Providing transportation in rural areas and Railroad Safety. Well also learn about the department of transportations priorities for the coming year. Live coverage on cspan3. We have some wonderful, luxurious, very nice seatingrow. Id like to encourage everybody tole to closer. Were going to have a very nice discussion. Id like to encourage everybody closer. Make the setting a little bit more cozy and familial. We very much enjoy that. We like having a nice conversation about one of our favorite Public Policy issues. Yeah. Right along there. Thanks so much. Well, great. I want to welcome everyone to this panel. Again, thank you, all, very much for joining. My name is lawrence smith. Deputy assistant secretary for policy at the u. S. Department of transportation. It will be three years this month that ive been at the department. Incredibly honored to be part of a great team. Doing a lot of what we think is really, really awesome work. Going to be a lot of help to a lot of different parts
Government. The Supreme Court is expected to announce a decision this week on whether a Citizenship Question can be added to the 2020 census. The National Association of latino elected and appointed officials hosted a discussion on this topic at its annual conference in miami. This session addressed what kind of an impact the latino electorate could have on the president ial election and what steps the Latino Community and its leadership are taking to selfmobilize for next years census. So afternoon, wed like to spend a few minutes reflecting first on what we heard this morning and some of the issues that were addressed by the candidates as we delve into what were calling next year as the perfect storm. Right . So the 2020 census, you all heard its coming, but there is also an election in 2020. Arturo its all happening at the same time. And for better or for worse, the role of latinos in the 2020 census, the role of latinos in primaries and the november election will be a key narrative
Arturo its all happening at the same time. And for better or for worse, the role of latinos in the 2020 census, the role of latinos in primaries and the november election will be a key narrative of next year. And so what is that going to look like . What are its implications . How do we begin now so that narrative tells the complete story of the impact latinos will have on american politics . So to help me have this conversation, please welcome to the stage, as i introduce them, let me start, first, with another past naleo president , the current secretary of state of the great state of l. A. Ornia i am from the honorable alex padilla. If you could come on stage. Secretary padilla was elected in 2014 and became the first latino to hold the office of secretary of state. He previously served on the city council for the city of los angeles. Come on up, sir. Take a seat. And in the california state senate. [applause] arturo and he did us a great honor and favor by serving as cochair of the
Good morning, i call this hearing to order. We will hold a hearing on the impact of federal environmental regulations and policies on American Farming and ranching communities. The discussion here today is not about the value of environmental regulations but about how some federal regulations can be inflexible, antiquated, duplicative and ultimately harmful to american agriculture, a critical part of our nations economy. Members of this committee should work to ensure environmental laws are strong and effective without being overly burdensome. This is often a difficult task. The United States is blessed that our ecosystems require different kinds of stewardship to remain healthy. In wyoming we have an abundance of prosperity and in forest, a variety of mountain habitats. Wyoming ranchers and farmers are familiar with the ecosystem and its need. This is where they work, live and invest their energy. Farmers and ranchers are the original stewards and understand landscapes and watersheds
Of openness. That is not the case when it comes to filling foya requests. March 2014, the Associated Press reported the Obama Administration more often than any other administration had sensors government files or outright denied access. The administration used exemption to withhold information more than 550,000 times. Agencies must consult with the white house on all document requests that may involve documents with white house equities. Just in the last year the government fully denied access or censored records in at least 250,000 cases or roughly 39 of all whys. This is the highest number of denials in the history of foya. We waited to hear from individuals to get Public Records they requested. This came from media and the foya system is broken and probably broken by design. In preparing for this hearing, the Committee Received numerous examples of delays, unreasonable redactions and abuse of fees, all of which hindered transparency. The epa strategically avoided disclosure disclos