Only Committee Members will be allowed to make Opening Statements. Hearing no objections, so ordered. The chair recognizes herself for five minutes for an opening statement. First of all thank you, everyone , for being here this morning. It is an honor for those of us that are not from on a very serious issue. This is the very first energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the gun violence epidemic in our country. As a Public Health issue. And this subcommittee has to has jurisdiction over Public Health issues in our country. I want to recognize first the members of the committee who represent the parts of chicago and the region, starting with congressman bobby rush, whose district we are in. Thank you, bobby, very much for inviting us, asking the subcommittee to come here. Congresswoman robin kelly, who is here to my left. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from the chicago region. And to representative Adam Kinzinger, from the state of illinois, a little further away, and mr. Kinsinger mak
Before the Senate Finance community, topics include rural melt care and telehealth flexibilities. We are meeting today to discuss with senator becerra, the budget and the department of services. The budget comes down to a simple proposition, helping working families and the middle class get ahead. Reducing the federal deficit, they are not mutually exclusive. Today, we are committed to doing both. When it comes to health care, that means protecting medicare for the next generation by making sure that the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes, strengthening medicare, negotiating the cost of medication, and investing and priorities Like Mental Health care, and the health care workforce. Thats sharp contrast to the republican approach to the federal budget. Since the beginning of the year, there has basically been a demand for secret negotiations on unspecified cuts to specified programs wall hosting hostage the full faith and credit of the United States government. Budget chair Committee
Associations, and health care experts. The committee chaired by vermont independent senator bernie sanders. Not only is this unfair to working class and lower income americans, who cannot access a medical home when they need it, and we are losing over 60,000 people a year because they do not get to on time. But in addition to that, from a financial and costeffective perspective, what we have now is basically insane. We have a situation where people get sick, they do not go to the doctor, you know what happens when you dont go to the doctor and you are sick . You get sick or. Maybe you end up in an emergency room where the cost of primary care is ten times, or eight times more than it is if you walked into a Community Health center. If you cant afford prescription drugs, you get sticker, and you may end up in the hospital, and that will cost 100,000. So what we are talking about today is to, things my own personal view, and health care is a human right, and that we should emulate what g
Shutdown. Give us a call. Democrats, 2027488000. Republicans, 2027488001. Independents, 2027488002. You can also catch up with us on social media. On twitter, its cspanwj. On facebook, its facebook. Com cspan. A very good thursday morning to you. You can start calling in now. The question, again, can Congress Avoid a shutdown . Can they . Should they . You can start dialing in now. Heres the headline from politico from yesterday evening, republicans lack the votes to prevent a shutdown, but house leaders are confident that they can round up enough support before a vote on thursday. One of the reporters on that story, sarah farris, joins us on the phone 2340uf6. Where are we as of this morning . Guest thanks for having me. Basically were not at a doomsday situation. I dont think we should be drawing out our shutdown plans yet. But House Republican leaders do have a pretty tough day ahead of them, and t going to be we could pottially he a nailbiter vote when we do see this go up tonight.
Duty last year in texas. And now i recognize myself for opening statement. Border protection work every single day to secure our nation. Often in rugged terrain, sometimes in very remote areas, far away from the amenities of modern life. They are exposed to blistering heat of the arizona desert and brutal cold like montana. They are the driving force behind our Border Security operations. Nation is for nate they atunate this. Not smuggle drugs and dangerous individuals through our ports of entry. It is dangerous work. Made more dangerous because agents are subject to frequent assaults. Some of them have the potential to kill or cause brave bodily harm. Just a few weeks ago an agent in san diego was patrolling the border on allterrain vehicle when he was struck in the chess by a rock. Thankfully the agent released from the hospital and will recover. But this type of assault is far from an anomaly. Many other agents seriously injured by rocks thrown over the fence. On the screens to the