Latest Breaking News On - Michael mccullough - Page 1 : vimarsana.com

Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20141009

economy. the economy is the bedrock, the foundation of so much else that we will talk about and have talked about tonight. in the basic building block of the economy is jobs. this government is pursuing policies right now that are killing job creation. we have 8 million people as of a few weeks ago that have dropped out of the search for a job and despair. 7 million people are stuck in part-time jobs command we have millions still unemployed complete. and there are things -- there is no silver bullet, but there are concrete to make immediate things that this government can do to improve and foster job creation. a few weeks ago i issued a jobs report. pretty comprehensive. it is on my website. and a call for action across various industries like infrastructure investment as an example or things that can be done in health care or important things to pinscher -- venture continued and growing employment. there are things the government can do in every industry that would help with job creation. one quick example in infrastructure, dedicated, stable source of funding is essential if we're going to have the highway trust fund that can create infrastructure projects and put people to work like the union members have endorsed me. we must pursue those policies. and i believe that is what will lift up and create opportunity for people that are really struggling to then. >> thank you. belgard: there are many ways we should bolster our economy. first, i think that small businesses are the backbone to the economy. we should look to increase the access that small businesses have to capital so that we can encourage small businesses not only to start out but to move forward and to grow. i think that we need to reduce the tax burden on small businesses, give them a double tax credit for their star of cost. also, make sure that small business loans are accessible and available to them. i would agree that i think that we need to make sure that we are investing in infrastructure, which is so critical. with regard to the joint space, this is an absolute economic engine here in south jersey with 40,000 jobs right on the base and an additional 60,000 indirect jobs related to the base. i am very familiar with this having grown up in south jersey and served as an honorary commander. we absolutely need an advocate for the basin washington. it is something and have advocated for and we will continue to advocate for in washington d.c. as far as the minimum wage, there is no doubt that we need to increase the minimum wage. with regard to women alone two-thirds of people on minimum wage a woman. these are people who are trying to make ends meet and put meals on the table for their families. so by increasing the minimum wage we can bolster the economy for women and for their families. with regard to women we need to make sure that women are being paid fairly, that they're being paid equally to their male counterparts. >> to you want to respond? >> i do want to respond. on the help small-business, it is essential. small business is a mainstay of employment in this country, and as somebody who has had the privilege of creating thousands of jobs, i have some understanding of the decisions i made as a ceo based upon tax policy and regulatory policy. my opponents was a local elected official in as will our park. she voted for a resolution to put a jobs tax and speaks tonight about wanting to help small businesses grow but voted for a tax on small business. i have never heard of anything like that the local level. on top of on hundred she's a middle-class she voted to tax certain businesses every time they hired a new employee. i don't understand how that helps small business. >> moderator: would you like to respond? belgard: i will just mention, i have seen how small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. again, i think we need to make sure that we are working for small businesses so that they can continue grow and so that we can encourage the startup of small businesses. and as i outlined some of the ideas with regard to access to capital, reduction of fees on small businesses, these are always that we can help small businesses right here in the third district. >> as small housekeeping know. and someone left a handbag and outside the building. if that is yours it is there. all right. the next question, and the order will be candid it aimee belgard first. >> please discuss your ideas for overhauling u.s. immigration policy. in your response, please address the issue of seeking access to higher education and the current influx of miners. belgard: so, i think that we have seen an obviously recently especially in the news the problems of we are having with immigration in this country come immigration issues, especially with minors. but we have also see it here in the third district. as i mentioned a moment ago, my husband is a small-business owner. asine in my own life for he has lost jobs because of companies and were able to outbid him because there were using illegal workers. so you know, as i talk to people throughout the district hear similar stories. it is something that is to be addressed by making sure that we have secure borders. now, i am not for amnesty. i am for a tough but fair tattoos up at the citizenship which would include making sure that those who are in line are at the front of the line, making sure that folks who are criminals are sent home, making sure that folks who want a path to citizenship are paying their back taxes. i also think the important thing to look at is here in the third district where we have a large veteran population, where we have veteran immigrants who want a path to citizenship, put them to the front of the line as well which is a unique position here for the third district. these are all different elements that can be we've been to this problem, but the problem right now is that we have got legislators were not even willing to talk about it, are not even going to come to the table and negotiate. and that is what is broken. we need to get our legislators talking about these problems so that we can work to resolve the immigration problem. >> thank you. >> we have a major immigration problem. the sixth highest population of undocumented illegal emigrants in the country. it is hard to believe we are not a border state, but we do. i have laid out my position for many months now on immigration. we will sound familiar to you. tough but fair, returning criminals to their country of origin, payment of back taxes. if you go to my website you will find that. if you go to ms. aimee belgard website you will find the word immigration. it is not even on our website. she just gave you my position from my website which i think is kind of interesting. [laughter] i also believe this president when he chased policies issued or homing signal to central america that has brought on the crisis we are experiencing right now. and we must address border security first and foremost. that has to be the starting point for anything, any policy. our also like to ask ms. ms. aimee belgard how she feels about in state tuition. i did not hear her mention that. i would be interested if she is willing to answer how she feels by granting institution to children that are here illegally. >> moderator: would you like or about zero? and there is no necessity to answer a question. @booktv i'm fine. >> moderator: we will now proceed. >> gun safety measures the you would support, discuss in general your thoughts on the need for greater gun safety in the u.s. macarthur: my starting point is i believe americans have a second amendment right to defend themselves, their family, their property without relying upon the state. and that is the starting point for me. i do believe that we need to work with law enforcement and with mental health advocates to make sure that guns to not end up in the hands of criminals and those that are mentally unstable. new jersey has among the most stringent gun control laws in the country today. i believe enforcing existing laws and not adding new ones is a better approach. >> thank you. belgard: so i fully understand and appreciate the second amendment. my husband actually owns guns. but as a mother i feel that it is about gun safety. so while i and a stand that there are sports menu use guns and want to protect their homes with guns, i think we all would agree that we need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and out of the hands of folks with mental health issues. and i think that there are ways that we can look to further address this. making sure that we are keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, we are also keeping them out of the hands of the seven convicted of dusting violence issues. we need to make sure that we are closing loopholes at gun shows and we need to make sure that we are -- that we have background checks. again, this is an issue that needs further addressing, as we have seen some of the tragedies that have happened recently across our nation, even most recently the incident in arizona with the young are from new jersey, nine years old who killed her gun instructor with the newsy. this 9-year-old girl is never going to be able to return to the life that she once had. so again, it is about gun safety and making sure that we have measures in place to keep gun safe. >> thank you. >> okay. all other questions, don't have to give the names. this first question will begin with candid it aimee belgard on social security. do you believe changes need to be made to social security to make it more secure? >> i think of social security as a promise that we have made to our senior generation. these are benefits. and i am not in favor of changing or privatizing social security. in that think that there are ways that we can work to foster social security going forward. again, coming back to bolstering the economy, when he looked at minimum wage, just raising the minimum wage can add over $4 billion to social security by 2016. equal pay for women could decrease the shortfalls of social security by one-third. so there are a multitude of different options and ways that we can increase social security going for a rather than changing it. i am not in favor of pushing the goalposts down the field and changing the age or reneging on our promises. again, we are smart nation. we need to talk about ways of keeping our promises to our older generation. >> thank you. social security is a promise that must be kept. particularly for those that are nearing or in retirement , people have bet their whole lives around this. and it must be preserved for them. first and foremost the fix for this is to improve the economy, create jobs. social security was set up as a system where today's generation of workers supports today's generation of retirees. in the problem is because we have a baby boomer generation moving into retirement and so many people out of work were stuck in part-time jobs, soci security is under tremendous stress. first and foremost, we have got to get the economy working again with jobs. if that is not enough, then we can look at people my daughter's age that are just entering the workforce and see if there are amendments and changes that might make sense. but my hope would be most of the stress would be removed by getting america working in. >> thank you. the next question will begin with their candid. the question is fracking, where you stand on fracking, particularly the transport of waste through your jersey ? macarthur: we don't do fracking in new jersey because we don't have a shell the pauses here to do it. in general, i think it is something that should be explored. it is a way to extract more natural gas, and we should be doing that safely. with regard to the transport of chemicals from one state to another, i believe that is an issue for those states new jersey does permit waste coming from pennsylvania into new jersey today, and those are decisions that people closest to the voter are making. not local-bus state elected officials, and that is where it should be made. >> thank you. belgard: i am concerned given that we don't even know the processes that are used in the chemicals that are used in the process. i think it is something that needs to be more transparent i also think that there are other alternatives that are safer and cleaner that can be explored. mentioned a couple of earlier. solar, wind, geothermal options. and i would agree, we don't have shale here in new jersey. i believe our legislature has even banned fracking in new jersey. but our neighbors to the west, it's obviously an issue and one of concern for people who are worried about their health and welfare. as i mentioned to my thing more transparency is needed in the process. that think we need to look at different alternatives. >> this question begins with candidate aimee belgard. do you feel their is a need for the federal government to further stabilize the financial position? belgard: i think that the conservatism is like a bad rock, an american institution. it is not like one. it is an american institution command we need to make sure our postal service remains solvent moving forward, especially here in the third district where we have such a large population of seniors that are relying on getting their mail six days a week whether further medication or even to make sure that they are seeing a postal person on a daily basis. a kind of end up checking in on the. so again, it is an american bedrock here in the united states, and we need to continue to maintain it, the delivery of some one star home. >> moderator: >> can visit tom macarthur. macarthur: i am happy to report that candid it's aimee belgard and i agree on an issue this evening care for the next question will begin with candid it's tom macarthur. do you believe the law should represent marriage equality? belgard: i believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. in it that challenges to reconcile those two, to make sure that people are treated equally under law. i did not believe the definition of marriage should be changed. >> moderator: thank you. candidates aimee belgard? belgard: i believe in marriage equality. i think this is a civil rights issue and have spoken about it. when my colleague and i put forth the revolution to the governor manage equality legislation. you know what kind of think that it is for legislators to decide who can love each other and you can be buying each other's hospital bedsides. true civil rights issues, and i believe people should be able to love each other and be married. ♪ i do want to be clear when i speak about equal under law, some of that you just alluded to, for example visitation rights in hospitals and certain legal rights, things were rented in new jersey under other institutions. and those elements to my take on more importance. >> the next question begins with candid aimee belgard. social security. would you or would you not recognize making some changes? >> thank you. so i don't recommend making any sensitive changes to our medicare system. again, this is another promise that has been made to folks. we have seen through this current budget that was passed by the house this year dramatic changes to medicare. you know, i think there are to reach that can be made to make sure that medicare remains solvent. for example, some of the prescription drug negotiation that happened with medicaid, let's look at using knows for medicare to make give more solvent and affordable. i am certainly not in favor of reducing or in any way changing medicare benefits to our seniors. again, and a promise that has been made and that must be kept. macarthur: i am concerned about changes that have been made, the $700 million of obamacare took out of medicare to support obamacare concerns me and will affect the quality of care to seniors overtime. i also have been, as i have tried to as i prepare a jobs plan, which i mentioned earlier, when industry by industry. when it came to health care i visited six hospitals, one for the health institutes of the jersey, the burlington county medical society, host of others. and i was asking, what is the of four will care act in the medicare changes doing to you? and that is covered our hospitals in particular are being hammered by medicare changes. will just mention to. one is there readmission role. if you go to the hospital and are released, if you go back for any reason within a certain amount of time you don't get paid as a hospital somebody can be in for an illness and a week later they break their leg. when they are readmitted the hospital does not get paid. there is also what is called fraud, on the company's that are allowed to era reclaim moneys that hospitals have been paid under medicare. they did not have to prove their case. they simply say, you have been overpaid by ex. they get to take it as an offset. an anonymous glass to fight to get it back. the hospitals wind nearly 80 percent of the time, but it takes them years to get that money dividend am greatly concerned about the stress that is placing on hospitals. under obamacare as well the deductibles are so i and hospitals are being saddled from bad debt by people who can't afford to pay their bills with in those deductibles. these things do need attention. hospital systems are under stress. >> thank you can get it. belgard: i would agree. these are issues that do need to be addressed. unfortunately we have a congress right now that refuses to do that. we need to bring folks together so that we can continue. then dollar received as. not just the legislators, but as you mentioned the folks from the hospital system and the medical profession so that we can fix these issues such as the we are making sure our seniors in getting the utmost care and the most efficient and effective voice. >> a couple of manse. >> a question, since you mentioned it, segue into would. why do you think this is so and what can we do to changes? macarthur: the president's approval rating is terrible. congress is even worse. one of the prairies is i am running for this office is that congress is at a total impasse. people stuck in their camps and willing to work together , and i believe the answer is for people who can work together to be in congress. that is the bedrock of building a business. that is how we grow. we have to work together. we have to work sometimes of companies that we might want to acquire, competition in the marketplace. it is one of the things i am most proud of in this campaign, getting endorsements from business groups like the u.s. chamber of commerce, the national federation of independent business in at the same time getting endorsements from labor unions like the carpenters, the laborers, the operating engineers and others because they often don't get along. and yet they agree that i am somebody that can help them create jobs and do the things that are important to them. we absolutely have to have congressmen and women that have a demonstrated ability to work with other people. >> moderator: thank you. kendis aimee belgard. belgard: thank you. congress is an absolute mess, and that is exactly why am running, to use the skills i have learned, whether as a volunteer with the american cancer society to my skills in negotiating as an attorney, even the skills that i have gained as a burlington county freeholder where i worked across the aisle with our republican colleagues. i am not there to argue for the sake of arguing. i am perfectly willing to agree with my republican colleagues and they ever get idea. i used to say when i was running for free all there, one of my favorite quotes is that the benjamin franklin. if everyone is thinking alike nobody is thinking. it's really believe that sometimes you can bring divergent views together and come up with something even better. that is a great thing. right now congress has lost sight of that. there's so set in their ways, digging their heels in the ground, not willing to listen to folks on the other side of the aisle or even think about the fact that they might have a good idea. and i am willing to do that. i have done it as a burlington county freeholder and will in congress and do it in representing the struggling middle class. our veterans, are seniors, you know, the hard-working people of the third district . macarthur: i would like to respond. think the proof is in the pudding, and in order to work with other people in congress you have to be willing sometimes to stand a three-room party. you can't be bought store-bought peabody have to be willing to stand for what you believe in. i have to go back -- i have to go back ted eck, two of which have come off the air because there were so defamatory and dishonest. and as said this before, campaigns are interesting. it put candid it's under pressure and then they put you under a microscope. and under that pressure and that microscope aimee belgard could not disavow the ads that her handlers in washington and put up on the air, even after they had to take them down to still would not say dishonesty has no place in the campaign. i don't know how you work in congress if he can't even do it in a campaign. >> moderator: one minute response. belgard: thank-you. i like the you have brought up that disavow your party because i think that is. and as a have said throughout this campaign in continue to maintain, i am not about the label. it is not about being a democrat or republican. it is about working for the people, and that is what have exhibited, whether it was in at a water park where i voted against my party because i thought it was the right thing to do or as a burlington county freeholder when i worked with the opposite party because i think it was the right thing to do. that is what we need more of. it is about collaboration, and that is what i absolutely pride myself on. >> moderator: thank you. next question. we will begin with candidate aimee belgard. it is about taxes. a lot of news about american corporations adjusting themselves in a legal position, overseas are something so that they can avoid paying taxes in america. at the stand? belgard: we have seen it most recently with the potential losing burger king in another the president has spoken now with regard to taxing in version. and i think it is unfortunate that burger king has a right to this but something that absolutely must be addressed. you know, again, i have talked about that i don't like to see yes incentivizing companies that a shipping jobs overseas, but i also don't want to see us losing companies like burger king and others and losing the benefits of having those companies year. while it is unfortunate that it has been brought to light to my am glad it has been brought to the table so that we can work to keep companies right here and incentivize them to stay right here in the united states. >> moderator: thank you. candid it's tom macarthur. macarthur: in verses are a problem. companies that want to be overseas. the problem is our tax code. our tax cut does incentivizes or incentivizes sometimes the wrong behavior. that is so we have to look at. our tax cut is to be simple, flat, and lowered. i also want to talk for a moment about foreign earnings. mentioned how important infrastructure investment was earlier for job creation. in the question as to how we pay for that? u.s. companies with foreign operations as we sit here tonight have trillions of dollars sitting overseas. they do not bring it back because it will be taxed a second time if they do. and so it sits over there and i know from my business experience it frequently gets invested in foreign infrastructure. that money could do a world of good. it could create tens of thousands, hundreds of thousand jobs if it was brought back,. if the estimate is maybe $4 trillion overseas. what if a train of it came back? seventeen and a half trillion dollar economy, what if another trillion dollars goes back in the united states? in my a experience capital is what creates jobs. investment is what creates jobs. and we need to make our tax code sensible. it is common sense to me that we have to adjust the tax code that is driving u.s. companies to do the kinds of things that they're doing today. >> moderator: okay. our next question will begin with candidate tom macarthur. a very simple question. detailed questions. could not have been born here. raise your from my very young age. macarthur: i do believe that there should be a path to citizenship. we're not going to deport 11 million people that are here illegally. we're not going to break up families. there has to be a path. similar to what we talked about earlier. immigration policy has to start with strong borders, and then people that have not committed crimes, if they pay back taxes, if they learn english then, i think, you create a path for them. meanwhile, you created ability for them to work. i hear that all over this district. they want people that are here to have an ability to work because they need that. with regard to children in institutions, i will answer my own question. i don't believe that children that are here illegally should get in state tuition. in that do not believe we should do it because for every child here illegally that goes to a state school with in state tuition, there is another child who is here illegally you can't. colleges have limits of how many students there will take at the lower in-state tuition. so every time we favor the child of someone here illegally we're punishing the child of somebody that is here illegally, and i don't think it's right. i have compassion to my genuinely have compassion for the so-called dreamers, but there are consequences. their parents have them here illegally, and one of the consequences is, i don't think they should get the same institution has the citizens of the state. >> moderator: thank you. belgard: thank you. children are really the victim of circumstances here. as a mother is heartbreaking to me to see this situation of some of these children. and, you know, i cannot imagine tearing families apart. some of these children don't know any other country because they came here from such a young age. and to send them back to a country where they might not even know the language of the culture. so it is about keeping families together. and that think that we do that through a pass to citizenship like was discussed before, but making sure that we are protecting these children who really are the innocent victims of circumstance next question will begin with candidate bill guard. we talked about an education question. all citizens have the ability -- i'm sorry, wrong question. please discuss with you believe should be the role of the federal government in providing quality public education? specific committed to some specifics on that. >> i am the product of public education. and both of my children are publicly educated. they are in fourth and seventh grade now. and i have seen first hand in my own school district some of the difficulties the schools are facing elementary and middle schools in the past year lost their libraries. so schools are facing a very difficult position right now . as we all know, schools are really more local in nature, but i think that we need to make sure that we don't have cuts to things like head start programs and things like that that we have seen in the budget that congress passed this year. make sure that schools are continuing to get federal resources that they need to be successful. i think when you talk about education we also need to look at higher education. we have seen the budget that was passed by congress, huge cuts to programs which were absolutely stifling our students looking to go into college and higher education. i talked about how i think that we need to make sure that we are investing in education here in this country. again, looking to reallocate funds, whether it is from money that is being given to big oil are money that is being shipped overseas. again, and education is the foundation here in the united states to be able to stay a part of the global market and a global economy. i had the opportunity to hear a story recently, young man who got his medical degree, did everything he was supposed to do, got a great job in new york city but could not actually get a lease on an apartment because he was so encumbered by loans. that is terrible. i also the product of public education, as are my children. my youngest is a senior haskell. and i see education primarily as a local and state function. i believe that is where it needs to be shipped the most i am concerned to the most of failing school districts. i think in those districts parents and students have to have other options. no child should be trapped in a failing school district teacher tenure reform, very, very critical. i think that the federal government can play a supportive role, but i do not think it should take over education. with regard to higher education there are things could and should take place. student loan rates are too high and cannot be refinanced. students are graduating with debt that is choking out their ability to make a living. there could be tax credits, should be tax credits for higher education costs, the federal government should invest more indication of schools so that students can graduate with less debt, with the skills for the jobs that are available to them instead of graduating from college is sometimes with greater debt into a job market that cannot higher than. and so i think vacation schools are a key area where the federal and state governments should be investing. this is the foundation for our future economy, having a well-educated work force. >> part of the education in the secondary education overview. the importance of county colleges here in burlington and the ocean county, we have some gems. having been a burlington county freeholder reckon speak to this. not only as sometimes a jump-start to other college or university institutions, for example in burlington county where we parted with drexel university carters, and stockton as well. but also, they are a resource for folks who are having difficult times, whether folks who have been laid off are looking for a new career, they can come and learn new skills. so i think that we need to look at the federal government investing in these sorts of institutions like county colleges. >> the next question will begin with candidate macarthur. more specifically on veterans, what kind of programs you would like to enact or have congress enact ? >> well, what has happened to our veterans is a tragedy the way they have been treated under the veterans administration is a national scandal. it is beginning to get this fixed, but there is a good deal more attention and work that needs to be done. one of the areas in my jobs plan dealt specifically with veterans, and there are a number of things that we can do. congress shamefully allowed the returning veterans tax credit to expire. the wounded warrior tax credit expired. these give incentives to employers to hire veterans and make use of the skill set that they have learned. i think that is essential still in office just over in pennsylvania. would reach out to him because i know he has been instrumental in working with the veterans affairs department to try to rectify some of the problems. i think we also need to make sure that we are filling our promises to our veterans and making sure that they have access to education after they have served in to good jobs. a lot of our veterans have partnered with the u.s. postal service and others to mumbo we need to make sure that our veterans who, again , have put everything on the line for us are able to not only get the care that they need but also good jobs that can help them continue to put food on their tables after they have done everything for us. >> i just want to expand on one thing, something that i firmly support. and that was a recent action that allows veterans if they have to travel more than 40 miles away more than 30 days for care at a veterans facility that there would be able to go to a physician of their choice. think that is important. i also don't understand why we don't have the veterans boss the -- of veterans hospital. we knew it when near the joint base. we have the largest veterans' population in the state. we have one of the largest in the country. one of the largest military communities in the country right here in the middle of the joint base. we should have a facility here in this district that will create jobs building it, running it, and most importantly serve our veterans. i would agree that the recent passage by washington of legislation allowing more veterans to seek medical attention if they are 40 miles or more away from facility is a step in the right direction, but i do have concerns that veterans might not get some of the specialized care in facilities that are not. because despite the claims problems, and they do have the ability to make sure that there are special treatments, for example, ptsd victims and others. it is a step in the right direction but a problem we need to continue to work on and expand on going forward. >> moderator: thank you peter very specific question from the audience, and we begin with candidate belgard do you support legislation to raise the federal minimum wage or howdy stand? belgard: i do support legislation, and i think pam mentioned it earlier. i think that this is an issue that is long overdue in this country. as i mentioned earlier, there are about two-thirds of the people on minimum wage right now are women. folks who are trying to put food on the table for their families, get their kids to school in the morning, trying to make a fair wage for their family. in a there are other benefits to it. like an mentioned earlier. raising the minimum wage alone could reduce the shortfall in social security by one-third. right now we have a congress that is not even willing to address this issue of. so absolutely can i think that raising the minimum wage has to be part of the discussion and part of the economic package moving forward in this country. >> thank you. macarthur: yes. i have a bit of a different view on the minimum wage. i believe it is best done at the state level. have never understood how federal minimum-wage can cover rural alabama in suburban new jersey at the same time. in that thing state minimum wages are much more responsive to local constituencies. new jersey, for example, has ironman always in the federal and it is being raised again soon by constitutional amendment. i also want to see people move off of minimum wage. .. >> we don't have time to cover a whole another session, so we would move toward closing remark. we did a coin toss. >> well, thank you again for everyone who came out and joined us taking her time in to be here and be a part of the process tonight. it has been a really big pleasure to be here this evening and as i mentioned earlier this evening, i am from south jersey and my interest in going to congress is to serve the people that i grew up with, whether it is the hard-working middle class family, the farmers that we have broader districts those that work on the coastline here in the district are at we have such a diverse district here and the folks in this district need a voice and being a voice for the american cancer society, being a voice in edgewater park, i am looking to take it one step further and be a voice for the people of the third district of south jersey the hard-working middle class folks in the women who are without a voice right now, as we have seen most recently with some of the discussions about equal pay in this country, we need a voice for our veterans and we have seen the systemic problems in the va system and we need a voice for the seniors whether it's social security, medicare, that is exactly what we will be in congress, is the voice for the people of south new jersey that i have grown up with and who i love so much. thank you. >> i also want to thank you for the opportunity. macarthur: i want to touch on talk versus action, namely the constituency groups in the district isn't the ability to serve them. and so when i compare myself and ms. aimee belgard, there's a number of comparisons. i've created jobs, thousands of them and aimee belgard taxed them in her local town. i've paid men and women fairly for decades and these are now talking points for 2014. we have talked about helping hurricane sandy victims in a couple settings and this is something that we did, my wife and i did as we provided funds to families that were displaced and we provided the american red cross to help with that and we open our own home and have a family living in our home for months after hurricane sandy. i've heard her talk about the need to serve sandy victims and they just don't need talked, but they need help and service. i've issued a jobs plan and i haven't seen any plan from her to create jobs and i don't think she has the experience to create them. and i have been open for many, many months. this is our first debate and i asked for debates in june and july, august, september, here we are in october finally sitting at a table together. i think my opponent has been hiding. the second theme is about honesty and how to develop relationships and i can see that i'm out of time. but i will just say this. i say what i mean and i mean what i say and i have it's been the same in this campaign on the other side. >> let's give a round of applause. for everyone. [applause] [applause] >> moderator: i want to thank c-span for being here. i want to thank everyone again. then i want you to urge your friends to vote. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> each of us has the right and a privilege to do that and you must be properly registered. you have until october 14 [inaudible] you can download the application [inaudible] and you can do it by mail if you can do so [inaudible] >> your application must be received seven days prior by the postman [inaudible] [inaudible] and of course, most important, remember to vote. michael mcelroy, acting director of the national the a chaplain center. representing the disabled veterans life memorial foundation, its passionate, hard-working board of directors who have been charged with erecting this memorial as they spent the last 16 years working on this and have given countless hours of time to ensure its successful completion. mrs. lois pope, co-founder and chair person of the disabled veterans like memorial, thank you. co-founder and president arthur wilson. secretary dennis joyner. treasurer dean murphy. mrs. diane mosselman. roberto bobby bureya. we owe all of them and deep debt of gratitude. another round of applause for all their hard work. thank you for their work. said lee there are three men who made enormous contributions to the memorial who did not live to celebrate this special day. the hon. jesse brown, former secretary of veterans affairs and co-founder of the memorial. [applause] >> and board members, the hon. gordon mansfield, former acting secretary of the va. [applause] >> and kenneth muscleman, a distinguished vietnam veteran. please join me, please join me in a moment of silence to honor these three great men. i know they are with us in spirit today. thank you for remembering them. we also indebted today to many individuals, foundations, organizations, and corporations who made this historic day possible. there are more than 1 million individual donors whose contribution made this memorial a reality. again, we thank everyone for their generous contributions, one and all. many of you are gathered here today. thank you for your contributions. [applause] >> now i would like to welcome the rev. michael mccullough, acting director of the national va chaplains center for the invocation. >> let us pray. we in vote your name as we come today on this ground in our national capital to dedicate our nation's memorial to living and indices disabled veterans. we thank you for the american veterans disabled for life memorial land for those who knew bring into being. we raise this memorial to a reminder of disabled veterans sacrifice. made it stand as a lasting symbol of their country, make it stand for the commitment beyond the call of duty that they may have given. let this memorial spend, oh god come as a monument generations now and forever may always remember our military men and women, patriotism, sacrifice, and suffering. we ask this day that you make this monument a blessing to all who passed by and whose eyes glance upon it. may it call us to remember that which is commemorating and also find in it your love forever. feel less with your peace and strength as we bless this memorial in your name. made it stand as a symbol of the love the we have for each other and as a reminder to us and to our nation of the costs of freedom, inspired the president and others who shall speak on this occasion and maybe all kerri to our homes and increased love for our country and for nation's disabled veterans. in your name, oh god, we bless and dedicate this monument. amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise if you are able for the presentation of colors by the armed forces color guard, military district of washington, and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance and our national anthem. [silence] >> porche, halt! present arms! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> to lead us in the pledge of allegiance, the director of the disabled veterans of life memorial foundation, mr. robe b robertbereerra o. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice fall. >> right shoulder! [silence] >> thank you, you may be seated. it is now my pleasure to introduce our first speaker, lois polk, whose commitment to disabled veterans knows no bounds. she was instrumental in the creation of this memorial, the joining forces in 1998 with then national adjunct arthur wilson and the late secretary of veterans affairs, jesse brown. please welcome willis polk. [applause] >> thank you for that gracious introduction and thank you for your interest and support for the memorial for so many years. good morning and welcome to the dedication of this magnificent american veterans disabled for life memorial. [applause] >> history is being made here today. at long last we have a memorial to in form, a gkn remind us of the courage, sacrifices and the continuing struggles of the more than 4 million living disabled veterans and the hundreds of thousands who have died before them. these walls -- they stand as symbols that our disabled veterans have never been forgotten. and serve as reminders that the cost of war does not end when the guns are silenced. every day disabled veterans continue to battle with their physical and mental disabilities, to reintegrate into society, to adjust to new family life and professional realities. our respect and recognition of their struggles and sacrifices are long overdue. [applause] >> i wish i could tell you that i always had the plight of disabled veterans close to my heart, but that simply was not the case. i started as a young broadway actress in musical theater. i was naive and clueless about delores that war can inflict on the bodies and minds of human beings. disabled veterans first entered my consciousness in the 1960s in a dramatic way when i was asked to entertain vietnam vets at the rehabilitation center in new york city. as i walked into that room, jammed with men lying on berries, hobbling on crutches, and multiple and duties in wheelchairs, i was shocked. piano started to play and i began to sing the song somewhere from west side story. as i saying the lines hold my hands and i will take you there, i reached out to hold a young soldier's hand but he had no hand for me to hold. that was my first impression of the sacrifices that our nation's disabled veterans have suffered and sacrificed. years later, i stopped to place my hand on my cousin's name inscribed in the wall of the vietnam memorial. unmanned, multiple and easy, struggled in a wheelchair to way of. k of flowers on his buddy's name. as i turned to leave i asked the park ranger, where is a memorial for disabled veterans? and he said there wasn't one. that was it. that did it. that was the spark, that was the catalyst that sent me on the 16 year quest to build this memorial, star of the disabled veterans could earn the respect and recognition that they so deserved. [applause] >> the memorial that we dedicate this letting his rifle achievement of the many who devoted countless hours, energy and talent to the frog jetblue chief among these were the late jesse brown who is standing beside me here today in spirit. he was former secretary of veterans affairs and arthur wilson, national adjutant of the d a d and he is sitting here. [applause] >> he is also the co-founder and president of our memorial foundation. to the many donors of the memorial, both large and small, to be dedicated board of directors to its superb staff, to the cooperative members of the united states park service, you have my profound gratitude. this magnificent oedipus was built with private donations and large we will largely from the disabled veterans themselves. this is their gift to a great phonation. [applause] >> this is a day of firsts. the memorial is the nation's first permanent public tribute in our history to the 4 million living disabled veterans and those who have died before them. it is also the first in our history to honor the men and women of all five branches of the military services, army, where are you guys? navy, marines, air force conlan and coast guard. coastguard. okay. it is a first in our history to honor our disabled american veterans and all of our nation's conflicts, all of our nation's conflict and wars. of the 12 memorials the american veterans disabled for less moralistic closest to the nation's capital. this is significant because this memorial was in ceremonial flames, bears witness to one and all including our e elected representatives in the nearby capital of the continuing human cost of war. today, the journey that began so many years ago in new york city has ended, but our fight for disabled veterans continues and commitment to their cause endured. for too long they have been unsung heroes. today we say unsung no more. [applause] >> thank you for your vision, dedication and generosity. i just noticed sitting in the front row here, an outstanding member of congress, outstanding chairman of the veterans affairs committee, congressman jeff miller, thank you for all your leadership. stand up and be recognized. you have been a great leader for veterans. thank you for being here. now i would like to welcome the outstanding secretary of the interior, the hon. sally jewell has shown great leadership since arriving at the department of interior, the department of interior has nearly 20% of america's public land, national wildlife refuge, national parks, including the very spot on which we stand today. please give a warm welcome to the secretary of the interior, secretary sally jewell. >> thank you for coming out of this spectacular data. i can't think of a better day to honor a better cause than what we are here for today. thank you lois, art, volunteers and the million donors and board members for what you have done for all american people through this spectacular memorial and everything it stands for. one of the great privileges of being secretary of the interior and the honor of overseeing the national park system, 401 special places that tell the story of america. among those are more than 50 national parks which include monuments and battlefields that serve as memorials to the men and women who fought for our freedom across the country and around the world. collectively these sites underscore the cost of war. the burdens and sacrifices that you make on behalf of the many. at pearl harbor, will still leaks to the surface from the uss arizona after more than 70 years. a reminder of 900 men in tune in the sunken battleship below have been there and it is a powerful place. if you blocks from here the vietnam veterans memorial is a living memorial, visitors have left 400,000 flowers, photographs and other items in remembrance of the 58,300 men and women whose names are inscribed on the wall and i invite you to see this memorial live and the number of people and come every day to paid tribute. so today it is a great pleasure to add a new memorial to the national park system to honor those who carry with them the visible and the invisible scars of war, a memorial dedicated to disabled veterans, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, our family members who bear the physical and emotional cost of defending our country. like so many of our national parks the american veterans disabled for life memorial is a result of the partnership between the american people and their government. with inspiration and funding from private citizens and organizations and i applaud all who contributed their time, talent and treasure to making this day possible, thank you, all of you, who contributed. [applause] >> the national mall is one of the most visited places in the national park system with 20 million visitors a year, many visitors will cross independence avenue over revers to visit this memorial. when they arrive a volunteer coordinator with the national park service named james peirce might be the one who greets them like he greeted me when i came shovel in hand to do work on the martin luther king jrmemorial on a day of service over there. on a day of service over there. i enjoyed running into james multiple times on the national mall. he works with a brace on his leg, the result of an injury he sustained in a suicide bombing when he was serving in afghanistan. like many wounded veterans james has chosen to continue to serve his country as a public servant to the team now has an honor to be one of the caretakers of this powerful memorial so james, i think you are out there. if you would stand as an example of the men and women of the department of interior and national park service, right over is there. thank you, james. thank you. thanks to all who are giving service after serving in wars. this story is echoed throughout the walls of this beautiful space. stories of bravery, stories of injuries sustained, stories of hope and the read discovery of purpose. the national park service is america's storytelling on behalf of the men and women at the department of interior we are proud to welcome this memorial land this story and the many other stories that will be told on this memorial for the national park service family. thank you all so much. [applause] >> now it is my pleasure to introduce someone who has been an incredible champion not only for this memorial but for veterans and active duty active personal and family. what began as a personal commitment to our nation's heroes back home in native chicago quickly evolve to into a handshake for with the u.s. of and iraq and afghanistan and around the world. he formed the lieutenant dan band performing for hundreds of thousands of troops at home and abroad. in 2011 he established a foundation to honor our troops, our veterans, first responders and their families for his tireless work and dedication he has been honored with the presidential citizens medal, the second highest civilian honor awarded by the president of the united states. please join me in a rousing welcome to the stage this actor, humanitarian and national spokesperson for the american disabled for life memorial, gary sinise. [applause] >> thank you for that wonderful introduction. welcome, everyone. special thank you to our past and present military here today. is an honor to be in your presence. that is my ride. first i would like to congratulate art and lois and the foundation board of directors who after a 16 year effort brought this memorial to reality. a magnificent tribute to the most honored guests of all here today, our injured veterans. [applause] >> and also, a special acknowledgment to the late jesse brown. i know that he is smiling today. in his farewell address to the nation in 1988 ronald reagan said that all great change in comerica begins at the dinner table. it is clear what president reagan meant. at these gatherings often with family members that one respect and admirers who have experienced and sacrificed much in life that one can have a meaningful conversations that stir our convictions, inspire us to action and bring us to an understanding of what life is really all about. in the late 1970s and early 80s as a young man i sat at that dinner table with the vietnam veteran side of my wife's family and i began to receive an education of what they experienced during the war, how bravely they thought, how they felt, the shameful way they were treated when they came home. imagine if being a risk to wear the uniform in public as was the case for many returning from vietnam and i am sure some here today remember that all too well. my brother in law, a combat medic, passed away this past wednesday of cancer at age 68 and today, october 5th, he would have been 69 years old. he was like a brother to me and told me once how after his tour in vietnam on a rival into the states went into a stall in the airport bathroom to remove his uniform to change into his civilian clothes to keep from being stared at or shouted at or possibly spit-. i will miss jack d. early and learned much from him, listening to his stories and the stories of the vietnam veterans in my family was any tiffany for me. it made me think about the precious gift of my own freedom and the price paid to secure it and i felt a strong sense of guilt for being so oblivious as a young teenager to what our vietnam veterans, many just like the older than i, were going through but it was out of that guilt and shame that a new mission began, a need to take action to do something to try to make a difference in the lives of those who served. in 1993 as i continue my journey in television and theater and film acting good things came highway and i was fortunate to have the opportunity to play wounded veteran lt. dan taylor in forest gump. that role me to a 20 year relationship with the disabled american veterans organization and the great privilege of acting as national spokesperson for the american veterans disabled for life memorial foundation and this extraordinary tribute to our wounded that we dedicate today. it was president abraham lincoln who said any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long indoor. today and from this day forward with the opening of this national monument, we honor millions of our heroes living with the wounds of war, with a place of healing, remembrance conlan and gratitude for all they have given and by so doing, we held to ensure that our nation will endure for generations to come. .. >> this place is a critical importance on always taking care of our military service members and their families before, during and after the battle. the dangers of the 21st century are clear. with no doubt that this entry will be equally if not more dangerous than the previous one. the united states must maintain a strong defense, impossible to do without strong defenders. and for all they've done, for all they have sacrificed, they ask so little in return. knowing they are honored that they will get the care they need when they need it, but they are not forgotten, ma and that their sacrifice is appreciated can make a world of difference. 13 years ago on taste terrible september morning will do we know the coming years would bring us thousands of gold star families and an entire new generation of real-life, lieutenant dan's. we not upwards to 4 million living with her injuries, wounded in america's wars, supported and looked after by our unsung heroes, america's caregivers your we cannot give those wounded veterans back their arms -- [applause] we cannot give those wounded veterans back their arms and legs. we cannot give them back their eyes, there is, pieces of themselves that have been lost, or the mindset of an altered. but we can give them come and we must give them, our respect, our everlasting thanks and our support. [applause] one of our great military leaders retired admiral william mcraven, u.s. navy seal gave theh ast spring at his alma mater at the university of texas. their motto is what starts here changes the world. and he gave lessons from what he learned in his field training that the students could implement the changes influence the world as they graduated and went forth in this society. one of those lessons was about having to swim under a ship at night and find the keel, the centerline, and the deepest part of a ship. this is the darkest part of the ship where you cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship's machinery is deafening, and where it is easy for even a well-trained navy seal to get disoriented and fail. admiral mcraven said, every seal knows that under the keel of the darkest moment of the mission it is the time when you must be the most calm and composed. when all your tactical skills, your physical power, and all your inner strength must be brought to bear. if you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment. we could never do enough for our nation's freedom providers, our heroes, but we can always show them we appreciate what they have fought and sacrificed for by doing a little bit more to give something back to them. and as all americans been bit in the freedom and security provided by our military community, very simply, if every citizen in every neighborhood, in every community and every town and city, and every state, would make it a priority to seek out and serve the needs of veterans and military families within those communities, they have the courage to take determined action to walk with our veterans, many of whom have lived through the darkest moments of life in combat or have come him physically or mentally injured, and they face many dark moments ahead, if we, the people, will show our appreciation with a willingness to serve above self, to help them move forward, just as lieutenant dan taylor was able to do, then we will be at our very best in someone else's darkest moment. thank you for allowing me to speak at this important dedication ceremony, for the american veterans life memorial park thank you to those brave warriors in attendance today for everything you have done for our country. may god bless all those still serving in harm's way, our military families, and may god bless and watch over our america, and help us to continue to honor our heroes so that we may long endured. thank you. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] >> let's hear it once more for the united states army band. [applause] as you know, recently president obama appointed a new secretary of veterans affairs, the honorable robert mcdonald who is here with us today. secretary mcdonald is a 1975 graduate of the united states military academy at west point and an alumnus of the university of utah where he earned an mba in -- an army veteran and both airborne and ranger qualified he served with the 82nd airborne division. upon leaving military service, captain mcdonald was awarded the meritorious service medal. in 1980, secretary mcdonald join procter & gamble, a fortune 50 company, and he rose through the ranks to become chief executive officer and president. he retired in june of one the 13th, nominated by president obama as the eighth secretary of veterans affairs on june 30. he was confirmed i the united states senate on july 29, 2014, and where grateful to him for his service to our country and our veterans. please welcome secretary mcdonald. [applause] >> thank you, ray. secretary jewell, mrs. pope, mr. sinise, mr. wilson, mr. joyner, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, a heartfelt welcome to our veterans and to all their families. i am deeply honored to help dedicate a grateful nation's memorial to veterans disabled for life. individually and collectively, they are the lifeblood of democracy. as president obama recent reminded us, when the world is threatened, it calls on america. and then we call on our troops. because of them come our country's highest principles and ideals endure. our nation stands as the world's foremost example of freedom, justice, and opportunity. and because of them we can ensure a more secure future for all americans. the men and women we honor today, and whom this memorial honors in perpetuity, endure the pain and meet the challenges of lifelong disability. through their sacrifices and perseverance, they have contributed not only to the freedoms we all enjoy, but also to medical advances that benefit so many people. more than any others, the veterans affairs department exists to serve them. they are the va's most important focus, and their disabilities in these continue to drive progress across our triad of care. in va research that advances medical science, in our training that prepares doctors and nurses to treat veteran patients according to the high standards of excellence, advocacy, and respect, and in leading-edge clinical care that promotes treatment, healing and, ultimately, cures. asked the nations health care leader, all americans have benefited from va's successes in treating disabled veterans. the work of his medical professionals has been recognized by three nobel prizes, among many, many other honors. few are aware that the research developed the cardiac pacemaker, the first successful liver transplant, the nicotine patch, and the world's most advanced prosthetics, including these revolutionary brain gate, a breakthrough that makes it possible for totally paralyzed patients to control robotic arms using only their thoughts. affiliate with over 1800 educational institutions, va has no equal in training america's health care professionals. more than 70% of all u.s. doctors have trained with the va, and each year va educates 62000 medical students and residents, 23,000 nurses, and over 33,000 trainees and other health fields. every day from maine to manila, via professionals deliver quality, compassionate care using state-of-the-art, patient centric systems like the electronic medical records the electronic medical records that va pioneered, and it's a reducing barcode software that ensures the correct medications come in the correct dosage, are administered to the correct patient. all of this is carried out in the knowledge that veterans disabled in service to our country are at the heart of va's mission. few have given more to america, and here in the shadow of the nation's capital, this imposing memorial stands as a powerful reminder of their service and their sacrifice. at va we are reminded every single day of their outsized contributions to our country, and it's our pride and our privilege to claim the honor of caring for those who have borne the battle. without question, it is the most noble and inspiring mission in all of government. thank you, and may god bless us all. [applause] >> thank you, mr. secretary. also with us today to share their unique insights are to disabled veterans, both of whom have devoted countless hours to the creation of this memorial, the first speaker is dennis joyner, a director and secretary of the disabled veterans' life memorial foundation was awarded the bronze star and purple heart for his service in vietnam. let us thank dennis and welcome him. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, secretary lew. distinguished guests, thank you. distinguished guests, friends, my fellow disabled veterans and their families. today we come together to dedicate the american veterans disabled for life memorial. i would like to take a few moments to share the journey that brings me and my family here today. i was in vietnam only 32 days when i was wounded, been assigned to every country in which the united states army knife infantry division in the mekong delta. we were on patrol when we came to a canal that we needed to cross. with the tide coming in having a strong undercurrent, those of us who are already crossed went back to help the non-swimmers across. after getting back in single file formation, little did i know that i would walk the last three steps of my life. for after that third step, my life was going to start over. i never heard the explosion that day, june 26, 1969. never losing consciousness, i can see exactly what had happened to my legs and my left arm. might immediate reaction was, let me die. knowing that he must keep me going into shock, sergeant reynolds slapped me across the face and screamed, joyner, you have a lot to live for. you have a wife back home waiting for you, and a son. and you want to die? sergeant reynolds, i would never have survived without you on the battlefield that day, or for the last 45 years without the assurance that i had a lot to live for that you gave me. i owe you my life. [applause] and i know that saving my life has had a profound effect on you and your family. as the visions and memories from that day are forever etched in your mind. and i'm so blessed that ed reynolds and his family are here today to share in this historic event. ed, please stand up. [applause] thanks, buddy. i was sent back to valley forge army hospital -- valley forge army hospital to recover under of young army surgeon, doctor craig roberts who was not yet even 30 years old. my wounds eventually healed cleanly, and although fitted with prosthetic legs, i opted for a wheelchair. for me, i have been blessed to pick up the pieces from that day in vietnam and live a life of fulfillment. although we, disabled veterans lived a life different than most, we have been most fortunate. we don't have to go it alone. we've had our family and friends with us for the entire journey, through the good times and the difficult times. our families and friends have also had to deal with the effects caused by our injuries. i can't imagine the fear, the terror that must have been in my families hearts and minds that day they received the telegram explained the severity of my injuries, with no way to contact the hospital or even know where i was 12,000 miles away in a war-torn country. probably more difficult than that, having to walk the long halls at valley forge army hospital for the first times, not knowing what to expect, what was i going to look like? what my attitude would be. tried to think of what to say, seeing me for the first time minus three limbs. a walk my mother would often say was the longest walk of her life. and how difficult must it have been for my wife to do the words, her daddy doesn't have any legs. said by one of my daughters, kindergarten classmates, and a laughter that filled the room. all the children laughing except for one, my daughter. as tears filled her eyes, she said, why are they laughing at my daddy? or the lifelong impression that was formed in a 14 year old girls young mind as she visited us wounded soldiers on board for at valley forge army hospital, and all abt ward for four years -- abt ward, encouraging us on. diane, i thank you and will forever remember and love you for all that you've done for us. to my family, my sister and brother who were there that day that my parents received a telegram from vietnam, to my sons and daughter who have had to live their lives as children of a disabled veteran, with a father who at times was unable to be as normal as their friends dads. and to my wife, donna, who came into my life at a very difficult time, and to has always accepted me for the man that i am. i want you all to know that a part of me wants to say, i'm sorry, that you've had to share in my lifetime sacrifices as a disabled veteran. but down deep in my heart, i can't apologize. i can only thank you for showing your love for this great country of ours by being beside me throughout my journey. today i have been honored to share a small part of my life as a disabled veteran, and the impact that it has had on my family and my friends. we are not unique in our story. we are just one example of the thousands of lives affected by the lifelong disabilities that are the terrifying consequences of war. although i've been blessed with many achievements in life, the achievement that i am most proud of is this memorial. [applause] a memorial that gives meaning and the many thousands of other disabled veterans like me a sense of contentment knowing that what we gave, what our families gave, and what we continue to give will be forever remembered here in our nation's capital. god bless the nation's disabled veterans, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> dennis, i know that everyone here will agree with me that your words were moving beyond measure. i would like to ask that dennis was honor by president ronald reagan as handicapped american of the year, and by the dav as the national outstanding disabled veteran of the year. dennis, all of us here are embedded to your sacrifice. thank you. [applause] >> and now a man of enormous vision who defines what this memorial is all about, mr. wilson, cofounder and president of the disabled veterans' life memorial foundation. art served in vietnam, the philippines, thailand and taiwan, and for much of his life has been an outspoken advocate of disabled veterans, striving to ensure that america understands the sacrifices made by disabled veterans. so it is my pleasure to introduce the leader, an outstanding leader, art wilson, known by all of you as dav art. [applause] >> thank you. and good morning. two of our friends and distinguished guests, to my fellow board members, and most of all, to my fellow disabled veterans. it is humbling for me to be here on this historic occasion as we dedicate a permanent place of on her for those who sacrifices and contributions for freedom will make sure the duration of our nation's way of life. this is a culmination of hard work, support and vision shared by many. among them are some dear friends who are here in spirit and watching from above. we gather in our nation's capital, a place where honor is bestowed upon nearly every cause, and history is remembered in bronze and stone from every vantage. we honor our fallen. we honor every branch in the battles, but until this day, this very day, we have not remembered those who live and whose lives were forever changed by the sacrifices they made in uniform. and yet without their stories and the experiences of their loved ones, we as a people cannot know the cost of war. without acknowledging their sacrifices, we forget the courage that ensures our freedoms, and the promises we have made to those who defend our land. the experiences attached on these walls remind us that for those who serve and their families, more often continues long after the final bullet is fired. the most difficult fight often begins after the injury is sustained. that includes people like felicia boston, october 26, 1991, while serving as an army radio operator in saudi arabia, a scud missile struck the berries adjacent to hers. some 27 soldiers lost their lives that day. specialist weston was among the nearly 100 who were severely wounded, so partially blinded by the attack, she recounts on these walls the bewildering feeling of helplessness. i felt so alone, watching what was happening. at this point i knew i had been hurt but i just wanted to find someone for my company, she said. you know, the purpose of this memorial is to honor those changed by war and to show them that they are never ever alone. and as the words of my dear friend, the late jesse brown, remind us, for tragic story of life unraveled by military battle, there are a dozen tales of individuals who have managed to triumph over the harrowing experiences of war and ruin. the story of people like foley shia western does not end with the destruction of war brought to her person. and instead it shows a beginning. it reminds us in granite and glass and fire and water of the hope and the gratitude that they have earned. many on these walls have done much more than survive the war. they have lit a path for the brothers and their sisters to follow. but the bandages and debris were removed from her eyes, the vision of that day of terror were not. the invisible wounds she faced of years of intensive recovery and may never fully heal. yet instead of distancing herself from the military service, she has dedicated more than 15 years of her life providing direct advocacy to her fellow veterans, ensuring that they have someone they can count upon. bob lieber era -- who was in an armored personnel carrier in vietnam when a command detonated mine, today known as an ied, was detonated under his vehicle. his fellow marines pulled him from the fiery wreckage but not before he suffered burns over most of his body which resulted in the loss of his right hand and left arm. like many here today, bobby had a choice to make. he could succumb to despair or find a new direction. when he made the choice to live, he decided to dedicate each moment to making the world a better place. with his wife by his side, he tackled his education. he became a counselor serving the department of defense. he became involved in veteran service organizations and rose to the ranks to become a national commander of the disabled american veterans. i have a purpose in life that's been develop other military families through some of what i had to go through, bobby words -- bobbies were to tell many generations. if i could do myself nor to help others, i'm okay with that. these walls represent veterans of multiple areas and conflict. those are represented give voice to the many are part of a nationwide community of both intergenerational euros. they include men like army sergeant jason pepper, deployed

Transcripts For CSPAN3 Politics Public Policy Today 20140714

motivation for both sighs to get something done before they ave,t leave. but there's a really significant difference between democrats anb republicans over how that package should look.packag and the big thing is whether you're going to change the law so that it's harder for people who are coming in to the country from central american countriest too get these automatic files. there's a lot changed in 2008 that's really leading to a lot of people crossing the board right now. and democrats and republicans disagree on how o much you shoua change thaw t lawto to try to mp prevent more people from trying to come in to the united states. >> and what about the highway trust fund deal? a lot of outrage certainly from governors at the national the governor's association meeting who are veryn worried that ied congress won't reach a deal.dea. do you see one in sight? >> question. in fact, at the end of last week it looked like the house and ikh senate were becoming really, really close on a deal that wile provide some $10 billion to stop a shortfall in the highway trust fund. it's possible that they'll be p' tle toll b move on legislation soon as this week to get that done. all the things we're talking about, i think that's the vehicle that seems the most likely to get done right now before the august recess. >> one last question for you, s ian swanson. we have heard that senate that democrats are moving forward to come up with some kind of ion to legislation to address the supreme court's recent ruling oo what's been known as the hobby a lobby secase. what can you tell us about that? >> senate democrats are expecter to move forward with legislation this week. it's going to get a vote. lt thisth is a little bit like the lawsuit, though, that we were talking about earlier agan against president obama, in that it's something that's likely to get a vote in the senate but not pass the senate.pass because, republicans in the senate are going to prevent them from getting the 60 votes necessary to proceed.proceed. so, i guess i could say it's a a little different from a lawsuit the lawsuit at least is likely to get through theat house but o tht through the senate. this is something on the hobby h lobby case that they'll be able to have a vote on in the senate that will motivate the democratic base but not get through the house. >> ian swanson is the news editor at the hill. >> thanks for having me. >> live now to capitol hill where the house rules committee is meeting to consider debate rules for the highway and transportation funding bill the measure expected to come up later this week on the house floor. money will run out for the program at the end of august. the meeting should get started shortly. the chairman of the rules committee, republican pete sessions of texas in the middle of your screen. rules committee will come to order. thank you very much for joining us today for a very important meeting of the rules committee, where we're going to meet to consider hr-5021 the highway and transportation funding act of 2014. current estimates indicate the highway trust fund will run dry sometime this month. allowing this to happen would dramatically impact our nation's federal highways program, severely limit our ability to fund construction projects necessary to ensuring that america and our economy can continue to remain competitive, and, of course, we need to worry about getting the job done for america's economic and commerce marketplace to make sure that we stay up with their vibrancy to have a good infrastructure. the legislation before us today provides the resources necessary to keep the trust fund solvent. through may 31st 2015. and while i'm sure that everyone here would like to see more permanent solution, including the young chairman of the transportation committee mr. schuster, this proposal, however, avoids a problem where we don't reach a deal in to avert -- end of the year crisis. so what we believe we're going to have today is a more comprehensive solution and i want to thank dave camp who is chairman of the ways and means committee for being here today and for chairman schuster who have done a lot of work on this effort. i know that we are joined today by other members of the democrat party, including our delegate eleanor norton holmes from washington, d.c., who is the ranking member of the committee on highways and transit. and also government reform and also earl blumenauer, who i see every morning as he has ridden his bike in to the united states capitol knowing that he still needs safe roads and bridges to accomplish that, who's a member of the budget committee, also. so i want to thank each of you for being here today, and i have three quick announcements. first of all, we have intern program, team sessions. we have two important college interns, both graduates, first of southern methodist university savannah stevens. savannah, thank you for being here. and jillian quigley, a graduate of amherst, i want to thank them both for taking time to come to the rules committee. and lastly my baby son nicolas who is joining us first time to see his dad do the rules committee chairmanship, so i told him, don't yawn on tv, and get off that darn blackberry, or i-thing. he reminded me it's an i-5 dad, and i said okay. want to thank everybody for being here. i'd like to yield to the gentleman from massachusetts for any opening statement. >> welcome everybody here. and i will forego an opening statement and get right to the testimony. >> i thank the gentleman. i think that's a strong and clear message that what we want to do is get our work done today. with that said i would defer first to the gentleman from michigan, the chairman of the ways and means is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. at the end of this month states across the country will be forced to put construction projects on hold if congress cannot address the highway trust fund. at risk are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the construction industry at a time when millions of americans are packing their bags to take a vacation or just traveling to work. we must ensure that the roads, bridges and highways they travel on are modernized and safe. the bill before us would provide enough funding to get us through may 31 -- 2015. this legislation is the only package with all provisions having a proven history of getting big bipartisan votes in both the house and the senate. and last week passed through the ways and means committee by a bipartisan voice vote. both pension smoothing and custom users fees are included in the senate finance committee bill and those have been voted on and approved by the senate already this year. the leaking underground storage tanks transfer is identical in the house and senate bills. over the past few weeks, we've been working with our counterparts on the senate finance committee to address this matter in a bipartisan, bicameral way, it's important to note that the senate proposal now also reflects the need for a ten-month fix. while there is also bipartisan bicameral agreement that we need a long-term solution to the highway trust fund, it is my hope that ten months gets congress enough time to act. some of our -- that we need to go shorter to go longer. that is the bill should only get us through december 31 of this year. i think that's a mistake. as i noted the finance committee agrees. these are policies everyone is familiar with. they're policies that will provide the funding we need and they're the only policies that will pass both the house and the senate in time to fund our highways after the end of this month. i would urge everyone to keep an eye on that goal, finding an immediate fix to keep transportation projects going in the bill before us does just that. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i appreciate not only your feedback but your hard work on this effort, and to keep us as we've spoken about earlier, right on target getting work done as quickly as possible. like to next welcome the gentleman from pennsylvania, the young chairman of the transportation committee. i know mr. chairman you've been hard at work for a long time but you also come with a view of having a father who has walked down this pathway with you, and i knew your dad. know your dad, bill, and i want you to know that i intend to tell him how proud we are of the job you're continuing to do for the people of this great nation, caring about their roads and bridges wherever they might be across the united states. the gentleman is recognized at this time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate those kind words, and i'll pass them along to bud. >> i intend to tell him myself. >> i appreciate that. it's probably better he'll tell me something i didn't do right in this bill probably. but that's okay. want to thank mr. chairman and the members of the committee. we have the opportunity to appear here today for hr-5021 the highway transportation funding act of 2014. the highway transportation funding act of 2014 extends federal service transportation programs and shares the solvency of the highway trust fund through may as chairman camp pointed out. hr-5021 is a clean extension of the surface transportation programs and continues map 21 reforms. we have an immediate and critical need to address the solvency of the trust fund and extend the current surface transportation law. this bill does that in a responsible way and with policies that previously received strong bipartisan and bicameral support. if congress fails to act as the chairman once again mentioned, there will be thousands of projects across this country, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be in jeopardy if we don't do this. the legislation provides that much needed certainty and stability of the states. this bill in no way precludes congress from continuing to work on a long-term funding solution and reauthorization bill which remains a top priority. however this legislation is a responsible solution at this time and assures that we don't play politics with these programs. enables us to continue to making improvements to our system. i appreciate chairman camp's attention to this pressing issue as well as his commitment to addressing the highway trust fund. due to the urgency of this legislation i request the committee on rules grant a closed rule that waives any necessary points of order against consideration of the bill. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much. delighted that you're here and obviously as with all four of you, anything that you have in writing whether be entered for the record without ox and i thank you very much for your solid and quick statement. ms. holmes norton, welcome to the rules committee. i'm delighted you're here. i'm sure as you and mr. blumenauer know your presence at this committee is not only appreciated and respected but we count on you to come forth with your ideas. you remember not only an important part of this country, the district of columbia but you also represent your party the democratic party and your ideas and we're delighted that you're here. we'll tell you this committee is intensely interested in the issue that hand and your ideas will work. >> thank you very much. very much appreciate the opportunity to say a few words, and i summarize my remarks and simply introduce them for the record. i'm very pleased to be before your committee this time with a truly bipartisan bill and i want to thank the chairman to my right for working to the to make sure that this bill the committee who works on this bill works in truly bipartisan fashion, and very much appreciate the way this was done in our own committee with mr. shuster and also mr. camp's committee. i am the ranking member of the surface transportation bill. mr. rayhall who is the ranking member of the full committee wouldn't be here and i'm placed to be here in his place and i am overjoyed that this bill is coming forward and i want to thank you for bringing this bill forward. not at the last minute but providing some certainty, especially now that you cannot do a long-term bill because the congress isn't quite ready for that yet. rationing has already started and you can imagine that the states and localities when rationing which means that they're already not getting the full amounts because nobody knew what would happen in the congress, that this bill is very, very welcome. obviously, not only on mr. chairman, but all of us who are sitting at this table would have preferred a long-term bill with the certainty every single district, there's no member that is not affected by this bill. and i don't think that there are many bills that come before you that have the effect that this bill would have, the short-term extension does not allow them to big into the backlog, and that would not because it only enables them to keep going but it at least enables them to keep going and looking bankruptcy in the face for the highway trust fund was so unacceptable that everyone has gotten together and done the right thing. i would just like to say a word the chairman had both asked for a closed bill. i'd like to reinforce that. look, on a sort-term, we authorization of this kind truly we can get a closed bill. if the chairman had asked for it, i noticed that there are two amendments that have been found and i just want to indicate to you, mr. chairman, that that would be unfair to the entire house. because, the notice was given -- there was no notice given that this bill was open for amendments. there's one bill that's technical, and the other is -- actually have findings. if beam had noticed that they could have come forwards with amendments we would have had others to do so. since there was no indication that amendments would be considered i ask you to do as the chairman has asked and to approve the bill that they have requested. mr. chairman, this is not a bill we would have wanted. but it's the kind of bill that brings the house together on both sides. and i am deeply grateful for you for that. and for the chairmen who are with me and the ranking member, as well. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you very much for your not only support of the bill, but speaking and attributes that we all understand. and that is the importance of bringing this bill right now on time to the floor where we can get this done and work to the. mr. blumenauer welcome, we're delighted that you're here. a couple of members showed up as soon as we heard your name mentioned. so you're very popular here at the rules committee. >> and i appreciate your courtesy. i agree with the statement that you opened the hearing with. about how important it is, your preference for permanent solution. and avert a year-end crisis. i'm going to offer a slightly different perspective on that. taking slight exception with my friends who i respect. and this is an area that i personally have been deeply involved with since i reluctantly left the transportation infrastructure where i had the honor and privilege of serving both with bill shuster and his father bud when he was chair. i made the transition to ways and means and volunteered to be on budget because i'm deeply concerned about infrastructure and finance. and the fact that we are in trouble. my concern with what's being offered today and the way we in the ways and means committee all the democrats supported an amendment i had which was as the chairman mentioned a moment ago, is to bring about long-term support by shortening the duration. because i'm afraid what you are considering, and what the committee ill-advisedly advanced is going to make the chaos, the uncertainty, it's going to make it permanent, not just this congress and next congress, but as one of the stakeholders said walking out of our hearing last week, may 2015 might as well be may 2017. because, there's no pressure to finish the job. it's not going to be easier in may. it's going to be harder. we've known about this for months. that's why every member of the democrats on the house ways and means committee asked for a hearing at the beginning of the year on transportation and finance. i've been making poor chairman camp's life miserable kind of bothering him about this for months. in 79 days, this bill expires. and we've all known that. and we've known that there was not enough money to get through even september 30th for months. and now we're walking in with a maybe a week or two, and as mr. norton pointed out, there have already been a summer slowdown. states are pulling back because of uncertainty because of what's going on. there's been no resolution of this fund in question which is exactly the same as we had in 2003. it was -- it's been tying us in knots since our last six-year reauthorization which i was pleased to play a small part as a committee member with chairman bud schuster, and ranking member where we went toe to toe with speaker gingrich you may recall and the clinton administration and were able to extract the 4.3 cent gas tax increase which was the last gas tax increase, but it was for deficit reduction. and we were able to transfer that to the highway trust fund and get a fully funded six-year bill. and since then, we've been walking around in circles. the stake holders are united and unanimous that america's falling apart, and it's falling behind, and we need to stop abaiting our responsibilities to fess up. now there are different approaches. you may hear from one of my colleagues, who's interested in devolution. there's a republican bill that would cut the transportation funding down to i think 3.7 cents, and turn this back as an unfunded mandate to the states and let them do what they will. the republican budget is kind of a status quo slow decline. if enacted it would have no new transportation projects until october 1st, 2015. and there would be a ten-year reduction of 30% of highway. and that's maybe what some people want. but that ought to be debated openly and honestly. others have ideas for raising revenue. i think we would be well served to be able to resolve this so that the transportation committee can come forward with a six-year bill. that they know what they got. is it 3.7 cents? is it the slow decline, the 30% reduction? is it maybe running with more revenue? but unless and until we answer that question, i don't know how the difficult job that the chairman of the tni committee has and the ranking member and the subcommittee how they're ever going to be able to do their job if they don't have the details. now, kicking this can down the road to may 31st is kind of interesting. because the funding issue does not get less complex. it doesn't get cheaper. and the politics don't get any easier. i don't know which party is going to control the senate next time but it's going to be an evenly, narrowly divided senate. and half the senate will be running for president, if they haven't already. and to think that in the other body, that they're magically in a couple of months going to be able to solve the funding conundrum and be able to work to give the committees of jurisdiction -- and my heart goes out, i still feel like i'm a member of the alumni association. i follow the committee. i respect the work. i respect what's going on with ranking member bitter and barbara boxer but this is not going to get easier next year. what is very likely going to mean is that we will continue the pattern. we, since 2003, we have had 21 short-term extensions. and not one six-year bill. mr. chairman, i respectfully request that we think about, that you consider allowing me to offer my amendment which would shorten the phase of the money until the end of the year. and that we actually roll up our sleeves and get to work. that we have hearings on ways and means about what the funding conundrum is and decide one way or not. that we not break for summer recess with this unresolved. i'm going to be talking about this from portland, maine to portland, oregon. i'm happy to stop by in washington, d.c. in august. i don't think we should break for reelections and leave communities with uncertainty that's going to last for years. and it's within our power to do this. i have great respect for our chairman and our friend mr. shuster, and the chairman of the tni committee, the partnership that i serve with a number of our democratic colleagues on the committee. there is a vast array of people from the u.s. chamber of commerce to the afl-cio, local governments, governors, contractors, who are in accord. and by the way, they don't support kicking this into the next congress. the chamber of commerce, for example, had a statement before we voted saying they don't support sliding it on, they want an address now. i agree with the chamber of commerce and the afl-cio and a wide range of other stake holders we need to get down to business now, we should not adjourn this congress without having resolved this long-term funding, and giving people the certainty of the federal partnership, or if some had their way, maybe there is no federal partnership. and if that's going to be the case they ought to find out sooner rather than later. mr. chairman i deeply appreciate your courtesy in permitting me to appear. i have some additional views that i would like to submit on behalf of ranking member levin and myself. >> without objection we'll include that. >> thank you very much. >> mr. blumenauer thank you very much for your words. i would say to all four of you who are here, thank you not only for taking your time to be here today, i do recognize that there are people who offer a different viewpoint. i will tell you i agree with the mark that the committee has given us here. i want to agree with not only mr. camp for his hard work, ms. norton holmes, because -- and mr. shuster, because i believe that what needs to happen is we need to get what we can get done when we can do it. it may or may not be easier for us to do it now or later. but we can achieve it here today. and i believe that it's important for washington, d.c. to have certainty as to what we're going to do. and it's great back home in dallas, texas. so i'm glad that we're doing this. i thank all four of you, except my expression of thanks and i defer. >> thank you mr. chairman, i appreciate it. i'd like to take a very brief point of personal privilege and introduce a guest i have this evening. i have a teacher in congress, this is my ninth year of doing it, bring one or two teachers from my district for about ten days to washington to shadow me, and learn more about how we do our business, and give that person an opportunity to do some individual research and my 2014 teacher in congress is here tonight. michael mccullough back there. he's a reacher at r.j. reynolds high school in win stan sigh lem and today is his first day here in the capitol. and i invited him to come over to see the rules committee in action. keep that in mind, guys. he's going to go back and talk with impressionable minds about what goes on in congress. thank you mr. chairman for allowing me -- >> yield for just one comment. michael you better put on your track shoes. she's tough to keep up with. >> and i don't have any questions either, and i thank our colleagues for being here this afternoon. to make the presentation, and i know this is -- these are very important issues, so thank you all very much. >> ms. slaughter? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to say welcome to our guests. we're happy to have you. this is known as the committee where legislation goes to die. so it's not a bad place for it to start because you won't see much while you're here. anyway, i would rather do what we're doing today, gentlemen. both of you know i've got great affection for you and the good work that you do. i haven't heard from anybody in my state without giving a few months to plant something in a state where they're just doing a survey on bridges. almost all of them are nearly dysfunctional, it's going to help. i think mr. blumenauer is exactly right. i remember the days when the most bipartisan bill in the house of representatives was transportation. and it really is, i think the fact that we can't seem to muster getting a transportation bill for us speaks very poorly of us. but as i said, i'm not -- this is not even half a loaf, this is a camera and a page, and i guess that an important. i'm having a lot of platitudes today. but there you are. i'm not happy with this bill. and i doubt any of the four of you are, either. but thank you very much. >> the gentlewoman yields back here time. thank you very much. mr. bishop? >> thank you, first of all mr. mccullough, i was a high school teacher before i came to congress. we're 0 for 2. this is sad, sorry. thank you for what you're trying to do here. i appreciate what you've done here. one of the other things that i found was extrooply helpful when i was in state legislature is we had an ending date and the ending date forced us to make decisions which were never great decisions but we had to because in that search for the perfect solution, it ain't out there. but thank you for what you've done. i appreciate your efforts. yield back. >> mr. mcgovern. >> the chair -- policy on the bill. >> without objection. by the way, does he know what it says? >> yeah, it -- you want me to read it to you? >> well, no i just ask -- >> he's okay with it i think. so we're okay. >> it's all right. >> it's kind of hard to -- >> yeah, but he would prefer a long-term fix to this bill. i always want to associate myself with miss slaughter. you know, this -- this is kicking the can down the road and i'm not sure a deadline creates any more pressure. it just means we might do another short-term, another short-term, another short-term. i was on the transportation committee, mr. shuster, when your father was the chairman. i was there with mr. blumenauer, and i was really proud to support a truly bipartisan transportation bill. and part of the problem you guys are going to have is the people that make up your conference. some of who have signed pledges to vote no new revenues. who just hate government in every form that exists. and don't understand that in order to fix our roads and our bridges and our aging infrastructure, you're going to have to find a funding mechanism. this is just a suggestion. but if you guys are still in the majority, after november, i pray that you're not, but in case you are, i hope that you will -- you might want to revisit this issue of earmarking. because i think one of the reasons why we were able to pass a transportation bill when your dad was the chairman overwhelmingly, and overrode a presidential veto was because every member had some skin in the game. they actually were able to see where this funding would go in their district and how it would make a difference. so i know that there's probably not fashionable to talk about at this particular point, but in thinking of ways to come to a long-term solution to get people to buy in, i mean that may be something we might want to revisit. but this should be a long-term bill. it's not. it is what it is. and we look forward to seeing it on the floor. i yield back my time. >> gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. >> just a couple of quick points because i agree very much with what my colleague had to say although for somewhat different political reasons. i think your position is correct, earmarking would be helpful here. i remember the days because i know my district better frankly than people at the transportation -- we could literally take care of an overpass or put an overpass in where five people had died and we could relieve, and the inability to do that. it just, i think is a sad consequence of -- of you know, politicizing the earmark process that both parties tended to do. i do think thank the gentlemen for their good work. i know this has been a very difficult reach out. i know all of us would prefer a long-term solution. nobody more than the two of you. and i remain confident at the appropriate time, mr. shuster, you'll get us there. unfortunately we're leaving you on the wrong side of the river, mr. chairman, as we discussed before. i always reminding moses didn't make it to the promised land, either. and dave camp isn't going to make it to the next congress and we're going to be poorer for that frankly. but appreciate your good work. look forward to supporting it, and urge you, as you both continue forward to continue that search for the elusive permanent solution. i agree with my good friend, mr. blumenauer, we need to find one where we can plan over multiyear period, and put the -- put the transportation infrastructure of the country on sounder footing. with that i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. thank you very much. judge hastings, you're recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i thank our presenters, especially. first mr. chairman would like to call for an open rule on a matter of this magnitude. and i certainly believe that the very least that we should make the amendments of our members, republican and democrat, who come to the committee, in order in this instance, and specifically our support of mr. blumenauer's amendment which i really do believe deserves our ample discussion, and i hope that the committee does not shut us out from having an opportunity to discuss such an important matter for the future. of this country. in essence what you've done is, and i think we all know this, you allow for six months of spending to be paid for over a period of six years. over a period of ten years. and when all is said and done the pension's smoothing and i think i'm the first person to mention it's been identified that way. i don't think it's going to go smoothly at all if all of the pension funds find themselves in a position where we have to use the pension guarantee to fund them, then we could wind up losing money if this became our only solution. understanding that there's a year, 2015. but i think it amounts to not the committee. i think you all do what you can. i heard mr. camp loud and clear regarding it being bicameral. i appreciate that. i appreciate his efforts also on trying to assure that we do what's necessary on tax reform. but obviously, this particular 113th congress isn't about that business at this point. one thing i know is this. americans don't want their roads in disrepair. and i live here, in ms. holmes norton's area, and i can tell you, there are very few places that have as many needs when it comes to fixing just potholes alone, unless some of the roads i drive on in florida rival it on occasion. but people don't want their roads in disrepair. and they don't want their bridges falling down. and the 435-plus six of us ought to have the courage, and that's what it amounts to, to stand up and say what's needed. one of the things that's desperately needed, and i go on record now and have in my constituency, is a gas tax increase. and i believe that that is one way that we can address this problem. and i call it just pure, unadulterated cowardice on behalf of all of us in congress for not being able to stand up. i yield back the balance. >> gentleman yields back his time. i appreciate the gentleman's recomments and respect his ideas. gentleman from georgia is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i happen to agree with mr. hastings. i think there's a better path forward. since we have chairman shuster here i'm not going to do any hand wringing about this temporary solution. i'm going to do hand wringing about that big five-year proposal you brought last time and i don't know why it's this time that folks don't have any courage and this time why kicking the can is down the road. it was last time when he brought a proposal with no earmarks. brought a proposal some folks thought spent too much and some folks thought spent too little. some folks thought it reformed too much and some folks thought it reformed too little. some folks thought it was too long and some thought it was too short. i don't know what path we're going to follow if we're not going to get together and pass something like that, chairman camp has tremendous courage bringing forward a fundamental tax reform bill that he knew would be met with the perfect, being the enemy of the good, and you did that same thing on transportation and how quickly you forget when you took over at that committee you made every effort so we would never have to have a day like today, and you led, and the congress did not follow you. and that is on us. that is not on your committee and i'm grateful to you for your efforts in that way. i look forward to your having one more opportunity and i hope we're better followers next time around. that i yield back. >> thank you very much. mr. polis last week we celebrated the birth of your baby. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i was apprised of a warm reception the committee gave to little cora, and i hope to bring her by next week. so i very much look forward to that. it's my understanding we're meeting four times this week. so if one of those is a late night meeting you might, in fact see me -- >> i'll see what i can do about it. gentleman is recognized. >> thank you. i thank the folks for the testimony, and in my opinion, we need to do a longer-term fix. i think that the gas tax, which is a reasonable funding mechanism for transportation is effectively a user fee, is a reasonable way of doing it. there's other approaches to user fees that i've heard about, and i think the issue with many of them is they might be very elegant economically but people worry about their impact on people's privacy. and those are very legitimate concerns, as well. and while the gas tax isn't a perfect proxy, it seems to be one that the american people can live with as opposed to other proposals that would have impacts on their privacy, knowing where their cars are going, and taxing their miles. i know my constituents would certainly react very negatively to that. so this is a very short-term discussion here. as we go forward i would encourage everybody to look to the gas tax and see if we can find a way to more permanently ensure that we can have adequate investment in infrastructure and i'm happy to yield back. >> thank you very much. gentleman from louisville, texas, dr. burgess is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll just take ownership as being part of the problem ten years ago. i bought a hybrid vehicle. i did that because i wanted the feeling of moral superiority that you have when you drive a hybrid. but the fact of the matter is, with 50 miles to a gallon i'm only contributing a half of what i used to contribute to building highways. now, i do think that some point we're going to have to address the flexibility that we give the states. and the fact that the state like texas, which desperately needs to be building infrastructure, there's a 20% diversion to rail. there's a 10% diversion to enhancements. maybe we need to look at those numbers again. but we do need to give the states the flexibility that they need to be able to deal with the problems that are at hand. mr. cole referenced earmarks. i would just say that i think the states may be better arbitrators of what they need than us here at the federal level. but i do appreciate the work that everyone's put into this. i was part of the transportation committee that produced the last six-year bill. in spite of all the difficulty it did work okay. and we'll probably need to review that six-year bill again because of the certainty that people need when they're undertaking these very, very large projects that congress is not just funding from one month to the next. but i thank you for doing the work and for getting us this bill today, and look forward to supporting it on the floor. i yield back. >> thank you very much. chairman shuster i want to thank you. you've taken a lot of humorous jabs today. and some serious jabs. but, i believe that every single member, as you alluded to earlier, as well as ms. eleanor holmes norton stated that it's in all of our best interests to get this work done. it's in all of our best interests to come to some agreement. as a texan, as a member of the donor state there are a lot of things we may or may not like about this. but i would remind us that we are americans, and that we try and work together and solve our problems through not only rule of law, but this opportunity to work together with members of congress from all across this country. so i am delighted that, in fact, you have succeeded in rounding us up and getting us to do that. i note that we've had one member that has just appeared, and i did not know if any member seeks additional time. i want to thank this panel. anything you have in writing if you'll leave for us we'll put that in the record. this panel is now -- gentleman does seek time. for one minute. >> 30 seconds. >> gentleman is recognized for a minute. [ inaudible ] >> one sentence i hope people pay careful attention to. congress should work to pass long-term reauthorization bill well before the expiration date set forth in hr-5021. >> and i really concur with the gentleman, also, and that's what we're here to try and do today. ahead of time. wish i was an on-time delivery but not everybody can be u.p.s. thank you very much. this panel is excused. we now call the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, we're delighted that mr. garrett is here. evidently he's going to be recognized to speak on the amendment that may be from the gentleman from oklahoma, from langford. mr. garrett we're delighted not only that you join us but anything you have in writing will be entered into the record. and if the gentleman will make sure that microphone is on, and i know you're trying to clean up, and the gentleman is recognized. >> so, i thank the chairman. i'll be brief. as i was sitting back there coming in late listen to some of the comments, as far as the problems that we see going forward and the underlying legislation, i don't know why the thought comes to mind the statement i think it was from dickinson from pennsylvania who said, mr. bishop knows the line, we are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. in this case the storm is frying to fund transportation needs and the skiff as mr. hastings points out is a skiff made of debt, paper being paid for over a longer period of time than we're actually going to use the dollars. the numbers i won't go into them. you probably had it from the prior panel that we're spending more money on these programs than is being generated through the federal fuels tax. to the tune of $350 billion since '08, and i don't come to you with any panacea on the federal angle of paying for this. but i do hearken the words of dr. burgess of saying that at some point in time we need to giving the states more flexibility. to the point that mr. cole raised with regard to, he sees firsthand experience apparently where states couldn't do things in a timely manner because of federal problems. so how do we do this? my understanding there might be another amendment, maybe already came here before, graves amendment or what have you to take a look at this issue. i would suggest that we have looked at this issue for some period of time. in fact we voted on this with a number of pieces of legislation repeatedly and that is to allow the states to have flexibility now, if they so want it, not compel them to. for those states who do not want to have the flexibility, they can continue to have the federal government tell them exactly what to do. and so this is a joint effort by mr. langford and myself to provide that flexibility in two different mechanisms. and to give the u.s. department of transportation the options of limiting it to just the number of states that they deem as appropriate so it will not be a burden on the system. but that's in a short -- in a nutshell. i've raised this question every year that i served on the budget committee for the 12 years i've served on the budget committee when i've had the secretaries of transportation come before my committee, whether it's republican or democrat, i would often ask them, can you tell me what exactly is the needs on route 519 in sussex county? and they of course said where is 519 in sussex county. i said, see, well that's a major road to us. but here in washington no one knows exactly what it is. yet washington is telling us how to grade it, how to put up guardrails, and how to do the rest. gosh, i think we have county engineers who are trained enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, they liked enough that they would be able to handle this job without the government doing it. and if a state so opted to opt out of the system, we should be able to do so. so that's all the legislation does, it's been around for awhile. and i would ask that this committee give it the most serious consideration that i think it deserves. >> gentleman yields back his time. thank you very much. i could not agree more with what you said, the challenge will come to how we apply this. but i want to thank the gentleman. i have believed for a long period of time that states, and the closer we get decision making to people that those people should be empowered to make those decisions. and i have disagreed with mechanisms that we've done around here for quite some time, where we did on and off ramps as opposed to highways. but such is our lot. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have no questions. >> no questions. is there anyone that seeks time on the democrat side? >> is there anyone on the republican -- gentleman from utah is recognized. >> it's the major need of the road curb and gutter. is the major need of the road curb and gutter. >> curb and gutter? >> yeah. never mind i'll talk to you about this later. i appreciate you bringing this up. >> he's been with the financial services committee. >> right. >> i'm not going anywhere. i'm done. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. gentleman from oklahoma, chairman is recognized. >> just ask you quickly, self-defense for my friend mr. burgess the earmarks were requested by my state transportation department. they couldn't get them from the federal government, they had to write them in to law. they then matched appropriately and that's how we got there. so your solution would be an elegant way around this and we could just let people, as you point out, locally know what they're doing actually take the money that they're paying here, remove the fee from the middle man, and actually go ahead and do it. and you could let people that want to spend a large portion of their transportation dollars for museums, or more bike trails or -- they could do that. but, the rest of us that would prefer to spend them on roads and highways could probably do that, too. so, i don't know that we'll be able to do it here. but i certainly like your idea. >> gentleman yields back his time. gentleman from louisville, texas, gentleman is not seeking time. gentleman from georgia. >> mr. chairman, i just wanted to say folks talk about this idea as being around for a long, long time. i don't think this idea this idea has been around for a long, long time. i don't think this idea has been around a long, long time. i take a look at what mr. garrett has brought as a pilot project. i think this is very, very different. i don't think if i looked -- you can tell me if i'm wrong, mr. garrett. i don't think you have interest, belief that the right system forward for america as it relates to funding transportation is to have some short term pilot projects for a few states. i think you know exactly what the long-term solution is for america and this is a huge departure from let's do and put it in statute and make it happen, to let's just try it a little bit and prove the concept. am i mistaken about that? >> no. when i came here 12 years ago, i was given firm assurances from the leadership at the time of the chairmen of the committee they would work with me on the broader idea you suggested. 12 years later, leadership has changed and some people have changed but i'm getting the same assurances, so i thought i would take a pilot program, being that is the more reasonable common sense middle of the road team player sort of way to do it. we'll see what the results are. >> that is a big deal. i would ask my democratic colleagues, if you sense that is the same big deal that i do. mr. blumenauer knows what he'd want to do with that state flexibility and something very different than what i'd want to do with that state flexibility. we're worried about whether the federal highway system is maintained, whether or not our major arteries, do they move commerce around? but to have someone of mr. garrett's conservative credentials come forward and say, you know what, maybe folks aren't ready to go all the way. let's just try it, and let's just try it in they places that want to try it and oregon is going to try it differently than oregon is going to try it. i view that as a huge olive bank and path forward we didn't have when mr. shuster brought his five-year proposal last time. can i ask my friends, do you think i'm making something out of nothing, or do you view that as the same pretty big deal in terms of a new and different way forward? >> i think you're a little bit more excited than i am, but let me say you guys are in charge. you can make whatever you want. i would talk to the people over there. >> well, i -- i'm just tremendously optimistic about what that means for us going forward, and it doesn't happen without 12 years of work in the background to have the credibility to lead on that issue. and i thank you for using your credibility to do that. >> thanks a lot. i appreciate it. >> i yield back. >> gentleman yields back his time. i want to thank the gentleman for coming up here. i know you had to sit and wait. i hope we were worth your time. i know you were worth our time. if you have anything writing, if you'll leave that there for the stenographer, i appreciate it very much. and gentleman's now dismissed. thank you very much. i will now be -- chair will now be in receivable motion. this closes the hearing portion of hr-5021, the highway and transportation funding act of 2014. and the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized. >> mr. chairman, before i make the motion, i do need to make one more introduction, if i could. i was so focused on mr. mccu mccullough, i did not mention an intern i have with me today, emanuel who is here. he's interning in our office this summer. i'm delighted he's here also. i move the committee grant hr-5 021 of closed rule. one-hour debate, equally divided among the chairs and ranking minority members of the committee on transportation infrastructure. committee on ways & means. all points of order against consideration. the rule provides the amendment and the nature of the substitute recommended by the committee on ways & means is modified by the amendment printed in the rules and committee report should be considered as adopted and the bill as amended should be considered as read. the rule was all points of order against provisions in the bill as amended. the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. >> refer to the gentleman from orlando, florida, for discussion. gentleman's recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this rule provides for the consideration of a stop gap highway bill under a closed amendment process. it's pretty straightforward. evenly divides the debate time between the committee on information infrastructure and ways & means. the rule is self-executing for two amendments. one by mr. shuster making a hand full of technical changes, the other by mr. graves adding some findings. this is a very straightforward rule. i urge the support of this rule. >> i thank the gentleman for his explanation. the committee is now open for amendment or discussion. gentlewoman from new york is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i have an amendment to the rule. i rule the committee make an order and give the necessary waivers for an amendment by mr., representative blumenauer, number four, that would express that the house enact a long term transportation authorization through at least 2020. the amendment provides funding to the highway trust fund adequate to ensure financing of surface transportation projects through the period necessary to enact such a policy. i think given the space, the information infrastructure in the united states, we should make that an order, let the house decide whether they want to add that or not. >> i appreciate the gentlewoman for her amendment. is there discussion? i would advise the committee, i believe what the gentlewoman has said, it carries not only merit, but a lot of common sense. however, it should be noted that the united states senate, which is headed up by her party, originally moved their bill to the end of the year, and the big push was get it to the end of the year and mr. shuster found a way to push it further out and to make it a longer enacting bill into next year. and i believe that what the gentlewoman's after, while to 2020 is an attribute that we did not make, but that until the middle of the year be until the end of the year -- the end of this year. i am in favor of voting against the amendment from the gentlewoman. further discussion? seen none. the vote will be on the amendment by the gentlewoman from new york. those in favor, aye. no? >> roll call, please. >> nos have it. the roll call vote. >> miss foxx? miss foxx, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. cole, mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern? aye. mr. hastings, aye. mr. polis, aye. mr. chairman, no. report the total. >> four ayes, seven nays . >> amendment is not agreed too. gentleman from florida. >> yes, thank you, mr. chairman. vy an amendment to the rule. i rule the committee grant hr-5021 an older rule so all members have opportunity to offer amendments to the bill on the floor. >> you've now heard the amendment by the gentleman. gentleman's recognized. >> limited discussion. not only does the underlying field violate cut goal and section 302-f of the congressional budget act, but now the majority has chair pier picked certain amendments they wanted to and closed all process for the rest of the amendments. i made the appeal that all of the amendments of those who came here should be made an order and i certainly am disappointed that mr. blumenauer's amendments are not needed. the committee is going to accept amendments, a clean extension, why not open the process to all members? members should be allowed to improve this bill on the house floor out in the open instead of having these decisions be made by just a few people, and that's what happened here behind closed door. >> you've now heard the discussion from the gentleman from florida. further discussion on the amendment? seen none. the vote will now be on the hastings amendment. those in favor, signify by saying aye. opposed, no. nos have it. gentleman asked the roll call vote. >> miss foxx? >> no. >> miss foxx, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. nugent, mr. webster. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings. >> yes. >> mr. hastings, aye. mr. chairman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, no. >> reports the total. >> four ayes, seven nos. >> amendment not agreed to. further amendment or discussion? seen none. vote will be on the motion from the gentlewoman from north carolina, vase chairman of the committee. those in favor, signify by saying aye. those opposed no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the gentleman from orlando, florida, mr. webster, will be handling this for republicans. mr. polis will be handling this for democrats. the next rules committee meeting is scheduled for 3:00 on tomorrow, on the charitable extenders package. i want to thank the important visitors that we had today. up to and inlutiewdinluting our in congress. thank you very much. this is a distinct pleasure, not only to know mr. foxx brings teachers who she speaks about on a regular basis to the capitol, but you joined us in the rules committee. certainly emanuel, if that is his name. one of his interns. and have ssavannah and juliana, to thank you for taking time to be us with today. we have now completed our work for the day, and this ends our hearing. so the house rules committee has approved a rule for debate of the highway and transportation funding bill. a measure expected to come to the house floor later this week. the white house released a statement today supporting the bill, but calling on congress to pass a long-term highway trust fund authorization referring to the current legislation as a short-term fix. the highway trust fund is due to run out of money at the end of next month. now we hear more about highway and transportation funding from today's "washington journal." every week at this time on the "washington journal" we take a closer look at how your taxpayer dollars are spent. joining us now to talk about the highway trust fund is aubrey layne, board member of the american association of state, highway and transportation officials as well as the current virginia secretary of transportation. thank you for being with us this morning. >> good morning. glad to be here. >> what have you heard, first of all, from lawmakers as to whether or not there will be some resolution over the highway trust fund? >> we did get a little bit of good news last week that looks like both the senate and the house have reached some agreement that there will be a short-term fix, maybe taking us into next spring, which is welcome news. about $11 billion. of course, at the states level, it's hard to run a program just on short-term fixes. we hope that it would reach a long-term solution, but at least there seems to be some action going forward. >> for viewers who may not know, explain to me why is the highway trust fund so important and finding it so vital from your perspective? >> i speak from the common wealth of virginia, we have a $2 .5 billion construction fund each year and over 50% of those dollars come from the federal highway trust fund. so it the extent that those funds were not available, there are some 350 projects in the commonwealth of virginia that would be impacted including many bridges. about 150 bridges. we all read in the national newspapers, the deficient bridges we have this this country. those would be impacted. our transit. 44 transit programs. the capacity. new train cars related to those programs would all be impacted. so it's a significant issue, would have an impact on the traveling public's life if it's not funded. >> you mention eed the difficul in governing and figuring out how to plan when you have short. term budgeting that's going on. i'm curious, what planning in virginia has been done to prepar for this going one way? >> obviously we've been watching this very carefully. fortunately, virginia last year passed legislation that inreesed transportation revenues at the sate level, so we do have the ability to go 60, 90 days without impacting our overall funding program. that's assuming that we would, in fact, get reimbursements finally from the federal highway trust fund. so what we're doing is monitoring it. we've put in contingency plans. i know that a lot of things don't go on in the capitol during the august timeframe. it's primetime for construction projects across the commonwealth in our country. we don't want to slow those down because if we do, it will cost us more. we're looking at the next 60 days if no action is taken, we'll have to start curtails our program. >> headline from "time" magazine this morning, obama to step up. stepping up its efforts to press congress to provide additional funding for infrastructure projects. obama will reiterate his call to pay for funding the reform with a business tax reform this week, a white house official said, a proposal that floundered in congress this election year. also announce new executive actions for infrastructure investment and help states and municipalities prepare for the impact of climate change on the public work. is that good news for you guys, then? >> it is good news. at least that is a long-term solution. if it does get enacted by congress. and that's important. whatever gets done, there needs to be three major components. one is it needs to be sustainable. again, having the short-term fixes like we've had six 2008 is difficult for a long-range program. number two, it needs to be multimodal. not just highways but it's tr s trans transit, it's freight. that needs to be considered. finally, it needs to be -- growth needs to be talked about. the current tax that supports the trust fund has not been raised in over 25 years. it's lost over 50% of its purchasing power. you combine that with higher mileage than the states are having a difficult time keeping up with the reimbursement being reduced from the federal highway. so sounds like what the president is looking to is address those issues. again, i know that congress has put a stop gap in. we're grateful for it, but we need a long-term solution with those parameters. >> our guest is aubrey layne, current virginia secretary of transportation. to join our conversation about the highway trust fund this morning, democrats, 202-585-3880. republicans, 202-585-3881. independents, 202-585-3882. first caller is in daley city, california. ken is on the democrats line. >> caller: yeah, hi, how are you doing? my understanding is that this fund is short, if, in other words, it would cost us 15 cents a gallon more for gasoline to bring it up to par. and, you know, that's a small price to pay considering, especially where i live. the highways are so essential for getting people to be able to move around and when you have, like, if one bridge goes out or something, we're in great, great big trouble here. so, and i'm sure it's like that across the country where the arterial systems are getting so run down that it's actually causing -- you're pays more money than the 15 cents a gallon you'd be paying to pay for alignments and tire damage and everything else that's going on. and so i think people need to know that, you know, not only does this create jobs, it increases productivity, and i think, you know, i don't see where the hang-up is on this at all. >> well, ken, i've heard different estimates, whether it's 15 cents, i think that may just get us up to what we need to fund our current needs, but i do agree with you that the transportation impacts all our lives. it's not only a quality of life issue, but during this past winter, the commonwealth of virginia experienced many weather-related storms. fortunately, our rail was working when the highways were blocked. so it also helped us in terms of dealing with those major disasters. i know the commonwealth of virginia also has major defense installations, and they have told us that not just a quality of life for their personnel, but also their readiness function is impacted by the congestion mitigation and some of the condition of our highways. so i do see it as a core function of government. i believe the federal government has a role in this, from our earliest laws in this country have been to support transportation because it underpins our economy and our way of life and, therefore, maybe many of our freedoms. and so i do see it as a core function and hopefully our legislators will see it that way, too. >> next up is al in watertown, tennessee. independents line. >> caller: yeah, appreciate you taking my call. there's a number here, called the trust fund. i'm looking at this in the same way as the social security trust fund and the trust fund that was supposed to upgrade the aviation system in this country. that they've taken money from the taxpayer and they called it a trust fund for a certain purpose, then they spend at least partial of the money on things that aren't in the charter for that fund. social security being the biggest one. but i'd like this gentleman to respond to the arguments that are being made to spend trust fund money that's supposed to two to highways for other things than that money. and where did the $800 billion go for the shovel-ready jobs that were supposed to fix highways that never got done? >> well, a couple things there. i agree that the trust fund should be used for transportation. in fact, the commonwealth of virginia last year passed a new legislation along with our revenue generation that restricted what those moneys could be used for. instead of a lock box. because in addition to just taking the moneys out of the fund, sometimes other things aren't funded because they say, well, you got moneys for transportation now. so i agree 100% that the money should be used totally for what they were collected for. now, having said that, i also realize that money, alone, is not the answer. we've got to be good fiscal stewards. again, the commonwealth of virginia, this last year, governor mcculluf asked me to work with the senate and passed a law that prioritizing promisis and gives a taxpayer the view of what their return will be, how it's going to impact their lives, what they're getting for. i'm 100% behind you these moneys should be used for the specific purpose which they were collected. you were right. i served on the commonwealth transportation board over the last few years when we had these projects that were deemed shovel ready, and i think some of the moneys were not used wisely, because we haven't had reimbursements from the trust fund since 2008, in a sustainable manner. so therefore a lot of projects weren't developed. so a lot of that money went to paving roads that maybe didn't need to be paved. that's why i say it needs to be sustainable so we can plan for it. i can't agree more. we need to be good fiscal stewards in addition to making sure we're putting the money on the right projects. >> i want to talk about that sustainability a little bit. you said repeatedly you need something more than a short-term pass that's floating around in chambers of congress right now. i'm curious, politically speaking, what are the odds of getting a longer deal? some prefer a six-year deal for the trust fund. >> you're right. since 2008 when the trust fund started having these difficulties, there have been general fund appropriations put across some $50 billion i think since then across there. again, that's helpful. but many of these projects, in the commonwealth of virginia and across our nation, are multibillion dollars. this the environment work, alone, takes years to plan, to go through. we like to invest with our public -- excuse me, our private investors. they need to make sure there are dollars on these projects in that. so without a sustainable program that we know moneys will be coming in each month that we can count on, it's hard to look more than a few months out into the future. and that's no way to run any capital program, particularly an infrastructure program with these long lead times. >> right. i get that. again, though, is it actually likely to get something like a six-year deal? do you think that's actually going to happen? >> i'm an optimist. i would hope that would happen. that's not been congress' history since 2008, and right now there seems to be some consensus to take us into may of next year or spring of next year. but until we come to grips with that these are a -- is a long-term problem that require investment -- a recent study just came out that showed that america is now ranked 20th in infrastructure -- or 14th, overall in infrastructure, 20th in roads across nations across the globe. that's no way for us to be a leader in our economy, or in the world. so we need -- i would ask congress, urge them to come to the grips with the fact that this is a core function of government, and it underpins our economy and our competitiveness. let's hope we get a long-term fix. >> speaking of competitiveness, we were looking at the report card from the american society of civil engineers and they ranked america's infrastructure a d-plus. you talk about america ranking 20th. why is the united states falling behind? and if it continues to do so, what's the cost? >> well, it has fallen behind. the last -- it was the '50s and 6 6 '60s. our highway, interstates across here. it has to do with the political environment we're in. we understand there are issues at the federal level as we deal with the economic crisis. as we deal with our debt levels. but infrastructure spending is investment. it's lumped in, unfortunately, with the 15% or so of our total spending. that's discretionary. many of the issues we face are not just discretionary spending, so when you're looking for off sets in the small piece, there's so much to get to. i think it gets back to not necessarily being just a financial, it's a political problem. and we need to find the political will to invest in our future. i believe, as many of our politicians and leaders do, that america's best days are ahead of us. but only if we invest in it. infrastructure spending's got to be a big part of that. we need to find the political will to do so. >> let's go to conway, missouri, where delano is on the line for democrats. >> caller: thank you very much for c-span. i wanted to make a comment to your listeners. i got on google and according to the transportation secretary, 40% of our fuel tax -- federal fuel tax money goes to washington, d.c. it doesn't go in for roads and bridges. goes to washington, d.c., for earmarks. that's my comment. and i hope people are listening. thank you very much. >> there are parts of the federal highway trust fund moneys that are called flex moneys that can be used other from highways. but they have to be competitively dead and they are still on transportation projects. as i said in the opening here, i believe the transportation program needs to be multimodal. transit is becoming a bigger part of our transportation network. there are alternative methods. bicycles, pedestrian walkways. they're all becoming pe ining pr network. so that needs to be recognized. what we should use our transportation dollars is for a purpose of getting people to and from their jobs, making them more mobile. not particularly picking a project to say this is what is needed. transportation should be the end result. mat 21, the previous transportation law, started as going down the path of measuring the impactness a nesand effecti those laws. we've done the same in virginia on individual projects. yes, some of the moneys are used for other things other than highways. i don't necessarily think they're specifically earmarks but programs allowed to be used and competitively looked at across the country. >> so from my understanding, and please correct me if i'm wrong, the trust fund is funded mostly by diesel and gasoline tax. is that something you or your organization would support an increase in? >> well, i think that there are multiple ways. you're correct. right now it is through the federal fuel tax which is 18.4 cents. hasn't been changed in 25 years. i can tell you what we did in the commonwealth of virginia. in order to make that tax float with the economic activity, we converted from a cents per gallon to a percentage per gallon sales tax at the wholesale level. so that is the price of gasoline, or economic activity changes, therefore more taxes are correct ecollected to keep inflation. that's one thing that can be done. i started this conversation by saying that it's a core function of government. we recognize that in virginia, so therefore general funds sales taxes were also used to supplement. our private sector can be a part. we use public/private partnerships. about 15% of our procurement in the commonwealth of virginia is related to those type of partnerships. so i think instead of looking at as a one silver bullet, a programmatic approach needs to be taken a look at. i don't think there's one single thing. we realize that in the commonwealth of virginia. i think we need to realize that as a nation. >> morganton, north carolina. mike is on the democrats line. >> caller: yes. good morning. i just wanted to make the comment that presently right now we're paying about $1.50 to $2 more on the gallon fuel than what it should be if there was actually a regulatory board which there isn't. the taxes are getting ready to be increased for the public on their expense of gas, but yet we've yet to put any royalties on the petroleum companies drilling on public lands and international waters. it's just another case of more, more, more, more. you know, you'll never have enough. you'll never take enough from the public. and the oil companies will never pay their right responsibility to a tax system. it's really a pretty tragic situation that our whole government is run by the oil and gas industry, and people are going down the drain. >> well, your comment in regarding the price of gasoline, we've found the opposite of that being true in the commonwealth of virginia. when our law was passed a year ago, it changed from a cents per gallon to a wholesale tax per gallon. it was 60 cents more per gallon than it is today. actually it has dropped. if you look over the last couple of decades, if you were to inflation adjust the price of gasoline, it's not kept up with inflation. now, i'm not saying whether it should be more or less. i'm just looking at the history of what's happened, what has been our experience in the commonwealth since we've put in this new legislation. i do believe that looking at alternative sources, whatever this country should to in terms of becoming energy independent, is something that needs to be looked at, but that a policy that needs to be studied and how it impacts the environment and what have you. i would just ask us to look at how we're collecting this and make sure it keeps growth with what's going on with our economic activity and our needs. >> republicans line. tom in niota, illinois. >> caller: yes, hello. i was calling, i see this, i'm on the highway and bridge committee for the county, hancock county, and out there we keep getting less money. we keep getting more mandates put on us by the state. one of the things that just happened the last couple years, we have for every bridge we replace, we have to pay a $10,000 epa fee so they can come out, look, and they don't do anything. don't do anything at all. we just pay the $10,000 fee. the other thing is, we have to pay prevailing wage all the time which makes a bidding thing always in the union realm which is always higher. and you can't get away from that. that's the rules. you have so many rules that cost us so much money because it's always we'll just raise the taxes more, get more revenue to take care of these things. but you're doing so much to make jobs that -- and a lot of these jobs aren't needed. and that's my comment. thank you. >> yeah. i understand exactly what you're speaking of. i mentioned earlier, the environmental process in a major project may take several years. looking at ways how we can streamline that process while continuing to protect the environment, i think that is key for all of us to keep in mind. but there are should be ways that we could cut through that to make sure that the dollars that we are collecting are really for these projects that were good fiduciaries. that's one of the things, again, in the common swwealth, how do do that? working with environmental, federal agencies. to streamline through. the current administration, secretary fox has put out ideas on how to do that. we are looking at that from the commonwealth of virginia's perspective and want to make sure that we're in those prototype programs. because if we can reduce the amount of time from when these projects are planned to when they're actually built, it saves us money which is belt tter used better for our taxpayers. >> chicago, illinois. charlotte is on the democrats line. >> caller: hi, fwoorgood mornin. thanks for taking my call. i love c-span. i'm calling because first of all i'm okay paying more money for gas if it is, again, used for this purpose. the way gas prices fluctuate, yeah, we an can go -- right now chicago, or the suburbs of chicago we're paying $3. 50 depending where you're buying your gas which is great compared to what it has been lately, but tomorrow it could be $3.80. two, three weeks from now it could be $3.95. it fluctuates so much that it almost to me in a sense doesn't even matter. if i thought that some of that price was going to help highways, i would be happy. i have a newer car and driving down roads, i feel right now the roads are not in good condition because of last winter we had. and it just -- it's really a concern. and cars are very, very expensive. the little bit you're paying more in gas, if it is supporting the transportation across the country, i think it's really a good thing. and i also feel that we probably do need more regulators. so, again, the cry for smaller government is like -- i think it's very shortsighted. when we say, oh, we want a smaller government, we want less regulation. however, in the case like this, if we have more regulators, then we could be more confident that the money that we're spending is being used appropriately. so i just feel that it would benefit in so many areas our country, and in particular we could feel as we drive across the country, as our trucks are driving across the country, that we have a -- it's safer for all of our citizens. thank you. >> in the commonwealth of virginia, the governor has made clear we will be good stewards of the taxpayers' money. we hear a lot of exactly what you're saying that people are willing to pay for investment as long as they can make sure that it is being used on what the moneys are collected for. so very, very much agree with that statement. and we've taken not only actions but also passed laws to make sure that that becomes a reality. in terms of the condition of the roads, you're right. it's not a static thing. this year we had a very, very tough winter in virginia. that cost us additional moneys not only in moving the snow but now in repairing the roadways to keep them open for, again, our commerce. so, again, this is not something that you spend on once and don't have to keep up. so in terms of current construction, maintaining our current system is important. we agree because it's integral to our lives as a traveling public. >> question from twitter. mark stone writes, we know the amount of federal gas tax, which we discussed earlier, but what is the average state gas tax? total is closing in on $1 per gallon. >> well, that wasn't the case in the commonwealth of virginia. we were at 17 1/2 cents per gallon, close to the federal gas tax up until last year. it's now converted to 3.5% on the wholesale and roughly the equivalent of 17 1/2 cents. it's 6% on diesel. so virginia, i would say this, though, at that time, ranked in the bottom 10% of collections. and we had the third largest road network. so i do know other states are higher. in terms of my experience in the commonwealth, we were in a total of about 40 cents per gallon. less than 40 cents. not the dollar. i'm sure that changes around the country. in that regard. but hopefully states are looking at what their needs are and basing their tax on what that is. because as important as it is to us to do the information, we shouldn't be taking more taxes that we're not using wisely. so i think it's important that we get the right amount done. >> louisiana, henry on the republicans line. >> caller: how you doing? good morning, c-span. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> caller: i like to say, louisiana, we have the third largest refinery in the world, and i think texas and louisiana should -- the citizens should have some of the cheapest gas along with infrastructure. what i find is that when you say politically, it is all politically because the governor here, he refuses everything with the federal government assisting him with. so it's a political thing where i see where from highways, to even this affordable health care which we can't even get here. it's something as though you have a do-nothing congress. either shut the government down, and i'm saying for us to try to get something done for each taxpayer in this country, you're going to have a cloud, that dark cloud that shut the country down for us not to get anything done. so once we can kind of get together with the senate and the congress and have them pass legislation to get things done, we're not going to ever get anything done. but right now i see that if we can just as a whole get together and pass some kind of laws to help this country, we are finding that things will get done, and you see, as far as for the infrastructure, like i said, the state of louisiana, we refine, and texas refine, and we should have the cheapest taxes on gas. but we don't get together. it's like, you know, everything in southern states really tried to do, to refuse the help that is coming here. it's like you said, it's all political. you know? and i hate to say it, and i'm going to say it on this air, if we didn't have a black president, we wouldn't have all of these problems. >> your response? >> well, i do agree that are requires all levels of government working together. both the federal, state, and local levels are all involved in transportation infrastructure funding. and so obviously if we worked together, the more efficient we're going to be. and the more fiduciary responsibility will be to our citizens. it's estimated we have over $1 trillion in this country of transportation infrastructure that needs to be addressed and that grows every year. the longer we put this off. it is both at the federal, state, and local level that we're going to have to work on those as we coordinate across not only commonwealths or our states but across our country, because our citizens are very mobile and move across all those boundaries freely. and that's one of the things i think is great about our democracy, and as i started the conversation saying that i believe that transportation underpins some of our very basic freedoms and our way of life. >> our guest is aubrey layne of the american association of state highway and transportation officials. also the virginia secretary of transportation. next caller is john in westchester, pennsylvania. republicans line. >> caller: yeah, i hear everybody in washington recognizing that we have to do something with the infrastructure. and it will improve the employment situation and get the country back on track. but i don't hear anybody in washington saying it's time to reinstate the 34% corporate tax. which has cost us about $7 trillion in debt and adds to all of our problems where there's not money for the va, there's not money to defend ourself. and it's long overdo with that consistent stop in 2006 or 2008 that's caused a disaster and it's time for people in washington to reinstate that 34% corporate tax and use it for rebuilding the infrastructure around the country. >> well, i do -- we haven't talked about that yet, but i do believe that infrastructure funding does support jobs across our nation. in the state of virginia, over $43,000 -- 43,000 jobs are supported. and over 600,000 across the nation. so it is important to our economy in that regard. but in terms, again, i believe it's going to take all of us working together in both the state, federal, and the local government. i believe the private sector can play a big part in this. as we work together and team together, which will increase other jobs across our nation and across other disciplines. >> let's go to an e-mailed question now. john writes, i understand that there is a want to increase gas tax. how do electric car people, quote, pay their fair share, as they are increasingly using the roads? >> well, as i said, there are various ways that can be attacked, or to be looked at. traditionally, gas taxes have been considered user fees and, therefore, you fill up with gas, you're using the highways and you pay for it. electric and hybrid vehicles, that's part of the problem, not collecting as much. a problem in terms of tax collection. there have been other things looked at. vehicle miles traveled. where you actually pay for the miles that you've driven. you can do that through, do a flat fee, do that through like an odometer type of thing. you can certainly do that through a gps. of course, there are privacy issues with that. understand those. that's why i started by saying i don't think there's one silver bullet. there's not one answer. but what should be looked at as a program, and i think it should be fitted to what you're trying to accomplish. >> next caller is in denver, colorado. jan is on the line for independents. >> caller: good morning. >> good morning. >> caller: i know that the roads are a lot of what the transportation guest is talking about, but i think if anything should bring the people together to realize how bad the infrastructure is is the fact that the ceiling fell down around the congressmen's head last week. our national treasures that belong to the people are being neglected. they're falling down around us. and everyone knows that these things are happening. no one wants to vote the money to fix congress' building because they're afraid that it will look like they're more concerned about themselves than they are about the people. but they're not voting on anything. our roads are getting worse. because the weather is changing and people are having flood and fire problems, here in colorado, the roads, a lot of them can't stand the washout that's happening as the flooding occurs, and once the fires burn all -- once the trees are gone, the mud slides, the floods. we're having continual problems with our highways, and our small towns are actually being isolated at times where people can't even get to them. it's really concerning, and i think people should pay a lot more attention to that. thank you. i'll listen to your answer. >> well, of course we're speak about transportation infrastructure, but there's no doubt we have other infrastructure needs across this nation. we are dealing with that, again, in the commonwealth of virginia. through our public/private partnership act. we've expanded it outside of just transportation. looking at how we can do it across other disciplines. i know senator warner has recently introduced legislation called the bridge act which allows for different financing tools that will be at the option of not only governments but private partners looking at how we finance transportation, other infrastructure. so i could not agree more that infrastructure spending needs to be viewed as an investment. not just another cost. but investing in america's future. >> homedale, idaho. michael is on the line for independents. >> caller: thank you. mr. layne, i have two questions. the first one would be regarding the davis/bacon act. i'm 63 and there was a dam that broke in idaho and had several friends in the construction industry. their wages working on that dam took what was normally in idaho at the time about a $6 an hour minimum, and they were getting $18 an hour to work on that dam. obviously it's very good for them, but how tdo they figure it's good for the whole nation when they pay three times the wages? i don't understand it. there's been four acts passed since 1931, the davis/bacon, the fair labor act, and everything is raising, i think. you've got to be good stewards. spend the money wisely. that's my first question. the second question would be, in the '60s, diesel fuel was cheap. the only ones that used it were farmers and the big semis. but then as automobiles, the smaller vehicles started using it, they started raising the price of diesel to where it's now more than gasoline, but yet it takes less refinement it expends to make these. i'd like to know why the price of diesel raised the price of it more than just gasoline? >> take your first question, in terms of wages, virginia, commonwealth of virginia is a right-to-work state. although many of our federal contracts do have the guidelines of davis/bacon in there. we have done studies and looked at the silver line here in northern virginia. where those contracts have not given rise, or those acts have not given rise to specific contracts costing more. many of those are done on a competitively bid basis in that regard, so i think the jury is out as to whether or not the benefits of having these acts outweigh the perceived notion that maybe it's costing more. we have not seen that experience significantly in the commonwealth. in terms of diesel fuel, that, very good point. there is probably less being refined and i think that goes into some of the reasons for the price of it. virginia, we are looking at the tax on diesel fuel. it is more than the gasoline tax. it was done that way to begin with because it sort of was revenue neutral. as we looked at the cents per gallon. that's something we'll take a look at as we continue. i'm sure our legislature will take look at making sure we're incentivizing people for using fuels that are less harmful to our environment. just this year governor mccull luf reduced the fee associated with the hybrid tax for using the roads because we don't want to be seen as disincentivizing those people who were trying to protect our environment. >> we have a virginia caller for you. tim is in alexandria and on the republican line. >> caller: thank you for c-span. mr. secretary, i actually have two questions. the first is, how often do you practice your plan for evacuation as a northern virginian? i remember, too, vividly when a hurricane wases approaching houston, texas, several years ago, they reversed all direction on their interstates and roadways, and it was a disaster. when the next big storm or strike comes toward metropolitan washington area, how are you going to move all the people that are moving southbound or west or east or away from washington? and then the other question, quickly, is just to spring board on the other gentleman about best value for your spending dollar. it's pretty well known that concrete as a building structure is more sustainable and more long lasting than blacktop asphalt. do you factor that into your roadwork in the commonwealth? thanks very much. >> sure, tim. thank you for the question. one of the first things that i became acquainted with becoming secretary of transportation was the process that we have to deal with natural and other disasters. as i mentioned, we had five snowstorms and i quickly got involved with as how we keep the roads clear and keep people safe during that time. also, the governor very early in his administration convened a roundtable or a tabletop setting where we looked at evacuation planning. this happened to be from hampton roads, but it could have been from northern virginia also. and we became very concerned as a cabinet. the governor specifically concerned that what was planned may not actually work. so to answer your question, i don't think any of the evacuation has ever been practiced in full. we certainly look at it each year. the governor has convened a committee which i serve on with secretary brian moran of private safety. we're looking at how we can do that. one of the big areas being considered is lane reversal. our sisters, our state to the south of us, north carolina used to have that plan. they have now gone away from lane reversal. we are taking a look at it now in the commonwealth. but it's a very, very good point. nothing comes more important to us than the safety of our citizens and being able to evacuate them. northern virginia's case, at least we do have rail. that is, we have a couple different options that we can do. but it's a good point, tim, and we're working on that. in terms of the asphalt versus concrete, depending on which contractors convention i'm at, i'll have to be careful how i answer. but we actually look at the life cycle. what is the cost of replacing the infrastructure, what it's going to cost us to maintain over its life. quite frankly, we found in many cases they're not the same. so, therefore, we look at what concrete we look at, we look at what asphalt we look at the life cycle and try to make a very good decision, monetary decision based on those factors. >> all right. unfirefig unfortunately we've got to leave it there. aubrey layne board member for the american association of state, hieway and transportation officials, as well as the virginia secretary of transportation. thank wow for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having me here today. another house hearsiing on veterans issues at 7:30 p.m. eastern. the house veterans affairs committee looks at the veterans benefits administration process for evaluating disability and benefit claims. it's another in a series of hearings investing veterans health care. va whistleblowers and benefits administration officials are set to testify. live coverage on our companion network, c-span2, at 7:30 p.m. eastern. up next, it's a hearing on child trafficking. the senate health and labor subcommittee on children and families heard from experts about what government resources and funding are needed by the states. this is an hour and a half. good morning, everyone. the senate subcommittee on children and families will now come to order. today's hearing is titled fa falling through the cracks: the challenges of prevention and identification in child trafficking and private re-homing. i want to thank all of our witne witness witnesses whom are here to testify. i look forward to wrr testimony. i know many of you traveled many miles to get here, so i do appreciate your attendance. i also want to thank our ranking member, senator enzi, for joining me today to address this very important issues that we're going to be discussing in the hearing today. we are here to discuss the significant challenges that we face in the effort to prevent child trafficking and private re-homing. and to identify and support the children who have been victims of these types of abuse. too many child victims today are going unidentified, misidentified, or underreported. and as we will see, one of the reasons for this is the lack of education and training for our educators who many times are on the front line and see these children. our health care providers who see these children as they present for a number of reasons, and then our social workers. however, with appropriate guidance, these dedicated professionals can play a critical role both by helping to prevent these practices and by offering potentially life-saving assistance to those children who need it the most. there are thousands of children. some accounts show up to 300,000 that are being trafficked here in the united states. these young victims are often hidden in plain sight. and in many cases, they're actually still attending school. which makes it particularly important that our educators can recognize the signs of a trafficking victim and then respond accordingly. this can be hard to fathom. it was really hard for me personally, but the average age of a child trafficking victim in the united states is between 11 years old to 14 years old. these are very young, vulnerable children. girls at this age are particularly vulnerable. they may face trouble at home and then become susceptible to pressure from their peers or by manipulation by a trafficker. this happened to a young girl from a town in coastal north carolina. she was attending school during the day, but in the evenings, a man whom she believed was her boyfriend was actually selling her to other men for sex often multiple times each night. it was not until she was actually questioned at school one day that authorities found lingerie in her book bag and her story then came to light. that is why it is so critical that our educators understand this horrific problem and recognize the signs in youth that they work with every day. they can help make our students aware of the dangers and then educate them so they are not so vulnerable. similarly, our health care providers need to have appropriate guidelines and screening practices to recognize trafficking victims in their care. as we're going to hear today, the health care response needs to be further developed to traes the shortage of education and training for our providers. but even if professionals are aware of the even if professio aware of the problems, they face additional problems when working with trafficked patients. these victims are often hesitant to disclose their experiences for fear of repercussions by the individuals who are their traffickers. this also happened to a 14-year-old girl that has been reported to me. her trafficker had branded this young girl with a tattoo as if she was his possession and then advertised her services on back page. when authorities found her hiding behind a dumpster, she had been severely raped and traumatized. but when she was finally braught in to receive care, she was so afraid of her trafficker that she recanted her story and then was referred to law enforcement for prosecution instead of receiving the health care services that she so desperately needed. unfortunately, these instances are not unique. child trafficking is prevalent in all of our communities. and it will take all of our community stake holders to come together to address this problem. but we need leadership from the federal government to help raise this awareness about the issue and to lead the way in developing the practices and procedures that will increase the prevention efforts of our trafficked youth. last december, i introduced bipartisan legislation to address this growing problem of child trafficking with senator rubio. that bill is called the strengthening the child welfare response to human trafficking act. this legislation would fill some of the gaps in the current system by providing some professionals with tools to educate and counsel child victims of sex and labor trafficking. it would also amend the child treatmented act to ensure child welfare agencies properly insure children and allow law enforcement to be able to better track them. there are many ways in which this problem needs to be addressed. there are many ways to respond to child traffic. and then the second topic of this hearing is the issue of private reho-homing of adopted children -- that was a new word for me in the last year or two. i'm pleased to hold this hearing as it is the first hearing in the senate. the practice of re-homing came last september when a reporter for reuters, she published her finds with an investigation during which she examined more than 5,000 messages posted over five years on a yahoo group site that was titled adopting from disruption. through her research, she identified 261 children who were, quote, advertised online and, in many cases, re-homed into care of adults who too often had a history of neglect, abuse or sexually exploiting other children. the reuters series profiled several adoptive parents with a simple transfer of a power of attorney document, thus circumventing the protections of our child welfare system and jeopardizing those children's safety. not surprisingly, many of the children involved in this unregulated transactions suffered from behavioral, emotional and health issues. these arehearted breaking stories. and they involve children that too often had come into contact with our school employees or health care providers who, despite their best efforts, were unable to offer these children the hept that they needed because these individuals had not been trained to recognize these warning signs. and i'm hopeful that our discussion today is going to sign a light on this growing problem so that we can work together to ensure that professionals in education and health care, who are in contact with these children are prepared to offer them the help that they need. with adequate training, these dedicated individuals can help begin to identify the signs and symptoms in children and then to help report them as potential victims. and to make sure that at-risk children do not slip through these cracks and become victims in the future. to help us understand the challenges of prevention and identification of the victims of child trafficking and private re-homing, we're going to hear from a group of our distinguished panelists this morning. they're going to share with us their stories and the work that they've done on these issues to help both prevent the proliferation of these types of abuse and then, also, obviously, to help these types of children and young people who have been the victims. to our panelists, i ask you to keep your oral statements, your opening statements, to five minutes. and i also thank you for your excellent written statements, which have been submitted to the record. senator endsie, i'd love to hear your opening comments. >> thank you, madame chairman. and thank you for holding this important hearing to discuss the issues surrounding prevention of child traffics and re-homing in our country. most of us say how can this possibly happen in america? we often talk of wanting something better for future generations for our children and our grandchildren. i believe these sentiments hold true particularly for those of this future generation whose outcomes are all in danger. there's no greater bipartisan issue than the mutual desire to keep children safe and healthy in protective and loving homes. to that, several committees will take up issues of concern in if child trafficking and re-homing spheres. i'm here to tackle the issue under the purview of this subcommittee in what is in place in our schools to identify children who may be victims of trafficking and start talking about how we can increase the number of children who are preventively identified. one of our guests today is from san diego. i'm eager to hear how schools and states can collaborate to better address children who are in danger of trafficking victims. today, the focus will largely be on education and taking a look at this issue, its prevalence and engaging in a dialogue about what the federal role is in this phase. at the end of the day, our goal is to have better outcomes for our nation's children and youth. that's my goeal and i know it'sa goal of many of my colleagues. i'm hoping that we can use this opportunity to gather and share information, learn from states while encouraging state collaboration and work together only substantive issues. thank you, madame chairman. >> thank you, senator. i am so appreciative of the work that we have done together on these issues. and i thank you for your help and support. now, we'd like to hear from our witnesses, our first witness is ms. ju young chang, associate commissioner of the children's bureau within the department of health and human services. and then our next witness is ms. abigail witness, she's from my home state. and is currently director for the center of adolescent help and the law at chapel hill. recently, ms. english was a member of the national research council committee which issued the report titled confronting commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors in the u.s. following is ms. latrell, an assistant principal at the grossmont union high school in san diego, california. after recognizing that children in her school district were being subjected to child sex trafficking, ms. latrell and her colleagues partnered with law enforcement to develop training for teachers so that professionals in the classrooms are able to recognize the warning signs. and then finally, we have ms. megan tui. ms. trkszui is an investigative reporter for reuters in new york. so we're going to begin with ms. chang for your testimony. once again, please, limit your opening remarks to five minutes. once each of you have concluded, then we'll begin the question and answer period. >> thank you. thank you again for inviting me to testify today. my name is ju young chang and i'm the associate commissioner to oversee federal foster care and adoption assistance programs as well as a range of prevention and post permanency initiatives. i'm pleased to share with you the department of health and human sfrss response to very serious instances confronting the field of child welfare. the practice of parents re-homing their adopted children and human trafficking. i'll start with re-homing. many of the students highlighted in the investigative series described parent who is are unable to meet the complex, emotional and behavioral needs that emerge from their children post-adoption. these parents turn to online forums to advertise and facilitate the placement of their children without the benefit of safety and criminal background checks or a home study to determine the appropriateness of the placement. the article advertised that these children are often placed in unsafe environments. parents have a legal responsibility to protect and care fr their children.

Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140715

since before 9/11. situation where we are facing a grave, strategic threat. the president has said he will follow the same course in afghanistan he followed in iraq despite the fact would've seen what has happened. i do inc. it is very important to go back and look at what happened in iraq and why and remember what did the situation was before the united states and our allies liberated the country. and again, there is a sense it is almost like the pink gentlemen, wanted to shout people down and that is not what this country supposed to be about. everybody has a right to speak. we have to go back to what the facts were. you can say to the president, withdrawing the forces or not, you can debate that. now you have to look at the facts and they are because of the united states is not in there and we walked away and did so without regard, you now have the richest in the world which controls more territory and in a position to be a real threat to this nation. if you think about where we go from here, you cannot be responsible for the future if you do not understand the past. >> president bush is rarely seen, almost never heard unless talking about a bicycle. you are out for w have become very visible. -- you are out. -- you have a book, very visible. >> liz has touched on it. president made the decision he would not criticize his successor. a precedent set by his father. i am not bound by those scriptures. [laughter] [applause] some people do not like that. i feel very strongly about what is going on just like i did when we made the decision to go into iraq in 2003. it was absolutely the right thing to do. what we are faced with today is anything that is if bigger than any challenge we faced before 9/11. guys came1 and 19 here and killed 3000 americans and took down the world trade center and blew a hole in the pentagon. the problem in the aftermath was a there will be a follow-up attack and next time they will be the guys armed with something far deadlier than airline tickets. >> let me stop you there. you made the statement about box cutters the other day. you said armed with something much worse, what do you fear next?e >> something i said back in april of 1991 before 9/11 and i was asked in "the new york magazine," what i feared most and it was the idea of terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction. chemicals, biological. now i look at the situation have a rapid spread of terrorism. a reportout and there's been a 58 percent increase of al qaeda type groups in a four-year period. it ranges from west africa to mali through the middle east all around indonesia. the same study estimates it has been a doubling of the number of so-called jihadists, equivalent to al qaeda. we looked at what happened today with respect to isis taking over eastern syria and a big part of iraq, establishing and trying to, they are very well off financially. they are attracting thousands of followers from all over the world, flooded into syria to join in the jihad. from our perspective, as we look about the itself looks serious. wait a minute. let me finish. the other dimension i am worried about is mass destruction. if you look today, we are faced with a proliferation of capabilities and nuclear technology especially in that part of the world. iraq, we mayinto sure saddam was not developed anymore. when we took him down five days surrendered his materials for some -- surrender his material. then we took down the supplier. we had syria with a nuclear reactor all courtesy of the north koreans. would've already have the testimony that the pakistanis sold technology to the north koreans. it is a cauldron out to their a potential developments. add iran. if iran gets nuclear weapons, you can bet there are others will get it. we are creating a situation partly because of our own determination of to get out of the area. would have a hell of a lot of terrorists, including in pakistan. airportattack on an that killed 30 people. a lot of terrorists attacks. is it rebound very much will be an entity that controls territory and also one that has access were the ability to get hands on the deadliest weapons on the face of the earth. our response appears to be dramatically dismantle our military and withdraw from the area. i feel very strongly about it. i do not like what i see happening and we are setting ourselves up for terrible problems down the road, worse than anything. of that cauldron is president obama's fault? >> you cannot blame him for the entire problem. he is guilty think of is he never admitted there is a problem. he may have only recently said a few words. he loves to run around saying al qaeda is dead. theas dramatically reduced military. we have a 40 brigades in the u.s. army. we are cutting now in the last few days and delivery pink slips to officers and united states army. that is an absolute outrage. it is a reflection of a policy that is unwise. the world is not getting safer, is getting far more dangerous and we are rapidly withdrawing from that portion of the world. is hisicy i think responsibility. not to say there would not be developments from al qaeda and jihadists, there may well have been foci he has created a situation where our friends and the region are scared and they do not think they can trust us. ofthere's been a lot reporting about administration makers,cause of weapons there's a clear and present danger to u.s. air travel. do we need to have tougher restrictions of people who travel on u.s. airplanes? >> we have pretty strong restrictions. >> you are not worried about planes? >> i fly on them all of the time. yesterday, though one coming from wyoming, i had a good chat with the air marshal. he introduced himself. thatless concerned about then the notion we can start -- with a sort of wish away the product -- problem. barack obama can go out and say the war is over and he can bring home troops. the very first step of getting a policy in place to let us deal with the threat is to recognize there is a threat. right now, a lot of people do not want to hear it. people are "tired of war." wantve people who do not to be bothered. it has been a long time since 9/11. moreottom line is a realistically, take a look of youies like the rand study, cannot conclude anything but there is a growing threat. in terms of trying to deal with that, we are the only ones that will lead the effort. of secretary kerry's work? >> it depends on what he has done the last couple of days. arab and israeli, did not theyr who you talk to, were all renew their hands after their instability to trust the united states of america. folks traditionally relied on us and we had their back. when there was a public in israel for example. they no longer believe that. they are convinced that this president does not understand or chooses not to recognize the nature of the threat emerging out there. they all joined together, they are much closer. we no longer have the ability to influence events even among our friends because they do not trust us. >> will do a rapid around here. whose judgment do you respect more -- bill or hillary? [laughter] boy, well -- i did not vote for bill and i do not expect to vote for hillary either. chris a liz, how would you answer? answer?z, how would you , itaken it in its totality would have to go with hillary. >> over bill clinton? >> i am not sure there is a difference. >> all right, number two. condi rice or general powell? more?udgment do you trust interesting question, mike. i never thought in those terms. i have during the course of my career had good working relationships with both and in places where we fundamentally disagree. i am beyond that. >> rick perry or rand paul? [laughter] >> i do not plan to endorse any candidates. liz,liz you can answer -- you can answer. has something to be desire with the security policy. i think when you look at without endorsing anybody, i think i have some big concerns about senator policy we can be safe war come home and build forces. i should've asked why you trust hillary more than bill. >> i said all areas of life. i will leave it there. last one, mr. vice president, obamas or kerry? >> probably kerry. and, obviously, i disagree in major ways and campaigned hard against the john kerry. umm, we are not close by any means. i think he has a worldview that is more consistent with what i think of as a republican/democratic consensus. the united states has the two lead and maintained by both parties on till now. i really do not think obama has in his mind the same world view that most of our presidents have had for the past 70 years. biden? for fun, obama or >> joe's got my airplane. [laughter] thati am going to pass on one. >> julia dreyfus. president, byron york has been no opponent said with the worsening in iraq, the architects and advocates of the iraq policy and he said cheney is the highest ranking member of the group that bears responsibility. is that fair? role in id a major thought it was the right thing to do at the time and i still do. >> your former friends have had a tough things to say. when i covered you, i remember there was one newspaper banned from air force 2. >> it was temporary. one person exciting you are back in the news. saideadline was -- she asked if he was in moral or -- immoral or amoral. aide to colin powell -- >> that was a joke. >> immorality can be checked and balanced and amorality is a different -- >> i am going to answer. one of the things you learn as a historian is there is an easy way out and a tough away out when you are writing a book. what you want is testimony. you want to what people said about jens madsen at the time. what i quickly learned is you have to evaluate who that person was and what their interests for and why they had a side or against him. that is important for journalists, too, mike. to pick a quote from someone, whoever it might be, and suggest it is objective truth in it does not work very well. you have to consider that person's past history and total record and then you understand is it a really good one. if you were asking a question or making a comment that peter baker said i would pay attention but not general wilkerson. colonel --- -- >> oh, my god. up?r did you hold my book >> i did. i did. [laughter] [applause] peter baker who wrote "days of fire" and recently a front-page .tory of cheney is back peter is here and may have a question. we can hear you. >> good to see you here. questions. on the speaker of the house is talking about suing the president for any of you abusing executive authority. you are strong opponents of executive power. are there things you think president obama has done that you were not done? not in terms of choices but things you went beyond of what the presidency can do. congratulations on your book. a lot of talk about impeachment. if you can talk about what james madison would have thought about that and what he viewed as impeachment's role. and good to see you, too. you spent a lot of time riding on the backseat of a car through wyoming. i wonder if you could tell us what the records you brought from your experience as a person out in front as a candidate. well, obviously, i disagree with a lot of policies, procedurally. the effort to buy president obama to ignore major parts, for parts of thealter obamacare proposition is deferred and acting searching key parts. i think the bill was so bad i think it should've been repealed or amended. there should've been a substitute to deal with all the problems that has surfaced over the past year or two and it shows up by himself, certain parts and provisions on side, i think he has exceeded his constitutional authority. >> i totally agree. also unwillingness to enforce some loss he does not believe in. not just a one off thing. there's a whole school of thought in our law school and president obama was a law professor. the constitution means whatever we think it should mean. sndeed when president obama' recent appointee has written about the power of the presidential shape the constitution by exactly these things. not enforcing laws and changing laws. it will point out to us that the constitution requires the president to faithfully execute the laws bank. not to repeal them. irs and whatd the is becoming clearer every day, every time you see some new e-mail. lois lernerne from suggesting people should not use e-mail to communicate back and forth in terms of what they are doing. there is very little question there is an attempt to subvert. and in the use of the irs to go after political enemies is a real threat to the constitution and a threat to our freedom. in terms of your other questions, peter, it is really newspapers ande the, very cynical. it is really easy for people outside washington to watch the battles that go on here and you throw your hands up and say, my gosh, are they going to get anything done? one of the things i feel very blessed about the was having been able as a child seeing this process. mobility -- nobility of this nation and living in a republic and a place where we can make a difference. in a situational, we have an obligation to speak up. experience, not just hearing politics is such a dirty business and it certainly can be. it is to serve a much higher purpose of being a full citizen in our republic. and i feel very blessed i had that opportunity. toas very proud and honored have a chance to show my kids some of the same things. and i am going to tell one story from the campaign trail. my mother tells me not to tell the story. we are with close enough friends today. were at the wyoming state fair. >> oh, no. had all of the kids with us. we decide our youngest 2, they were seven and nine-year-old little boys. we had a convertible and this candy there were going to throw as we went down the parade route. we said we needed to have a briefing with the kids on how it was going to work. we gather them around and said ok, who know some of the rules about it being in a parade is going candy? my older son raised his hand and said, do not throw the candy at anybody's head. does anybody else have any rules they think is important to know? ittlehat of my cousins' l girls said do not throw it too hard at people. does anybody else want to contribute any behavior for being in a parade and throwing candy? and my youngest son who was in my father's namesake races hand. he said no far tend -- farting. that is a good one. a good life lesson. the truth is, i felt very honored to be in that and something i feel very strongly about in terms of a very important part of our process. damage, thel relation with your sister that played out, you are against gay marriage. we invited mary to attend today and she responded, thank you for the e-mail and invitation and sounds like a great event. i will not be in d.c. would did a full rundown from my mom. >> i love mary very much and heather and the kids. disagreen issue we about. i have nothing new to add. >> tell me why you were right about the position, you are against gay marriage and why your father is wrong. >> i am not going to add to the issue. go back to foxth news and talk about that a little bit. the notion fox news, of because of fox news criticize us, i keep thinking i tell you all the time fox is not always right. you need to understand that. >> does it bother you that a political issue created such a rift in your family? >> i would like to go back to fox news, too. the underlying assumption of your question is if you ask the tough questions of a public figure, that must mean you're being critical. i think it is your job. it is amazing kelly -- megan kelly's job. what a poor thing journalism would be if we do not ask hard questions. and anybody who happens to be. >> last question on this very public split, do you regret that? >> are you talking to me? >> doesn't this worry you? >> i think the best thing about being a mom is having terrific children which i do and a grandchildren which i do. if i were those grandchildren or children, the last thing i want is my mother in a public forum commenting on personal issues in the family and that is it. [applause] what doice president, you think the chances that mitt romney will run? >> i was a big supporter of mitt. one of the first things i did after i had my heart transplant was we held a big fundraiser. i have not signed on with anybody with respect to 2016. i hope we'll have a wide field of candidates. i am going to restrain myself from saying anything that might be viewed as being supportive or opposing any candidate. >> we are not going to be support for against above very clinical. >> let me add one other thought. you mentioned the reliance for a strong america. one of my concerns is that we have gotten to the point where within our own party, we have an isolation or strain developing. i wanted to make certain whenever i can and that is the purpose of the alliance that liz that national security questions are front and center in the campaign. when it is time for policy and candidates actively involved, we get concerned that are legitimate and major differences with the obama administration. i want to do everything i can in the organization is set up to be a part of it to make certain the issues of national security and the threats we are facing in the middle east today and so far are front and center with the dialogue going forward between now and this year's election. that is part of what we are doing. >> would rand paul be dangerous? >> i said i did not want to get into endorsing or criticizing. i did express the view i think isolationism is crazy. anybody who went through 9/11 and things we can retreat and ,ill be safe is -- i am sorry out to lunch. we saw on that today, the worst attack on the united states since pearl harbor. when you lose 3000 people and the world trade center and a big it on the pentagon, and would've been the white house if not for the currents of passengers, that is an act of war on the united states. 19 men who were trained in afghanistan. with today'say technology and capabilities and dangers and threats out there in the world, we can afford the notion we can stay home and not get involved overseas and not have a presence militarily. from a relationship standpoint with those key parts of the world >> just to redirect the conversation for a minute, as republican theory, the ounders such as jefferson and madison were deeply steeped in republican theory, how you make one succeed. to both of them and madison in particular, the idea of a threat to my was a liberty. it might be turned against the people. and so was the navy. the adams when he pushed idea of building six frigates so ugh the congress, he did in madison's -- to madison's opposition. -- he believed that republic was this wonderful and nice thing and didn't need need navies.dn't as you quoted through the book he learned to learn. after the burning f washington, he understood that no nation can exist in a weakness. that invites attack you and need a strong military to turn back such an notion of attack. i worry that we've not learned history and we aren't teaching it to our children. along the line young people who are responding to young paul's message, people who -- like the idea we would never go to war again learned lessons of the past. we need to do a better job of them about world war two, for example. >> you and senator paul have a history. youtube was posted a speech that enator paul gave in 2009 peaking to republicans at western kentucky university. he said dick cheney goes to work forral burton and makes hundreds dollars and next thing you know back into government and good idea to go iraq. that's remarkable by senator paul. remember the allegation that i was making money because head of halliburton and somehow getting financial became vice i president. lay was the charge that pat me made on the senate one day what before i suggested he might do. t was totally tpa hraeurb should yous. worked for halliburton's company and had a good doing it but we didn't go to quote go to war in iraq to halliburton to make money. lie. s a >> what you think of bob? >> i like bob. of times we've crossed things, but icific haven't read all his books, but remember cooperating with him on 1 or 2 of them. think he adds a lot to the journalistic profession. why do you ask? two days after your former boss president ford, you had been his white house chief of died, two days after he bob woodward published an embargoed interview with president ford. president ford said he was very much opposed to the decision to iraq.to did that give you pause? >> no. why not? >> because died, him.oodward i disagreed with >> has there ever been a time ask the this way. given what's happening in high rack now. there is anything that you could vice president that would have foreclosed that or put us in a better place? listen, what has happened in raq now is a direct result remembering with the surge in to a d '08 we got iraq good point by the time we left office. the advance i think -- the ecent advance were from two primary sources. ais was a failure to maintain oalition government and having purged the military of some of the best leaders who happened to sunni. but the other problem has been the obama administration, president obama who did not fall hrough with the stay behind agreement. there was never any expectation e would go to zero presence in iraq. i think we've got 40 agreements around the world. them. it's something we've done all over the world. that needed to be negotiated and implemented and i don't think obama had any intention of leaving anybody behind and he perfectly happy to have the talks breakdown and rejected the military in terms of the numbers that needed to be left behind. you had to have a compliment ilitary capability and logistics and air support that crucial for making it possible for iraq to maintain integrity. al-qaida in iraq and they were gone by the time we inished our tour of office and i think between the failures we our hands mess on today. >> you're advising the next president. now? do they do >> recognize you have a problem. wo, rebuild the united states military. what's being done at the pentagon is outrageous. bad way a symbol of the to treat people. the cuts that are being made today and the cuts that are will restrict the ability of future presidents 10, road to do n the what needs to be. absolutely, turn around the with respect to the military.ates that should be top priority. our number one responsibility is support the constitution of and nited states devastating the united states ilitary and announce you won't pull all forces out of afghanistan. policies he wanted to implement in iraq exturn it down.e reaffirm the egyptians and sraelis and saudis, all our friends that we're with them. we recognize they're on the on terror n the war and we'll do whatever we can to support them. there's four. look at saudi arabia are ordan which government you most worried about following. >> i don't think it would be a me to make a statement about a particular government. allve known and worked with of them over the years, and i think they all live in very area, an area that is the rise of on oing efforts by this administration with respect to the iranian nuclear program. very, very concerned is, not just the israelis but verybody else who lives in the region. current negotiations are a sham together to put a baband-aid on the problem. won't get any meaningful by iran that will block the threat. it's a huge problem. think we need a radical change in direction obviously. >> you're the only person in the who has the titles of staff, use chief of congressman and secretary of defense. as former secretary of defense on charley rose the former cia director said that are a aougably the most dangerous place in the world today is the south china sea. do you agree? it's certainly ait's the most. would aside pakistan what you say is the most dangerous place. >> put aside pakistan. uhm, you got to remember in the middle east national boundaries increasingly don't mean that i especially given the threat off the rising isis. you have to look at it. dangerous threat is what is now developing as i would describe it in the middle east. slops over into north africa. really -- i believe in akistan and in developments in korea's prior involvement. they provided a nuclear reactor to syria. the israelis took it out in '07 took down sad gaddafi gave up his stuff. that's the part of the world nexus between with a m and somebody weapon. the whole notion that's governed relationships in that area since the end of world war ii mutually assured destruction and major tates being responsible with respect to their acquisition of technology that all goes out th. the whole notion that's governed you're dealingen with north korea and pakistan and iran and normer libya and that is the place from which emerge dangerous place. i don't know if terrorists armed with a nuclear weapon and for us.a huge problem anybody thinks we can ignore smoking something. >> four years ago you believed dying.e you wrote a book called "heart" of said by the beginning june 2010, i was approaching yod stage heart failure. increasingly difficult to carry out tasks my nd the house and losing appetite and i wasn't fearful or situation.out my i had lived a wonderful life and now it was ending. do you feel now? >> wrong again. no, it was -- i wrote that very serious. it was a very serious moment. t was a question that that obviously comes up from time to time. i did believe i had reached the end of the line. it was not frightening. at peace. it was more difficult for my family to consider than it was me to consider. through the miracles of modern medicine they worked on me nine night, 20 units of a pump, thattalled kept my heart working for 20 the s and then i got transplant thanks to a donor. every day when i wake up i've smile on my face, thankful for a day i never thought i'd see again. it really affects your sense of what's important and what isn't. lot of the things that we deal with in our daily lives aren't really very important when youly over against that kind of experience. what made it possible for me to get through all that not only donor and modern medicine but also my family. i can't say enough about what lynn mary did for me that helped me through some very, very difficult time. everything there was to learn about being a nurse --h respect to >> cardiologist. there's one ph.d. on this stage. >> thank you, that's right. out as an d undergraduate. it's absolutely something that you can't go through without wondrous support had in my family and i'm back doing all those things i ever do.ed to spent a lot of time with diesel a ford 350 hauling my 14-year-old daughter around to rodeos because she's a racer and i had the great never years that i expected to see. at the same time these are important points i don't want by diminish what's happening out this and to some of freedomel a sense telling people what i really ever did it.that i but it's more urgent because of the problems that are developing. >> your transplant was two years and some months ago -- 2012.ch 24, >> how long did they say you had? how much is the transplant good for you? >> they tell me my heart is good for 30 more years but they don't know about the rest of me. cook rapid round, mr. president. the bergdahl trade, how dangerous was that? of the senior e leadership back to the taliban. that a fewganization weeks ago launched an attack and people.4 terrible, terrible idea. > the question from felix 'doeds, what should the epublican party do about climate change. >> live. >> nothing. -- look, i think that what's happening now with espect to this president and this epa and using something excuseimate change as an to kill the coal industry nationwide and that's exactly and even re doing admit that the emotions from aren't causing any heating of the planet but this is an opportunity to kill coal. wyoming is the leading coal producing state in the nation from u don't have to be wyoming to understand that your electricity will be directly affected by that. is bad policy and bad science it's e we're seeing that increasingly bad science and a much greater threat to us is massive expansion and growth of the bureaucratic state here in washington. epa, the use of things like he clean air act and the clean water act to go directly at private property rights is a threat. >> do you worry about the partycs of the republican not doing anything on climate immigration? >> no, i'm of the school lynn mentioned earlier. it's necessarily a bad year when congress doesn't anything. given the role of the government, i'm much more in madison's camp. there need to be limits. we got a great temptation to a problem n't solve without federal legislation to end up imposing more and more regulation and red has a disastrous effect and moving us to something closer to socialism. there is more than one way to destroy the republic and you've alked about the most violent ways and that needs to be in the foremost parts of our mind. you also destroy a republic when you do away with the idea of on titutional limitation government and when you walk down the path of government of limited ity rights but to do things for us leaders decide we need to have done for us. that is so much opposed to what founders thought that it is another way to destroy the republic. >> last question and just to way, mr. the other president. crease its t not base like it's not going to win the presidency. without a new message for young and for gays and for minorities, how does the party win a national election. >> i'm not sure i buy the premises to your question, mike. you made a lot of assumptions a time not remember long ago when i was part of a and george bush got 44% of the hispanic vote. it's premature for you to call out what the results are be. g to >> you're not worried about where the republican parties are? >> i'm one of the people who believes that the party ought to for ors wide open everybody. i see a lot of folks in the that those munity are people that ought to be conservative, religious and are here in many cases because they hard to get here because they care about those things, opportunities that america can provide. terms of education, but jobs and opportunity. think we need to sort of reaffirm our basic fundamental commitment to those principals reagan and others have developed so successfully over the years. i just don't buy into the premise of your question. i don't think that's necessarily to be the direction we head in. >> i want to say something about that too, mike. the democrats do is have a different message. the country divide up. they like to say, you're a woman let me talk to you about how matters to you or you're hispanic or gay. and that's not how republicans operate. it's one about freedom and fundamentally the rights of ndividuals in terms of their ability to be free of government interference in their lives. opportunity and it's the idea that you're going to say to a woman, let me talk to some women's issues and you must feel way about this issue or that way because you're a woman i find really offensive and i think pattern alice tick. the way that you have opportunity in this country is the size of the federal government and limiting the scope of the federal and not what the doing like the federal governmentment has a handout for you crayed total grave. not america and that's not successful for us as a party that. ry to emulate >> mr. vice president, you believe in a doors wide open party. party es a republican need to do to send out a signal 2016?ters in >> i think that we've got to nominate a good candidate. any problemn't have ith wide open primary situation. try to wrap it up so you can get election. general optimistic in the good sense with respect to all the criticisms you can hey out that barack obama has been it's i.r.s. whether or the failures overseas, aamacare, they have a hell of record to defend and i'd much ather run a campaign on principals and not on their failures. >> you think a republican will in 2016?d >> i think we'll take the senate in 2014. e'll gain seats in the house and we'll win the white house in prediction. >> how many senate seats? [applause] >> enough. >> how many house seats? > i remember when i first became vice president we had an evenly dwighted senate 50/50. because i got the tiebreaking vote we got to chair all the months es for about six and then the democrats bribed ne of the republicans and convinced him to switch and it upside down. i think we'll take control of the senate and i think it's important in terms of trying to a halt to the policies that obama is pursuing that i think down a very bad road both internationally. > as we say good-bye here you were telling me you've been out five days on the snake river? > so far this summer on the snake and the green. trout dream in the west. tip?hat's a fly fishing >> i'll tell was a fly fishing tip is. don't talk. they can't talk. >> what else? when e sure you get home you tell your wife you're going to be there. [laughter] let you go earlier you said that you drive? mean i drive. why do you find that surprising? how do you think i get around? >> so you're talking about granddaughter. you actually pull a horse trailer, right? if you have a horse you got have to a horse trailer. if you have a horse trailer you truck to haul a horse trailer. owner of a ford 350 diesel to pull -- i can't brand name on the trailer but it's a nice three horse trailer. i's a three horse trailer and we started with one horse and i'm going to end up with two more have the spacewe for it. >> i want to thank you everybody in live stream land and bank of making these conversations possible and the event. thank you for coming out in the middle of the day and a conversation. >> thank you. [applause] you, mike. >> on the next "washington journal" congressman jeff tkeupb imon the influx of minors on the u.s. and jim mcgovern of massachusetts talks about his remove u.s. troops from iraq at the end of the year boehner's lawsuit against president obama. discussesteracy group -- literacy with teenagers. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. federal reserve chair janet tuesday morning on the policy report. you can see it live coverage of starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. now you can keep in tkoufp with nation'svents from the capital using any phone any time on audio now.dio congressional coverage and today's "washington journal" program and every to the recap on washington today. hear audio on the programs beginning on sundays at noon eastern. c-span on audio now. phone charges r apply. >> the highway and transportation funding billion extends the law 2015.gh may 31, they discussed and approved the rules for debate. this is an hour. >> thank you for joining us today for a very important committee the rules where we'll meet to consider the ighway and transportation funding act of 2014. urrent estimates indicate the highway tpruft fund will run dry ome time this month allowing this happen would dramatically mpact our nation's federal highways program, severe our ability to fund construction projects necessary to ensure and our economy can continue to remain competitive need to worry e about getting the job done for economic and commerce we stayace to make sure to have heir vibrantsy a good infrastructure. resources the necessary to keep it solvent 2015.h may 21, while i'm sure everyone would more permanent solution including the young shoester, this avoids a problem to where we overt each a deal and to an end of year crisis. so, what we believe we're going o have today is a more comprehensive solution. i want to thank dave kemp who is the chairman of the ways and here committee for being and chairman shuster who has done a lot of work on this effort. i know we are joined by other embers of the democrat party ncluding our delegate from washington, d.c. who is the of the committee on highways and transient and government reform and also my dear friend who i see every ridden his e has bike in to the united states knowing that he still needs safe roads and bridges to accomplish that. member of the budget committee also. i want to thank each of you for i have re today and three quick announce manies. first of all, we have intern sessions.am we have two important college interns. first from es, southern methodist university, stevens and skwroulian quigley a graduate of amherst baby son nicholas to see his dad do the rule's committee. i told him don't yawn on tv and blackberry darn or -- he want to thank everybody for being here. i want to yield to the person from massachusetts. i will forego an opening statement and go right to the testimony. >> i thank the gentleman. that is a strong and clear mission of what we want to get our work done. i will defer to the gentleman from michigan. >> thank you. at thechairman of the ways and means is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. at the end of this month states across the country will be forced to put construction projects on hold if congress cannot address the highway trust fund. at risk are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the construction industry at a time when millions of americans are packing their bags to take a vacation or just traveling to work. we must ensure that the roads, bridges and highways they travel on are modernized and safe. the bill before us would provide enough funding to get us through may 31 -- 2015. this legislation is the only package with all provisions having a proven history of getting big bipartisan votes in both the house and the senate. and last week passed through the ways and means committee by a bipartisan voice vote. both pension smoothing and custom users fees are included in the senate finance committee bill and those have been voted on and approved by the senate already this year. the leaking underground storage tanks transfer is identical in the house and senate bills. over the past few weeks, we've been working with our counterparts on the senate finance committee to address this matter in a bipartisan, bicameral way, it's important to note that the senate proposal now also reflects the need for a ten-month fix. while there is also bipartisan bicameral agreement that we need a long-term solution to the highway trust fund, it is my hope that ten months gets congress enough time to act. some of our -- that we need to go shorter to go longer. that is the bill should only get us through december 31 of this year. i think that's a mistake. as i noted the finance committee agrees. these are policies everyone is familiar with. they're policies that will provide the funding we need and they're the only policies that will pass both the house and the senate in time to fund our highways after the end of this month. i would urge everyone to keep an eye on that goal, finding an immediate fix to keep transportation projects going in the bill before us does just that. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i appreciate not only your feedback but your hard work on this effort, and to keep us as we've spoken about earlier, right on target getting work done as quickly as possible. like to next welcome the gentleman from pennsylvania, the young chairman of the transportation committee. i know mr. chairman you've been hard at work for a long time but you also come with a view of having a father who has walked down this pathway with you, and i knew your dad. know your dad, bill, and i want you to know that i intend to tell him how proud we are of the job you're continuing to do for the people of this great nation, caring about their roads and bridges wherever they might be across the united states. the gentleman is recognized at this time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate those kind words, and i'll pass them along to bud. >> i intend to tell him myself. >> i appreciate that. it's probably better he'll tell me something i didn't do right in this bill probably. but that's okay. want to thank mr. chairman and the members of the committee. we have the opportunity to appear here today for hr-5021 the highway transportation funding act of 2014. the highway transportation funding act of 2014 extends federal service transportation programs and shares the solvency of the highway trust fund through may as chairman camp pointed out. hr-5021 is a clean extension of the surface transportation programs and continues map 21 reforms. we have an immediate and critical need to address the solvency of the trust fund and extend the current surface transportation law. this bill does that in a responsible way and with policies that previously received strong bipartisan and bicameral support. if congress fails to act as the chairman once again mentioned, there will be thousands of projects across this country, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be in jeopardy if we don't do this. the legislation provides that much needed certainty and stability of the states. this bill in no way precludes congress from continuing to work on a long-term funding solution and reauthorization bill which remains a top priority. however this legislation is a responsible solution at this time and assures that we don't play politics with these programs. enables us to continue to making improvements to our system. i appreciate chairman camp's attention to this pressing issue as well as his commitment to addressing the highway trust fund. due to the urgency of this legislation i request the committee on rules grant a closed rule that waives any necessary points of order against consideration of the bill. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much. delighted that you're here and obviously as with all four of you, anything that you have in writing whether be entered for the record without ox and i thank you very much for your solid and quick statement. ms. holmes norton, welcome to the rules committee. i'm delighted you're here. i'm sure as you and mr. blumenauer know your presence at this committee is not only appreciated and respected but we count on you to come forth with your ideas. you remember not only an important part of this country, the district of columbia but you also represent your party the democratic party and your ideas and we're delighted that you're here. we'll tell you this committee is intensely interested in the issue that hand and your ideas will work. >> thank you very much. very much appreciate the opportunity to say a few words, and i summarize my remarks and simply introduce them for the record. i'm very pleased to be before your committee this time with a truly bipartisan bill and i want to thank the chairman to my right for working to the to make sure that this bill the committee who works on this bill works in truly bipartisan fashion, and very much appreciate the way this was done in our own committee with mr. shuster and also mr. camp's committee. i am the ranking member of the surface transportation bill. mr. rayhall who is the ranking member of the full committee wouldn't be here and i'm placed to be here in his place and i am overjoyed that this bill is coming forward and i want to thank you for bringing this bill forward. not at the last minute but providing some certainty, especially now that you cannot do a long-term bill because the congress isn't quite ready for that yet. rationing has already started and you can imagine that the states and localities when rationing which means that they're already not getting the full amounts because nobody knew what would happen in the congress, that this bill is very, very welcome. obviously, not only on mr. chairman, but all of us who are sitting at this table would have preferred a long-term bill with the certainty every single district, there's no member that is not affected by this bill. and i don't think that there are many bills that come before you that have the effect that this bill would have, the short-term extension does not allow them to big into the backlog, and that would not because it only enables them to keep going but it at least enables them to keep going and looking bankruptcy in the face for the highway trust fund was so unacceptable that everyone has gotten together and done the right thing. i would just like to say a word the chairman had both asked for a closed bill. i'd like to reinforce that. look, on a sort-term, we authorization of this kind truly we can get a closed bill. if the chairman had asked for it, i noticed that there are two amendments that have been found and i just want to indicate to you, mr. chairman, that that would be unfair to the entire house. because, the notice was given -- there was no notice given that this bill was open for amendments. there's one bill that's technical, and the other is -- actually have findings. if beam had noticed that they could have come forwards with amendments we would have had others to do so. since there was no indication that amendments would be considered i ask you to do as the chairman has asked and to approve the bill that they have requested. mr. chairman, this is not a bill we would have wanted. but it's the kind of bill that brings the house together on both sides. and i am deeply grateful for you for that. and for the chairmen who are with me and the ranking member, as well. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you very much for your not only support of the bill, but speaking and attributes that we all understand. and that is the importance of bringing this bill right now on time to the floor where we can get this done and work to the. mr. blumenauer welcome, we're delighted that you're here. a couple of members showed up as soon as we heard your name mentioned. so you're very popular here at the rules committee. >> and i appreciate your courtesy. i agree with the statement that you opened the hearing with. about how important it is, your preference for permanent solution. and avert a year-end crisis. i'm going to offer a slightly different perspective on that. taking slight exception with my friends who i respect. and this is an area that i personally have been deeply involved with since i reluctantly left the transportation infrastructure where i had the honor and privilege of serving both with bill shuster and his father bud when he was chair. i made the transition to ways and means and volunteered to be on budget because i'm deeply concerned about infrastructure and finance. and the fact that we are in trouble. my concern with what's being offered today and the way we in the ways and means committee all the democrats supported an amendment i had which was as the chairman mentioned a moment ago, is to bring about long-term support by shortening the duration. because i'm afraid what you are considering, and what the committee ill-advisedly advanced is going to make the chaos, the uncertainty, it's going to make it permanent, not just this congress and next congress, but as one of the stakeholders said walking out of our hearing last week, may 2015 might as well be may 2017. because, there's no pressure to finish the job. it's not going to be easier in may. it's going to be harder. we've known about this for months. that's why every member of the democrats on the house ways and means committee asked for a hearing at the beginning of the year on transportation and finance. i've been making poor chairman camp's life miserable kind of bothering him about this for months. in 79 days, this bill expires. and we've all known that. and we've known that there was not enough money to get through even september 30th for months. and now we're walking in with a maybe a week or two, and as mr. norton pointed out, there have already been a summer slowdown. states are pulling back because of uncertainty because of what's going on. there's been no resolution of this fund in question which is exactly the same as we had in 2003. it was -- it's been tying us in knots since our last six-year reauthorization which i was pleased to play a small part as a committee member with chairman bud schuster, and ranking member where we went toe to toe with speaker gingrich you may recall and the clinton administration and were able to extract the 4.3 cent gas tax increase which was the last gas tax increase, but it was for deficit reduction. and we were able to transfer that to the highway trust fund and get a fully funded six-year bill. and since then, we've been walking around in circles. the stake holders are united and unanimous that america's falling apart, and it's falling behind, and we need to stop abaiting our responsibilities to fess up. now there are different approaches. you may hear from one of my colleagues, who's interested in devolution. there's a republican bill that would cut the transportation funding down to i think 3.7 cents, and turn this back as an unfunded mandate to the states and let them do what they will. the republican budget is kind of a status quo slow decline. if enacted it would have no new transportation projects until october 1st, 2015. and there would be a ten-year reduction of 30% of highway. and that's maybe what some people want. but that ought to be debated openly and honestly. others have ideas for raising revenue. i think we would be well served to be able to resolve this so that the transportation committee can come forward with a six-year bill. that they know what they got. is it 3.7 cents? is it the slow decline, the 30% reduction? is it maybe running with more revenue? but unless and until we answer that question, i don't know how the difficult job that the chairman of the tni committee has and the ranking member and the subcommittee how they're ever going to be able to do their job if they don't have the details. now, kicking this can down the road to may 31st is kind of interesting. because the funding issue does not get less complex. it doesn't get cheaper. and the politics don't get any easier. i don't know which party is going to control the senate next time but it's going to be an evenly, narrowly divided senate. and half the senate will be running for president, if they haven't already. and to think that in the other body, that they're magically in a couple of months going to be able to solve the funding conundrum and be able to work to give the committees of jurisdiction -- and my heart goes out, i still feel like i'm a member of the alumni association. i follow the committee. i respect the work. i respect what's going on with ranking member bitter and barbara boxer but this is not going to get easier next year. what is very likely going to mean is that we will continue the pattern. we, since 2003, we have had 21 short-term extensions. and not one six-year bill. mr. chairman, i respectfully request that we think about, that you consider allowing me to offer my amendment which would shorten the phase of the money until the end of the year. and that we actually roll up our sleeves and get to work. that we have hearings on ways and means about what the funding conundrum is and decide one way or not. that we not break for summer recess with this unresolved. i'm going to be talking about this from portland, maine to portland, oregon. i'm happy to stop by in washington, d.c. in august. i don't think we should break for reelections and leave communities with uncertainty that's going to last for years. and it's within our power to do this. i have great respect for our chairman and our friend mr. shuster, and the chairman of the tni committee, the partnership that i serve with a number of our democratic colleagues on the committee. there is a vast array of people from the u.s. chamber of commerce to the afl-cio, local governments, governors, contractors, who are in accord. and by the way, they don't support kicking this into the next congress. the chamber of commerce, for example, had a statement before we voted saying they don't support sliding it on, they want an address now. i agree with the chamber of commerce and the afl-cio and a wide range of other stake holders we need to get down to business now, we should not adjourn this congress without having resolved this long-term funding, and giving people the certainty of the federal partnership, or if some had their way, maybe there is no federal partnership. and if that's going to be the case they ought to find out sooner rather than later. mr. chairman i deeply appreciate your courtesy in permitting me to appear. i have some additional views that i would like to submit on behalf of ranking member levin and myself. >> without objection we'll include that. >> thank you very much. >> mr. blumenauer thank you very much for your words. i would say to all four of you who are here, thank you not only for taking your time to be here today, i do recognize that there are people who offer a different viewpoint. i will tell you i agree with the mark that the committee has given us here. i want to agree with not only mr. camp for his hard work, ms. norton holmes, because -- and mr. shuster, because i believe that what needs to happen is we need to get what we can get done when we can do it. it may or may not be easier for us to do it now or later. but we can achieve it here today. and i believe that it's important for washington, d.c. to have certainty as to what we're going to do. and it's great back home in dallas, texas. so i'm glad that we're doing this. i thank all four of you, except my expression of thanks and i defer. >> thank you mr. chairman, i appreciate it. i'd like to take a very brief point of personal privilege and introduce a guest i have this evening. i have a teacher in congress, this is my ninth year of doing it, bring one or two teachers from my district for about ten days to washington to shadow me, and learn more about how we do our business, and give that person an opportunity to do some individual research and my 2014 teacher in congress is here tonight. michael mccullough back there. he's a reacher at r.j. reynolds high school in win stan sigh lem and today is his first day here in the capitol. and i invited him to come over to see the rules committee in action. keep that in mind, guys. he's going to go back and talk with impressionable minds about what goes on in congress. thank you mr. chairman for allowing me -- >> yield for just one comment. michael you better put on your track shoes. she's tough to keep up with. >> and i don't have any questions either, and i thank our colleagues for being here this afternoon. to make the presentation, and i know this is -- these are very important issues, so thank you all very much. >> ms. slaughter? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to say welcome to our guests. we're happy to have you. this is known as the committee where legislation goes to die. so it's not a bad place for it to start because you won't see much while you're here. anyway, i would rather do what we're doing today, gentlemen. both of you know i've got great affection for you and the good work that you do. i haven't heard from anybody in my state without giving a few months to plant something in a state where they're just doing a survey on bridges. almost all of them are nearly dysfunctional, it's going to help. i think mr. blumenauer is exactly right. i remember the days when the most bipartisan bill in the house of representatives was transportation. and it really is, i think the fact that we can't seem to muster getting a transportation bill for us speaks very poorly of us. but as i said, i'm not -- this is not even half a loaf, this is a camera and a page, and i guess that an important. i'm having a lot of platitudes today. but there you are. i'm not happy with this bill. and i doubt any of the four of you are, either. but thank you very much. >> the gentlewoman yields back here time. thank you very much. mr. bishop? >> thank you, first of all mr. mccullough, i was a high school teacher before i came to congress. we're 0 for 2. this is sad, sorry. thank you for what you're trying to do here. i appreciate what you've done here. one of the other things that i found was extrooply helpful when i was in state legislature is we had an ending date and the ending date forced us to make decisions which were never great decisions but we had to because in that search for the perfect solution, it ain't out there. but thank you for what you've done. i appreciate your efforts. yield back. >> mr. mcgovern. >> the chair -- policy on the bill. >> without objection. by the way, does he know what it says? >> yeah, it -- you want me to read it to you? >> well, no i just ask -- >> he's okay with it i think. so we're okay. >> it's all right. >> it's kind of hard to -- >> yeah, but he would prefer a long-term fix to this bill. i always want to associate myself with miss slaughter. you know, this -- this is kicking the can down the road and i'm not sure a deadline creates any more pressure. it just means we might do another short-term, another short-term, another short-term. i was on the transportation committee, mr. shuster, when your father was the chairman. i was there with mr. blumenauer, and i was really proud to support a truly bipartisan transportation bill. and part of the problem you guys are going to have is the people that make up your conference. some of who have signed pledges to vote no new revenues. who just hate government in every form that exists. and don't understand that in order to fix our roads and our bridges and our aging infrastructure, you're going to have to find a funding mechanism. this is just a suggestion. but if you guys are still in the majority, after november, i pray that you're not, but in case you are, i hope that you will -- you might want to revisit this issue of earmarking. because i think one of the reasons why we were able to pass a transportation bill when your dad was the chairman overwhelmingly, and overrode a presidential veto was because every member had some skin in the game. they actually were able to see where this funding would go in their district and how it would make a difference. so i know that there's probably not fashionable to talk about at this particular point, but in thinking of ways to come to a long-term solution to get people to buy in, i mean that may be something we might want to revisit. but this should be a long-term bill. it's not. it is what it is. and we look forward to seeing it on the floor. i yield back my time. >> gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. >> just a couple of quick points because i agree very much with what my colleague had to say although for somewhat different political reasons. i think your position is correct, earmarking would be helpful here. i remember the days because i know my district better frankly than people at the transportation -- we could literally take care of an overpass or put an overpass in where five people had died and we could relieve, and the inability to do that. it just, i think is a sad consequence of -- of you know, politicizing the earmark process that both parties tended to do. i do think thank the gentlemen for their good work. i know this has been a very difficult reach out. i know all of us would prefer a long-term solution. nobody more than the two of you. and i remain confident at the appropriate time, mr. shuster, you'll get us there. unfortunately we're leaving you on the wrong side of the river, mr. chairman, as we discussed before. i always reminding moses didn't make it to the promised land, either. and dave camp isn't going to make it to the next congress and we're going to be poorer for that frankly. but appreciate your good work. look forward to supporting it, and urge you, as you both continue forward to continue that search for the elusive permanent solution. i agree with my good friend, mr. blumenauer, we need to find one where we can plan over multiyear period, and put the -- put the transportation infrastructure of the country on sounder footing. with that i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. thank you very much. judge hastings, you're recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i thank our presenters, especially. first mr. chairman would like to call for an open rule on a matter of this magnitude. and i certainly believe that the very least that we should make the amendments of our members, republican and democrat, who come to the committee, in order in this instance, and specifically our support of mr. blumenauer's amendment which i really do believe deserves our ample discussion, and i hope that the committee does not shut us out from having an opportunity to discuss such an important matter for the future. of this country. in essence what you've done is, and i think we all know this, you allow for six months of spending to be paid for over a period of six years. over a period of ten years. and when all is said and done the pension's smoothing and i think i'm the first person to mention it's been identified that way. i don't think it's going to go smoothly at all if all of the pension funds find themselves in a position where we have to use the pension guarantee to fund them, then we could wind up losing money if this became our only solution. understanding that there's a year, 2015. but i think it amounts to not the committee. i think you all do what you can. i heard mr. camp loud and clear regarding it being bicameral. i appreciate that. i appreciate his efforts also on trying to assure that we do what's necessary on tax reform. but obviously, this particular 113th congress isn't about that business at this point. one thing i know is this. americans don't want their roads in disrepair. and i live here, in ms. holmes norton's area, and i can tell you, there are very few places that have as many needs when it comes to fixing just potholes alone, unless some of the roads i drive on in florida rival it on occasion. but people don't want their roads in disrepair. and they don't want their bridges falling down. and the 435-plus six of us ought to have the courage, and that's what it amounts to, to stand up and say what's needed. one of the things that's desperately needed, and i go on record now and have in my constituency, is a gas tax increase. and i believe that that is one way that we can address this problem. and i call it just pure, unadulterated cowardice on behalf of all of us in congress for not being able to stand up. i yield back the balance. >> gentleman yields back his time. i appreciate the gentleman's recomments and respect his ideas. gentleman from georgia is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i happen to agree with mr. hastings. i think there's a better path forward. since we have chairman shuster here i'm not going to do any hand wringing about this temporary solution. i'm going to do hand wringing about that big five-year proposal you brought last time and i don't know why it's this time that folks don't have any courage and this time why kicking the can is down the road. it was last time when he brought a proposal with no earmarks. brought a proposal some folks thought spent too much and some folks thought spent too little. some folks thought it reformed too much and some folks thought it reformed too little. some folks thought it was too long and some thought it was too short. i don't know what path we're going to follow if we're not going to get together and pass something like that, chairman camp has tremendous courage bringing forward a fundamental tax reform bill that he knew would be met with the perfect, being the enemy of the good, and you did that same thing on transportation and how quickly you forget when you took over at that committee you made every effort so we would never have to have a day like today, and you led, and the congress did not follow you. and that is on us. that is not on your committee and i'm grateful to you for your efforts in that way. i look forward to your having one more opportunity and i hope we're better followers next time around. that i yield back. >> thank you very much. mr. polis last week we celebrated the birth of your baby. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i was apprised of a warm reception the committee gave to little cora, and i hope to bring her by next week. so i very much look forward to that. it's my understanding we're meeting four times this week. so if one of those is a late night meeting you might, in fact see me -- >> i'll see what i can do about it. gentleman is recognized. >> thank you. i thank the folks for the testimony, and in my opinion, we need to do a longer-term fix. i think that the gas tax, which is a reasonable funding mechanism for transportation is effectively a user fee, is a reasonable way of doing it. there's other approaches to user fees that i've heard about, and i think the issue with many of them is they might be very elegant economically but people worry about their impact on people's privacy. and those are very legitimate concerns, as well. and while the gas tax isn't a perfect proxy, it seems to be one that the american people can live with as opposed to other proposals that would have impacts on their privacy, knowing where their cars are going, and taxing their miles. i know my constituents would certainly react very negatively to that. so this is a very short-term discussion here. as we go forward i would encourage everybody to look to the gas tax and see if we can find a way to more permanently ensure that we can have adequate investment in infrastructure and i'm happy to yield back. >> thank you very much. gentleman from louisville, texas, dr. burgess is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll just take ownership as being part of the problem ten years ago. i bought a hybrid vehicle. i did that because i wanted the feeling of moral superiority that you have when you drive a hybrid. but the fact of the matter is, with 50 miles to a gallon i'm only contributing a half of what i used to contribute to building highways. now, i do think that some point we're going to have to address the flexibility that we give the states. and the fact that the state like texas, which desperately needs to be building infrastructure, there's a 20% diversion to rail. there's a 10% diversion to enhancements. maybe we need to look at those numbers again. but we do need to give the states the flexibility that they need to be able to deal with the problems that are at hand. mr. cole referenced earmarks. i would just say that i think the states may be better arbitrators of what they need than us here at the federal level. but i do appreciate the work that everyone's put into this. i was part of the transportation committee that produced the last six-year bill. in spite of all the difficulty it did work okay. and we'll probably need to review that six-year bill again because of the certainty that people need when they're undertaking these very, very large projects that congress is not just funding from one month to the next. but i thank you for doing the work and for getting us this bill today, and look forward to supporting it on the floor. i yield back. >> thank you very much. chairman shuster i want to thank you. you've taken a lot of humorous jabs today. and some serious jabs. but, i believe that every single member, as you alluded to earlier, as well as ms. eleanor holmes norton stated that it's in all of our best interests to get this work done. it's in all of our best interests to come to some agreement. as a texan, as a member of the donor state there are a lot of things we may or may not like about this. but i would remind us that we are americans, and that we try and work together and solve our problems through not only rule of law, but this opportunity to work together with members of congress from all across this country. so i am delighted that, in fact, you have succeeded in rounding us up and getting us to do that. i note that we've had one member that has just appeared, and i did not know if any member seeks additional time. i want to thank this panel. anything you have in writing if you'll leave for us we'll put that in the record. this panel is now -- gentleman does seek time. for one minute. >> 30 seconds. >> gentleman is recognized for a minute. [ inaudible ] >> one sentence i hope people pay careful attention to. congress should work to pass long-term reauthorization bill well before the expiration date set forth in hr-5021. >> and i really concur with the gentleman, also, and that's what we're here to try and do today. ahead of time. wish i was an on-time delivery but not everybody can be u.p.s. thank you very much. this panel is excused. we now call the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, we're delighted that mr. garrett is here. evidently he's going to be recognized to speak on the amendment that may be from the gentleman from oklahoma, from langford. mr. garrett we're delighted not only that you join us but anything you have in writing will be entered into the record. and if the gentleman will make sure that microphone is on, and i know you're trying to clean up, and the gentleman is recognized. >> so, i thank the chairman. i'll be brief. as i was sitting back there coming in late listen to some of the comments, as far as the problems that we see going forward and the underlying legislation, i don't know why the thought comes to mind the statement i think it was from dickinson from pennsylvania who said, mr. bishop knows the line, we are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. in this case the storm is frying to fund transportation needs and the skiff as mr. hastings points out is a skiff made of debt, paper being paid for over a longer period of time than we're actually going to use the dollars. the numbers i won't go into them. you probably had it from the prior panel that we're spending more money on these programs than is being generated through the federal fuels tax. to the tune of $350 billion since '08, and i don't come to you with any panacea on the federal angle of paying for this. but i do hearken the words of dr. burgess of saying that at some point in time we need to giving the states more flexibility. to the point that mr. cole raised with regard to, he sees firsthand experience apparently where states couldn't do things in a timely manner because of federal problems. so how do we do this? my understanding there might be another amendment, maybe already came here before, graves amendment or what have you to take a look at this issue. i would suggest that we have looked at this issue for some period of time. in fact we voted on this with a number of pieces of legislation repeatedly and that is to allow the states to have flexibility now, if they so want it, not compel them to. for those states who do not want to have the flexibility, they can continue to have the federal government tell them exactly what to do. and so this is a joint effort by mr. langford and myself to provide that flexibility in two different mechanisms. and to give the u.s. department of transportation the options of limiting it to just the number of states that they deem as appropriate so it will not be a burden on the system. but that's in a short -- in a nutshell. i've raised this question every year that i served on the budget committee for the 12 years i've served on the budget committee when i've had the secretaries of transportation come before my committee, whether it's republican or democrat, i would often ask them, can you tell me what exactly is the needs on route 519 in sussex county? and they of course said where is 519 in sussex county. i said, see, well that's a major road to us. but here in washington no one knows exactly what it is. yet washington is telling us how to grade it, how to put up guardrails, and how to do the rest. gosh, i think we have county engineers who are trained enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, they liked enough that they would be able to handle this job without the government doing it. and if a state so opted to opt out of the system, we should be able to do so. so that's all the legislation does, it's been around for awhile. and i would ask that this committee give it the most serious consideration that i think it deserves. >> gentleman yields back his time. thank you very much. i could not agree more with what you said, the challenge will come to how we apply this. but i want to thank the gentleman. i have believed for a long period of time that states, and the closer we get decision making to people that those people should be empowered to make those decisions. and i have disagreed with mechanisms that we've done around here for quite some time, where we did on and off ramps as opposed to highways. but such is our lot. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have no questions. >> no questions. is there anyone that seeks time on the democrat side? >> is there anyone on the republican -- gentleman from utah is recognized. >> it's the major need of the road curb and gutter. is the major need of the road curb and gutter. >> curb and gutter? >> yeah. never mind i'll talk to you about this later. i appreciate you bringing this up. >> he's been with the financial services committee. >> right. >> i'm not going anywhere. i'm done. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. gentleman from oklahoma, chairman is recognized. >> just ask you quickly, self-defense for my friend mr. burgess the earmarks were requested by my state transportation department. they couldn't get them from the federal government, they had to write them in to law. they then matched appropriately and that's how we got there. so your solution would be an elegant way around this and we could just let people, as you point out, locally know what they're doing actually take the money that they're paying here, remove the fee from the middle man, and actually go ahead and do it. and you could let people that want to spend a large portion of their transportation dollars for museums, or more bike trails or -- they could do that. but, the rest of us that would prefer to spend them on roads and highways could probably do that, too. so, i don't know that we'll be able to do it here. but i certainly like your idea. >> gentleman yields back his time. gentleman from louisville, texas, gentleman is not seeking time. gentleman from georgia. >> mr. chairman, i just wanted to say folks talk about this idea as being around for a long, long time. i don't think this idea this idea has been around for a long, long time. i don't think this idea has been around a long, long time. i take a look at what mr. garrett has brought as a pilot project. i think this is very, very different. i don't think if i looked -- you can tell me if i'm wrong, mr. garrett. i don't think you have interest, belief that the right system forward for america as it relates to funding transportation is to have some short term pilot projects for a few states. i think you know exactly what the long-term solution is for america and this is a huge departure from let's do and put it in statute and make it happen, to let's just try it a little bit and prove the concept. am i mistaken about that? >> no. when i came here 12 years ago, i was given firm assurances from the leadership at the time of the chairmen of the committee they would work with me on the broader idea you suggested. 12 years later, leadership has changed and some people have changed but i'm getting the same assurances, so i thought i would take a pilot program, being that is the more reasonable common sense middle of the road team player sort of way to do it. we'll see what the results are. >> that is a big deal. i would ask my democratic colleagues, if you sense that is the same big deal that i do. mr. blumenauer knows what he'd want to do with that state flexibility and something very different than what i'd want to do with that state flexibility. we're worried about whether the federal highway system is maintained, whether or not our major arteries, do they move commerce around? but to have someone of mr. garrett's conservative credentials come forward and say, you know what, maybe folks aren't ready to go all the way. let's just try it, and let's just try it in they places that want to try it and oregon is going to try it differently than oregon is going to try it. i view that as a huge olive bank and path forward we didn't have when mr. shuster brought his five-year proposal last time. can i ask my friends, do you think i'm making something out of nothing, or do you view that as the same pretty big deal in terms of a new and different way forward? >> i think you're a little bit more excited than i am, but let me say you guys are in charge. you can make whatever you want. i would talk to the people over there. >> well, i -- i'm just tremendously optimistic about what that means for us going forward, and it doesn't happen without 12 years of work in the background to have the credibility to lead on that issue. and i thank you for using your credibility to do that. >> thanks a lot. i appreciate it. >> i yield back. >> gentleman yields back his time. i want to thank the gentleman for coming up here. i know you had to sit and wait. i hope we were worth your time. i know you were worth our time. if you have anything writing, if you'll leave that there for the stenographer, i appreciate it very much. and gentleman's now dismissed. thank you very much. i will now be -- chair will now be in receivable motion. this closes the hearing portion of hr-5021, the highway and transportation funding act of 2014. and the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized. >> mr. chairman, before i make the motion, i do need to make one more introduction, if i could. i was so focused on mr. mccu mccullough, i did not mention an intern i have with me today, emanuel who is here. he's interning in our office this summer. i'm delighted he's here also. i move the committee grant hr-5 021 of closed rule. one-hour debate, equally divided among the chairs and ranking minority members of the committee on transportation infrastructure. committee on ways & means. all points of order against consideration. the rule provides the amendment and the nature of the substitute recommended by the committee on ways & means is modified by the amendment printed in the rules and committee report should be considered as adopted and the bill as amended should be considered as read. the rule was all points of order against provisions in the bill as amended. the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. >> refer to the gentleman from orlando, florida, for discussion. gentleman's recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this rule provides for the consideration of a stop gap highway bill under a closed amendment process. it's pretty straightforward. evenly divides the debate time between the committee on information infrastructure and ways & means. the rule is self-executing for two amendments. one by mr. shuster making a hand full of technical changes, the other by mr. graves adding some findings. this is a very straightforward rule. i urge the support of this rule. >> i thank the gentleman for his explanation. the committee is now open for amendment or discussion. gentlewoman from new york is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i have an amendment to the rule. i rule the committee make an order and give the necessary waivers for an amendment by mr., representative blumenauer, number four, that would express that the house enact a long term transportation authorization through at least 2020. the amendment provides funding to the highway trust fund adequate to ensure financing of surface transportation projects through the period necessary to enact such a policy. i think given the space, the information infrastructure in the united states, we should make that an order, let the house decide whether they want to add that or not. >> i appreciate the gentlewoman for her amendment. is there discussion? i would advise the committee, i believe what the gentlewoman has said, it carries not only merit, but a lot of common sense. however, it should be noted that the united states senate, which is headed up by her party, originally moved their bill to the end of the year, and the big push was get it to the end of the year and mr. shuster found a way to push it further out and to make it a longer enacting bill into next year. and i believe that what the gentlewoman's after, while to 2020 is an attribute that we did not make, but that until the middle of the year be until the end of the year -- the end of this year. i am in favor of voting against the amendment from the gentlewoman. further discussion? seen none. the vote will be on the amendment by the gentlewoman from new york. those in favor, aye. no? >> roll call, please. >> nos have it. the roll call vote. >> miss foxx? miss foxx, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. cole, mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern? aye. mr. hastings, aye. mr. polis, aye. mr. chairman, no. report the total. >> four ayes, seven nays . >> amendment is not agreed too. gentleman from florida. >> yes, thank you, mr. chairman. vy an amendment to the rule. i rule the committee grant hr-5021 an older rule so all members have opportunity to offer amendments to the bill on the floor. >> you've now heard the amendment by the gentleman. gentleman's recognized. >> limited discussion. not only does the underlying field violate cut goal and section 302-f of the congressional budget act, but now the majority has chair pier picked certain amendments they wanted to and closed all process for the rest of the amendments. i made the appeal that all of the amendments of those who came here should be made an order and i certainly am disappointed that mr. blumenauer's amendments are not needed. the committee is going to accept amendments, a clean extension, why not open the process to all members? members should be allowed to improve this bill on the house floor out in the open instead of having these decisions be made by just a few people, and that's what happened here behind closed door. >> you've now heard the discussion from the gentleman from florida. further discussion on the amendment? seen none. the vote will now be on the hastings amendment. those in favor, signify by saying aye. opposed, no. nos have it. gentleman asked the roll call vote. >> miss foxx? >> no. >> miss foxx, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. nugent, mr. webster. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings. >> yes. >> mr. hastings, aye. mr. chairman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, no. >> reports the total. >> four ayes, seven nos. >> amendment not agreed to. further amendment or discussion? seen none. vote will be on the motion from the gentlewoman from north carolina, vase chairman of the committee. those in favor, signify by saying aye. those opposed no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the gentleman from orlando, florida, mr. webster, will be handling this for republicans. mr. polis will be handling this for democrats. the next rules committee meeting is scheduled for 3:00 on tomorrow, on the charitable extenders package. i want to thank the important visitors that we had today. up to and inlutiewdinluting our in congress. thank you very much. this is a distinct pleasure, not only to know mr. foxx brings teachers who she speaks about on a regular basis to the capitol, but you joined us in the rules committee. certainly emanuel, if that is his name. one of his interns. and have ssavannah and juliana, to thank you for taking time to be us with today. we have now completed our work for the day, and this ends our hearing. >> katie o'donnell is covering the financial services bill on the house florida's week. what is the funding level in the legislation and what areas of the federal government? >> it is $21.3 billion total. agencies and the financial services area -- treasury, irs. they're looking at funding. small business administration. >> you mentioned it involves the irs. how has the recent investigations affected what is in the bill? >> a lot. there is a good handful of writers taking aim at the irs. they prohibit funding towards targeting people for the first amendment rights. cut the ultimate which is a 340el $1 million increase from current funding levels. is $1.5 billion less than the president requested. the irs has seen its funding levels dwindle. funding time the actually increased year-over-year was in 2010 which was before they had to do a lot of their current responsibilities. there is some new tax evasion law. the federal health care overall where they have 40 provisions to implement. the irs has been frustrated with its strained resources. in addition to cutting money, there are several riders saying things like spending. write about some of the bills other policy writers, including a provision decriminalizing marijuana in washington, d.c. tell us about that one. collects that would prohibit your criminalizing marijuana. funds cannot go towards any law that would either legalize or reduce penalties for possession of marijuana in d.c. there are a lot of concerns. democrats have accused republicans of basically being hypocritical on states rights because when it comes -- when it comes to d.c. provisions, democrats have refused republicans of legislating bills. in this case, it is not clear what the first amendment was once enacted but it did pass republican partyline vote. >> the delegate for the district of columbia weighed in on this and in a tweet and speaking on the house floor last week -- why is she opposing it? >> it is an infringement on the city's ability to govern. the bill handles funding for the district of columbia so there is always a fight over an abortion provision, funds going towards abortions in d.c. she routinely sees this as kind of congress overstepping its bounds. >> what are some of the other key issues and amendments you'll be looking for during the debate? >> the fcc gets a funding cut. democrats are really opposed to this. the ranking member of the subcommittee on financial services on the appropriations committee has basically said the republicans are asking for another financial crisis. it would see about a $100 million cut from president obama's request. it does continue at current levels but the fcc says they need more money to implement the. frank -- the dodd-frank overhaul. there are provisions that would require new reporting requirements and some of the derivative provisions. anything to do with the d.c. is always a flashpoint. abortions -- and there will be a lot of working fors. the irs, doesn't look like they are protesting the writers on the irs, but they may offer amendments to try and increase the funding. >> kitty o'donnell -- you can hear her stories and follow her on twitter at katie o'donnell. we appreciate your time. >> on the next washington journal, jeff denham on the influx of incoming minors on the u.s.-mexico border. republicans pass on immigration. jim mcgovern of massachusetts talks about his resolution to remove u.s. troops from iraq at the end of the year and spoke about lawsuits against president obama. the financial literacy group representative to discuss of teenagers. washington journal is live every morning at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. tuesday, hearing on public and private efforts for criminal networks. subcommittee meets at 2:30 p.m. eastern. we will bring it to you on c-span 3. >> we are at the henry center which is 50 miles south and west of des moines. the wallace's of iowa consists of three generations of wallace's. the patriarch was known as fondly as uncle henry and he was the founder of farmer magazine. his father was u.s. secretary of agriculture under woodrow wilson and his son was born on this farm in 1880. andent on to become editor was asked why

Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140715

the clerk: the speaker's room, shington, d.c., july 15, 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable robert pittinger to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip each, to five minutes but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. lumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. last wednesday i joined several of my colleagues and hundreds of people in the congressional auditorium to watch a gripping new film, "the interpreters" by vice news about american failure to protect afghans who helped our soldiers as guides, interpreters and drivers. their lives are now at risk as a result of their brave service and our failure to act. for almost a decade i've been battling to have the united states honor these obligations by effectively implementing a special immigrant visa program authorized by congress. for a while we were battling the bureaucracy itself which issued an embarrassing total of 32 visas for all of 2012. to help save the poor souls trapped in a bureaucratic hell. since the beginning of the year, this bureaucratic logjam has broken and we've been able to raise it to 4,000 a month but with that progress has come troubling news. congress set the cap on these visas artificially low. only 3,000 for the entire fiscal year, and these visas are effectively gone now. they're used up. it's not theoretical. we have 6,000 afghan applicants in the pipeline right now, and more who are looking for relief and safety. recently secretary kerry in a powerful opinion piece in "the l.a. times" noted this challenge and called on congress to act and raise the cap. with each day that passes, as so vividly illustrated by vice media's gripping documentary, these people whose lives and those of their families are left to the tender mercies of the taliban seeking revenge and setting an example. one case just caught myy, the plight of mohammed is typical. his father was murdered. his toddler brother was abducted because of his special service to the united states without a special immigrant visas, he's -- visa, he's next on the list to be kidnapped, tortured, perhaps beheaded. as secretary kerry pointed out, the way a country winds down a war in a farahway place and stand for those who risked safety in the fight sends a powerful message to the world that's soon not forgotten. secretary kerry as withdrawal proceeds, the united states is in danger of sending a wrong message to interpreters and others who put their lives on the line to help our troops and diplomats do their job. this is why this is so urgent. remember how we brought the iraqi special immigrant visa program back to life last october in the middle of impossible circumstances during the government shutdown. there was bipartisan support with leader cantor, leader hoyer, chairman goodlatte, tulsi gabbard, adam kinzinger. a number of leaders sprung to action. we need that same bipartisan support and urgency for the afghan visa program. as soon as possible, congress must authorize at least 1,000 additional visas for this fiscal year to get us through these next critical months. it's the moral obligation of every member of congress, not to just co-sponsor h.r. 4594, the bipartisan afghan allies protection act that i've introduced with my friend and colleague adam kinzinger and senators mccain and she houston in the senate. we -- sheheen in the senate. as congressman kinzinger pointed out, it doesn't matter where you stand with the iraq war. it's where we stand in keeping our commitments. innocent lives are at stake. american honor is on the line and our future actions could be compromised if people don't trust us. it's our duty to save the lives of those who risk so much to help us when we needed them. they need us to co-sponsor h.r. 4594, to protect innocent lives and american honor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, for five minutes. mr. jones: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i'm on the floor today because i believe that congress must put an end to the waste of american lives and taxpayers' dollars overseas. recently president obama requested $500 million to train and arm syrian rebels. in his editorial, and i quote, congress can stop obama's rampup to war, pat buchanan made an excellent point saying, before congress takes up his proposal, both houses should demand that obama explain exactly where he gets this constitutional authority to plunge us into what the president himself calls somebody else's civil war. buchanan goes on to comment. syria has not attacked us, syria does not threaten us. why are we joining a jihad to overthrow the syrian government? mr. speaker, iraq is another country in which america has become involved to the detriment of our best interests. a former commandant of the marine corps, who's been my advisor for the past six years, stated in a recent email to me and i quote, we should not put boots on the ground. he went on to say that the situation in iraq is a middle east issue that needs a middle east solution, not more american troops. unfortunately there are currently 750 american boots on the ground in iraq with authorization from the president for up to 770 in the future. as our involvement in iraq escalates, i'm reminded of another important point made by pat buchanan. it is astonishing that republicans who threaten to impeach obama for uesurpg authority at home remains -- urping authority at home, he marches us back into syria and iraq. deny obama anted to to take us into syria. now obama will take us into two middle east wars on his own authority. greg neubahl wrote an inciteful editorial for "time" entitled "why iraq was a mistake." from 2000 to 2002, the general was the director of operations for the joint chief of staff and describing himself as a witness and therefore a party to the actions that led us to the invasion of iraq and unnecessary war. in closing, i'd like to quote a paragraph regarding the distortion of intelligence that drew america into the iraq war in the first place. d i quote, in 1971, the rock group, the who, released an anti-war anthem titled, "won't get fooled again." to us its lyrics has a feeling that we will never stand by quietly while those ignoreant about and casual about war mismanage the conduct of it. and i further quote the general. never again we thought would our military senior leaders remain silent as american troops were marched off to an ill-conceived engagement. it's 35 years later and the judgment is in. the who had it wrong. we have been fooled again. that's a sad, sad word, we have been fooled again. mr. speaker, we in congress have the responsibility based on the constitution to never get fooled again, but too many times we do not uphold our constitutional rights. mr. speaker, i believe the words of pat buchanan and greg nebahl articulate the many reasons that no president should bypass congress and the constitution to send our military into combat. mr. speaker, before closing i have beside me a photograph from the greensboro news record and here we go again in setting up our men and women in uniform in a foreign country that could be killed. this poster, mr. speaker, as you can probably see, is a group of army soldiers bringing a flag-draped coffin off of a plane. plies, god, don't let us forget that those in uniform are your children and we must protect them by meeting our constitutional responsibility. and with that, mr. speaker, i'll ask god to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform and god to please continue to bless america and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. quigley, for five minutes. mr. quigley: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of summer food security programs for america's children because unlike congress, hunger doesn't take a summer vacation. today in the united states, food insecurity is persistent and rampant. we are one of the richest and most powerful nations in the world. yet, one in five american households with children experience food insecurity each year. any american suffering from hunger is caused for concern, but it's especially troubling to think that so many children lying in bed at night are struggling because they are hungry. most that don't get adequate sustenance at home get free or reduced rate during the school year. in fact, 21 million children nationwide rely on free or reduced price meals during the school year. 825,000 of those children are from my state of illinois. while we've worked hard to ensure our children are fed during the school year, we often overlook the fact that many of these same children lack access to these meals during the summer months. of the many children who receive free or reduced price lunches during the school year, only 14% currently access meals during the summer. this is why the usda summer food service program is so important. as members of congress, it is imperative that we support and promote these programs so families who need help during the summer months can take advantage of them. recently i had the opportunity to visit a summer food service program in my district with the greater chicago food depository and no kid hungry illinois. i was able to see firsthand how the program is benefiting children in illinois and across the country. these programs are working and making a positive difference for our local families. take, for example, the story of maria and her husband from chicago heights. maria works part time at a laundry mat where her husband works full time in a lumberyard. these two hardworking americans are doing all they can to provide for their children, but times are still tough and food is getting more and more expensive. to help pick up the slack, maria and her children visit the lunch bus. the lunch bus is a great program that not only provides lunch for low-income children during the summer but also provides a safe place for those children to play and meet other kids. there are families all over america like maria's family that work hard every day to provide for their children. but oftentimes despite their hard work, difficult circumstances cause them to come just short. we in this congress have a responsibility to stand up for these hardworking families and to ensure no child in america goes to bed hungry. that's why i'm a proud co-sponsor of the bipartisan summer meals act, which will expand the usda summer nutrition program to help more children across this country access quality meals during the summer months. rather than slashing these funds, we need to focus on positive steps we can take to end hunger across the country. the best way we can reduce the amount of federal government spending on food nutrition programs is by supporting legislation that creates jobs and helps families earn a living wage. moving forward, it is incumbent on all of us to promote summer food nutrition programs in our districts and to ensure that healthy, hungry-free kids act, which expires next year, is re-authorized at sufficient levels. as i said, mr. speaker, hunger does not take a summer break and neither should we when it comes to taking care of america's children. i will do all i can and make sure these children have access to nutritious meals all year round and i ask inside colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same. thank you and i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, in a dramatic shift from just a short time ago, the united states is reducing its dependence on foreign source of energy and has the opportunity to become a major force in the international energy market. it's being made possible through the development of our domestic energy resources, namely the expansion of unconventional resources such as shale gas and oil. through remarkable innovation, the u.s. has been able to access oil and gas from shell formations previously inaccessible or uneconomical to produce. as a result, we have quickly moved from energy dependence and weaker footing to energy abundance and strategy -- strategic leverage. at a time the economy has not recovered at an acceptable pace, gas production in a particular area, such as the shale in pennsylvania, provide a key source of economic relief and job creation. as a result of the marcellus, pennsylvanians and americans across the country are benefiting from lower heating costs. businesses are able to produce goods more efficiently. and manufacturers are looking to relocate to the united states to create products, support economic expansion, and grow jobs that were previously headed overseas. mr. speaker, if we are to sustain the same level of growth and expansion, policymakers must make smart choices for the future so we support rather than hinder this opportunity. to start, we must continue to expand gas utilization domestically. the marcellus shale, for example, has changed where in the united states gas is transported and utilized and how it is transport interested region to region. this reconfiguration requires new infrastructure, including pipelines for transmission and transport, and new processing facilities, and this all requires long-term planning and investment. additionally, because domestic production of natural gas is far surpassing u.s. demand, most economists agree a modest expansion of natural gas exports would serve to stabilize domestic prices and supply. which is critical to sustaining the rapid growth in the industry we have witnessed. furthermore, each gas export terminal is a multibillion dollar investment that creates construction jobs, in addition to the more permanent positions within the natural gas value chain. that means jobs for steel workers, turbine manufacturers, pipe fitters, and others which will help communities across the country. given the situation in the ukraine and events in the middle east, we are reminded that our energy resources can also provide significant geopolitical benefits. exporting even a small amount of these plentiful resource overseas for our allies will strengthen not only our domestic economy but national security. president obama, secretary of state kerry, and leaders of the european union have clearly stated that additional global supplies of natural gas will benefit europe and strategic partners. for this reason i'm happy to say the house passed h.r. 6, demetsic prosperity and global freedom act. this bipartisan bill will streamline the permitting process for natural gas exports. in february, 2014, the united states department of commerce reported that our national trade ficit for 2013 improved by $63.1 billion in comparison to 2012. however despite this improvement, figures for month of april show exports are increasing and decreasing. as a trult the trade deficit is now at a two-year high. with the u.s. department of commerce having acknowledged that increased petroleum exports are a key factor that can contribute to lower trade deficit t. makes perfect sense to allow additional l.n.g. exports to refurther reduce the trade deficit. in addition to its economic and international benefits, natural gas will significantly lower our carbon emissions, which decreased by 3.8% last year, down to 1994 levels, according to government data. mr. speaker, the united states needs a smart energy policy that enables the citizens to continue receiving the ben abundance low-cost energy, and also want to utilize these resources as a tool, strategic leverage to improve our environment and shape international events to the benefits of america and its allies. mr. speaker, we have made a smart and strategic decision in the house with the passage of-h 6. let's continue to advance similar policies to further leverage the many benefits of our demessenk energy resources. let's do it for the good of the american people and our nation's strategic competitiveness in the world. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from wisconsin, for ive minutes. ms. moore: thank you so much he, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the export-import bank. the official being export credit agency of the united states of america. mr. speaker, it is so frustrating to see this normally bipartisan effort to support the american economy get hijacked. i would bet, mr. speaker, that this bill could pass on suspension, that 2/3 of this house will be willing to re-authorize the ex-im bank if we were to put it on a vote on this floor. no, instead we are forced once again to yield to a minority of the majority, the tea party, anch demands decapitation of economic development and jobs creator giant. the united states of america's export-import bank. why is this? is it because the bank doesn't work? no. it is an example of house government effectively can partner with the private sector. the bank puts u.s. exporters on equal footings with foreign competitors as foreign export aid and bridges the gap in the private market. the reality is is that in the global marketplace, our competitors are aggressively using their export bank. milwaukee, wisconsin, my district, is still a very much manufacturing economy. second in the nation, relying on this sector. and every day workers in milwaukee compete against foreign workers with ex-- extensive and aggressive foreign export credit agency backing. today the united states export-import bank supports an estimated 205,000 export related jobs in the united states. , w, my fellow republicans wisconsin colleagues, not long ago, representatives ryan and representative sensenbrenner, urged bank financing because, quote, all steps should be taken to reinvigorate the economy and bring jobs to the united states, unquote. with higher than average unemployment in milwaukee, the need for the bank has not changed. not only does the bank support jobs, but it makes a profit from its operation and pays funds back to the u.s. taxpayers, $5 billion since 1990. now, opponents don't acknowledge that. still they call for gimmick accounting, or as my c.p.a. and tax attorney colleague, representative sherman calls it, quote, fairy tale value accounting. further, opponents claim that the bank exclusively helps big corporations, yet 90% of the bank's activities helps small business, and that number is on the rise. tool and dye in milwaukee, company you never heard of because it's not big. in fact, reports show failure to re-authorize the bank hurts small and medium businesses the most. i hear delta testify against the ex-im bank and hypocritically turns around and uses foreign export credit agencies for their fleet. by the way, delta would qualify to use more foreign export credit to buy foreign made airbus aircrafts if congress does not re-authorize the export bank. for real, for real, colleagues. do any of us believe that delta will turn down foreign support to buy an airbus plane or plane from the chinese? come on now, i have a bridge to sell you. opponents also say the bank only supports to prevent exports. exactly, theback's mission is limited. it does not compete with private financing. the export bank's fees are igher than u.s. bank fees. it is not in competition. it works in concert with banks here in the united states. this is further proof that the bank is working. however, that 2% still supports a lot of economic activity in milwaukee. when i'm back in my district, unions and businesses large and small are hand in hand saying re-authorize the export-import bank. we use the rhetoric of jobs an awful lot around here in congress. now is the time to take a powerful stand for u.s. jobs and u.s. workers. actions speak louder than words. i urge my colleagues to support the re-authorization of the export-import bank. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. grim: it's with a heavy heart but also a swelling of pride that i rise before this house today to honor the memory, the memory and heroic sacrifice of one of fdny's bravest, lieutenant gordon "matt" embliss. a veteran staten island fireman with 14 years of distinguished service tragically gave his life this past fourth of july weekend. he was attempting to rescue ictims trapped in a horrific blaze in brooklyn. the lieutenant leaves behind a devoted wife and two beautiful girls. he's new york's first firefighter to fall in the line of duty since 2012. while a family and community mourn the excruciating loss of one of their finest native sons, one of their most dedicated protectors, lieutenant ambliss is a testament to the uncommon courage and sacrifice at the fdny re of the entire family and the dangers they face in keeping america's greatest city safe every day. he died after searching the 19th floor of a burning brooklyn housing complex, determined to leave no innocent victim behind as the flames spread rapidly from floor to floor. undaunted by the danger that would have melted the courage of most any man, matt faced it, undeterred, head on. so i join all of my constituents in brooklyn, in staten island, and all new yorkers, in acknowledging the immense debt of gratitude we all owe to matt and his brothers in the fdny who put our safety above their own day in and day out. while standing among those honoring lieutenant ambliss at his funeral on staten island last week, i was humbled by the valor, the incredible valor, of matt's actions. we watched as matt's brothers in uniform, especially the beach boys of ladder 81 in staten island, and the hooper street gang of ladder 19 in brooklyn, paid their final respects to the fallen hero. seeing firsthand the mixture of strength and despair on their ces, i saw matt's wife and their beautiful daughters. this was a very stark reminder that not only do we owe the enormous debt of gratitude to fallen heroes like matt, but also to the loving families that bear the immeasurable sacrifice right along with them. when our nation was viciously fdny d on 9/11, 343 firefighters gave their lives. since then 18 more, including matt, have fallen in the line of duty. each loss while a weight on our hearts adds yet another angel to that storied brotherhood of heroes. i ask all of my colleagues to join me in the remembrance and commemoration of a true american hero in every sense of the word. may god bless lieutenant ambliss, may i bring comfort to his young family. may he protect all our brave fdny fire firets, and may the noble sacrifice enshrined in matt's memory never be forgotten. and to you, nanette, please know that you, gia, and gabby are in my thoughts, in my prayers, and my heart is broken for your enormous loss. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from massachusetts, clark --e -- ms. ms. clark: thank you very much, mr. speaker. harry truman famously said, if you want a friend in washington, get a dog. i can tell you that many of our nation's animal shelters and rescue groups would be more than happy to introduce you to a new friend. between five and seven million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year, and the hardworking individuals at these shelters and rescues try to make sure that each of these animals makes its way to a forever home. . i have been fortunate that i have had rescue dogs. as a girl it was scotty and daisy. as a newlywed, my husband and i adopted samantha and walter. and as a family we welcomed bison into our family. i want to honor the hard work of volunteers and staff at animal shelters and rescue groups across the nation. and i encourage my colleagues to join me today at this year's paws for celebration event on capitol hill. this event, sponsored by the aspca, and hosted by the congressional animal protection caucus, will feature adoptable dogs and cats from shelters and rescues from around the washington, d.c., area. it will be a great opportunity for members of congress to take a moment and thank the shelter and rescue community for their hard work and dedication to our nation's homeless pets. and who knows, you might even find that friend in washington you've been looking for. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. perry, for five minutes. mr. perry: thank you, mr. speaker. 400 rocket attacks from gaza in the past three weeks, mr. speaker. israel's made several attempts to diffuse the issue and the situation. this is how hamas responded. we will not agree to quiet in exchange for quiet. if israel does not agree to our demands, i expect we will continue this battle. can you imagine that? demands from hamas that israel not respond, not respond to rocket attacks. that's the only way you will get quiet for quiet. between israel and hamas. now we all know where this recent exchange started on june 12, the abduction, subsequent murder of three veili teenagers, suspected -- by three i veily teenagers, suspect -- by israeli teenagers, suspected by hamas. there is a difference between how both sides act from the israeli prime minister, i condemn the murder of a palestinian youth in jerusalem. murder riots, incitement, vigilanteism, they have no place in our democracy. israel quickly tracked down and arrested the teens' suspected murderers, tracked them down and is prosecuting them. what is the response from hamas? what is the like response? in response they launched nearly 400 rockets at israel since june 14, for a month this has been going on. into their population centers. not into military targets, mr. speaker, but population centers. now, last week i attended a briefing with israeli ambassador ron durhammer to discuss the ongoing situation in gaza and one thing i found interesting is all the members that were there from israel had on their phones an application which sounded an air raid siren every time it sounded in israel and we scarcely got through the briefing because they were continually going off all around the room and i imagine myself in my hometown hunkered down in my basement against a rocket attack. no civilization should live this way. interestingly enough, we viewed surveillance video of hamas members using their own people as human shields. the israelis actually send a warning shot. this is the building we're going to hit. this is where you're making rockets and we're going to attack it next. you'd think that people would run from the people knowing it's going to be blown up. they send people to the building. i'll remind everybody the responsibility for civilian casualties when those civilians are used as human shields lies with the party that deliberately places them at risk. namely, hamas. understand, they are placing their launch sites and their factories next to mosques, next to churches, next to hospitals, next to schools. the plan is, their intent is to make sure when israel responds, responds to an attack that there are maximum casualties of civilians so that americans will think that the israelis are bad, that the narrative is that israelis are using an unmeasured response, response. but remember it is a response, mr. speaker. no other country faces daily rocket attacks against its civilians nor would any -- nor should any other nation tolerate such violence. and we strongly condemn the continued rocket fire into israel and the deliberate targeting again, mr. speaker, of citizens. now, this can all end. president mahmoud abbas can nounce the hamas unity government. how do we ever get to peace when their unified government is with terrorists? the palestinian terrorists have fired hundreds of missiles and project aisles at the population centers in israel, and just recently rejected the cease-fire negotiated by egypt. i mean what is it that they want? we know what they want. they want israel obliterated from the map, mr. speaker. for our administration who has at times been with israel but not enough times, i would urge them, instead of calling on restraint for israel, asking israel to restrain. they're responding, mr. speaker, to attacks on their civilian population. instead of asking them to restrain, demand the p.a. renounce hamas and start supporting israel and give them the necessary resources to meet this threat. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from, ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, good morning. i rise today to talk about children and to talk about children around the world, here at home, and i guess what's most on many americans' minds because of the visuals that they've seen, unaccompanied children coming into my state, the state of texas. i was down at the border some weeks ago, maybe just two weeks ago, and i looked at the reality of what many people see on television. and what i looked at was impoverished, frightened children, 12 years and under, hildren with diapers, children who were frightened and without their parents. in addition, i saw the lovingness of volunteers from catholic charities to save the children to many residents in the border community reaching out and helping. now we are about to engage on a debate based upon the president's recommendation on what they need to humanely treat these children. frankly, i believe that many in america have gotten the wrong information through various excerpts and commentary that have been made by people that are uninformed. i'm very glad in houston on this past weekend we had over 80 religious leaders from all denominations, communities, people who drove into houston from counties way beyond houston all standing up and acknowledging their commitment to the humane treatment of children. they were from diverse backgrounds. they were ethnically diverse and racially diverse, as i said, religiously diverse. ministers like dr. haynes, dr. colefield, pastors from faith temple, i believe, in polk county, if i have it correct. and individuals from the united methodist church, catholic charities, episcopal church, people who are in the midst of ramadan from the muslim faith, all ready to help these children. that is the america we all know. it's said over the years to bring me your forlorne. that is the same america that can stand alongside a jordan who is taking thousands upon thousands of syrians or turkey who is taking thousands upon thousands of syrians, not the america who listens to the fierce and wrong information about disease. these children are medically checked but if you will check the documents you'll find that in spite of the poverty, el salvador, honduras and guatemala immunized at least 90% to 95% of their children but yet we double check and immunize again. so i think it's important to understand that this law that has in actuality been at the center point of my friends on the other side of the aisle wanting to change, with the introduction now, the humane law is a law that should stay in place and that we should give children of any country, contiguous and noncontiguous at least due process rights because these are children who in actuality have fled violence or human trafficking or sex trafficking and they are sometimes unable to articulate that in a short period of time, they need counsel and they need courts that understand. to rush through the decision, to have a court make a decision in 72 hours is absolutely absurd and impossible. to only increase immigration judges by 40, i've introduced h.r. 4940 that introduces immigration judges by 70. they at this point immigration udges have 1,660 cases per court versus the district court which has less than 500 cases and they're overwhelmed. there's no way you can process these children presently, and the expedited proceedings are not going to work. where is our claim to due process for these children? look forward to working deliberatively -- however, they are in a deportation process. they are not just here to stay. putting them in a humane condition, debunking the myth of disease and having these children go and find that these children will appear in court by having lawyers and enforcing the border with a border security bill, h.r. 1417, that this house and this house leadership refuses to put on the floor of the house, was passed almost two years ago. if you want border security, pass the border security bill that we have written. finally, mr. speaker, i want to care about american children, the violence must stop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: those being shot by guns across america and stop the gun violence, we need a martial plan for the children who are being shot by guns, care for children all over the world. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. implementing the health care law as well as another that blocks a dc law decriminalizing marijuana possession. off the floor over on the senate side is sub committing investigating commit efforts, that hearing getting under way at 2:30 eastern. president obama is in washington today: research and technology program. he's tall about highway funding coming up today, this morning and look for coverage later today on the c-span network. on the highway bill the house rule's committee met. the measure provides $11 billion to fund projects through the end of may next year. monday's meeting was just under an hour. rules committee will come to order. thank you very much for joining us today for a very important meeting of the rules committee, where we're going to meet to consider hr-5021 the highway and transportation funding act of 2014. current estimates indicate the highway trust fund will run dry sometime this month. allowing this to happen would dramatically impact our nation's federal highways program, severely limit our ability to fund construction projects necessary to ensuring that america and our economy can continue to remain competitive, and, of course, we need to worry about getting the job done for america's economic and commerce marketplace to make sure that we stay up with their vibrancy to have a good infrastructure. the legislation before us today provides the resources necessary to keep the trust fund solvent. through may 31st 2015. and while i'm sure that everyone here would like to see more permanent solution, including the young chairman of the transportation committee mr. schuster, this proposal, however, avoids a problem where we don't reach a deal in to avert -- end of the year crisis. so what we believe we're going to have today is a more comprehensive solution and i want to thank dave camp who is chairman of the ways and means committee for being here today and for chairman schuster who have done a lot of work on this effort. i know that we are joined today by other members of the democrat party, including our delegate eleanor norton holmes from washington, d.c., who is the ranking member of the committee on highways and transit. and also government reform and also earl blumenauer, who i see every morning as he has ridden his bike in to the united states capitol knowing that he still needs safe roads and bridges to accomplish that, who's a member of the budget committee, also. so i want to thank each of you for being here today, and i have three quick announcements. first of all, we have intern program, team sessions. we have two important college interns, both graduates, first of southern methodist university savannah stevens. savannah, thank you for being here. and jillian quigley, a graduate of amherst, i want to thank them both for taking time to come to the rules committee. and lastly my baby son nicolas who is joining us first time to see his dad do the rules committee chairmanship, so i told him, don't yawn on tv, and get off that darn blackberry, or i-thing. he reminded me it's an i-5 dad, and i said okay. want to thank everybody for being here. i'd like to yield to the gentleman from massachusetts for any opening statement. >> welcome everybody here. and i will forego an opening statement and get right to the testimony. >> i thank the gentleman. i think that's a strong and clear message that what we want to do is get our work done today. with that said i would defer first to the gentleman from michigan, the chairman of the ways and means is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. at the end of this month states across the country will be forced to put construction projects on hold if congress cannot address the highway trust fund. at risk are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the construction industry at a time when millions of americans are packing their bags to take a vacation or just traveling to work. we must ensure that the roads, bridges and highways they travel on are modernized and safe. the bill before us would provide enough funding to get us through may 31 -- 2015. this legislation is the only package with all provisions having a proven history of getting big bipartisan votes in both the house and the senate. and last week passed through the ways and means committee by a bipartisan voice vote. both pension smoothing and custom users fees are included in the senate finance committee bill and those have been voted on and approved by the senate already this year. the leaking underground storage tanks transfer is identical in the house and senate bills. over the past few weeks, we've been working with our counterparts on the senate finance committee to address this matter in a bipartisan, bicameral way, it's important to note that the senate proposal now also reflects the need for a ten-month fix. while there is also bipartisan bicameral agreement that we need a long-term solution to the highway trust fund, it is my hope that ten months gets congress enough time to act. some of our -- that we need to go shorter to go longer. that is the bill should only get us through december 31 of this year. i think that's a mistake. as i noted the finance committee agrees. these are policies everyone is familiar with. they're policies that will provide the funding we need and they're the only policies that will pass both the house and the senate in time to fund our highways after the end of this month. i would urge everyone to keep an eye on that goal, finding an immediate fix to keep transportation projects going in the bill before us does just that. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i appreciate not only your feedback but your hard work on this effort, and to keep us as we've spoken about earlier, right on target getting work done as quickly as possible. like to next welcome the gentleman from pennsylvania, the young chairman of the transportation committee. i know mr. chairman you've been hard at work for a long time but you also come with a view of having a father who has walked down this pathway with you, and i knew your dad. know your dad, bill, and i want you to know that i intend to tell him how proud we are of the job you're continuing to do for the people of this great nation, caring about their roads and bridges wherever they might be across the united states. the gentleman is recognized at this time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate those kind words, and i'll pass them along to bud. >> i intend to tell him myself. >> i appreciate that. it's probably better he'll tell me something i didn't do right in this bill probably. but that's okay. want to thank mr. chairman and the members of the committee. we have the opportunity to appear here today for hr-5021 the highway transportation funding act of 2014. the highway transportation funding act of 2014 extends federal service transportation programs and shares the solvency of the highway trust fund through may as chairman camp pointed out. hr-5021 is a clean extension of the surface transportation programs and continues map 21 reforms. we have an immediate and critical need to address the solvency of the trust fund and extend the current surface transportation law. this bill does that in a responsible way and with policies that previously received strong bipartisan and bicameral support. if congress fails to act as the chairman once again mentioned, there will be thousands of projects across this country, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be in jeopardy if we don't do this. the legislation provides that much needed certainty and stability of the states. this bill in no way precludes congress from continuing to work on a long-term funding solution and reauthorization bill which remains a top priority. however this legislation is a responsible solution at this time and assures that we don't play politics with these programs. enables us to continue to making improvements to our system. i appreciate chairman camp's attention to this pressing issue as well as his commitment to addressing the highway trust fund. due to the urgency of this legislation i request the committee on rules grant a closed rule that waives any necessary points of order against consideration of the bill. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much. delighted that you're here and obviously as with all four of you, anything that you have in writing whether be entered for the record without ox and i thank you very much for your solid and quick statement. ms. holmes norton, welcome to the rules committee. i'm delighted you're here. i'm sure as you and mr. blumenauer know your presence at this committee is not only appreciated and respected but we count on you to come forth with your ideas. you remember not only an important part of this country, the district of columbia but you also represent your party the democratic party and your ideas and we're delighted that you're here. we'll tell you this committee is intensely interested in the issue that hand and your ideas will work. >> thank you very much. very much appreciate the opportunity to say a few words, and i summarize my remarks and simply introduce them for the record. i'm very pleased to be before your committee this time with a truly bipartisan bill and i want to thank the chairman to my right for working to the to make sure that this bill the committee who works on this bill works in truly bipartisan fashion, and very much appreciate the way this was done in our own committee with mr. shuster and also mr. camp's committee. i am the ranking member of the surface transportation bill. mr. rayhall who is the ranking member of the full committee wouldn't be here and i'm placed to be here in his place and i am overjoyed that this bill is coming forward and i want to thank you for bringing this bill forward. not at the last minute but providing some certainty, especially now that you cannot do a long-term bill because the congress isn't quite ready for that yet. rationing has already started and you can imagine that the states and localities when rationing which means that they're already not getting the full amounts because nobody knew what would happen in the congress, that this bill is very, very welcome. obviously, not only on mr. chairman, but all of us who are sitting at this table would have preferred a long-term bill with the certainty every single district, there's no member that is not affected by this bill. and i don't think that there are many bills that come before you that have the effect that this bill would have, the short-term extension does not allow them to big into the backlog, and that would not because it only enables them to keep going but it at least enables them to keep going and looking bankruptcy in the face for the highway trust fund was so unacceptable that everyone has gotten together and done the right thing. i would just like to say a word the chairman had both asked for a closed bill. i'd like to reinforce that. look, on a sort-term, we authorization of this kind truly we can get a closed bill. if the chairman had asked for it, i noticed that there are two amendments that have been found and i just want to indicate to you, mr. chairman, that that would be unfair to the entire house. because, the notice was given -- there was no notice given that this bill was open for amendments. there's one bill that's technical, and the other is -- actually have findings. if beam had noticed that they could have come forwards with amendments we would have had others to do so. since there was no indication that amendments would be considered i ask you to do as the chairman has asked and to approve the bill that they have requested. mr. chairman, this is not a bill we would have wanted. but it's the kind of bill that brings the house together on both sides. and i am deeply grateful for you for that. and for the chairmen who are with me and the ranking member, as well. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you very much for your not only support of the bill, but speaking and attributes that we all understand. and that is the importance of bringing this bill right now on time to the floor where we can get this done and work to the. mr. blumenauer welcome, we're delighted that you're here. a couple of members showed up as soon as we heard your name mentioned. so you're very popular here at the rules committee. >> and i appreciate your courtesy. i agree with the statement that you opened the hearing with. about how important it is, your preference for permanent solution. and avert a year-end crisis. i'm going to offer a slightly different perspective on that. taking slight exception with my friends who i respect. and this is an area that i personally have been deeply involved with since i reluctantly left the transportation infrastructure where i had the honor and privilege of serving both with bill shuster and his father bud when he was chair. i made the transition to ways and means and volunteered to be on budget because i'm deeply concerned about infrastructure and finance. and the fact that we are in trouble. my concern with what's being offered today and the way we in the ways and means committee all the democrats supported an amendment i had which was as the chairman mentioned a moment ago, is to bring about long-term support by shortening the duration. because i'm afraid what you are considering, and what the committee ill-advisedly advanced is going to make the chaos, the uncertainty, it's going to make it permanent, not just this congress and next congress, but as one of the stakeholders said walking out of our hearing last week, may 2015 might as well be may 2017. because, there's no pressure to finish the job. it's not going to be easier in may. it's going to be harder. we've known about this for months. that's why every member of the democrats on the house ways and means committee asked for a hearing at the beginning of the year on transportation and finance. i've been making poor chairman camp's life miserable kind of bothering him about this for months. in 79 days, this bill expires. and we've all known that. and we've known that there was not enough money to get through even september 30th for months. and now we're walking in with a maybe a week or two, and as mr. norton pointed out, there have already been a summer slowdown. states are pulling back because of uncertainty because of what's going on. there's been no resolution of this fund in question which is exactly the same as we had in 2003. it was -- it's been tying us in knots since our last six-year reauthorization which i was pleased to play a small part as a committee member with chairman bud schuster, and ranking member where we went toe to toe with speaker gingrich you may recall and the clinton administration and were able to extract the 4.3 cent gas tax increase which was the last gas tax increase, but it was for deficit reduction. and we were able to transfer that to the highway trust fund and get a fully funded six-year bill. and since then, we've been walking around in circles. the stake holders are united and unanimous that america's falling apart, and it's falling behind, and we need to stop abaiting our responsibilities to fess up. now there are different approaches. you may hear from one of my colleagues, who's interested in devolution. there's a republican bill that would cut the transportation funding down to i think 3.7 cents, and turn this back as an unfunded mandate to the states and let them do what they will. the republican budget is kind of a status quo slow decline. if enacted it would have no new transportation projects until october 1st, 2015. and there would be a ten-year reduction of 30% of highway. and that's maybe what some people want. but that ought to be debated openly and honestly. others have ideas for raising revenue. i think we would be well served to be able to resolve this so that the transportation committee can come forward with a six-year bill. that they know what they got. is it 3.7 cents? is it the slow decline, the 30% reduction? is it maybe running with more revenue? but unless and until we answer that question, i don't know how the difficult job that the chairman of the tni committee has and the ranking member and the subcommittee how they're ever going to be able to do their job if they don't have the details. now, kicking this can down the road to may 31st is kind of interesting. because the funding issue does not get less complex. it doesn't get cheaper. and the politics don't get any easier. i don't know which party is going to control the senate next time but it's going to be an evenly, narrowly divided senate. and half the senate will be running for president, if they haven't already. and to think that in the other body, that they're magically in a couple of months going to be able to solve the funding conundrum and be able to work to give the committees of jurisdiction -- and my heart goes out, i still feel like i'm a member of the alumni association. i follow the committee. i respect the work. i respect what's going on with ranking member bitter and barbara boxer but this is not going to get easier next year. what is very likely going to mean is that we will continue the pattern. we, since 2003, we have had 21 short-term extensions. and not one six-year bill. mr. chairman, i respectfully request that we think about, that you consider allowing me to offer my amendment which would shorten the phase of the money until the end of the year. and that we actually roll up our sleeves and get to work. that we have hearings on ways and means about what the funding conundrum is and decide one way or not. that we not break for summer recess with this unresolved. i'm going to be talking about this from portland, maine to portland, oregon. i'm happy to stop by in washington, d.c. in august. i don't think we should break for reelections and leave communities with uncertainty that's going to last for years. and it's within our power to do this. i have great respect for our chairman and our friend mr. shuster, and the chairman of the tni committee, the partnership that i serve with a number of our democratic colleagues on the committee. there is a vast array of people from the u.s. chamber of commerce to the afl-cio, local governments, governors, contractors, who are in accord. and by the way, they don't support kicking this into the next congress. the chamber of commerce, for example, had a statement before we voted saying they don't support sliding it on, they want an address now. i agree with the chamber of commerce and the afl-cio and a wide range of other stake holders we need to get down to business now, we should not adjourn this congress without having resolved this long-term funding, and giving people the certainty of the federal partnership, or if some had their way, maybe there is no federal partnership. and if that's going to be the case they ought to find out sooner rather than later. mr. chairman i deeply appreciate your courtesy in permitting me to appear. i have some additional views that i would like to submit on behalf of ranking member levin and myself. >> without objection we'll include that. >> thank you very much. >> mr. blumenauer thank you very much for your words. i would say to all four of you who are here, thank you not only for taking your time to be here today, i do recognize that there are people who offer a different viewpoint. i will tell you i agree with the mark that the committee has given us here. i want to agree with not only mr. camp for his hard work, ms. norton holmes, because -- and mr. shuster, because i believe that what needs to happen is we need to get what we can get done when we can do it. it may or may not be easier for us to do it now or later. but we can achieve it here today. and i believe that it's important for washington, d.c. to have certainty as to what we're going to do. and it's great back home in dallas, texas. so i'm glad that we're doing this. i thank all four of you, except my expression of thanks and i defer. >> thank you mr. chairman, i appreciate it. i'd like to take a very brief point of personal privilege and introduce a guest i have this evening. i have a teacher in congress, this is my ninth year of doing it, bring one or two teachers from my district for about ten days to washington to shadow me, and learn more about how we do our business, and give that person an opportunity to do some individual research and my 2014 teacher in congress is here tonight. michael mccullough back there. he's a reacher at r.j. reynolds high school in win stan sigh lem and today is his first day here in the capitol. and i invited him to come over to see the rules committee in action. keep that in mind, guys. he's going to go back and talk with impressionable minds about what goes on in congress. thank you mr. chairman for allowing me -- >> yield for just one comment. michael you better put on your track shoes. she's tough to keep up with. >> and i don't have any questions either, and i thank our colleagues for being here this afternoon. to make the presentation, and i know this is -- these are very important issues, so thank you all very much. >> ms. slaughter? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to say welcome to our guests. we're happy to have you. this is known as the committee where legislation goes to die. so it's not a bad place for it to start because you won't see much while you're here. anyway, i would rather do what we're doing today, gentlemen. both of you know i've got great affection for you and the good work that you do. i haven't heard from anybody in my state without giving a few months to plant something in a state where they're just doing a survey on bridges. almost all of them are nearly dysfunctional, it's going to help. i think mr. blumenauer is exactly right. i remember the days when the most bipartisan bill in the house of representatives was transportation. and it really is, i think the fact that we can't seem to muster getting a transportation bill for us speaks very poorly of us. but as i said, i'm not -- this is not even half a loaf, this is a camera and a page, and i guess that an important. i'm having a lot of platitudes today. but there you are. i'm not happy with this bill. and i doubt any of the four of you are, either. but thank you very much. >> the gentlewoman yields back here time. thank you very much. mr. bishop? >> thank you, first of all mr. mccullough, i was a high school teacher before i came to congress. we're 0 for 2. this is sad, sorry. thank you for what you're trying to do here. i appreciate what you've done here. one of the other things that i found was extrooply helpful when i was in state legislature is we had an ending date and the ending date forced us to make decisions which were never great decisions but we had to because in that search for the perfect solution, it ain't out there. but thank you for what you've done. i appreciate your efforts. yield back. >> mr. mcgovern. >> the chair -- policy on the bill. >> without objection. by the way, does he know what it says? >> yeah, it -- you want me to read it to you? >> well, no i just ask -- >> he's okay with it i think. so we're okay. >> it's all right. >> it's kind of hard to -- >> yeah, but he would prefer a long-term fix to this bill. i always want to associate myself with miss slaughter. you know, this -- this is kicking the can down the road and i'm not sure a deadline creates any more pressure. it just means we might do another short-term, another short-term, another short-term. i was on the transportation committee, mr. shuster, when your father was the chairman. i was there with mr. blumenauer, and i was really proud to support a truly bipartisan transportation bill. and part of the problem you guys are going to have is the people that make up your conference. some of who have signed pledges to vote no new revenues. who just hate government in every form that exists. and don't understand that in order to fix our roads and our bridges and our aging infrastructure, you're going to have to find a funding mechanism. this is just a suggestion. but if you guys are still in the majority, after november, i pray that you're not, but in case you are, i hope that you will -- you might want to revisit this issue of earmarking. because i think one of the reasons why we were able to pass a transportation bill when your dad was the chairman overwhelmingly, and overrode a presidential veto was because every member had some skin in the game. they actually were able to see where this funding would go in their district and how it would make a difference. so i know that there's probably not fashionable to talk about at this particular point, but in thinking of ways to come to a long-term solution to get people to buy in, i mean that may be something we might want to revisit. but this should be a long-term bill. it's not. it is what it is. and we look forward to seeing it on the floor. i yield back my time. >> gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. >> just a couple of quick points because i agree very much with what my colleague had to say although for somewhat different political reasons. i think your position is correct, earmarking would be helpful here. i remember the days because i know my district better frankly than people at the transportation -- we could literally take care of an overpass or put an overpass in where five people had died and we could relieve, and the inability to do that. it just, i think is a sad consequence of -- of you know, politicizing the earmark process that both parties tended to do. i do think thank the gentlemen for their good work. i know this has been a very difficult reach out. i know all of us would prefer a long-term solution. nobody more than the two of you. and i remain confident at the appropriate time, mr. shuster, you'll get us there. unfortunately we're leaving you on the wrong side of the river, mr. chairman, as we discussed before. i always reminding moses didn't make it to the promised land, either. and dave camp isn't going to make it to the next congress and we're going to be poorer for that frankly. but appreciate your good work. look forward to supporting it, and urge you, as you both continue forward to continue that search for the elusive permanent solution. i agree with my good friend, mr. blumenauer, we need to find one where we can plan over multiyear period, and put the -- put the transportation infrastructure of the country on sounder footing. with that i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. thank you very much. judge hastings, you're recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i thank our presenters, especially. first mr. chairman would like to call for an open rule on a matter of this magnitude. and i certainly believe that the very least that we should make the amendments of our members, republican and democrat, who come to the committee, in order in this instance, and specifically our support of mr. blumenauer's amendment which i really do believe deserves our ample discussion, and i hope that the committee does not shut us out from having an opportunity to discuss such an important matter for the future. of this country. in essence what you've done is, and i think we all know this, you allow for six months of spending to be paid for over a period of six years. over a period of ten years. and when all is said and done the pension's smoothing and i think i'm the first person to mention it's been identified that way. i don't think it's going to go smoothly at all if all of the pension funds find themselves in a position where we have to use the pension guarantee to fund them, then we could wind up losing money if this became our only solution. understanding that there's a year, 2015. but i think it amounts to not the committee. i think you all do what you can. i heard mr. camp loud and clear regarding it being bicameral. i appreciate that. i appreciate his efforts also on trying to assure that we do what's necessary on tax reform. but obviously, this particular 113th congress isn't about that business at this point. one thing i know is this. americans don't want their roads in disrepair. and i live here, in ms. holmes norton's area, and i can tell you, there are very few places that have as many needs when it comes to fixing just potholes alone, unless some of the roads i drive on in florida rival it on occasion. but people don't want their roads in disrepair. and they don't want their bridges falling down. and the 435-plus six of us ought to have the courage, and that's what it amounts to, to stand up and say what's needed. one of the things that's desperately needed, and i go on record now and have in my constituency, is a gas tax increase. and i believe that that is one way that we can address this problem. and i call it just pure, unadulterated cowardice on behalf of all of us in congress for not being able to stand up. i yield back the balance. >> gentleman yields back his time. i appreciate the gentleman's recomments and respect his ideas. gentleman from georgia is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i happen to agree with mr. hastings. i think there's a better path forward. since we have chairman shuster here i'm not going to do any hand wringing about this temporary solution. i'm going to do hand wringing about that big five-year proposal you brought last time and i don't know why it's this time that folks don't have any courage and this time why kicking the can is down the road. it was last time when he brought a proposal with no earmarks. brought a proposal some folks thought spent too much and some folks thought spent too little. some folks thought it reformed too much and some folks thought it reformed too little. some folks thought it was too long and some thought it was too short. i don't know what path we're going to follow if we're not going to get together and pass something like that, chairman camp has tremendous courage bringing forward a fundamental tax reform bill that he knew would be met with the perfect, being the enemy of the good, and you did that same thing on transportation and how quickly you forget when you took over at that committee you made every effort so we would never have to have a day like today, and you led, and the congress did not follow you. and that is on us. that is not on your committee and i'm grateful to you for your efforts in that way. i look forward to your having one more opportunity and i hope we're better followers next time around. that i yield back. >> thank you very much. mr. polis last week we celebrated the birth of your baby. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i was apprised of a warm reception the committee gave to little cora, and i hope to bring her by next week. so i very much look forward to that. it's my understanding we're meeting four times this week. so if one of those is a late night meeting you might, in fact see me -- >> i'll see what i can do about it. gentleman is recognized. >> thank you. i thank the folks for the testimony, and in my opinion, we need to do a longer-term fix. i think that the gas tax, which is a reasonable funding mechanism for transportation is effectively a user fee, is a reasonable way of doing it. there's other approaches to user fees that i've heard about, and i think the issue with many of them is they might be very elegant economically but people worry about their impact on people's privacy. and those are very legitimate concerns, as well. and while the gas tax isn't a perfect proxy, it seems to be one that the american people can live with as opposed to other proposals that would have impacts on their privacy, knowing where their cars are going, and taxing their miles. i know my constituents would certainly react very negatively to that. so this is a very short-term discussion here. as we go forward i would encourage everybody to look to the gas tax and see if we can find a way to more permanently ensure that we can have adequate investment in infrastructure and i'm happy to yield back. >> thank you very much. gentleman from louisville, texas, dr. burgess is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll just take ownership as being part of the problem ten years ago. i bought a hybrid vehicle. i did that because i wanted the feeling of moral superiority that you have when you drive a hybrid. but the fact of the matter is, with 50 miles to a gallon i'm only contributing a half of what i used to contribute to building highways. now, i do think that some point we're going to have to address the flexibility that we give the states. and the fact that the state like texas, which desperately needs to be building infrastructure, there's a 20% diversion to rail. there's a 10% diversion to enhancements. maybe we need to look at those numbers again. but we do need to give the states the flexibility that they need to be able to deal with the problems that are at hand. mr. cole referenced earmarks. i would just say that i think the states may be better arbitrators of what they need than us here at the federal level. but i do appreciate the work that everyone's put into this. i was part of the transportation committee that produced the last six-year bill. in spite of all the difficulty it did work okay. and we'll probably need to review that six-year bill again because of the certainty that people need when they're undertaking these very, very large projects that congress is not just funding from one month to the next. but i thank you for doing the work and for getting us this bill today, and look forward to supporting it on the floor. i yield back. >> thank you very much. chairman shuster i want to thank you. you've taken a lot of humorous jabs today. and some serious jabs. but, i believe that every single member, as you alluded to earlier, as well as ms. eleanor holmes norton stated that it's in all of our best interests to get this work done. it's in all of our best interests to come to some agreement. as a texan, as a member of the donor state there are a lot of things we may or may not like about this. but i would remind us that we are americans, and that we try and work together and solve our problems through not only rule of law, but this opportunity to work together with members of congress from all across this country. so i am delighted that, in fact, you have succeeded in rounding us up and getting us to do that. i note that we've had one member that has just appeared, and i did not know if any member seeks additional time. i want to thank this panel. anything you have in writing if you'll leave for us we'll put that in the record. this panel is now -- gentleman does seek time. for one minute. >> 30 seconds. >> gentleman is recognized for a minute. [ inaudible ] >> one sentence i hope people pay careful attention to. congress should work to pass long-term reauthorization bill well before the expiration date set forth in hr-5021. >> and i really concur with the gentleman, also, and that's what we're here to try and do today. ahead of time. wish i was an on-time delivery but not everybody can be u.p.s. thank you very much. this panel is excused. we now call the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, we're delighted that mr. garrett is here. evidently he's going to be recognized to speak on the amendment that may be from the gentleman from oklahoma, from langford. mr. garrett we're delighted not only that you join us but anything you have in writing will be entered into the record. and if the gentleman will make sure that microphone is on, and i know you're trying to clean up, and the gentleman is recognized. >> so, i thank the chairman. i'll be brief. as i was sitting back there coming in late listen to some of the comments, as far as the problems that we see going forward and the underlying legislation, i don't know why the thought comes to mind the statement i think it was from dickinson from pennsylvania who said, mr. bishop knows the line, we are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. in this case the storm is frying to fund transportation needs and the skiff as mr. hastings points out is a skiff made of debt, paper being paid for over a longer period of time than we're actually going to use the dollars. the numbers i won't go into them. you probably had it from the prior panel that we're spending more money on these programs than is being generated through the federal fuels tax. to the tune of $350 billion since '08, and i don't come to you with any panacea on the federal angle of paying for this. but i do hearken the words of dr. burgess of saying that at some point in time we need to giving the states more flexibility. to the point that mr. cole raised with regard to, he sees firsthand experience apparently where states couldn't do things in a timely manner because of federal problems. so how do we do this? my understanding there might be another amendment, maybe already came here before, graves amendment or what have you to take a look at this issue. i would suggest that we have looked at this issue for some period of time. in fact we voted on this with a number of pieces of legislation repeatedly and that is to allow the states to have flexibility now, if they so want it, not compel them to. for those states who do not want to have the flexibility, they can continue to have the federal government tell them exactly what to do. and so this is a joint effort by mr. langford and myself to provide that flexibility in two different mechanisms. and to give the u.s. department of transportation the options of limiting it to just the number of states that they deem as appropriate so it will not be a burden on the system. but that's in a short -- in a nutshell. i've raised this question every year that i served on the budget committee for the 12 years i've served on the budget committee when i've had the secretaries of transportation come before my committee, whether it's republican or democrat, i would often ask them, can you tell me what exactly is the needs on route 519 in sussex county? and they of course said where is 519 in sussex county. i said, see, well that's a major road to us. but here in washington no one knows exactly what it is. yet washington is telling us how to grade it, how to put up guardrails, and how to do the rest. gosh, i think we have county engineers who are trained enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, they liked enough that they would be able to handle this job without the government doing it. and if a state so opted to opt out of the system, we should be able to do so. so that's all the legislation does, it's been around for awhile. and i would ask that this committee give it the most serious consideration that i think it deserves. >> gentleman yields back his time. thank you very much. i could not agree more with what you said, the challenge will come to how we apply this. but i want to thank the gentleman. i have believed for a long period of time that states, and the closer we get decision making to people that those people should be empowered to make those decisions. and i have disagreed with mechanisms that we've done around here for quite some time, where we did on and off ramps as opposed to highways. but such is our lot. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have no questions. >> no questions. is there anyone that seeks time on the democrat side? >> is there anyone on the republican -- gentleman from utah is recognized. >> it's the major need of the road curb and gutter. is the major need of the road curb and gutter. >> curb and gutter? >> yeah. never mind i'll talk to you about this later. i appreciate you bringing this up. >> he's been with the financial services committee. >> right. >> i'm not going anywhere. i'm done. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. gentleman from oklahoma, chairman is recognized. >> just ask you quickly, self-defense for my friend mr. burgess the earmarks were requested by my state transportation department. they couldn't get them from the federal government, they had to write them in to law. they then matched appropriately and that's how we got there. so your solution would be an elegant way around this and we could just let people, as you point out, locally know what they're doing actually take the money that they're paying here, remove the fee from the middle man, and actually go ahead and do it. and you could let people that want to spend a large portion of their transportation dollars for museums, or more bike trails or -- they could do that. but, the rest of us that would prefer to spend them on roads and highways could probably do that, too. so, i don't know that we'll be able to do it here. but i certainly like your idea. >> gentleman yields back his time. gentleman from louisville, texas, gentleman is not seeking time. gentleman from georgia. >> mr. chairman, i just wanted to say folks talk about this idea as being around for a long, long time. i don't think this idea this idea has been around for a long, long time. i don't think this idea has been around a long, long time. i take a look at what mr. garrett has brought as a pilot project. i think this is very, very different. i don't think if i looked -- you can tell me if i'm wrong, mr. garrett. i don't think you have interest, belief that the right system forward for america as it relates to funding transportation is to have some short term pilot projects for a few states. i think you know exactly what the long-term solution is for america and this is a huge departure from let's do and put it in statute and make it happen, to let's just try it a little bit and prove the concept. am i mistaken about that? >> no. when i came here 12 years ago, i was given firm assurances from the leadership at the time of the chairmen of the committee they would work with me on the broader idea you suggested. 12 years later, leadership has changed and some people have changed but i'm getting the same assurances, so i thought i would take a pilot program, being that is the more reasonable common sense middle of the road team player sort of way to do it. we'll see what the results are. >> that is a big deal. i would ask my democratic colleagues, if you sense that is the same big deal that i do. mr. blumenauer knows what he'd want to do with that state flexibility and something very different than what i'd want to do with that state flexibility. we're worried about whether the federal highway system is maintained, whether or not our major arteries, do they move commerce around? but to have someone of mr. garrett's conservative credentials come forward and say, you know what, maybe folks aren't ready to go all the way. let's just try it, and let's just try it in they places that want to try it and oregon is going to try it differently than oregon is going to try it. i view that as a huge olive bank and path forward we didn't have when mr. shuster brought his five-year proposal last time. can i ask my friends, do you think i'm making something out of nothing, or do you view that as the same pretty big deal in terms of a new and different way forward? >> i think you're a little bit more excited than i am, but let me say you guys are in charge. you can make whatever you want. i would talk to the people over there. >> well, i -- i'm just tremendously optimistic about what that means for us going forward, and it doesn't happen without 12 years of work in the background to have the credibility to lead on that issue. and i thank you for using your credibility to do that. >> thanks a lot. i appreciate it. >> i yield back. >> gentleman yields back his time. i want to thank the gentleman for coming up here. i know you had to sit and wait. i hope we were worth your time. i know you were worth our time. if you have anything writing, if you'll leave that there for the stenographer, i appreciate it very much. and gentleman's now dismissed. thank you very much. i will now be -- chair will now be in receivable motion. this closes the hearing portion of hr-5021, the highway and transportation funding act of 2014. and the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized. >> mr. chairman, before i make the motion, i do need to make one more introduction, if i could. i was so focused on mr. mccu mccullough, i did not mention an intern i have with me today, emanuel who is here. he's interning in our office this summer. i'm delighted he's here also. i move the committee grant hr-5 021 of closed rule. one-hour debate, equally divided among the chairs and ranking minority members of the committee on transportation infrastructure. committee on ways & means. all points of order against consideration. the rule provides the amendment and the nature of the substitute recommended by the committee on ways & means is modified by the amendment printed in the rules and committee report should be considered as adopted and the bill as amended should be considered as read. the rule was all points of order against provisions in the bill as amended. the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. >> refer to the gentleman from orlando, florida, for discussion. gentleman's recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this rule provides for the consideration of a stop gap highway bill under a closed amendment process. it's pretty straightforward. evenly divides the debate time between the committee on information infrastructure and ways & means. the rule is self-executing for two amendments. one by mr. shuster making a hand full of technical changes, the other by mr. graves adding some findings. this is a very straightforward rule. i urge the support of this rule. >> i thank the gentleman for his explanation. the committee is now open for amendment or discussion. gentlewoman from new york is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i have an amendment to the rule. i rule the committee make an order and give the necessary waivers for an amendment by mr., representative blumenauer, number four, that would express that the house enact a long term transportation authorization through at least 2020. the amendment provides funding to the highway trust fund adequate to ensure financing of surface transportation projects through the period necessary to enact such a policy. i think given the space, the information infrastructure in the united states, we should make that an order, let the house decide whether they want to add that or not. >> i appreciate the gentlewoman for her amendment. is there discussion? i would advise the committee, i believe what the gentlewoman has said, it carries not only merit, but a lot of common sense. however, it should be noted that the united states senate, which is headed up by her party, originally moved their bill to the end of the year, and the big push was get it to the end of the year and mr. shuster found a way to push it further out and to make it a longer enacting bill into next year. and i believe that what the gentlewoman's after, while to 2020 is an attribute that we did not make, but that until the middle of the year be until the end of the year -- the end of this year. i am in favor of voting against the amendment from the gentlewoman. further discussion? seen none. the vote will be on the amendment by the gentlewoman from new york. those in favor, aye. no? >> roll call, please. >> nos have it. the roll call vote. >> miss foxx? miss foxx, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. cole, mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern? aye. mr. hastings, aye. mr. polis, aye. mr. chairman, no. report the total. >> four ayes, seven nays . >> amendment is not agreed too. gentleman from florida. >> yes, thank you, mr. chairman. vy an amendment to the rule. i rule the committee grant hr-5021 an older rule so all members have opportunity to offer amendments to the bill on the floor. >> you've now heard the amendment by the gentleman. gentleman's recognized. >> limited discussion. not only does the underlying field violate cut goal and section 302-f of the congressional budget act, but now the majority has chair pier picked certain amendments they wanted to and closed all process for the rest of the amendments. i made the appeal that all of the amendments of those who came here should be made an order and i certainly am disappointed that mr. blumenauer's amendments are not needed. the committee is going to accept amendments, a clean extension, why not open the process to all members? members should be allowed to improve this bill on the house floor out in the open instead of having these decisions be made by just a few people, and that's what happened here behind closed door. >> you've now heard the discussion from the gentleman from florida. further discussion on the amendment? seen none. the vote will now be on the hastings amendment. those in favor, signify by saying aye. opposed, no. nos have it. gentleman asked the roll call vote. >> miss foxx? >> no. >> miss foxx, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. cole, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. nugent, mr. webster. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings. >> yes. >> mr. hastings, aye. mr. chairman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, no. >> reports the total. >> four ayes, seven nos. >> amendment not agreed to. further amendment or discussion? seen none. vote will be on the motion from the gentlewoman from north carolina, vase chairman of the committee. those in favor, signify by saying aye. those opposed no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the gentleman from orlando, florida, mr. webster, will be handling this for republicans. mr. polis will be handling this for democrats. the next rules committee meeting is scheduled for 3:00 on tomorrow, on the charitable extenders package. i want to thank the important visitors that we had today. up to and inlutiewdinluting our in congress. thank you very much. this is a distinct pleasure, not only to know mr. foxx brings teachers who she speaks about on a regular basis to the capitol, but you joined us in the rules committee. certainly emanuel, if that is his name. one of his interns. and have ssavannah and juliana, to thank you for taking time to be us with today. we have now completed our work for the day, and this ends our hearing. the house returns at noon eastern today with work this afternoon on the short-term stern sterngs -- extension of the highway trust fund. house law makers taking up a bill that would permanently ban states from applying sales tax on internet access. they will work on a spending bill. the white house issued a veto threat to the measure expressing opposition that blocks irs funds from implementing the health care law as well as another that blocks the dc law decriminalizing marijuana possession. what is the funding level in the legislation and what areas of the federal government does it fund? >> the level is 21.3 total. they are looking at funding fcc and the small business administration. >> you mentioned that the bill includes spending for the internal revenue service. how have the recent congressional investigations into the irs affected what is in the bill? >> a lot. basically there are probably a good handful of writes taking aim at the irs. they specifically prohibit funding going towards things lie targeting people for their first amendment rights. but they have cut the ultimate irs funding level in this bill is 10.95 billion which is a $341 million increase. and it's one point $5 billion less than the president requested. already the irs is seeing funding levels dwindling. the last time it increased was in fiscal year 2010. there's the new tax evasion law, the foreign accounts tax compliance act and the federal health care overall where they have 40 new provisions to implement this year. the irs is frustrated with its strained resources. in addition to cutting money there are several riders in here saying things like you can't use funding to destroy e-mail >> in your story you write about some of the bills other policy writers, including decriminalizing marijuana in washington, d.c. tell us about this >> this would prohibit decriminalizing marijuana in washington, d.c. dr. harris says the funds cannot go toward any law that would either legal lies or reduce penalties for the possession of marijuana. this leads to a lot of concerns in the markup of the bill. democrats accused republicans of being hypocrites. when it comes to dc provisions, democrats have sort of accused republicans of legislating through spending votes. in this case it's not clear exactly what the harris amendment would do once enacted. but it did pass, republicans passed it, it was a party line vote >> norton is a delegate from the district of colombia also weighted on this. why is she opposing it? >> i think as sort of an infringement on dc's ability to govern itself. they routinely come up with these bills. so there's always the fight offer an abortion provision, banning federal funds going towards abortions in dc. and i think it's just she routinely sees this as kind of congress over stepping it's bounds >> what are some of the other key issues and amendments you'll be looking for during the debate? >> well the fcc gets a funding cut and democrats are opposed to this. jose serano on the appropriates committee basically said republicans are asking for another financial crisis. there were cuts from president obama's request. it does continue at current level but the fcc argues that it needs more money as it has to implement the overall. and there are provisions actually included in the bill that would require new reporting requirements for dodd frank and some of the derivatives provisions. and anything no -- to do with dc is always a flash point. there will be a lot of fire works on the floor i'm sure. the irs, it doesn't look like democrats are really protesting the riders on the irs, but they may offer amendments to try and increase the funding. >> katie , you can follow her o twitter. katie, appreciate your time. thank you. >> again later today the house will resusm work on the financial services bill. the house in shortly at noon eastern time on the short-term extension of the highway trust funds which expires next month. off the floor on the senate side today subcommittee investigates cyber crime including the use of bot nets. while we wait for the house at noon eastern time, part of the influx of children crossing the border from today's "washington journal." >> could you give a personal take of being from the part of the country you are when it comes to immigration and parlaying it especially when it comes to the border. >> certainly california is a border states that has a much higher immigrant population. i'm also married to a first generation porto reuuerto rican immigrant. coming from a community and state level our immigration system is broken. now the whole world or whole nation is looking at america, what are we going to do with this problem? >> the president asking for almost $4 billion to address what is going on. what do you think of the figure and do you support it? >> well it's a figure that is grown very, very quickly. the president initially came out and said it was going to be a $2 billion number. we need an appropriation. this is an emergency condition. it's a crisis. these are contention centers that are popping up all over the nation on military bases, kids being housed in gymnasiums is not an appropriate approach. we need an appropriation that not only deals with this in a humane way but we also secure our border in the same round. i think we are going to see a bill shortly -- >> i think the biggest thing that should be funding is the courts. right now that's the smallest amount of funding in this overall bill. i think it takes it to 65 million which would be enough for 55000 by the administration's numbers, if we have 160000 coming in we need to beef up our courts much more than that. they are sending people back in the communities saying please show back up in the next couple of years does not work. i think the american public is going to be outraged as this crisis continues on. we to have resolve it quickly >> where does speaker boehner stand on immigration reform? >> he has been very supportive. he knows this is something we have got to get done. but he's going to do it in a respectful and mindful manner. i'm somebody who has been pushing. i want to see top to bottom reform so i'm pushing very hard not only on first securing our border but we have to have it verified. we have to talk about the 11 and a half million that have gone through our schools and grown in our community and consider themselves americans but do not have a way to work >> what should be done about them then, the ones currently here? >> i think there's multiple different solutions. i've got the enlist act, for example. i serve my country proudly, i serve with immigrants we have also had immigrants serving in our military. why wouldn't we let them in the school system that can meet the background check. if it helps to bolster our national defense why wouldn't we allow them to serve? there's no better way to show your face and commitment to a country than to serve in our military >> where is the enlist act going? >> right now we have a ton of co sponsors both sides of the aisle. in this whole debate with border serve and border protection we hope we will get the enlist act passed. it' it's a multi generational problem. >> do those better your prospects now that he's majority leader? >> timing, timing and the fact that there's no deadline. this place operates with deadlines. the farm bill that came up there was a dairy clip that came up in it. we always hear about the fiscal cliff. there's no deadline with immigration which is why it's been pushed out for three decades both by republican and democrat. we are starting the debate. people realize this is a crisis and because we have a border surge there's a date for this problem. i think that helps break the wedge the talk about all these other issues and engage the american public in talking about it as well >> when you say the other issues you means those here that are not supposed to be here. sometimes amnesty gets tagged to that. when you hear that term what do you think? >> when i hear amnesty i think of a freebie, somebody that gives you a free pass. there's nothing like that in any of the bills we are seeing right now. we need to have something that is very strong that, follows the rule of law that has a process and a procedure. even hr 15 which is widely debated around the hill here has a 13-year pathway that has several safeguards you've got to jump through during that 13 years so you're still following at the back of the line. it just you've got to come to realization there's not going to be a self-deportation, there aren't going to be tons of buses that start picking people up. if we have this situation that's been here for 30 years, why not resolve it. in the washington times, senator rubio, saying the immigration bill would not stop based on the problem we have today >> the border protection bill, we have to secure the border, we have to have metrics and measurements to ensure to the american public it's secure before we move through any of the other measures. part of the challenge for republicans is the president might implement different pieces of the law with out measuring the border first. the border is absolutely secured. in fact he chastised republicans during elections on how secure the border was. it's obvious it's not secure today. it's going to take into change not only the 20 an -- 2008 law. you can put in some of those measures. we also don't have a situation where border patrol can patrol our entire southern border. just having the ability. in texas they have got millions of acres of interior and department of forestry property that border patrol cannot go into. the easiest place to go through is where they are not patrolling. >> jeff dun den hem is with us until 8:30. if you live in the border state, your perspective on 202-585-3883. this is pat on our republican line. go ahead, you're on with the representative caller: we have a facility at guantanamo bay where we housed refugees years ago. why can't we house the children there. the children could be released from guantanamo when their parents pay for airfare to take them home. host: thank you for the question. first of all i don't know that i want al-qaeda or the taliban that are in guantanamo as the best daycare for these kids that are coming across. you know i think we have got to deal with the crisis in a very humane way. certainly housing them in our military bases maybe a short-term solution but 160000 is such a huge number that guantanamo can only handle a small percentage of that. in california, we have a naval base holding 400. they're going between 400 an 1000 better different military installation and now trying the reach out beyond military installations because those are inadequate going to churches or colleges. and the fundamental responsibility i think of the federal government first of all i think the president needs to send a very strong message very quickly. it should have happened already, just to say look we are going to send your residents back to you. we will work with you to handle this in a human way but we can't justin to have this influx coming across our border. the president should also be working with mexico to make sure they're southern border is secure because in the past they have had much stronger policies but in 2008 they changed their policys to give people a two week period obtaining their visa. our partner just like we have a partner with canada, mexico should be working with us as well. we have to appropriate the funds necessary and stop this surge once and for all. the immigration bills we have seen would not stop this problem so we have got to have a separate bill that deals with not only the 2008 law that was passed but also making sure our border is secure >> where do you see the request going legislatively? >> it's hard to say whether it will go up or down. so i would expect the fund level to go down but again i think it's depends on everything else in this bill. right now i think the courts is far too low and we want to see the border properly dollars that they are going to where the border properly is going where it needs to go >> hello, wayne, good morning >> i hear all the time, secure the border but yet nobody -- "washington journal" live every day. we leave this recorded portion now has the house is about to return for a legislatestive business. work this afternoon on this short-term extension of the highway trust fund which expires next month. house law makers also taking up a bill that would permanently ban states from applying a sales tax on internet access. live coverage of the house on c-span. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] t house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our guest chaplain, reverend

Transcripts For KTVU Mornings On 2 20130710

now. good morning, everybody. welcome to "mornings on 2." i'm brian flores. >> i'm tori campbell. dave clark has the day off. let's get to steve. a lot of people were surprised about the heat yesterday. >> yes. that will not be the case today. a bigger fog bank came in. that ridge of high pressure is one of the strongest i've seen. but today loses its grip so temperatures coming down a little bit. >> right now, the san mateo bridge traffic looks pretty good. i thought there was a slowdown eastbound but it turned out not to be the case as we look here at the peninsula. the traffic looks good but the dense fog is at the bottom of the waldo grade. back to the desk. possible clues about what went wrong with flight 214. they are focusing on the speed of the plane at the time of the landing at sfo. claudine wong is live near sfo with more information on this. >> reporter: good morning. let me give you a vantage point. behind me is sfo, you can see planes are taking off out of here, they are landing three of the runways are open. if we want over, though, we can show you the runway that's not open. this is where flight 214, that airplane still sits on the runway. it looks like it could be there well into next week. the ntsb told me this morning they like to estimate a week 0 two weeks on scene -- a week to two weeks on scene. this is a big deprefield. what's going to happen today? investigators will be back on scene. they are mapping out everything they can out there, documenting where everything sits. they want to do that as quickly as possible. it will take time. you have a big debris field. you have a big airplane and a lot of questions about what went wrong out there on that runway. now, it terms of interviews, they have interviewed all four pilots. they completed those interviews yesterday. the pilots do acknowledge they were going too low. they were going too slow. and they knew that in the moments before the tail end of that airplane hit the runway. the question is, what does all of this mean? let's take a look at all of the electronics. but obviously this put a lot of focus on the pilots. >> at the end of the day, our goal is to learn from this. to make sure no other crew will find themselves in a situation like this crew. >> reporter: but isn't part of the lesson that you have to pay attention, that everything is so automated these days that you can't rely on automation, regardless? >> we've conducted a number of investigations in the past approach and landing, critical phase of flight, pilot monitoring skills are very important. we've issued recommendations about those in this investigation. we'll have to see what the facts tell us. >> reporter: what the ntsb will not do this morning is make any conclusions, even though acknowledging what they do know, they don't want to say what it all means. that will take time. we're talking about months, maybe over a year before they actually make a report on what they think went wrong, what's to blame and what can change in the future. they're gonna be looking at fg. the investigators -- at everything. the investigators will be out here. you are taking a live look, if we come back to sfo to the containers on the runway and the shell of the airplane that still sits out there. they will probably take pieces of it and move it off site. the ntsb consider this a safety investigation, they say, as opposed to a criminal investigation. they want the aviation industry to learn from this and they want everyone to be forthcoming. they still want to interview the cabin crew and any passengers that are willing. they are trying to get as good of a picture as possible of everything that was happening and everything that went wrong on flight 214. live near sfo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> the parents of the two chinese girls killed in the crash are still in the bay area this morning. a coroner's office investigator met with the families yesterday at the crowne plaza hotel in burlingame. he told them that ye mengyuan, he may have her exact cause of death in a week. >> we already receive a lot of phone call because there's a lot of students from china on this flight. >> ye and her friend, wang linjia were 16 years old and they were heading to summer camp in southern california. the coroner is waiting for their parents' permission before releasing their bodies to a funeral home. also new a flight that experienced trouble last night has landed safely at the cincinnati airport. a delta plane was scheduled to depart sfo at 11:00 a.m. but a duty manager says a small utility vehicle known as a tug bumped into the plane before takeoff. no one was injured. everybody on board was moved to a new aircraft. the flight arrived at the cincinnati airport at 6:39 this morning, pacific time. back here, all lanes of east. i-80 are back home. the chp says it appears a big rig rear ended a van and then the van rolled and burst into flames. firefighters blocked all lanes of traffic to put the fire out. crews also had to clean a mess off the roadway. the drivers ran away and were not injured. some lanes were closed for three hours and just reopened about 45 minutes ago. new this morning, san jose police are investigating a deadly stabbing at a homeless shelter. janine de la vega is live. we're learning someone has been detained, janine. >> reporter: that's correct, tori. no arrests have been made. but police have a man in custody that they say lives here at the julian street inn right at the corner of -- [no audio] >> it looks like we lost janine. >> yes, that's a stabbing at a homeless shelter in san jose. let's go to sal castanedo for an update on traffic. what's going on in the east bay? >> it's a little bit slow. good morning to you. 80 westbound you will see a little bit of slow traffic, especially 80 coming through richmond. the east shore freeway, it's heavy. it's not all that bad. we had the crash where the big rig burst into flames earlier. they got that out of the way early this morning and that -- the commute traffic was never affected by it. the bay bridge toll plaza is backed you for a 30-minute delay. it's backed up all the way out to the macarthur maze. once you make it on the bridge, it looks good into san francisco. i want to mention that the san mateo bridge looks good. if you are driving on the dumbarton bridge, the same thing goes. on the peninsula, southbound 101 looks good to redwood city. southbound is 280. just be careful about the fog. steve says the fog bank is deeper. let's go to steve. still not much of a breeze yet. there's a stronger breeze near the delta and travis. we had more fog. it was right down on the ground yesterday. it was a sign that high pressure built in. we also have a lot of high, tropical clouds in southern california. there has been reports of rain in long beach. it's very foggy. so far they seem to be around santa barbara, also to bakersfield and las vegas, a few of these have drifted north towards santa clara valley and monterey. if you see some higher clouds, tropical clouds, that's where they are coming from. cooler inland today. yesterday skyrocketed up. temperatures started off warm. stronger west wind in the higher elcations as well -- higher elevations as well. there's one little low. that's coming in right over the bay area. won't do much. this area of low pressure comes over the next couple of days which will continue to keep us on a cooler pattern. 50s for some. 60s for others. low 50s for a few this morning. the wind at trafn travis just fell apart. more of a west wind, concord, napa. that's are signs that were not there yesterday. because of the cloud cover, only 84 in palm springs. humidity factor really high. 44 in tahoe. 61 in sacramento. yesterday at this time, they were 64. our low gives us a cooler pattern. should push the higher clouds, most of them off to the east and the sierra nevada. higher fog bank. a little cooler inland after yesterday. today there will still be 90s. a lot more 70s and 80s closer to the water and the coast. cooler takes way into thursday, friday. probably keep things even kiel on saturday and then a little warmer inland temperatures on sunday. tori and brian? >> thank you. 7:10. we know the opening is delayed. what's next for the troubled new eastern span of the bay bridge? that answer is coming up. today, the boston marathon bombing suspect makes his first appearance in public since mid- april. who else is expected to be in the courtroom? look at 'em. living on cloud nine with that u-verse wireless receiver. you see in my day, when my mom was repainting the house, you couldn't just set up a tv in the basement. i mean, come on! nope. we could only watch tv in the rooms that had a tv outlet. yeah if we wanted to watch tv someplace else, we'd have to go to my aunt sally's. have you ever sat on a plastic covered couch? [ kids cheering ] you're missing a good game over here. those kids wouldn't have lasted one day in our shoes. [ male announcer ] add a wireless receiver. call to get u-verse tv for just $19 a month with qualifying bundles. rethink possible. 7:12. as we mentioned earlier, san jose police are investigating a deadly stabbing at a homeless shelter. ktvu's janine de la vega joins us once again at the julian street inn. were you telling us someone -- you were telling us someone has been detained. >> reporter: yes, that person, a man, has not been arrested. he's in custody. we're told he lives at the julian street inn behind the sap center. police have this whole center roped off. they believe the man was involved in the stabbing and could be a possible suspect. he's been at the police station now for seven hours with detectives. police tell me just after midnight that officers were called to a stabbing at the emergency shelter run by "envision" on julieen street. officers say it appears a confrontation happened. they found a man stabbed, possibly in the neck area. they say he was a white man in his 40s. he died at the scene. we're told there were witnesses interviewed by the detectives. crime scene detectives are still here. the shelter is the only one that serves mentally ill clients in the county. people who live there are getting treatment and counseling, they are allowed to stay there for 60 days. i spoke to a media representative from "envision" who told me that she's trying to get more information. she did say the clients they serve there are not allowed to have weapons. she was sort of unclear on the policy if bags were searched. if people were searched. you can see the coroner is on the scene. they are here to recover the body. again, we don't know the victim's identity. just that he's a resident, a man who was seeking emergency shelter here. janine de la vega, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, janine. 7:14. the 19-year-old boston marathon bombing suspect has his first public court appearance today. the arraignment of dzhokhar tsarnaev is scheduled this afternoon in a federal court in boston. he's charged with using a weapons of mass destruction in the bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. he was found bleeding and hiding in a boat in someone's backyard four days after the april 15th explosion. happening right now on capitol hill. melandecurity committees are hearing testimony about the boston marathon bombing and other attacks on u.s. soil. as kyla campbell reports from washington, d.c., lawmakers want to know if the u.s. is prepared to avoid and respond to attacks. kyla? >> reporter: congress wants to know whether or not authorities worked well together before and after those bombs exploded on april 15th. we're taking a live look right now at the house hearing where the chairman earlier slammed the fbi. he said the agency refuses to appear and provide paperwork on how they responded to the boston marathon bombing. one witness who testified this morning, former new york city mayor, rudy giuliani. he said there's no question, the u.s. has improved safety when it comes to thwarts attacks from the air and attacks planned by well-known terrorist groups. giuliani is worried that the u.s. is more vulnerable to small groups like these brothers in this boston marathon bombing. >> smaller groups, using smaller groups as a way of attacking us, going back to the early part of this century, bin laden was encouraging people to do that. >> reporter: the committee is investigating how authorities responded. we'll have the latest testimony from both hearings when i see you next hour. live in washington, kyla campbell, ktvu channel 2 news. 7:16. today, senate democrats will try again to restore lower interest rates for student loans. a test vote is scheduled on a senate measure that would return rates on stafford loans for 3.4% for one year. when lawmakers failed to make a deal. the rates doubled to 6.8%. the goal is to reach a deal before students return to school. there's welcomed news for many students pursuing a master's degree. the board is considering freezing the tuition, of professional programs, including law, business and medicine. however, there will likely be increasing students for nursing students due to state and federal funding that was promised but never came through. a shift in winds is helping fire crews gain ground on a wildfire in san diego county. the fire destroyed more than 120 vacation cabins in the laguna mountains. a lodge operated by the sierra club is also lost. inspection teams will go through the burned-out areas to assess the damage. in nevada, several las vegas casinos are hoping their doors to people forced out of their homes from a nearby hotel. the rates are as low as $25. others are letting fire victims stay for free in two weeks. a wildfire is burning northwest of las vegas in a mountainous area with 500 homes. at this point, it's only 10% contained. new smoke shops wanting to open in antioch will have to wait until at least 2014. city staff have the time to revise shops of operation, location and proximity to schools and parks. mexico has surpassed the obesity rate in the united states, making it the fattest country in the americas. a new study by the yuns food and agricultural regulations shows obesity rate is 32.9%. several pacific island countries and territories have higher rates. it's day three at a hunger strike. 21,000 inmates are refusing meals across the state. that's slightly down from the 30,000 who participated on monday. inmates are protesting the use of solidarity comfinement. this is the third strike in the prison system. a popular san francisco restaurant is asking for your help to reopen the doors. >> if you live here. if you are a san francisco resident, come out, support us. e-mail this guy right here. >> tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in city hall. the owner of "bacon bacon" will be presenting his petition. the bay area air quality management district is holding a free public forum tomorrow on new approaches to monitoring air pollution from oil refineries and chemical plants. a panel of experts will discuss the latest pollution monitoring technology. the air district ceo says the idea behind the forum is to improve refinery pollution in the bay area. the forum will be held from 9:30 to 4:30 tomorrow and the air board meeting room at 9:30 ellis street in san francisco. there's fallout from the permanent shutdown of the san onofre nuclear power plant. southern california edison announced last month, it was closing the facility for good. the twin reactors have not produced electricity since january of last year. a small radiation leak lead to the discovery of hundreds of tubes that carry water. there will be a hearing this morning at 9:30 to discuss the lost electricity, the lost jobs and the consequences of the shutdown. no question it was hot in many parts of the bay area yesterday. but we're in for a much different story today. up next, steve paulson will tell us about the change in the weather. and the thief caught stealing a package from an east bay home. and the man they are looking for this morning. good morning. san mateo bridge traffic looks pretty good heading out to the high rise. another look at the traffic, the morning commute, that's coming up. welcome back to "mornings on 2." legal analysts say the lee balty of such bans of gay marriage in some states will return to the high court since the justices didn't tackle the issue when they ruled on the prop 8 case. thins the court struck -- since the court struck down this, they say, it will be difficult to deny those to marry. let's check in with sal. is it crowded at the bay bridge toll plaza? >> it is getting more crowded. >> traffic on 80 westbound has been slow in pockets from the macarthur maze up to the metering lights which is not unusual. there's not a huge backup. it's nothing that you haven't seen all of the time. once you get on the bridge, it looks good into san francisco. i do want to mention that traffic will be slow on the peninsula we're just finding out now. i want to move it down a little bit. we had such a terrible accident in mountain view that caused a really big traffic jam. moving along to another live picture. this is northbound 101 from san jose to 880. you can see it for yourself that traffic is moving along well for now. you can see the fog there. it's raining in parts of southern california from all of the tropical cloud cover. some of that may kind of inch northward up to the santa clara valley. if you see some higher clouds. it should burn off in the centrals. as a low comes in it, will bump things out of the way. 65 in antioch. there's the low starting to swick toward us. see the spin in the atmosphere. that with another system out of the gulf of alaska. all spell cooler. low clouds. more than fog. yesterday it was fog. sunny, nice, hot, mostly sunny, i should say, there could be a few clouds drifting into the south. but 60s to 90s. some areas yes of clearlake, vacaville, still hot. livermore down about 9 or 10 degrees. some areas coming in the upper 80s that were about ten degrees warmer. the cooler pattern will take us into friday. maybe a bump up in the inland temperatures by the weekend. thank you, steve. 7:26. searching for answers into the crash of flight 214. the areas of focus in the ntsb investigation. [ male announcer ] you know that sizzler grills the world's best steaks. but did you know we've also mastered three incredibly craveable pastas? sizzler's new incredibly craveable combos for just $10.99, right now. and soon we'll be ending alzheimer's disease. and that'll be big. grab your friends and family and start a team today. register at alz.org first wait till summer. then get the cars ready. now add the dodge part. ♪ ♪ the dodge summer clearance event. right now get 0% financing for up to 72 months and no payments for 90 days on all dodge vehicles. the ntsb has finished interviewing all four pilots. three were in the cockpit, while a fourth, relief captain, was in the cabin. the pilots were focused on lining up the landing and assumed that the automatic throttle was controlling the speed. the pilot logged 9700 airs in the air but only 35 in that type of plane. the ntsb says it's still premature to discuss what was the cause, they are taking a close look at the speed. the pilots said they set the tltle at 150 miles an hour. the auto throttle is similar to a car's cruise control. investigators say it may have been set in the armed position which is still one step from being properly activated. >> we've conducted a number of investigators in the past approach and landing critical phase of flight. pilot monitoring skills are very important. the plane was going 122 miles per hour when it hit the sea wall at sfo tearing off the landing gear first. it was traveling 36 miles an hour. less than the target speed to land at the airport. a full report on the crash could take up to 18 months to complete. in the next hour of "mornings on 2," never before scene video of one of the girls killed in >> those passengers injured on the flight, most of them, are at home recovering. there are still 22 in the hospital. 12 people are at san francisco general. five are in critical condition, including a child. stanford hospital has four patients there. the remaining patients are rekoeferring at three other san francisco hospitals with less serious. the closed runway at sfo is delaying arrivals two and a half hours. we understand that first- class passengers had shoulder belts. cabin passengers had lap belts and reportedly suffered trauma injuries. this man is a surgeon and he treated 62 passengers. >> your sternum snaps, the organs inside will get disrupted. we were out speaking to people flying in and out of sfo about seat belts on board planes. that's interesting experience and we'll bring you their comments coming up in the next hour of "mornings on 2." also in our next hour, adding or revising seat belts on planes does come at a cost. we'll have more on that coming up next. reporting live in the newsroom, pam cook, ktvu channel 2 news. flight 214 will have complete coverage of the investigation and include more about the heroic efforts to save passengers. the show airs at 9:00 p.m. right here on ktvu channel 2. happening today -- a special meeting on the new eastern span of the bay bridge and its delayed opening. tie utehs is live on the embarcadero with what we can expect to learn. >> reporter: we may get a better time line when the bridge is supposed to open as well as if the celebration for the bridge opening is going to be rescheduled or not. many people i spoke with are frustrated with the delays but others say let's just get the bridge fixed and celebrate. >> i hope they fix the boats first before they let people up there -- the bolts first before they let people up. and then i hope they then open it up with a big party celebration. >> reporter: the committee announced the eastern span will not open labor day weekend. that's due to the pesky bolts. the brittle bolts that are supposed to keep them from getting brittle. organize the $5 million grand opening celebration is now up in the air. this oakland resident says he's eager to just enjoy the new span. >> there will be a walkway up there. that will be nice. i signed up to walk on the day of the ceremony and -- so i'm waiting to get the call when i can go up there and walk around. >> a lot of people waiting to get the call as to when that bridge will open. we may get some more clarity this morning at a meeting scheduled for 10:00 in oakland. we'll have a crew there to bring you the latest updates on the bay bridge opening. you can stay with ktvu.com. our twitter site as well as our later newscast. live in san francisco, katie utehs, ktvu channel 2 news. thank you. 7:35. there are renewed warnings for pet owners after more poisonous meatballs were found in san francisco. we first told you about the problem last week after a dog ate one of the meatballs in the twin peeks neighborhood and got sick. police are reminding pet owners to be careful when walking dogs. if you see anything suspicious, call police. a fire set in claytop park may have been deliberately set. the fires started yesterday on a trail. contra costa county firefighter say police detained a suspect. but police have not confirmed that yet. police are trying to track down a man stealing a package from the home. here is a look at the suspect. he's a transient but his last known address is in san jose. police say a surveillance video shows him pulling up in a blue bmw to a home one month ago. he gets out of the car and walks up to the porch. a few moments later, he's seen walking back to the car with a package in his hand. the package contains some toys from amazon.com. police issued a warrant for his arrest. we're in the heart of the morning commute. sal, where are the slowdowns at? >> near the toll plaza, brian and tori. but 24 is moderate from walnut creek to oakland. as you can see here from la fayette heading to orinda -- we have quite a bit of crowding here. at the toll plaza, it's about a 25-minute delay. it's been steady and slow. we haven't had any incidents getting into san francisco. on the peninsula, southbound 101 traffic does look pretty good. there was an earlier crash in mountain view. it's causing slow traffic into sunnyvale. second straight day of something like that happening to that commute on 101. as we move down to the south bay northbound 101 is also slow now from 280 up to the airport. 280 itself is slowing down from the downtown area up to cupertino. 7:38. let's go to steve. a very good morning. very foggy. yesterday was foggy. we call it fog. low cloud deck which is much, much higher. about a quarter mile. not the case today. there's a lot of fog. there is a system to the west of us that's helping to increase that fog also lifted and kind of knock the high- pressure system out of the way. it's heading east again today. low clouds and fog for many. painting a line about the edge of them. most of this will stay in the san joaquin valley and also southern california. very humid down there. near porterville where i spent a week one night. we have santa barbara. you can see just now starting to head into the san joaquin valley around bakersfield. it looks like south of that maybe some rain. there's been some in southern california. tropical clouds not south. a few could make it into the valley. cooler inland. there's a stronger westerly breeze from san pablo bay out to the delta and that was not there yet. right there is one low. you can see how this is churning towards us. there's another one coming out. that's allowing the fog to lift. 50s on the temperatures. very, very low 60s. yesterday at this time, areas are warming up. that's not the case. it's holding steady or picking up. a little bit today. also some of the rain, but for us, our focus is to the west and that's going to give us a westerly wind today. so low clouds, sunny, nice for some, hot but not as hot as yesterday. it will be cooler inland. up to clearlake, 94. novato is in there. 83 napa. fairfield, 90. oakland berkeley, emeryville, sausalito in there. martinez, concord. inland alameda, 68. 82 san jose down 4 from yesterday. 70 san bruno. 60 pacifica. we'll go 80. mountain view, pal loy alto -- palo alto. cooler takes us into thursday and friday. it does look like temperatures will warm up. >> it, steve. 20 minutes before -- thank you, steve. 20 minutes before 8:00. the propose am to remove the footprint in yosemite is stirring up controversy. residents would not able to rent bikes and do other activities. final tee tails after looking -- details after looking into this will be out in december. too much information. why the pilots are not happy about information peaking sent out about the flight on asiana airlines, flight 214. look at 'em. living on cloud nine with that u-verse wireless receiver. you see in my day, when my mom was repainting the house, you couldn't just set up a tv in the basement. i mean, come on! nope. we could only watch tv in the rooms that had a tv outlet. yeah if we wanted to watch tv someplace else, we'd have to go to my aunt sally's. have you ever sat on a plastic covered couch? [ kids cheering ] you're missing a good game over here. those kids wouldn't have lasted one day in our shoes. [ male announcer ] add a wireless receiver. call to get u-verse tv for just $19 a month with qualifying bundles. rethink possible. wam i don't know. anyes. medications? last immunization shots? really? honey, what's my blood pressure medicine called? one time i took something and i blew up like a puffer fish. i'm probably allergic to that. at kaiser permanente, your medical information is available to you and your doctors. quickly. securely. no guesswork required. better information. better care. kaiserpermanente. thrive. stocks are mixed -- are mixed in early trading. investors will examine those minutes closely for clues about when the fed might begin the easeback on the economic stimulus program. investors keeping an eye on corporate earnings. taking a live look at the big board, the dow down 21. the nasdaq up 4. s&p down 2. 7:43. j.p. morgan chase made mistakes while suing thousands of its credit card customers. this was according to the wall street journal. the paper says j.p. morgan examined about 1,000 lawsuits and found mistakes in 90 of them. the errors range from inaccurate interest rates and fees to a few cases where the amount owed was higher than it should have been. about 100,000 californians were involved in those lawsuits. happening now in sanford, florida, a judge has just ruled that tray vonn martin's text cannot be introduced as evidence in george zimmerman's trial. those texts reportedly discuss fights that martin had been in in the school. judge ruled the animation re- creation cannot be introduced as evidence. defense attorneys may be able to use it during closing arguments. new documents filed in the case of aaron hernandez are linking him to more than one murder. a vehicle wanted in a tubl killing in boston one year ago was rented in hernandez's name. the filing includes system from a man who was with hernandez the night odin was killed. the texas house is scheduled to hold a final vote on controversial abortion restrictions, despite strong opposition from women's rights groups. >> i know that you know that you don't want to put your constituents back to the back alleys -- >> the measure is expected to pass after being approved in a provisional vote. the bill would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and required this action on it. former alaska governor sarah palin may run for senate. yesterday, the 2008 republican vice presidential nominee told conservative radio host sean hannity she's considering a bid for senate. palin says she's waiting to see who will enter the race before deciding. a group that wants hillary clinton to run for president in 2016 is getting help from some of the people behind president obama's two successful presidential campaigns. the ready for hillary super-pac has hired the democratic firm for the campaign in 2016. this is video of clinton at the dedication of a children's library in her had -- in her name on monday. she's not said whether she will make another run for the white house. as the investigation moves forward, a -- as the plane crash investigation moves forward, a lot of questions are being discussed about what can be on in the future so this does not happen? the ntsb favors a system that will audibly alert patients -- alerts to pilots and others think it's a distraction. many pilots and their advocates are upset that investigators have been so quick will toe release -- quickly to release information about this plane crash. but that's their job. >> they are letting people know about this investigation is assessing and i think that's what they should be doing. >> this gives the impression that the asiana pilots may have made mistakes. the former spokesman for the sfo says the ntsb has an obligation to inform the public whether they like it ot for. asiana has ordered 46 new jets and was working to add flights from south korea to los angeles and new york city. passengers may still clear of asiana in the short-term but they say air traffic from south korea is increasing and asiana has had a good safety record. japan's nippen airways is expecting the stream lining service at mineta airport. the airline has been flying into san jose five days a week with no service on tuesdays or thursdays. starting tomorrow. there will be a flight that leaves san jose at 1:00 in the afternoon. ana currently has the only dreamliner service in the bay area. the fire is burning along highway 50 near kibers on the way to south lake tahoe. so far, no homes have been damaged and no one has been evacuated. the chp says the fire may have been sparked by a broken axle from a motor home towing a truck. canadian authorities have found evidence a valley act may have caused a deadly train crash that killed nearly 5 people. a train carrying people began to roll down the hill. and then it crashed and derailed at 63 miles an hour. even if they knew that rail dispatchers would not be able to warn anyone. >> there's no way that the dispatcher could see or to realize -- [inaudible] >> at least 40 buildings were leveled in the explosions and nearly 2,000 people had to be evacuated. so far half of the evacuatedses have been allowed to return to their home. 7:50. a proposed fine against pg&e for the san bruno pipeline tafrter may be dropped -- daferpter may be dropped. the -- disaster may be dropped. the cpuc says the proposal for a $2.2 billion fine contains certain inaccuracies. the commission is expected to draft a new form. well, tori there is a lot of outrage over the tsa screening of a wounded marin. what tsa claims the servicemen should have done to avoid security measures. people on a popular tour get a site they never expected to see. [ female announcer ] for the freshest produce, you want to be close to the people who are close to the land. [ rooster crows ] that's why safeway works closely with local growers. the folks whose hands are in the soil. planting and nurturing the kind of delicious produce that gets delivered to safeway every single day. fresh from our farmers. this week, locally grown red lion nectarines are just 99 cents a pound. at safeway, ingredients for life. ♪ some people are upset over the treatment of a wounded marine by tsa airport screeners. this is a picture of marine corporal nathan kemnitz who was severely injured in iraq. he says tsa screeners hassled him at a sacramento airport because he couldn't lift his arms. >> talking to the folks involved and if -- if there are some changes procedures from some tweets if you will, how to handle situations, then those will be done. >> the tsa says any wounded service member can use the wounded warriors' screening program but they need to contact the airline ahead of time. by doing so, security measures could be catered to the man or woman in ub form. some san francisco tourists saw something they didn't expect during a bus tour. their driver was arrested. the bus driver was driving a san francisco deluxe sight- seeing bus. he was pulled over and that's when the officer noticed three bottles of liquor, arrested him and took him away. tourists are not worried about this. >> i expect it to be safe and be a one-time thing and i expect the company to sort it out. >> the tour company's lawyer said the driver was fired immediately. but the company is not releasing any details. we checked the dmv records and the driver only had one minor accident in his file. >> have you ever done that? been on that? >> no. >> i did that with friends visiting from vermont. it was fun. nice way to see the city. dmeck with sal -- check in with sal? >> yes. >> the traffic is slowing down on 280 northbound getting up to highway 17. you can see it there. i think a lot of people are avoiding highway 101. highway one has been very slow because of an accident. i want to show it to you on the maps here. this is not as bad as yesterday because the accident wasn't as severe. but we still have slow traffic in tharyia. let's take a look at the toll plaza which is slow and steady but getting better. if you are driving from, let's say, oakland or the east shore freeway, the back jum is about 20 minutes before you make it past the metering lights. let's go to steve. >> we have a lot of low clouds in place. she said we had sun but fog came in. it's still there. a little bit of sun near brisbane. there's a little bit of fog around. there's a bigger fog bank and high and mid-level clouds down in southern california. even a little bit of rain down in long beach. most of these high clouds should stay to the south. 50s, 60s. we have a more pronounced westerly breeze. the fog is higher. there's a couple of systems taking aim at us. that's going to allow not only more fog but some cooler air aloft. high clouds might come in later. overall a bigger fog bank means temperatures soared up, the inland temperatures. yes, i know. one more day and then everyone will cool down even some areas to the south will continue that cooling. we'll take that right into friday and saturday. maybe a warmup on the inland temperatures by sunday. coming up in the 8:00 hour, she was a victim of the flight 214. her life cut short at the young age of 14. never before seen video of her and her musical talents. >> reporter: and we're live in san francisco. we're finding out more information from the ntsb about what will happen next in the investigation and how long they plan to stay. welcome back. i'm tori campbell. >> dave clark is off today. let's get a quick look at weather and traffic. it won't be as hot as yesterday? >> that's right. coast and bay -- what are you talking about? it has not been that much warmer for us. a cooler pattern does start and goes into the early part of the week and the weekend maybe here's sal. a little bit of dense fog at the southern end of marin county. a new crash in marin. this is a look at 101. some slowing and crowding on the way to mountain view. let's go back to the desk. thank you, sal. the ntsb safety board will hold another news conference at 2:00 this afternoon. ktvu's claudine wong received a sneak preview when she spoke one on one with the head of the ntsb. what did the chairwoman have to say? >> reporter: she basic said there's a lot of work to be done. there's just a mountain of work they need to to before they can come to any kind of conclusion and what exactly went wrong there. we're at sfo this morning. you can see behind us. there are planes. we can show you where the wreckage is. keep in mind, there are three of the forerunways in operation. the -- of the four runways in operation. the ntsb says they want to get this runway where the crash happened up and running as soon as can. we expect the investigators back this morning, documenting, trying to make sure they put all of the pieces together. the ntsb chairwoman this morning told me that at this point, they had completed all of the interviews with the pilots. pilots obviously, a big focus out here. it just says they've been forthcoming and cooperative. they weren't compelled to say but they did stay to talk to investigators about what happened. they acknowledged they knew they were too low and going too slow and they did try to correct it. they talk about that auto throttle being on. it's still unclear if it was actually engaged but at this point, the ntsb says no conclusion about who is to blame but again, a lot of focus on the pilot. >> pilot monitoring skills are very important. we've issued recommendations about those in this investigation. we're gonna have to see what the facts tell us. i know everyone wants to reach a conclusion in the first days or even the first week after an accident. but what we often find in our investigations is that really there's a chain of events. it's not a single thing that causes the accident. >> reporter: so what's next? >> well, the estimate that will be -- they estimate it will be a week or two before they clear the scene. i asked are we closer to a week or two weeks. she says it looks like it will be closer to two. but no hard time line. in terms of any conclusion, about 18 months, a year to 18 months before they come to any kution conclusion. they say this is a high priority case. do you see that plane landing? when these plane land, look what they do, they come right down right past that wreckage. that's what they are seeing right now. i had a viewer on my facebook page this morning saying how surreal it was to take off and land. they did that just yesterday with that in their sites. certainly, it makes everyone think closer about airline safety and just what's happening in the skies. the chairwoman said this morning when it comes to that, they do want this to be a learning exercise. they want to make sure they know exactly what happened out there so they can make sure it never happens again. live near sfo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> definitely a surreal experience for the passengers. we're getting a closer look at one of the crash victims now. this is video of 16-year-old ye mengwuan. she won a gymnastics contest and received honors in a speech contest. the coroner's office investigator met with them yesterday at the crowne plaza hotel in burlingame. he told them she may have been hit by a fire truck responding to the crash. meantime, chinese volunteers are offering help, donations and support. >> maybe we can hold a candle prayer so that -- gather everybody together to do a prayer for the victims and their families. >> ye and her friend, 16-year- old wang lynn geia died on saturday. they were traveling on a summer camp program to visit the universities here in california. new this morning a flight that experienced trouble late last night has landed safely at the cincinnati airport. a delta plane was scheduled to depart sfo after 11:00 p.m. but the duty manager says a small utility vehicle known as a tug bumped into the aircraft just before takeoff. no one was injured and everyone on board was moved to another plane. that flight arrived at the cincinnati airport which is technically located in northern kentucky about 90 minutes ago. the chp is investigating the cause of this fiery crash which tied up traffic for hours earlier this morning. officers say a big rig rear ended a van in emeryville around 1:00 a.m., the van rolled and burst into flames, all lanes of eastbound i-80 were closed near powell street while firefighters put the fire out. crews also had to clean a mess off the roadway. >> there's a light film, oily film mixed with fluids from the engine department and not to mention the engines on scene when they were there putting out the fire. we want to make sure the lanes are not slick. >> some lanes were closed for three hours. the driveerts ran away from the crash and were not injured. new this morning, san jose police are investigating a deadly stabbing at a hotel shelter. ktvu channel 2 reporter janine de la vega is live at the julian street inn. i understand you spoke with someone who heard the attack. >> reporter: brian, yes, that's right. she told me the mood inside the julian street inn is very tense. she said people are very scared and they don't feel safe. this is an emergency shelter. it's located behind the shark tank at julieen and montgomery. we're told that weapons are not allowed in the facility. so at this point, we're unsure what was used in the stabbing. police say they did receive a 911 call from the shelter just after midnight. when they arrived, officers found a man who had been stabbed. he died a the scene. police say he was a white man in his 40s and was a resident of his shelter. officers detained another man who lives at the center and are questioning him as a possible suspect. residents say they are shocked and one woman describes what she heard right after the attack. >> i just heard the victim yelling help me, help me, please. i just got stabbed. call 911. and that's what i -- i spoke up to that. i went in the room and he was pleading out of his neck. >> reporter: this is a shelter that serves mentally ill complaints. residents have told us that the organization that runs this shelter has brought in counselors for them to help them deal with what they witness. now, there's been no identity yet on this victim. we were told by that female resident that you just heard from that the victim was a very nice man. she says that he wouldn't hurt a fly. again, no arrests yet, just a possible suspect in custody. this is the city '26th homicide of the year. reporting live from san jose, ktvu channel 2 news. vallejo police are searching for a man suspected in an attempted murder on hem broke drive. investigator -- pembroke drive. investigators say the victim and his wife went to visit robert edmondson earlier in the morning. they say the victim and edmondson got into a fight and he stabbed him in the face and upper body. the victim has serious but non- life-threatening injuries. new this morning, two big court decisions involving apple. a new york judge ruled against the company today in a federal anti-trust case involving ebooks. she conscludded that apple conspired -- concluded that apple conspired to undercut amazon.com. the judge will set a trial to determine damages. an original apple 1 computer told for quite a bit less than expected. the winning bid was just $387,000. experts had expected it go for $500,000. they say there were probably only 50 of the original apples still around. earlier this year, one of them sold for $600,000. $387,000, that's not too bad. the main question, does it still work? sal, any problems? we got a new problem that popped up on the board in danville. northbound 680 at sycamore valley road. it's reported to be a three-car crash and also with the paramedics and the fire department on the way to the freeway. we're trying to find out more about it. it's been dispatched to chp. let's take a look at some of the other commutes. the bay bridge is improving. that's more like a ten-minute delay. it's backed up to the middle. parking lot. you can look to the left. 880 is cleared out. looking at the commute on 880 northbound, we have slow traffic passing the coliseum and heading up to the downtown area. san jose, northbound 101 and getting to mountain view has been slow. we had an earlier stent. not as bad as -- accident. not as bad as yesterday. there is a daytime game at at&t park. it's the giants and the mets. that means the commute is going to be heavier than normal in the afternoon after that game gets out. let's go to steve. blue skies for some. a bigger fog bank. higher up, a little low to the west of us helping to enhance that. that's gonna give inland areas a cooldown. that high-pressure system kind of drifts a little bit to the west. it really sends inland temperatures up. not much change on the coast. we have a lot of reports and retuesdayed visibility. that's -- reduced visibility. plenty of low clouds to go around. there's also a lot of high and mid-level clouds. even some isolated rain in southern california. tropical moisture continues to drift move, moving up to the central coast and the san joaquin valley. most of this should say south. you can see it's already pointing more towards bakersfield and should stay that way as this system right there, right there will move in. then there's another system coming in from the pacific northwest which will continue to enhance that. between now and i would say friday, we look to have some cooler inland temperatures. i think by tomorrow, they will be far enough east. the system will push them off. but 60s, 70s. some low 60s. we're already about 67. 66 on some of the temperatures. some low 50s especially up to the north. 54 ta hee. 65 sacramento. with the cloud cover, only 84 in palm springs. but the humidity factor is really high. this little system is -- the main message for us. that's a cooler pattern. so low clouds. sunny, nice for some. warm, hot. 60s 70s, 80s and 90s. saint saint they leebst. helena, port chicago. low 90s. santa clara valley. on the coast, 60s, a lot of fog. south san francisco, the peninsula, very low 80s. this pattern will take us into friday and level things off and sunday looks warmer away from the coast. today, the boston marathon bombing suspect makes his first court appearance. and the high-profile witnesses testifying on capitol hill to the boston bombing and other attacks on u.s. soil. and what a folks supervisor did at a board meeting that she's never done before. it's 8:14. the controversy over edward snowden's leaks about the nsa shedding light on a u.s. surveillance program. analysts say government surveillance is a multi-million dollar business subject to little public scrutiny. the average wiretap costs the government more than $50,000. federal cases can cost as much as $2.9 million. facebook says it provides access to government agencies for free. yahoo!and google charge a small fee for e-mail records. the 19-year-old boston marathon bombing suspect will have his first court appearance. a special seating area is set aside for victims of the bombing the. dzhokhar tsarnaev is charged with using weapons of mass destruction that killed three people and injured more than 60 others. he was found hiding and bleeding in a boat in someone's yard four days after the explosion. ' heads to court this ych, congress has two hearings underway right now on how to prevent something like that from happening again. kyla campbell is live in our washington, d.c. newsroom where homeland security is a top priority. >> reporter: brian, the chairman for the house committee says the boston attack could have been prevented. >> what concerns me is the problem at the heart of preventing the boston bombings is a failure to share information. >> reporter: michael mccullough and others and other federal agencies knew the suspects, tamerlan tsarnaev and dzhokhar tsarnaev had connections with suspected terrorist groups in russia. but the fbi never warned the boston police to keep an eye on the two. former mayor, rudy giuliani testified this morning. he said the u.s. has come far in preventing attacks from the air and by well-known terrorists groups. smaller ones like the boston marathon bombing continued slipping through the cracks. congress and witnesses compliant med -- praised for hard work. the house committee chairman said they will likely be getting classified information tomorrow on the bombing from the department of homeland security and the national counterterrorism center. live in washington, kyla campbell, ktvu channel 2 news. thank you. today, senate democrats will try to restore student loan interest rates. this would return rating on stafford loans to 3.4% for one year. when lawmakers failed to reach a deal, the rates doubled to 6.8%. the goal, to reach a deal before the students return from the summer break. and the board of regents is considering freezing tuition of professional programs including law, business and medicine. however, there will likely be fee increases for nursing students that was promised but never came through. 8:17. today, house republicans get together to discuss how they want to approach immigration reform. house speaker john boehner said he will not bring the bill past in the senate to the house floor for a vote. instead. house will come up with its own bill. coner is vative house republican -- conservative house republicans do not support citizenship for those living here illegally. but the obama administration says they will not include legislation that does not include the possibility of citizenship. san francisco has launched a new initiative to help the undocumented immigrants become citizens if congress passes legislation. mayor ed lee announced the public private partnership yesterday called pathway to it -- pathway to citizenship. well, for the first time ever, san francisco supervisor jane kim said the pledge of allegiance at a board meeting. she said it's in response to the supreme court ruling last month striking down the federal defense of marriage act. kim made headlines for standing during the pledge but rerefusing to say the words. this is video back in 2011. she said she took issue with the words "liberty and justice for all." well, "star wars" creator george lucas is heading to the white house. he will be receiving a national medal of arts. president obama will award the medal during a ceremony. elaine may and musician herb alpert will be honored. a total of 23 medals will be happened out. good news for people who walk, run, ride bikes or skateboard in santa rosa. a law was approved for people to file a simple lawsuit against anyone who assaults or harasses them. the new law is designed to make people feel less vulnerable. winder and healdsburg rejected the idea. emotional eaters may soon find comfort in a pen and paper rather than a fork and spoon. a new study by the journal of behavioral and brain science showing that drawing pictures of comfort food can have positive effects on your mood. researchers found mood improvements were not related to body mass index. so far,les long-term effects toence hans your -- to enhance your food is not known. switching beers now, passengers of -- gears now, passengers of flight 214 credit the cabin crew for coming to their aid. >> we have procedures where if we have a blocked exit, and that's what they used. and it's a cloudy and cool morning. steve paulson will tell us if the skies clear later today. this live picture allows me to paint a picture of you of southbound 680 slow traffic into danville. we'll tell you why that is happening. i'm totally in love with the avocado on this sub. i love avocado so much i started a facebook page. oh, you should post a picture of my new earrings. those would go perfectly with this sweater i'm knitting. [ male announcer ] show your avocado love! try it on the turkey & spinach or subway club. subway. eat fresh®. the ntsb reports that the crash ejected two flight attendants from the rear of the plane. the passengers are praising the cabin crew for your heroism. fleapts must be certified for each type of aircraft they service just like the -- just like the pilots. >> there's similarities in the evacuation procedures but each aircraft is specific and yes, you have to be trained on each aircraft that you work on. >> an evacuation deployed inside the plane. there's speculation the door may not have opened properly. flight attendants help cut the slide to free passengers. stay with us for continuing coverage. sal, how are things in contra costa county? >> it's a little slow heading south and north. i want to show you this picture. slowdown in danville and alamo. there's been a crash they've been removing from the right- hand side. the bay bridge has become busier but it's still backed up to the middle of the parking lot and still a delay before you get into san francisco. in san jose and into mountain view, northbound 101, another bad day, not as bad as yesterday. it's slow getting into mountain view. let's go to steve. thank you. a lot more in the way of low clouds. yesterday, the fog was on the ground. high temperature kicked in. inland temperatures really rocketed up. we're not really seeing fog, but we're seeing low fog deck. a little low to the west of us is helping to enhance that. it will continue to do so. you can see a lot of low clouds which weren't there and have been burning off yesterday. tropical clouds inch to inch northward. they are in southern california. a few light showers. not a big deal. some of these could drift into the santa clara valley. it looks like a lot of them are already heading to the san joaquin valley. bigger fog bank, cool to warm. the next couple of days, see the low spinning to the west of us. there's another low spinning to the pacific northwest. that's bumping the high into the middle of the country. cooler today. the low looks like it will hang around into saturday. temperatures will continue to come down over the next couple of days. 60s now. temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler. >> thank you, steve. we'll continue to search for answers as to what happened on flight 214. the investigation this morning at sfo and the areas where the ntsb is now focusing. we may get a better time line this morning at a meeting over the bay bridge opening. what people are saying about the delay when "mornings on 2" continues. welcome back to "mornings on 2." time now 8:29. and the ntsb has scheduled a news conference at 2:00 this afternoon to update the public on its investigation. but we are learning that after examining the flight data recorder and interviewing the pilots. investigators say the plane's landing speed was too slow, traveling 36 miles per hour less than the target speed. the pilots new something was wrong and aborted the landing. they tried to accelerate. the aircraft stalled and its landing clipped the sea wall to sfo. the ntsb says it could take up to 18 months before it releases a final report. the pilots say they set the awt throttle to -- automatic throttle and that throttle is similar to a cruise control on a car. the plane was going 122 miles an hour when it hit the sea wall at sfo, tearing off the tail. here more in a live report from the ntsb today. most of the passengers injured in the flight are back at home. there are still 22 passengers and crew members in the hospital. 12 people are at sf general, five of them are in critical condition, including a child. stanford hospital still has four victims. one of them is in critical. the receipt maining patients are recovering at three other hospitals with -- remaining patients are at recover -- are recover at three other hospitals -- are recovering at three other hospitals. there are departured delays to new jersey, new york and philadelphia tu to thunderstorms -- due to thunderstorms. we're learning more about what happened on flight 214 including the fact the seat belts may have played a role as well. pam cook is live in the newsroom with that part of the story. >> violently shaken. that's the description of what happened to the people on board flight 214. doctors at sf general who treated the plane crash victims say the internal injuries are reminiscent of the days before shoulder belts and cars. inside the cab p, first class passengers had shoulder belts but everyone else had just lap belts and reportedly suffered more be a tom nal injuries. now, we spoke to people flying in and out of sfo this morning about the concerns over safety and seat belts. >> you have them on cars. why not have them on planes? >> i think it's a good idea considering what's happened to these people. >> the airlines are making so much money on baggage stuff. if they want to do it, they can keep the rates as they are and do it. >> now, the airlines argue that adding 3-point seat belts would require major changes to the design and do mean higher prices to wake up for it. doctors warn that shoulder belts may transfer injuries higher up to the body, say, to the neck. doctors also say that passengers in the crash position where you are learning forward and with your head down as far as possible can limit spinal injuries but at this point, it's not clear if any of the beam on flight 214 -- people on the flight 214 had time to do that. we also want to remind you that tomorrow night, ktvu will air a special report on the crash-landing at sfo. the one-hour prime time special will have complete coverage of the investigation and include more about the heroic efforts to save%. the show air -- to save passengers. the show airs at 9:00 p.m. so many people were left homeless after a fire in redwood city, that the american red cross bay area is helping. they are continuing to support more than 90 people all affected by the six-alarm apartment fire early sunday morning. the service center subpoena at the national guard armory. san francisco is considering setting up a new database to help reunite stolen bikes and the owners. the program would help police check if someone was in possession of a stolen bike. it would help officers get in contact with the bicycle's rightful owner. the gel goal is to have the data -- the foal is to have the deaubs -- the goal is to have the deaubs up and running -- database up and run by the end of the year. american-made pickup truck are now the top choice of car thieves. the number one target, the f- 250 truck, followed by the chesh row vau lay -- chevrolet pickup. the rest of the top ten are all gm trucks and suvs. caltrans is holding a special meeting to talk about the delayed opening of the new bay bridge. katie utehs is live in san francisco with the important information expected to be released. katie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we may get a better time line for when the bridge will be ready to open and find out if there's going to be a grand opening ceremony rescheduled. but one man i spoke to, he's actually not concerned about the delay. he's just sad to see the old bridge go. >> i like the girders. i like all of the beams and everything. it's very beautiful the new bridge. but i don't mind the old one? >> reporter: even though this has been deemed unsafe? >> it's been unsafe for 75 years. >> reporter: safety committees say until the bolts can be repaired, the new span should not open. on monday, the bridge oversight announced the eastern span will not open labor day weekend as originally scheduled. the project is $5 billion over budget and ten years late. i asked people who is responsible for the bay bridge construction problems. >> we all gotta be held accountable. i think we're in a period of time in the history of the country where we're cutting corners and trying to get more for less and get something for nothing. i am not getting on until it's fixed. >> reporter: that meeting is scheduled at 10:00 a.m. in oakland. we'll have a crew there to bring you the details when the bay bridge will open and whether or not that celebration mr. take place or -- will take place or not. all right. a few problems out there, sal? >> yeah. we just found out about an injury crash at the corner of cabrillo and funston near golden gate park near park presidio. it's an injury crash involving an auto. let's go out to live pictures. bay bridge is improving. we do see traffic only backed up to the middle of the parking lot between five and ten-minute delay or more like a ten-minute delay. let's be conservative about it. san jose northbound 101 slow traffic as you drive from the middle of san jose to mountain view, it's getting belter now that they have cleared a crash. most of it is still in san jose. i want to mention there are two- and a half hour delays expected at sfo. this is a live picture of the runway. i believe that's runway 1. the you can see -- you can see that. but runway 2 left, that is the runway involved in the crash, that's not opened yet. we have two and a half-hour average delays. check with your carrier. a much, much higher fog bank and it never went anywhere yesterday. it just got smashed on the deck. temperatures rocketed right up. there's a lot of low clouds being enhanced by a little low right there on its way. that will give us a cooling trend. a lot of tropical clouds continue to kind of flirt with southern california. we have to deal with low clouds. there's also more of a westerly breeze. most of these are staying in southern california. very humid. only a few showers. not a lot going on. ist drifting north. if you are down towards monterey, you can see some higher clouds. that's the source. they are coming up from the south. as that moves in, it takes this cloud cover and sends it to the east. one, a little cooler today. that system will move into pacific northwest. that will take us friday into saturday. iting loos like the high- pressure system -- it's a strong high. i mean, yesterday, it was an indication of how strong it is. it kind of drifted back to us. inland temperatures shot up. it's heading up more towards the country. we get a cooler pattern. 50s and 60s on the temperatures. yesterday we were much warmer. again, the fog really on the coast, not changing too much there. but with the cloud cover, 80s. but very muggy in southern california and also towards las vegas. that tropical cloud cover will stay with them for probably one more day. a little cooler inland and then more so as we get into the next couple of days. 60s to 90s. again temperatures out of the upper 90s. or low 100s. sometimes you can drop 10 degrees. walnut creek 87. berkeley, 71. we'll go 80s for san jose. warmer towards east san jose. santa clara valley. 60s, 70s, 80s. peninsula, some very low 80s. cooler weather on thursday, friday. probably into saturday. maybe a slight warmup inland on sunday. santa clara county vector control will be fogging for mosquitoes tomorrow to help get rid of the wm virus. the -- west nile virus. this is for blossom hill, coddle road, santa teresa and snell avenue. it will start? the morning and -- had will start in the morning and last for several hours. there are renewed warnings for pet owners after more poisonous meatballs were found in san francisco. we first told you about the problem last week after a dog ate one of the meatballs and got very sick. the latest discovery was made over the weekend. police are reminding pet owners to be careful when walking dogs. if you see anything suspicious, you are asked to call police. firefighters say five firefighters set near a clayton park may have been deliberately set. the fires all started yesterday on a trail near liddia lane park. contra costa fire tweeted that clayton police detained a person of interest but police have not confirmed that. fremont police are trying to track down a man caught stealing a package from the front porch of a home. the suspect is 27 years old. he's a transient. his last known address is in san jose. police say a video shows him pulling up to a home one month ago in a bmw. he gets out of the car and walks up to the porch and then he's seen whacking back -- seen walking back to his car with a bag full of toys from amazon.com. a report focuses on the actions of employees after there learned that a coworker was suspected of sexually abusing teenaged girls. the workers were put on leave back in march for failing to report the alleged abuse to police. but they were later reinstated after an internal investigation found after the group acted inappropriately. going too far. why a proposal to restore yosesty back to nature -- yosemite back to nature is stirring up controversy. >> reporter: and i did talk to the head of the ntsb about the investigation still underway. we'll tell you what she says is happening today and what is next as this investigation moves forward. that's when "mornings on 2" comes back. stocks are a little changed as investors wait for the release from the minutes of the federal reserve's latest policy meeting. they are looking for a clue about when the fed will ease up on the economic stimulus program. the dow is down 20. the nasdaq is up 4. s&p down 2. 8:44. now to the investigation of flight 214. the ntsb has scheduled another news conference at 2:00 this afternoon. while the ntsb says it is only in the preliminary stages of the investigation, it is focused on the speed of the plane at the time of the crash landing. let's go to claudine wong near the airport where you talked one on one with the head of the safety board. >> reporter: that's right. we asked her what's next in this investigation because certainly there's a lot of pieces that still need to be put together. one runway still closed at sfo. so the question is when does that wrap up? when do you move to the next phase? from our vantage point, you can see operations underway right now. three of the four runways are open. but if we pan on down all the way down to the runway where this wreckage is still sitting, we can show you a couple of things. first, there is a little bit of a base camp that's set up right before the wreckage where ntsb investigators and everyone has put all of their stuff and where they get shuttled out there, that's where they make the home base. then there's the wreckage. you can see containers out there. then we pan down and up can see where the tail of the plane is resting where the impact was they have been out there every day. they work from daylight to day break. this afternoon, the briefing you talked about, they will sum up what they learn every 24 hours. at this point, we know all of the of the interviews with the pilots, and there were four of them, three at the time in the cockpit, they stayed around on their own to talk to investigators and the ntsb chair says they've been very, very forthcoming but obviously a lot of the focus is on the pilot. >> at the end of the day our goal is to learn from this to make sure no other crew will find themselves in a situation like this crew. >> reporter: but isn't part of the lesson that you have to pay attention, everything is so automated these days but you can't rely on automation? >> we've conducted a number of investigations in the past approach and landing critical phase of flight, pilot monitoring skills are very important. we've issued recommendations about those in this investigation we're gonna have to see what the facts tell us. >> reporter: and they will be getting those folks bay looking at the wreckage but doing more interviews. they expect the crew to be interviewed. they will try to interview passengers. one the scene is wrapped up, they will release it back to the airport but we shouldn't fet any conclusions they say -- get any conclusions they say for another 12 or 18 months. live near snowe, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. we're getting a closer look at one of the crash victims. this is video of 16-year-old ye mengwuan playing here, and she was a top student talented with the piano. her parents are in the bay area planning her funeral and seeking sceneses about her death -- answers about her death. investigators say she may have been hit by a fire truck responding to the crash. and that is still he being investigated. let's get you updated on some of the top stories -- a flight that experienced trouble late last night at sfo has landed safely in cincinnati. a delta was scheduled to we dart -- debart at 1 -- depart at 11:00 eam. but we're told that a small utility tug bumped into the aircraft just before aircraft. no one was injured. police have detained one person in connection with the deadly stabbing at a sheltner san jose. police the victim was stabbed during a fight and a fiery crash blocked all eastbound traffic. the chp says the big rig rear ended the van around 1:00 a.m. neither driver was hurt. >> 8:49. happening now in sanford, florida, a judge has ruled that trayvon martin's texts cannot be introduced as evidence in bim's murder trial. these -- in george zimmerman's murder trial. these are live pictures. those texts reportedly discuss fights martin had been in at his school. the judge ruled an animation that re-creates the comconversation between the two cannot be inintroduced as evidence -- introduced as evidence for review. new documents filed against aaron hernandez are linking him to more than one murder. a vehicle wanted in a double killing in boston one year ago was rented in hernandez's name. the filing includes testimony from a man who was with hernandez the night oden lloyd was killed. police say the man claims hernandez confessed to the murder. another suspension looms for bartolo da cologne and -- bartolo cologne and 20 other players. he would be suspended because of the steroids investigation. the commissioner is considering bans for alex rodriquez and ryan braun. it's day three at of a hunger strike. inmates are protesting the use of solitary confinement. this is the third and urge laest hunger strike in the prison system in recent history. a shift in winds is helping fire crews gain ground on a wildfire in san diego county. the fire damaged or destroyed more than 120 vacation cabins. a lodge operated by the sierra is affected as well. las vegas casinos are opening their doors for people forced out of their homes by a nearby wildfire. some hotels are offering evacuees and rates as low as $25 a night. others are letting victims stay for free up to two weeks. the at this point, it's only about -- at this point, it's only about 10% contained. canadian authorities have found evidence that a criminal act may have caused a deadly train crash that killed at least 15 people. early saturday morning near the main border a parked train carrying oil began rolling downhill. about six miles later it crashed and derailed at 63 miles per hour. even if they knew rail dispatchers would not be able to warn anyone. >> there's no way that the dispatcher could see or to realize that there was no controlled movement. >> at least who buildings were leveled in the explosions. nearly 2,000 people had to be evacuated. so far, more than half of the evacuated residents ares have been allowed to return -- residents have been allowed to return to their homes. 8:52. and coming up -- a marine critically injured in iraq. the even he's outraged about the way he was treated at an airport in northern california. good morning. westbound 237, still a little bit slow. as you drive by 880. no major problems. we'll tell you more about the morning commute coming up. mary gonzales had a cold, she also has asthma. so she sees her allergist who has a receptionist susan, who sees that she's due for a mammogram. mary has one that day. that's when she finds out she has a tumor. she has a successful surgery and because her health provider has an amazing connected system, she has her life. i don't know what you have but i have kaiser permanente. kaiser permanente. thrive some people are upset by the treatment of a wounded marine by tsa. the corporal was severely injured in iraq. ke not lift his right arm or remove clothing by himself. the corporal says the tsa screeners hassled him at a sacramento airport because he could not move his arms. >> the security tesh nixes were not aware who -- technicians were not aware who this marine was and why he was there, nor that he suffered injuries from his military service. >> the tsa says any wounded service members can use the wound the warriors' screening program but need to contact the airline ahead of time. reducing the humid footprint at yosemite park stirring up controversial. under a new proposal visitors would no longer be able to rent bicycles, horses or river rafts in yosemite valley. in response to the public outcry, the park's director says his agency soing looing at alternatives that would loy a -- that would allow this to continue. details won't be out until december. sal, problems on 680? >> fortunately things are getting better. we're looking at it. if you are gonna be driving -- well this, is highway 24. pardon me. westbound 24 gets up to walnut creek, not a bad commute. let's go to the bay bridge toll plaza that's cleared up nicely. right now would be a good time if you need to get out to the city. northbound 101 is still slow because of some problems problems -- because of some problems. let's go to steve. thank you, sal. well, yesterday, temperatures warmed up fast. we had the fog on the ground and that burned off. but the coast didn't change. inland temperatures did. much cooler pattern. it's moved pretty far inland. cooler weather takes into thursday, friday, probably saturday as well even as we head to the weekend. >> kind of muggy down there. very muggy. there's been light rain down around long beach but i don't think it will make it up here. that's our report for this morning. thanks for making ktvu your choice for news. >> be waur to watch the news -- be sure to watch the news at noon. we're always here for you on facebook and twitter. thank you for joining us. have a great day. look at 'em. living on cloud nine with that u-verse wireless receiver. you see in my day, when my mom was repainting the house, you couldn't just set up a tv in the basement. i mean, come on! nope. we could only watch tv in the rooms that had a tv outlet. yeah if we wanted to watch tv someplace else, we'd have to go to my aunt sally's. have you ever sat on a plastic covered couch? [ kids cheering ] you're missing a good game over here. those kids wouldn't have lasted one day in our shoes. [ male announcer ] add a wireless receiver. call to get u-verse tv for just $19 a month with qualifying bundles. rethink possible. hello, everybody. i'm beth troutman. it's time for us to tell you the stories behind the best videos of the day "right this minute." a suspect is being shown being pulled by his hair in the back of the squad car. >> a driver has no idea what is about to come out from between the parked cars. the scary scene that could have been so much worse. >> can you scoop them under the seat? >> two

Justice Department sues Oklahoma City Schools on behalf of service member

The Justice Department is suing Oklahoma City Public Schools on behalf of Air Force reservist Michael McCullough.

PM NewsBrief: June 7, 2024

This is the KGOU PM NewsBrief for June 7, 2024.

8 Hiking Nutrition Myths Busted

Hiking nutrition science can be fuzzy. So, we took eight common myths to our favorite hiking nutritionist to set the record straight.

An Encouraging Word: Freedom in Forgiveness : VOICE of the Valley

Pershing mural undergoes meticulous restoration for new home at Wyuka Park

The Pershing mural that was first installed in 1957, was taken apart tile by tile and is now undergoing a restoration process before it lays in a new home at Wyuka Park.