try diplomacy. If diplomacy does not work, then you have to pursue hatever is necessary for National Security. But i believe we have said 42 out of 46 Democratic Senators we support diplomacy. And to argue this is first. And to argue that this is somehow partisan because four senators see it differently i think there may be some partisanship in the fact that partisanship in the fact that not a single republican member of the house or senate supports the president s position. Not one. I think there may be some partisanship in the fact that 47 republican senators on march 9, 2015 sent a letter to the ayatollah in iran and basically said stop negotiating with the United States of america. There is no point in it. Has never ever, ever happened in diplomat history that 47 senators would prejudge negotiation er with the president of the United States. But they did. So the fact that all 47 voted in disagreement is no surprise. I think that is the reality of what we face today. I dont know why were going to keep repeating these votes over and over. There are a lot of things we should take up. We have nine legislative days left until this fiscal year ends and we end up closing down the government. I think it is time for us to move on to important issues that should command the attention of the senate. Mr. President , i am going to roceed under my leader time. I want to thank the leard chairman of the foreign elations committee for doing an excellent job on giving us an opportunity to express ours of what the president has described as an executive agreement. I think its important that everybody understand that the next president can take a look at this. It doesnt have the force of a treaty. Ut the president didnt want an excellent job on giving us an opportunity anything to do w it at all. And the chairman skillfully negotiated with the other side to give us an opportunity as elected representatives of the American People all. And the chairman skillfully negotiated with the other side to give us an opportunity as elected representatives of the American People to actually express our views on his unilateral action. The next president can take a look at this. It doesnt have the force of a treaty. But the president didnt want us to have with the iranian government. Proceeded, as the the senator from tennessee pointed out, in a manner that respected the process, and gave the senate an opportunity to vote deal been denied the opportunity to get an up or down vote on the agreement that the corkercarden bill gave us an opportunity to express ourselves on. So i want to congratulate the senator from tennessee. Its been an extraordinary legislative performance. The senator from tennessee as we all know is someone who admires and respects and is willing to deal only. Even though technically it was open for amendment. Yet weve talk to the other side and frequently good things come about as a result of it. But we are where we are. This evening Senate Democrats will have one more opportunity to do the right thing and end their blockade of a vote on the president s deal with iran. In the end Senate Democrats blocked a vote on the resolution disapproving of the Iran Nuclear Deal and the agreement went into effect a month later. Just days after, pope frances arrived on capitol hill in late september. He became the first pope ever to speak before a joint member of congress. House Speaker John Boehner worked for 20 years to see a papal address before congress. Concerned about the situation in the world today. Our world is increasingingly a and of violent conflict brutal atrocity committed even in the name of god and of religion. We know that not religion is immune from forms of individual delusions or ideological extremists. This means that we must especially be attentive to very type of fundamentalist, whether religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required combat violence perpetrated in the name of our religion and ideology, or an economic system. Reasons, ious intellectual reasons, and individual reasons. [applause] i think of the march which Martin Luther king led from selma to montgomery 50 years to s part of the campaign fulfill his dreams of full civil and Political Rights for african americans. [applause] that dream continues to inspire us all. And i am happy that america continues to be for many a land of dreams. [applause] reams which leads to action to participation, to commitment. What is ich awaken deepest and truest in the lives of the people. In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future of freedom. The people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners because most of us [applause] because most of us were once foreigners. [applause] i say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descendents of immigrants. Tragically, the rights of those who were here long before us respected. Ways for those people and the nations from the heart of democracy, i esteem and times were on those violent. Bulent and but we know that it is very difficult to judge the past we difficult to judge the past by this criteria of the present. [applause] nonetheless, when the stranger we r midst appears to us, must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past. [applause] live as solve now to noble as and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn their back on our neighbors and verything around us. Building a nation calls us to recognize that we must nstantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset of hostility in other to adopt one reciprocal subsid ty in a and constant effort to do our best and constant that we can do his. Ty in a our world is facing a refugee not seen magnitude since the second world war. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions. The this continent, thousands of persons traveled north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones. Wish to reaffirm my highest in search of greater opportunity. For s not what we want ur own children. We must not be taken aback by the numbers. Ut rather view them as persons. Seeing their faces and listening [applause] to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to the situation to respond in a way which is always human, just, and fraternal. We need to avoid a common , avoiding to discuss whatever the problems are. Let us remember the golden rule. You thers as [applause] others as you will have them do unto you. This rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. T us take for others the sense of civility which we seek for ours. Let us help others to do as we would like to for ourselves. Let us get situated. If we want life, let us give life. If we want opportunity, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which ime uses for us. The golden rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human lives at the earliest stage of its development. [applause] this conviction has led me from he beginning of my ministry to advocate on Different Levels the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best since every life is acred, every human person is endowed with an inaleable ability and society can only benefit from the realization of hose convicted of crime. Recently, here in the United States, renewed the call for the abolition of the death penalty. I support them, but encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and society punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the oal of rehabilitation. T goes without saying that path of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth. The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology, and e harnessing of enterprise are essential elements of an conomy which seeks to be modern, inclusive, and sustainable. [applause] siness is a noble vocation directed to producing wealth and building the world. It can be a true resource of prosperity in the area in which it operates, especially if it as an e creation of jobs essential part of its service the common world. Directed to this common good also includes the earth. A central theme of the ncyclical which i recently want to end up into the dialogue with people about our common cause. We need a conversation which the des everyone since environmental challenge we are if human goods concerns and the effects also. [applause] and rec r a courageous our e effort to redirect steps and to the most effect of the environmental detier yoration, caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference, i am sure. And i have no doubt that the United States and this congress have an Important Role to play. Now is the time for courageous action. Implementing a culture of care and an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring ignity, and at the same time protecting nature. Vision. Er means being truly concerned, to minimize, and in the long term to truly concerned, to minimize, and in the long term end, Armed Conflicts our world is involved. Here, we have to ask ourselves are Deadly Weapons being given to those who plan to inflict suffering on society . Sadly, the answer as we all know is simply for money. Money Deadly Weapons being given to those who plan to inflict suffering is dretched i blood, Armed Conflicts often in e face of the that shameful ad culpable silence it is our duty so confront the problem and to stop the arms drive. Culpable silence culpable silence it is our duty so confront the problem and to stop the arms drive. I cannot hide my concerns for families which is present perhaps as never before from within or without, fundamental relations have been called into as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and above all the origins and the beauty of asily life. In particular, i would like to call attention to those family members who are the most vulnerable, the young. For many of them, a future filled with possibilities beckens. Yet so many of us seem aimless, drapped in a hopeless maze of despair. Abuse, and their problems are our problems. Their problems are our roblems. E cannot avoid them. We need to face them together. To talk about them. And to seek Effective Solutions rather we need to than getting bogged in discussions. And the risk of over simplifying. You might say that we live in a culture with precious young to start a family because they lack possibilities for the future. Yet the same culture presents others with so many options dissuaded oo are from starting a family. A nation can be considered it defends liberty as lincoln did, when it forces culture which enables fostors a culture which enables people to dream as Martin Luther king sought to do, when it strives for justice and the as the the oppressed talk which becomes dialogue and ensures peace in a continue plentyive style of thomas madison. In these remarks i have sought to present some of the richness , of the spirit of the American People. Place y desire that this continue to develop and grow so that as many young people as a land can inherit which has inspired so many people to dream. God bless america. [applause] i need to sing that on my way to work. My mission is to pray for a smaller less costly and more accountable government. Over the last five years our majority has advanced conservative reforms that will help our children and their children. Were now on track to cut Government Spending by 2. 1 trillion over the next ten years. We made the first real nearly nt reform in two decades and weve protected 99 of the American People from an increase in our taxes. And weve done all this with a democrat in the white house. So im proud of what weve accomplished. But more than anything, my first nearly job as speaker is protect the institution. A lot of you know now know that my plan was to step down at the end of last year. November of 2010 that, when i was elected speaker, that serving two terms would have been plenty. But in june of last year, when it became clear that the majority leader lost his election, i frankly didnt believe it was right for me to leave at the end of last year. So my goal was to leave at the end of this year. So i planned actually on my birthday, november 17, to announce that i was leaving at the end of the year. But it has become clear to me that the prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution. So this morning i informed my colleagues that i would resign from the speakership and resign rom congress at the end of october. As you have often heard me say, this isnt about me, it is about the people, it is about the institution. Just yesterday we witnessed the awesome sight of pope frances addressing the greatest legislative body in the world. I hope that we will always heed his call to live by the golden rule. But last night i started to think about this and this i said my oke up and prayers, as i always do, and i is the day i am going to do this. As simple as that. Now, that is the code i have always lived by. If you do the right thing for the right reasons, the right things will happen. And i know good things like ahead for this house and this country, and i am proud is the going to do this. Of what e have proud of my let me express my gratitude to my constituents, who have sent me here 13 times over the last 25 years. You cant get here without getting votes. But and i have said this often. People ask me what is the greatest thing about being speaker. Or about being an elected official. Its the people you get to meet. I have tens of thousands of people in my own Congressional District that i would never have met other than the fact that i decided to run for congress. Over the years as i traveled on behalf of my colleagues and the party, i have met tens of additional people the country. You meet rich people, you meet poor people, you meet interesting people and probably a few boring ones along the way. But i can tell you that 99. 9 of the people i meet on the road, anywhere, could not be nicer than they have been. Its been really wonderful. It has been an honor to serve in this the country. You meet rich people, you meet poor people, you institution. And with that, all right junior, go ahead. [inaudible] really. What a surprise. You made this decision last night that the grace of pope frances led you to this. No. No. Yesterday was a wonderful day. It really was. Was i emotional . I think i was. I was really emotional at a moment that really no one saw. As the pope and i were getting ready to exit the building we found ourselves alone. The pope grabbed my left arm and said some very kind words to about my commitment kids and education. The pope put his arm around me and kind of pulled me to him and said, please pray for me. Who am i to pray for the pope but i did. It wasnt the pope [inaudible] it is never about the vote. There was never any doubt that i could survive the vote. I dont want my members to go through this. I dont want the institution to go through this especially when i knew accomplished. I am especially i was thinking walking out the door anyway. Its the right time to do it and frankly i am entirely comfortable doing it. I have heard you say before that a leader who doesnt have anybody following him is just a walk. King a rsh thats right. I have plenty of people following me. But the turmoil thats been churning now for a couple of months is not good for the members and walk. Rsh thats it is not good for the institution. If i wasnt planning on leaving here soon, i can tell you i would not have done this. If i may just to there are people who are on the right in your caucus and even outside of this institution who have been wanting you to step down for some time. Do you feel that they have a victory today . Do you feel that you were pushed out . No. The members im glad i made this announcement at the conference with all my republican colleagues. Because it was a very good ment to help kind of rebuild the team. I feel good about what ive done. I know that i every day i try to do the right thing for the right reasons and try to do the right thing for the country. How can this not be a moment of turmoil if you thought about leaving two years ago but at the time you [inaudible] keep the government open in a couple of days, the debt ceiling. There is going to be [inaudible] im going to be here for another five weeks. Im not going to leave im not going to sit around here and do nothing for the next several days. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done and i plan on getting as much of it done as i can. As a result though does that make it easier in some ways to make some tougher decisions, maybe relying on democrats to keep the government open . No. Im going to make the same decisions regardless of this. Youve made no secret about frustration about the far right and outside groups youve used words that we probably cant use on television. Have you just had enough . And how will anything be different . Let me tell you, i would not describe it as having had enough. Frustration about the f right and outside groups youve used words that we probably cant use on television. Have you just had enough . And how will anything be different . Let me tell you, i would not describe it as having had enough. Thats not it at all. When youre the speaker of the house your number one responsibility is to the institution. And having a vote like this in the institution i dont think is very healthy. Everything i ne can frustration about the far d to strengthen the institution. Frankly, my move today is another step in that effort to strengthen the institution. What will the next speaker face [inaudible] hopefully not. How will washington be different because you leave this institution . What should people watching this expect the house and congress to do Going Forward if youre not here . If the Congress Stays american the priringts, there will be no problem at all. And while we have differences between democrats and priringts, there will re be no problem at all. And while we have differences between democrats and i would say they were shocked. Told mr. Mccarthy about two i spoke what i was going to do. I told him five times because he didnt believe me. Should mccarthy be the next speaker . Im not going to be here to vote on the next speaker. But thats up to the members. That, i think that Kevin Mccarthy would make an excellent speaker. Who is the first person you told and what did they say . Well, i told my wife. What did she say . She said good. I told my chief of staff my chief of staff and i talked late yesterday and i told him that i was thinking that today might be the day. I told him i would sleep on it. Before i went to sleep i told my wife i might make an announcement tomorrow. What kind of announcement . Tell them its time to go. So this morning i woke up and walked up to starbucks as usual and got my coffee, and came back and read, walked up to petes diner and saw everybody at petes and got home. And i thought, i think todays the day. So my senior staff was having a meeting at 8 450 and i kind of walked in before i opened the house, told them this is the day. Its going to happen some day. Why not today . Do you know when the next election might be held . No. Mccarthy based on your five years what advice do you give him to avoid the same pitfalls that you have come across . I told kevin that his number one responsibility is to protect the institution. Nobody else around here has an obligation like that. Secondly, i would tell him the same thing ive just told you. Just do the right thing every day for the right reasons, the right things will happen. You all know me. Colleagues do. Im always straight with them. They may not like the answer they get but they will get an honest answer every single time they come to my office. Its just an easy way for me to do my job. You originally planned the announcement on your birthday. If it wasnt the pope what factors would have weighed in on your decision to do it now . Just all this stuff i read about in the paper. You know, i really dont want the institution hurt and i dont want my colleagues hurt. I dont want to put my colleagues through all this. For what . What are you going to miss . What will you miss . What will i miss. Well, of course all of you. Going to w what im miss because i havent missed it yet. I will certainly miss the camaraderie of the house. Let me tell going to miss because i havent missed it you another story. That was really kind of interesting. Maxine waters and i, democrat from southern california, came here 25 years ago in the same class. Now, theres nothing about my politics and Maxine Waters politics that is even anywhere close. But yesterday about 5 30 she called my office. I got a note that she called so i called her back. She said, you know ive watched you for 25 years here. We came here together. And ive watched your career. And ive watched you today. I just want to tell you something. Im really proud of you. You know, listen, ive got the best relationships on both sides of the aisle because i treat People Fairly and treat and i am tly, certainly going to miss my colleagues. Yes. Going back to the theme the of trying to take turmoil out of the house and stabilize the institution, how do you think that colleagues. Yes. Going back to the theme the of trying to take turmoil out of the house and stabilize the institution, how do you think becomes more stable . Several republicans i talked to today said they dont think a new speaker will mean any new outcomes, especially [inaudible] is. Becomes more [inaudible] i was never in the legacy business. Me say it im a regular guy with a big job. I never thought i would be in Congress Much less ever be speaker. But people know me as being fair. Being honest. Being straightforward. And trying to do the right thing every day on behalf of the country. Dont do you seem relieved what are your plans next . And also have you talked to when you make a decision this morning i havent had any time to think about what im going to do in the future. I have no idea. But i do know this. Im doing this today for the right reasons. And you know what . The right thingless happen as a result. Hanks. The story of John Boehners resignation started two months before when congressman mark meadows filed a motion the story to vacate the chair. A motion to vacate the chair, the procedure of that but d in the house rules never been used in history. What it does is technically if say the house were to approve a motion to vacate the chair that declares the speakers chair empty. So if that were to succeed, that would result in needing a new election for speaker. The day after congressman meadows filed his motion to vacate the chair Speaker Boehner seemed confident in his position as speaker of the house. This is one message. Ive got broad support amongst my colleagues. Frankly it isnt even deserving of a statement. Have you spoken with congressman meadows . I have not. Why . Two months later house announces his resignation. Ed and what happens after that . Kevin mccarthy comes in as the next heir apparent as speaker. Right. Everyone thought that Kevin Mccarthy, who only just came to is a relln 2007, he tive new by on capitol hill, be the next speaker. But as the weeks unfolded it was clear that he would probably encounter the same problem that boehner did, wrn b speaker. But as the weeks e conservatives primarily in the Freedom Caucus that formed earlier this year announced they wouldnt surprise him either. And they announced that Daniel Webster they would support, he wasnt a real viable candidate for the vast majority of the conference. But as long as the freedom ucus kept endorsing him that in effect in effect prevented anyone else from becoming speaker. In the midst of this, in the time after the announcement the ben rthy cazzie committee. And his comments indicate sort of a political nature of that committee. How badly did that damage him among the conference . It was very bad for him. Mccarthy had been known for ears to kind of being mr. Mall prophet in some ways, not speaking in the clearest way possible at times. But when youre the speaker of the house, not only are you the top your partys leader but also the highest ranking official in congress. So once that he made that gaff on national tv and was in this much higher scrutiny than he had been in the past that demonstrated that maybe he wasnt quite ready for it. Take ut over. He has some challenges. You talked about that. The conference is going to meet in the large meeting. I guess in the ways and means meeting room. Yes. Thats under way. Reporters are outside. The doors bust open and theres news from that event as well. What happened . Right. So just imagine the scene. It was just utter theres maybe at least a hundred reporters gathered outside waiting for the result which we were expecting which would be Kevin Mccarthy. T instead about 20 minutes begin we saw ng members started filing out. We were wondering why. They announced mccarthy dropped out of the race. Weve been going through this campaign talking to a lot of members. But the one thing ive always said, to earn this majority, were serving. We should put this conference first. And i think theres something to be said for taos unite, we probably need a fresh face. I will stay on as majority leader. But the one thing ive found, g and is talking about if we are going to unite and be strong we need a new face to help do that. So nothing more than that. I feel good about the decision. I feel great to have my family here, my colleagues. I think were only going to be stronger. We fought hard to win this majority and turn this country around. Will be the best you were going to run for the speakership. Why change it at noon . What happened . We had our conference and theres calls into the drict. I dont want making voting for speaker a tough one. I dont want to go to the floor and win with 220 votes. I think the best thing for our party right now is that you have 247 votes on the floor. If we are going to be strong weve got to be 100 united. Ets put the conference first. We have been talking with a number of members, thinking about this throughout the week. I just think its best we have a new face. How much your comments about ben gazzie last week play . It wasnt helpful. I mean, i could have said it much better. But this committee was only created for one purpose, to find the truth on behalf of the families for the four dead americans. I should not be a distraction from that. Thats part of the decision as ell. Should be ou think let the conference decide. Thank you very much. Tafert surprise by Kevin Mccarthy you said that Speaker Boehner didnt tell anybody, Kevin Mccarthy didnt tell anybody, but the chair of the wamse committee is floated out there. Paul ryan. How does he get selected . Whats his past . Within minutes after mccarthy announced that he wasnt going to run for speaker and just utter pandemonium erupted outside. Paul ryan issued a statement saying that he wasnt interested in the speakership or any leadership and essentially was saying leave me alone. But that all changed in the days after, after boehner personally called paul ryan and implord him to run for the sake of the party just because he thought that paul ryan was the only person who everyone could coal es around. Brur he didnt want to do it unless others said. One big factor for ryan was he didnt want to sacrifice too much time from his family back in wisconsin with his three children. So when the house went on recess after mccarthy dropped out, for a week, when everyone returned paul ryan made an announcement that he would only run if he had the endorsement of the three main factions within the republican conference. The centrist tuesday group, the conservative republican studies committee, and the ult rat conservative Freedom Caucus. So everyone understood this is mplicitly aimed at the Freedom Caucus. Because the rest were expected to back him. But it would hinge on whether the Freedom Caucus would get caucus. Because behind him. Tonight i shared with my colleagues what i think it will take to have a unified confrens and for the next speaker to be successful. Basically, i made a few requests for what i think is necessary colleagues what i think it will colleagues to hear back from them by the end of the week. First, we need to move from an Opposition Party to being a proposition party. Because we think the nation is on the wrong path we have a duty to show the right one. Our next speaker has to be a visionary one. Second, we need update our house rules so that everyone can ima more effective representative. This is, after all, the peoples house. We need to do this as a team. And it needs to include fixes to ensure that we do not experience constant leadership challenges and crises. Third, we as a conference should unify now and not after devicive speaker election. Nd the last point is personal. I cannot and i will not give up my family time. I may not be on the road as often as previous speakers but i pledge to try to make up for it with more time communicating our vision our message. What i told members is if you can agree to these requests, nd if i can truly be a unifying figure, then i will gladly serve. And if i am not unifying, that will be fine as well. I will be happy to stay where i am at the ways and means committee. Here is how i see it. It is our duty to serve the people the way they deserve to be served. It is our duty to make the tough decision this is country needs to get our nation back on track. The challenges we face today are too difficult and too our backs and rn walk away. Global terror, war on multiple fronts, a golt grown our backs unaccountable, unconstitutional, out of touch. Persistent poverty, a sluggish economy, flat wages, a skyrocketing debt. But we cannot take on these challenges alone. Now, more than ever, we must Work Together. All of us are representatives of the people. All people. We have been entrust bid them to lead. And yet the people we serve, they do not feel that we are delivering on the job that they hired us to do. We have become the problem. If my colleagues entrust me to be the speaker, i want to become the solution. One thing ive learned from my in jamesville is that nothing is ever solved by blaming people. We can blame the president , we can blame the media. And thats kind of fun sometimes. In jamesville is we can point fingers across the aisle. We can blame each other. We can dismiss our critics and criticism as unfair. People dont care about blame. People dont care about efforts. People care about results. Results that are measurable. Results that are meaningful. Results that make a difference in their daily lives. I want to be clear about this. I think that we are still an exceptional country with Exceptional People and a republic clearly worth fighting for. The american idea is not too late to save, but we are running out of time. I believe mistake, that the ideas and principles resultsdriven commonsense conserve atism are the keys to tomorrow, a tomorrow which all of gods children will be better off than they are today. The idea that the role of the federal government is not to facilitate dependency, but to create an environment of opportunity for everyone. The idea that government should do less and do it better. The idea that those who serve should say what they mean and mean what they say. The principle that we should all determine the course of our instead of ceding that right to those who think that they are better than the rest of us. Yes, we will stand and we will fight when we must. And surely this presidency will equire that. A commitment to natural rights. A commitment to common sense. To compassion. To cooperation. When rooted in genuine conviction a commitment in principle is a commitment to conserve tism. Let me close by saying i considered to do this with reluctance. And i mean that in the most personal of ways. Like many of you, jenna and i have children who are in the formative foundational years of their lives. I genuinely worry about the consequences that my agreeing to serve will have on them. Will they experience the viciousness and incivility that we all face here on a daily basis . My greatest worry greatest worry is the consequence of not stepping up. Of some day having my own kids ask me when the stakes were so high why didnt you do all you could do . Why didnt you stand and fight for my future when you had a chance to do so . None of us want to hear that question and none of us should ever have to. I have shown my colleagues what i think success looks like. What i think it takes to unify and lead and how my family first. Nts come i have left this decision in their hands. And should they agree with these requests then i am happy and i am willing to get to work. Thank you. First. I have left inaudible] that is. This is not a job ive ever wanted, sought. Im in the job ive ever wanted here in congress. I came to the conclusion that this is a very dire moment. Not just for congress, not just for the republican party. But for our country. I think our country is in desperate need of leadership. Inaudible] what assurances do you have that you wont be the next one . I laid out for our conference what i think it takes to unify if conference, to have a successful speakership. It is in their lands and i will leave it up to them to decide if i am that unifying person. [inaudible] thats what we always do. Would you want a unanimous vote . I laid it out today with our conference about all the various groups having their endorsement and being that unifying candidate. Im not going to get into that now. Thats got to be done as a conference as a whole by consensus. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. How big was his vote in winning the conference . He won the speaker vote quite easily. D the Freedom Caucus, they didnt make an official endorsement of him but they put out a statement saying we wont object to him. There are some of us who will support him. This is the peoples house. This is the people ds gavel. And the peoples name. It is my privilege to hand this gavel to the speaker of the house congressman and honorable paul ryan. [cheers and applause] thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, mammed leader. Before i begin, i would like to thank all of my family and friends who flew in from wisconsin and from all over for being here today. In the gallery i have my mom betty, my sister janet, my brothers stan and toben. And more cousins than i can count on a few hands. [applause] ost important, my wife and children. [applause] i also want to thank Speaker Boehner. For almost five years he led house. For nearly 25 years he served it. Not many people can match his accomplishments. The offices he held, the laws he passed. But what really sets john apart is hes a man of house. For character. A true class act. He is without a question the gentleman from ohio. So please join me in saying one last time thank you Speaker Boehner. Cheers and applause] now i know how he felt. Its not until you hold this gavel and stand in this spot, look out and see all 435 members of this house, as if sitting right is in front of you. Its not until then that you feel it. The weight of responsibility, the gravity of the moment. As i stand here i cant help but think of something Harry Trueman once said. The day after Franklin Roosevelt died trumeman became president and he told a group reporters, if you ever pray, pray for me now. When they told me yesterday what had happened, i felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me. We should all feel that way. A lot is on our shoulders. So if you ever pray, lets pray for each other. Republicans for democrats, and democrats for republicans. And i dont mean pray for a conversion. A deeper understanding. Because when youre up here, you see it so clearly. Wherever you come from, whatever you believe, we are all in the same boat. I never thought i would be speaker. But early in my life i wanted to serve this house. I thought this place was exhilarating because here you can make a difference. If you had a good idea, if you worked hard, you could make it happen. You could improve peoples lives. To me, the house of representatives represents what is best of america. The boundless opportunity to do good. But lets be frank. The house is broken. Were not solving problems. Were adding to them. And i am not interested in laying blame. We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean. [applause] neither the members or the people are satisfied with how things are going. We need to make some changes starting with how the house does business. We need to let every member contribute, not once they have earned their stripes, but now. I come at this job as a twotime committee chair. The committees should retake the lead in drafting all major legislation. [cheers and applause] if you know the issue, you should write the bill. Lets open up the process. Let people participate. And they might change their minds. A neglected minority will gum up the works. A respected minority will work in good faith. Instead of trying to stop the majority they might try to become the majority. In other words, we need to return to regular order. Now, i know this sounds like process. Its actually a matter of principle. We are the body closest to the people. Every two years we face the voters and sometimes face the music. The people. T echo we represent the people. We are supposed to study up and the homework that they cannot do. So when we do not follow regular order, when we rush to pass bills that a lot of us dont understand, we are not doing our job. Only a fully functioning house can truly represent the people. And if there were ever a time for us to step up, this would be that time. [applause] america does not feel strong any more because the working of america do not feel strong any more. I am talking about the people who mind the store and grow the food and walk the beat and pay family. And raise the they do not fit in this work an house should work for them. [applause] work and this house should work for them. [applause] heres the problem. Theyre working hard, theyre paying a lot, theyre trying to do right by family. They do not fit in this house. They do not have fancy titles. But they are the people who make this country their familie theyre going nowhere fast. They never get a raise, they never get a break. The bills keep piling up and the taxes and the debt. Theyre working harder than ever before to get ahead. And yet theyre falling further buy hind. They feel robbed. They feel cheated by their birth right, of their birth right. Theyre not asking for any favors. They just want a fair chance. And they are losing faith that they will ever get it. Then they look at washington and all they see is chaos. What a relief to them it would be if we finally got our act together. What a weight off of their shoulders. How reassuring it would be if we actually fixed the tax code, put patients in charge of their health care, grew our economy, strengthened our military, poverty, ple out of and paid down our debt. [cheers and applause] at this point nothing could be more inspiring than a job well done. Nothing could stir the heart more than real concrete results. The cynics will scoff. They will say its not possible. You Better Believe were going to try. We will not duck the tough issues. We will take them head on. We are going to all we can do so that working people get their strength back and people not working get they are lives back. No more favors for the few. Opportunity for all. That is our motto. I often talk about a need for a vision. I am not sure i ever really said what i meant. We solve problems here. Yes. We create a lot of them, too. But at bottom, we vindicate a way of life. We show by our work that free people can govern themselves. They can solve their own problems. They can make their own decisions. They can deliberate, collaborate, and get the job done. We show that selfgovernment is not only more efficient and more effective, its more fulfilling. In fact, we show that struggle, that hard work, that very itself that makes us free. That is what we do here. And we will not always agree. Not all of us. Itself that makes time. But we should not hide our disagreements. We should embrace them. We have nothing to fear from honest differences, honestly tated. If you have ideas, lets hear them. I believe that a greater clarity between us can lead to greater charity among us. And theres every reason to have hope. When the first speaker took the gavel, he looked out at a room of 30 people. Representing a nation of 3 million. Today, as i look out at each you, we one of represent a nation of 300 million. So when i hear people say that america doesnt have it, we are done, we are spent, i dont believe it. I believe with every fiber of the ng that we can renew american idea. [applause] you, we represent a now, our task is to make us all believe. My friends, you have done me a great honor. The people of this country, they have done all of us a great honor. Now lets prove ourselves worthy of it. Lets seize the moment. Lets rise to the occasion. And when we are done, let us say that we left the people all the people more united, happy, and freer. Thank you. Cheers and applause] in making. It had. And Hillary Clinton and the committee had been trying to work out a time for her to appear before the making. It had. And Hillary Clinton and the committee had been trying to work out a time for her to appear before the committee and testify about in looking at the 22nd appearance of Hillary Clinton before the select committee on ben gazzie. This had been long in the what the night of the september 11th attack. How was she treated in that hearing . It was an extremely partisan affair. You had republicans who had very pointed questions aimed at her clearly designed to create easy sound bites for television. For instance, there was one congressman who asked her if the ambassador had her personal email, while noting that her friend senator blumenthal had access to her personal email. So he was trying to make that point that perhaps the ambassador didnt have access as some other people. Meanwhile democrats were asking questions clearly aimed clearly designed for her to be easy answers for her r. Democrats also made an effort to delegitimize the committee. This was all happening about the same time as the whole speaker upheavel. Right. October was a wild month on apitol hill. Democrats on the committee were floating whether they should even continue to serve on the committee because they were arguing that it had devolved into such a partisan political affair perhaps designed to undermine Hillary Clinton particularly in the aftermath of majority leader mccarthys comment that partially derailed his speaker bid suggesting that the committee was created to hurt Hillary Clinton in the president ial election. I understand there are people frankly in both parties who have suggested that this investigation is about you. Let me assure you it is not. And let me assure you why it is not. This investigation is about four people who were killed representing our country on foreign soil. It is about what happened before during and after the attacks that killed them. It is about what this country owes to those who risked their lives to serve. And it is about the fundamental obligation of government to tell the truth, always, to the people that it purported to represent. Not a Single Member of this committee signed up to investigate you or your email. We signed up to investigate and therefore honor the lives of four people that we sent into a dangerous country to represent us. And to do everything we can to prevent it from happening to others. Our committee has interviewed half a hundred witnesses, not a single one of them has been named clinton until today. You were the secretary of state. For this country. At all relevant times. So of course the committee is going to want to talk to you. You are an important witness. You are one important witness among half a hundred important witnesses. D i do understand you wanted today. Sooner than so let me be clear why that had not happen. You had an unusual email arrangement which meant the state department could not produce your emails to us. You made exclusive use of personal email and a personal server. When you left the state department you kept the Public Record to yourself for almost two years. And it was you and your attorneys who decided what to return and what to delete. Those decisions were your decisions, not our decisions. It was only in march of this year we learned of this email arrangement and since we today. So let me be clear why that had not happen. You had an unusual email arrangement which meant the state department could not learned of this email arrangement we have interviewed dozens of witnesses only one of whom was solely related to your email arrangement, and that was the shortest interview of all because that witness invoked his fifth amendment privilege against incrimination. Making sure the Public Record is complete is what serious investigations do. So it was important and remains important that this committee have access to all of ambassador stevens emails, emails of other Senior Leaders and witnesses. And it is important to gain access to all of your emails, madam secretary. Your emails are no less or no more important than the emails of anyone else. It just took us a little bit longer to get them. And it garnered a little more ttention in the process. I want you to take note during this hearing how many times Congressional Democrats call on this administration to make long awaited documents available to us. They wont. Take note of how many witnesses Congressional Democrats ask us to schedule for interview. They wont. We would be much closer to i want you finding out what happened in writing the final definitive report if democrats on this committee had helped us just a little bit. Pursue the facts. But if the democrats on this committee had their way, dozens of witnesses never would have been interviewed. Your Public Record would still be private. Thousands of documents never would have been accessed. The wouldnt have of our own ambassador. That may be smart politics but it is a lousy way to run a serious of our own ambassador. That may be smart politics but it is a lousy way to run a serious investigation. There are certain characteristics that make our country unique in the anals of history. We are the greatest experiment in selfgovernment the world has ever known and part of that selfgovernance comes selfscrutiny even of the highest officials. The country is Strong Enough to handle the truth and our fellow citizens expect us to pursue the truth there are certain characteristics that make our w take us. So this committee is going to do what we pledge to do and what should have been done frankly a long time ago, which is interview all relevant itnesses, examine all relevant evidence, and access all relevant documents. And we are going to pursue the truth in a manner worthy of the memory of the four people who lost their lives and worthy of he respect of our fellow citizens. And we are going to write that nal deeventive accounting of what happened. And we would like to do it with your help and the help of our democrat colleagues but make no mistake we are going to do it nonetheless. Because understanding what happened in benghazi goes to the heart of who we are as a what happened. And we would like country. And the promises we make to those that we send into harms way. They deserve the truth, they deserve the whole truth, they deserve nothing but the truth. The people we work for deserve the truth. The friends and family of the four who lost their lives deserve the truth. Were going to find the truth. Because there is no statute of imitations on the truth. Set up this select committee with no rules, no deadlines, and an unlimited budget. And they set them loose because you are running for president. Clearly it is possible to nduct a serious bipartisan investigation. What is impossible is for any reasonable person to continue denying that republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail secretary clintons president ial campaign. In the chairman sbrs view he tried to defend against this criticism by accepting to cast himself as the victim. And he complained about a attacks on the credibility of the select committee. His argument would be more compelling if republicans werent leading the charge. Even though representative mccarthy, Speaker Boehners second in command, and the chairman admitted that they established the select committee to drive down secretary boehners second in command, and the chairman admitted that they clintons phone numbers. Democrats didnt say that. Poll numbers. Democrats didnt say that. A republican said that. Republican congressman Richard Hannah said the select go ittee was designed to after secretary clinton. And one of the chairmans own handpicked investigators, a selfproclaimed conservative republican, charged that he was in part for not going along with these plans to hyper focus on hillary linton. These admit exactly what we have seen inside the select committee for the past year. Lets just take a look at the facts. Since january republicans have anceled every single hearing except for this one. They also canceled numerous terviews that they had planned with the Defense Department and c. I. A. Officials. Instead of doing that, they said they were going what they were going to do, zeroed in on secretary clinton. R speech writers, her i. T. Staffers and her campaign ficials. Focus on more than the secretary of state. But you are sitting there by yourself. Secretary of defense is not on your left. Director of the c. I. A. Is not on your right. Thats because republicans are abandoned their own plans to question those top officials. So instead of being crossjurks diagnosal, republicans just crossed them off the list. Last time the chairman told and stop t up talking about the select committee. What i want to know is this. And this is a key question. Why tell the republicans to shut up when they are telling the truth and stop talking about the but not when attacking secretary clinton with reckless accusations that are demonstrabley false . Why not tell them to set up there. Holy feerna said she had blood on her hands. Mike huckabee accused her of gnoring the dying calls. Senator rand paul was said ben gazzie was a 3 00 a. M. Call that she never picked up and senator graham tweeted where the hell were you on the night of the benghazi attack . Everyone on this panel knows these accusations are baseless from our own investigations and all those before it. Yet, republican members of this elect committee remain silent. On monday, the democrats issued a report showing that none of the 54 witnesses the committee interviewed substantiated these wild republican claims. Secretary clinton did not order the military to stand down. And she neither approved nor denied requests for additional security. I ask that our report be included in the official record for todays hearing. Without objection. What is so telling is that we issued virtually the same report. A year ago. The same report. When we first joined the select committee i asked my staff to put together a complete report and data base setting forth the questions that have been asked of t the attacks, and all the answers that were provided previous ht investigations. I ask that this report also be included in the record. Without objection. Previous is that rather than accepting these facts republicans continue to spend new conspiracy theories that are just as outlandish and inaccurate. For example, the chairman recently tried to argue that ydney blooming thal, secretary clintons primary adviser on libya. And this past sunday representative is that rather han accepting pom payo claimed on National Television that secretary clinton relied on sydney blum that will for most of her intelligence on libya. Earlier this week the Washington Post fact checker claimed four pin oak yos its worst rating. Heres the bottom line. The select committee has spent 4. 7 million of taxpayer money. Weve held four learings and conducted 54 interviews and depositions. Yes, we have received some new emails from secretary clinton, ambassador stephens and others. And yes we have conducted some new interviews. But these documents and interviews do not show any nefarious activities. In fact, its just the opposite. The new information we have obtained confirms and on national corroborates the four facts we already knew from eight previous investigations. They provide more details but they do not change the basic conclusions. It is time and it is time now for the republicans to end this taxpayer funded fishing expedition. The terrorist attacks at our diplomatic compound and later at the c. I. A. Post in benghazi, libya, on september 11, 2012, took the lives of four brave americans. Ambassador chris stephens, shawn smith, Glenn Daugherty, and tyrone woods. I am here to honor the service of those four men. The courage of the Diplomatic Security agency and the c. I. A. Officers who risked their lives that night. And the work their colleagues do every single day all over the world. I knew and admired chris stephens. He was one of our nations most accomplished diplomats. Chris mother liked to say that he had sand in his shoes because he was always moving, always working. Especially in the middle east, that he came to know so well. When the revolution broke out in libya, we named chris as our envoy to the opposition. There was no easy way to get him into benghazi to begin gathering information and meeting those libyans who were rising up against the murderous dictator qaddhafi. But he found a way to get himself there on a greek cargo ship just like a 19th century american envoy. Ut his work was very much 21st century, hardnosed diplomacy. It is a testament to the relationship that he built in ibya that on the day following the awareness of his death tens of thousands of libyans poured nto the streets in benghazi. They held signs reading, thugs dont represent benghazi or islam. Sorry people of america. This is not the behavior of our islam or our prophet. Chris stephens, a friend to all libyans,. Although i didnt have the privilege of meeting shawn smith personally, he was a valued member of our state department family. An air force veteran, he was an Information Management officer who had served in baghdad, mont rell, and the hague. Tyrone woods and Glenn Daugherty worked for the c. I. A. They were killed by mortar fire at the cias outpost in benghazi a short distance from the diplomatic compound. They were both former navy seals and trained paramedics with distinguished records of service including in iraq and afghanistan. As secretary of state, i had the honor to lead and the responsibility to support diplomats and Development Experts across the globe. Losing any one of them as we did in iraq, afghanistan, mexico, haiti, and libya, during my tenure, was deeply painful for our entire state department and u. S. A. Aide family and for me personally. I was the one who asked chris envoy. O libya as our i was the one who recommended him to be our ambassador to the president. After the attacks, i stood next to president obama as marines carried his casket and those of other three americans off the plane at Andrews Air Force base. Other three americans responsibility. And as part of that before i left office i launched reforms to better protect our people in the field and help reduce the chance of another tragedy happening in the future. What happened responsibility. And as part of in benghazi has en scrutinized by a seven prior congressional investigations, multiple news organizations, and of course our Law Enforcement and intelligence agencies. I want to show you a few things here. Youre looking at an email you investigations, multiple news organizations, and of course our Law Enforcement and intelligence agencies. I want to show you a few things here. Youre looking at an email you sent to your family. Eres what you said. Two officers were killed today in benghazi by an al qaedalike group. Tell the American People one thing. You tell your family an entirely different storyifment also on the night of the attack, you had a call with the president of libyafment here is hat you said to him. Interesting. One of the guys arrested and charged actually belonged to that group. And finally, most significantly, the next day within 4 hours you had a conversation with the egyptian Prime Minister. You told him this. We know the attack in libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest. Let me read that one more time. We know that the attack in libya had nothing to do with the film. Was a planned attack, not a protest. American people got. Again, the American People want to know why. Why didnt you tell the American People protest. The state Department Experts knew the truth. You knew the truth. Thats not what the exactly wha you told the egyptian Prime Minister . I think if you look at the statement that i made, i clearly said that it was an attack. And i also said that there were some who tried to justify on the basis of the video congressman. And i think real quick. Calling it an attack is like saying the sky is blue. Of course it was an attack. We want to know the truth. The statement you sent out was a statement on benghazi and you ay vicious behavior. If thats not pointing as a motive being a video i dont know what is. Thats certainly how the American People thought. Well, congressman, there was a lot of conflicting information that we were trying to make sense of. The situation was very fluid. It was fast moving. There was also a claim of responsibility by Ansar Alsharia. And when i talked to the egyptian Prime Minister i said at this was a claim of responsibility by ansar al sharah by a group that was affiliated or at least wanted to be affiliated with al qaeda. Sometime after that, the next day, early the next morning after that on the 12th or 13th, they retracted their claim of responsibility. And i think if you look at what all of us were trying nonpartisan hardhitting accountability review board, to and we were in a position, congressman, of trying to make sense of a lot of incoming information. And watched the way the Intelligence Community tried to make sense of it. Madam secretary. There was not conflicting information the day of the attack because your press pressed 15eud if theres no connection between cairo and benghazi. It was clear. Youre the ones who mudied it up. Not the information. Heres what i think is going on. Let me show you one more slide. Again, this is from your press person. She says, subject line reads this. Romney statement on libya. Email says this was what ben was talking about. Now the somewhat famous ben rhodes of the talking point memo. 27 minutes after your statement. 27 minutes after youve told everyone its the video. While americans are still fighting because the attack is still going on your top people are talking politics. It seems to me that night you had three otchingses. You could tell the truth like you did with your family, like you did with the libyan president , like you did with the egyptian Prime Minister. Tell them it was a terrorist attack. You could say, you know what . Were not quite sure. Dont really know for sure. But you picked the third option. You picked the video narrative. You picked the one with no evidence. And you did it because libya this great to be Success Story for the Obama White House and the clinton state department. And a key Campaign Theme that alive, bin ladens dead and al qaeda is on the run. And its just 56 days before an election. You can live with the protest about a video. That wont hurt you. But a terrorist attack will. So you cant be square with the American People. Tell your family its a terrorist attack but not the American People. Tell the president of libya its a terrorist attack but not the American People. And you can tell the egyptian Prime Minister its a terrorist attack but you cant tell your truth. Le the americans can live with the fact that good people sometimes give their lives for this country. They dont like it. They mourn for those families, they pray for those families, but they can live with it. But what they cant live with is when their government is not square with them. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Madam secretary, you are welcome to answer the question if you would like to. Well, i wrote a whole chapter about this in my book hard choices. I would be glad to send it to you. Because i think the insin wation that you are making do a grave disservice to the hard that people that people in the department, the Intelligence Community, the Defense Department, the white house did during the course of some very confusing and difficult days. There is no doubt in my mind best we could with the information that we had at the time. And if you had actually go back and read what i said that night i have. I was very careful in saying that some have thought in fact, the man that has been arrested as one of the ring leaders of what happened in benghazi is reported to have said it was the video that motivated him. None of us can speak to the individual motivations of those terrorists who overran our compound. Attacked our c. I. A. Annex. There were probably a number of different motivations. I think the Intelligence Community which took the lead on trying to sort this attacked went through e, a series of interpretations and analysis. And we were all guided by that. We were not making up the intelligence. We were trying to get it, make sense of it, and then to share it. When went through a i was speaking to the Prime Minister or in the other two examples you showed, we had been told by Ansar Alsharia that they took credit for it. 24 more until about hours later that they retracted taking credit for 24 more hours later that they it. We also knew congressman, because my responsibility was for what was happening throughout the region. I needed to be talking about the video because i needed to be putting other governments and other people on notice that we were not going to let them get away with attacking us as they did in tune is and car too many. And in tunice there were thousands of demonstrators there only because of the video breaching the walls of the embassy, burning down the american school. I was calling everybody i could get and finally the president sent his president ial guard to up. K it there is example after example. Thats what i was trying to do during those vsh desperate and difficult hours. You said my insin wation. Im not insit waiting anything. Im reading what you said. Plain language. We know the attack in libya had nothing to do with the film. That is as plain as it can get. Thats vastly different than vicious behavior. Why didnt you just speak plain to the American People . I did. If you look at my statement as opposed to what i was saying to the egyptian Prime Minister, i did state clearly and i said it again in more detail the next morning as did the president. Im sorry that it doesnt fit your narrative, congressman, i can only tell you what the facts were. The chairman has said that this will be the final definitive report. One thing i think we can tell already there will be nothing final about the report. We ever we finish if ever finish is we dont know what were looking for. But there wont be a final conclusion we finish, there wont be anything definitive about the work of this committee. Because unlike the accountability review board that operated in a nonpartisan way, its unlikely the majority here will even consult with us on what their final report looks like. Those who want to believe the orst will believe the worst. Those that want to believe that this is a partisan exercise will believe it. As i said from the very beginning of this investigation the only way this committee will add any ose that want value to whats gone on before is if we can find a way to Work Together and reach a common conclusion. But it is plain that is not their object. Chairman might say ignore the words of our Republican Leadership and ignore the words of our republican members. Innor the words of our own up. There is example after gone on before is g. O. P. Investigator. Judge us by our actions. But it is the actions of this committee that are the most damming of all because they have been singly focused on you. Let me ask you briefly, i want to expand on just the what i think is really the core theory here. I want to give you a chance to respond to it. As a prosecutor were taught case should have a core theory and all the evidence and witnesses go back to that core theory. Ive wristled with that, what is the core theory of their case . What are they trying to convey . And turf say its confusing. I think the core theory is this. That you deliberatively interfered with security in benghazi and that resulted in people dying. I think that is the case they want to make. And not withstanding how many investigations weve had that have found absolutely no merit to that, that is the impression they wish to give. Im a little confused today because my colleague pointed to an email suggested that you werent aware that we had a so if you benghazi werent aware i dont know how you could have interfered with security there. But nonetheless i do think thats what theyre aiming at. Know the ambassador was someone you helped pick. I know the ambassador was a friend of me. S deeply distressing to i would imagine i thought more about what happened than all of together. I lost more sleep than all of you put together. Wrecking my brain about what more could have been been done. Uld have so, when i took responsibility, took it as a challenge and an obligation to make sure before i left the state department that could learn as im sure my predecessors