draft of his amendment in the last hour. so we're literally reading it for the first time. i don't think that's cooperation, but he may have a different definition of it. so we're reading that amendment now. i don't believe that amendment is going to help our cause. i think it is going to undermine what we're trying to do. i will have more comments about the specifics of it, but the senator from pennsylvania, for whatever reason, has just not been cooperative the whole time. we'll be happy to vote on his amendment. i think the amendment is going to do great harm to the bill, and i think i would urge our coalition at this point to vote no. but i'm going to go look at it. senator isakson has just received a copy of it in the last hour, and all i can do is ask our colleagues to be patient while we review this 13-page amendment. we are trying to get -- you know, we have 200 organizations

that have been working on this. we're trying to be fair and get their input and then we will know how to proceed. but the bottom line is this -- this week we are going to pass a flood insurance relief bill off the floor of the united states senate, and i want to put everybody here on notice that we have run out of patience. we have been working on this for a year and a half. we were told before christmas we could have a vote. then we were told we could have a vote when we got back. then we were told we could have a vote before we left. this is it. there's no more time. we're voting on this this week. we're either going to do it the easy way or the hard way. we're either going to have a few amendments that the republicans put up, democrats put up, and we get back to legislating like we should, or the leader is going to file cloture on this bill and we're going to pass it without

an amendment. and if one single republican comes to this floor and sthaeus they did not -- and says that they did not have time to discuss their amendment we will debate until the cows come home because i am not leaving this floor until every single person in america knows the games that can be played up here. i have been more than transparent. i have been more than honest. i have come here more than any senator, and i don't know if this is good or bad. it's just the only way i know how to lead, is to be forthright and honest with myself, with my constituents, and with people that really need to know what in the heck is going on up there. i just don't know how else to do it. and i'm not going to apologize. i'm not going to go read about how to do this in a book. there are no books on this. this is about leadership from the inside. and the only people that taught me this were my parents.

so i'm just saying if anyone in this chamber thinks they're going to get away with trying to give some flimsy-lims kpwr* -- flimsy-limsy excuse about how they are upset with the leader they will have to go through me and i'm not moving because i've got people all over this country that are desperate. we passed the wrong bill. we should not have passed it. we must fix it, and we are going to fix it this week in the united states senate. now what the house does, what speaker boehner does, he made some negative comments about the bill last week. my comments back were the speaker has his hands full. he's been busy. i understand it. i wouldn't want his job. he's got a tough job. he's got a lot of issues to juggle. but i said, and i will say again, when this bill comes to

the house -- which it will when it passes the senate this week -- he will hear from millions and millions of americans that paid their mortgage every month, that went to work every day, who honor their families by building homes in places that have been for generations and they're about ready to take those front door keys and turn them in to the local bank and walk away from their house and speaker boehner is going to hear that. and i hope that those words, those expressions, those pictures, those letters will hit his heart the way they have hit mine and that he will have a softened heart and an open mind, and he will consider what we're trying to do. and i realize that our way may not be the most perfect way but it's a good way. and if somebody wants to improve it fine. but don't scuttle it pretending

that you're helping. don't scuttle it by pretending that you are for some kind of, you know, better approach. if there was a better approach, we would have found it in the last year and a half we've been searching. you're not going to find it in the last three minutes of this debate. so we're reviewing the toomey amendment. he has been the lead opponent of our effort. i don't believe his amendment is helpful, but until i read it, i won't be able to give a definitive. senator isakson will have to give his views on it. senator menendez will have to give his views on it, and we'll figure it out. but we are going to bring relief to the five million people that have done nothing wrong, middle-class families, many of them, some of them very poor families that have been living in places for generations. and because fema can't get its flood maps right, because fema

can't get the affordability study done, they're going to be kicked out of their homes? talk about misguided regulation. and i hope that mitch mcconnell, our leader, republican leader, talking about misguided regulation, would put a little muscle here into helping us. he's been cooperative, and i thank him. senator reid has been putting a lot of muscle into this, and i thank him. but i hope people will come to the floor and speak about the importance of this bill. we'll figure out this amendment process. all germane amendments. and get this final vote this week. but you know, this is going to get done this week. the easy way or the hard way. and we're done. and the vote's going to happen this week, and we're going to move this bill to the floor. and to the president, he put out

a statement, and his administration, that they, you know, didn't have many positive things to say about this. let me just say i think their statement is misinformed. it was misguided. i'm really hoping the white house will reconsider. the president's coming here tonight to talk about the importance of strengthening the middle class. i would think that allowing middle-class people to stay in their homes would be a good place to start. so i hope that the administration will take a second look at this and join us and help us to let middle-class families stay in their homes. colorado is a beautiful state. let me just conclude. i've been there many times. but not everybody can live in the mountains of colorado. there's some of us that have to live along rivers and streams and ports to build and to support the infrastructure that helps to make this country grow. and my people who fish every day, who harvest the oysters, who put seafood on the table, who bring those huge and

magnificent barges up and down the river, they can't live in vail, colorado. i'm sorry. they don't like the snow and they couldn't afford to live there anyway. they live in little places like venice and plaquemines and the lower ninth ward that got flooded out, every single home destroyed. they can go back if we use our science and engineering and brain and lead with our hearts and our heads, this can work. if people are playing political games, trying to score political points or if they're not working hard enough to understand the issue, then i feel sorry for them because the public needs

ever since the students will get their chance to visit the c-span but essential in this morning's on washington journal as we hit a road for the big 12 conference tour. and now to london for prime minister's question time live from the british house of commons. every wednesday when parliament is in session prime minister david cameron takes questions from the house of commons. prior to question time the house is wrapping up other business. this is live coverage on c-span2. >> long-term economic plan. >> we have made massive

progress. under the last government there was no attempt to measure how much business was going to s m es. we are measuring and improving it. we cut out a lot of bureaucratic nonsense that often prevents small businesses even being able to fit the business loan when it and results of that have been nearly of fifth of government business one way or another goes to s m es but if that should rise to 20 points i am optimistic we can achieve that. >> questions for the prime minister. rory smith. >> mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i had meetings with ministers, colleagues and others and in addition to my duties in this house i have further meetings later today. >> murray smith. >> mr. speaker, figures show the u.k. economy growing at its

fastest rate since 2007. the plan is working. stick with it or abandon our plan but a better economic pizza at and my constituents, would the prime minister agree with me that what we are taking us that most be the future of britain and our children? the next generation? >> absolutely right. that should be the test of the decisions we are taking and will they secure a better future, more stability, more peace of mind for our children and grandchildren? last week we saw the biggest number of new jobs and a quarter since records began. this week we see the growth in their economy for six years, there should be no complaints, the job is nowhere near complete but if we stick to long-term economic plan we can see our country rise and our people rise

too. >> mr. speaker, the house will recognize the government's change of heart on syrian refugees which i raised last week. we look forward to the home secretary's statement but now the decision has apparently been taken will be reassured the house with the utmost urgency because we are talking about the most vulnerable people in refugee camps who need help now. what i can assure you is we will act with the greatest urgency because when it comes to syria we have acted with the greatest urgency throughout. we have made available 600 million pounds which makes up the second-largest humanitarian donor, we provided food for 188,000 people, clean water for almost a million, medical consultations almost a quarter of a million and as the secretary will make clear we will be coming forward with a

scheme to help the most needy people in those refugee camps and offered them a home in our country. we want to make sure we help those who have been victims of sexual violence, the foreign secretary on behalf of the whole country championed across the world. >> i welcome the government's decision to accept refugees, very important call. let me turn to another subject. who said this just before the election? and i quote. shelling we are all in this together means showing that the rich will pay their share which is what -- which is why the tax break will have to stay. >> the fact is under this -- question has been asked -- under

this government the richest will pay more in income tax in every years and any year that he was in office. i want to the richest to pay more in tax and under this government they are because we are creating jobs, we are creating growth, encouraging investment and what we heard from labor over the last 48 hours is they want to attack that growth, attack those jobs, attack those businesses. we have anti business, and high-growth. >> no, mr. speaker, what we have is a policy with the overwhelming support, the overwhelming support of the most important people of all, the people of britain. that is what this is. of course, mr. speaker, it was him in 2009 just before the

election, it was him that said the income tax rate was a symbol of we are all in it together and now it is gone. now can he tell us whether he rules out cutting the top rate further to 40? >> the chance yesterday exactly when asked prior to this to cut factors for the lowest paid and middle-income people, i am not surprised he didn't hear the chancellor or the rest of the labor party, he wasn't yesterday. all on his own. and while we are on the business, who has said interesting things in recent days, who has said interesting things in recent days, let me

ask him this. mr. robertson, mr. robertson, prime minister -- [shouting] >> while we are on the subject of interesting quotes, who in the last 48 hours said this? the level of public spending going into the crisis was a problem for britain, no i don't, nor our deficit, nor our national debt. in fact he even said in some areas we would spend more. mr. speaker. we were talking earlier about our children. our children and future. go to the dictionary and look up the definition of the nile, ,,

will be right there. >> it is hard to remember but along time ago i asked a question and the prime minister failed to answer it. does he rule out -- does he rule out giving another tax cut to the richest in society by cutting the top rate to 40 p? calm down. calm down. 40 p. yes or no? >> so much good news i can't wait to get up and tell it. to cut taxes for the lowest paid in our country. million people. the reaction of the announcement. it would cost jobs, labor

ministers served alongside, economically illiterate and it would raise hardly any money. it has been an absolutely disastrous policy from a disastrous labour economic team. >> with every answer, a few of the ordinary families. that is the truth. a very simple question, of very simple question. i know the prime minister doesn't like answering questions, that is the point of this vocation, a very simple question. a clear position. we would reverse the millionaires' tax cut for the top-rated tax, i am asking him a very simple question. does he rule out reducing the top rate to 40 p, yes or no?

>> tax cuts for low earners, freezing the tax, freezing, helping people in our country, what have we seen from him so far this year? a banking policy the governor of the banking england says will increase the banking system and employment policy that would cost jobs and tax policies that business leaders would be at risk to our recovery. there is a crisis in our country, a crisis of economic credibility for the labor party. [shouting] >> three opportunities to answer and he could not answer the question. this is a country where after four years of this government people are worse off and this -- mr. prime minister, has already given those of bus, millionaires, 100,000 pound tax cut and wants to give them another one.

pecan only govern for the few, he can never governed for the many. >> i tell you who we are governing for, the 1.3 million people who got jobs under this government, the 400,000 new businesses and this government, 2 million people we have taken out of -- people under minimum wage to have seen their taxes slightly third under this government. that is who we are governing for. we got more factories producing more goods, more people taking home a paycheck, more security for hard-working families and now we can see labor, a risk for jobs and the recovery and the future of britain and security. >> jeremy brown. >> mr. speaker, on the sunset levels causing distress for the

people who live in that area. will the prime minister give a commitment today to take immediate action to try to clear the war zone from the sunset and also to put this place a long term and to try to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future. >> i give my hon. friend both of those assurances. end meeting again this afternoon to explore what we can do to help the somerset level the current situation is not acceptable. it is not currently save to dredge in the levels but i can confirm dredging will start as soon as it is practical, as soon as the waters have started to come down. the environment agency are pumping as much water as possible given the capacity of the rivers are around levels but i have ordered further high-volume pumps from the national reserve will be made available to increase the volume of the pumping operation as soon as there is capacity in the rivers to support that.

we are urgently exploring what further help the government can give local residents to move around and i will nothing out to get this problem sorted. >> can i invite the prime minister to visit my constituency to spend a day working with a rogue employment industry on that zero our contract being paid less than the minimum wage so he can get a world of insight for the people under his watch? >> i can assure i have been visiting his constituency in the next 16 months and i absolutely agree, it is unacceptable, it is unacceptable when people paid below the minimum wage and we want to see more enforcement, we want to see more action to make sure that doesn't happen. it is not acceptable. we have a minimum wage for good reason and i want to see it properly enforced. >> is it not the case we have learned over successive years

over the last two or three decades that responsible economic policies to maximize tax yields, the tax rates and the rates that you will feel the most, raising the tax rate too high and actually raise less. >> my right hon. friend makes a sensible point, but point of tax rates is to raise revenue not to make a political point. the party opposite want to make a political point because they believe in the politics of envy, nodding raising money for public services and in the end the top 1% taxpayers in our country are paying a 30% of the total income tax and as i said the richest taxpayers are going to be paying more every year of this government than when those two sat in the treasury and made a mess of the economy. >> mr. speaker, over 300,000

people say let's be paid less than the minimum wage. i was heartened by what the prime minister said but that is the case, if he is really committed to the minimum wage why have barely been two employers prosecuted in the last four years at half of the level of investigations? >> we have seen 700 penalties issued for not paying the minimum wage so we are taking enforcement action and we need to take more enforcement action and also want to see the opportunity for the minimum wage to rise as our economy recovers. it should be possible. listening to the low pay commission to see the value of minimum-wage restored and we want to see that happen. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister deals in fact and the fact are we have more jobs than ever recorded before. we also have a prediction higher

than anybody would have thought a year ago. will we now consider looking at the minimum wage and considering whether the level of the minimum-wage could be raised so that we can ensure everyone benefits from this recovery? >> the honorable lady makes an important point. it is good news we have over 30 million people at work in our country and record numbers in work, what happened to the minimum wage under this government has gone up by 10% and of course the fact the we have cut taxes on low earners is equivalent to another 10% in the minimum-wage. as i said i hope it will be possible to seek the real value of the minimum-wage restored. we should listen to the pay commission to do their work. i don't want to see this issue becomes something of a political football but everybody agrees as the economy recovers it should be possible to restore that value. >> mohamad as a guard who lived in the uk for four years was

recently convicted and sentenced to death in pakistan. he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2010 and treated in edinburgh but the judges refused to take that into account. the foreign secretary yesterday, now to assure me that the minister will take everything they can to support this man can't see him returned to the u.k. where he can get the treatment he needs it? >> i can give the hon. lady the assurance she asked for. i am deeply concerned about this debt sentence passed on mr. muhammed ended the longstanding policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. the pakistani authorities, the seriousness with which we view these developments, the chief minister on monday, high commissioner continues to raise this case with the relevant authorities, officials are meeting pakistani high commission officials in london as they discuss this and other

cases. we take this extremely seriously and we are making that clear at every level. >> delivering the drop of 20 points, 25% over the last year, with this in mind is the prime minister aware, going forward today to build a number of specials to revolutionize and facilitate the industrialization of the energy sector, will the prime minister agree that portsmouth would be a place to do this? >> i congratulate the hon. lady for everything she has done in recent weeks to highlight the support in all matters maritime in the broad sense of the word and i am aware of this interesting project and they will be meeting with the business department shortly, it is a testament to their

reputation of folks at hand the more interest in the commercial sector that she and i and the government want to see expand. i think the appointment of a minister would be on a brighter number to make a difference, it is good news, we must stick to the economic plan and keep delivering for portsmouth. >> increasingly in london who young people find the optimal to afford to rent or to buy a home. why is it under this government we have seen the fewest number of housing starts since the 1920s and a housing the bubble being driven by wealthy overseas buyers? >> on that last point, this government is introducing capital gains tax for overseas buyers, something the labor party for 13 years never did. when it comes to housing nearly 400,000 new homes delivered since 2010, cute to amounts of money going into social housing. this government is reforming the

planning system, also opposed by the party opposite to make these things happen. >> does my right hon. friend share my concerns that the public administration select committee inquiry into police recorded crime statistics and commit serious deficiencies and reliability of those statistics and crime is undoubtedly following, would he agree with me the home office should work urgently with police chiefs across the country to restore the authority of the statistics and police chiefs should concentrate on leadership based on values and service to the public, not on discredited targets. we scrapped all targets reducing crime, the most important thing the police do. it is important statistics are as robust as possible, that is why we transferred responsibility for crimes statistics to the independent office of national statistics,

to carry out an audit on the quantity of crime recording in the police force and written to all chief constable's emphasizing they must ensure accurately and honestly. and everybody, what is notable about the recent crime statistics, crimes recorded by the police or the british pipe survey they both show crime is falling and crime is caught in by 10%. >> i thank the prime minister for his comments. mr. speaker. dozens of appliances and by benches, the immigration bill, and they have demanded british parliament be able to veto every single european union law which is totally unworkable. the prime minister has given concession after concession,

when will he finally learned they will not be satisfied by anything? >> i don't agree with the hon. gentleman. we will correct in the immigration bill the fact that it has been so difficult that the pork people who don't have a right to be here and facing trial overseas and should be deported overseas and make experienced arguments about the right to a family life. there's nothing anti european about that. is a sensible step, we should pass the immigration bill with all speed. >> mr. speaker, this government successfully -- the new immigration bill will crack down the immigrants and -- immigration law also political

parties. >> i am sure i shouldn't comment on this case. don't send me. this it is an important piece of law. we don't just need to have control on our borders but make sure people cannot come to britain and view health service or give rights to other housing or banking or driving licenses if they don't have a right to be here. the immigration bill makes all of those important changes including making it possible to deport people, why they have appeals overseas. we hope we won't delay much before passing this important bill. >> people in my constituency up and down the country it worked harder and harder to meet as

they are paid consistently. and the business secretary said this week the company feels the company, all sorts of companies and be helpful to the prime minister. the answers on page 57 in his order. >> i think you'll find the business secretary said that it is welcome but in terms of gdp growth we have seen strong growth in manufacturing and industrial production and not just in services. in terms of making sure we genuinely help people as the economy grows we need to cut people's taxes. the point is we have cut people's taxes because we made difficult decisions about public spending. everyone of those decisions has been opposed by the party opposite. if we listen to them people would have a more difficult situation with the cost of living rather than a better one. >> can i thank the prime minister for his announcement, on behalf of all the people in somerset where we have an area

the size of bristol under water and has been underwater for a month. thanking all the people working hard on the ground can't i take it from him that what he is doing is committing the whole of government including transport and the treasury to working to deal with this situation not now but for six years as well. >> i can certainly give him that assurance ended does need to be a government effort. what i don't want to see is dredging work being held by arguments in other departments. i would like to join him in praising all of those emergency services, environment agency, local flood ordnance to have the valuable work including in somerset levels but we need to move more rapidly to the issues like dredging which will help to make a long-term difference. >> the maximum development, and therefore call to all of us,

called for an absolute song, it is morally right, half of that fight to be used for local people and independent value said the developers could build 60% genuinely affordable housing and still make a huge great profit. in those circumstances and given the level of local opposition would it not be outrageous for the mayor of london for this site, 12% affordable housing really help the cost of living? >> i am happy to look at the site that she mentioned. is important to allow the mayor of london to carry out his plan and responsibilities but what is important is there are read development opportunities that are not endleslie blocked and we need housing. >> the royal data, would the prime minister join me, the general talking about holocaust

memorial. whatever speck on both sides, the hon. gentleman, holocaust memorial day to places monday will the prime minister join me in commending work of the holocaust memorial trust in educating future generations about the holocaust and would he comment on the holocaust commission which he launched this week? >> i am grateful to the hon. gentleman, holocaust day is an important day in the annual calendar and it gave me enormous pleasure to welcome to downing street 50 holocaust survivors who came and talked about their stories, incredibly moving and brave stories and we should thank them for the work they have done going into school after school, college after college reminding people of the dangers of what happened in the past and how we should drive out hate and prejudice from every part of the national life. the holocaust commission has been set up and across party commission on representative of all parties in order to ask the question as tragically these holocaust survivors come to the

end of their lives what should we do as a country to make sure the memory of this never fades, whether that is a new museum or a new way of remembering or recording their memories, all of these things would be looked at and i look forward to getting the report that will have support across the house. >> the most ordinary people, the reality is child poverty, lending to up, energy costs up, wages down and. mr. speaker, the prime minister once said he wants to stop jobs because when will he? when will he start the problem for all the people in all the country? >> the first thing that came out of his now under this government child poverty has measured gallon, on the measure each preferred. i am not satisfied. we need a bigger measure. what i would say is employment is up. employment is up.

number of businesses is up. we have a long way to go to restore our economic fortunes, we have a long-term economic plan delivering britain's families, got to stick at it. >> i am pleased to report large companies are finding an attractive place to do business from. i would like to particularly mention something about headquarters with 200 new jobs next week, very pleased about that but i must report and recent meeting in winter, the enterprise home that i visited last week i saw quite a few small businesses such as 18 solutions and publicity training said to me mr. speaker that they were very frustrated by the amount of red tape in their business and i would ask the prime minister what his government intends to do about it. >> the business environment, we

have helped businesses with taxes and helping with red tape and helping them with their exports on red tape, this will be the first government in modern history that at the end of parliament will have less regulation in place and at the beginning and i commend the business department and my right hon. friend for his heroic efforts to get that legislation, get those regulations on to websites so people can tell us what we can remove. we are on target for scrapping 3,000 regulations under this government, sending we can be proud of. >> the government sought to exploit the strike, close picks and denied -- from communities, some families have never recovered and others have died waiting for justice. at the end they deserve the truth and deserve an apology. why are they still waiting?

>> my right hon. friend said we have a system for releasing paperwork from ken, 20, 30 years ago and should stick to that but if anyone needs to make an apology for their role in the miners strike in judy parter stargel -- it should be arthur stargel and will of the leader of the labor party who is tied to never condemn the fact. there are lessons for neighbors to learn in their performance today, they haven't learned any of them. >> thank you, mr. speaker. and we will be aware of the plant outside the city. could the prime minister do everything in his power, to do well. >> that might be a question for

my wrong not -- righton. friend who guides me in these important issues but i will go away and will get the issue of the bishop and try to put the image out of my mind and come up with the right answer. >> if we are to have a parliament that reflects the people, the prime minister must be disappointed that one in ten of his women and hes to came in in 2010 have declared they will not be standing and one of his most senior women, chairs of committees, signatory party's problem with women. >> proud of the fact and last parliament we had 19 women who served as and thes and that has gotten closer to 15. do i want us to go further and faster? if i do i will start by targeting him in the next

election. >> mr. speaker, i am sure the whole house will congratulate my right hon. friend, sticking to their economic guns, introduced -- my right hon. friend will agree with me will be accused look at the british people, the shattered chancellor who never owned up to the last government function of the deficit and the reconstructed centrist party to tax and spend which will ruin -- >> my right hon. friend put it with characteristic strength and clarity. the fact is the party opposite has learned no lessons from the past. they say they would do all over

again. and visits saying they haven't got a clue. i don't know if you have seen the film gravity but they remind me of two people in a void with no idea what to do next. a great film, tragedy made in britain. >> the prime minister, in light of the prime minister's recognition, a superb and sunny place, in my constituency but showing real potential of community renewables from the power and the government's new community including the victims, the energy provides us with potential for more, and that strategy instead of the evidence about fracking.

>> i am sure i will be invited before long and look forward to hearing about the renewable energies to we. i would say we need both of these things. we have set out to strike prices and the energies of the we can be a real magnet for investment in renewable energy but also think we should take advantage of shale gas and an opportunity to have clean-helping to keep energy bills down and to those in the green movement to oppose it simply because shale gas includes carbon is on misguided approach. we want to have affordable energy as well as green energy. that should be our goal. >> here on c-span2 we believe the british house of commons as they move to other images late of business. you have been watching prime minister's question time aired live when theys at 7:00 a.m. eastern when parliament is in session. you can see question time again at 9:00 eastern and pacific on c-span. for more information go to

c-span.org and click on c-span series for prime minister's questions plus legislatures around the world. you can also watch recent video including programs dealing with other international issues. you're watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs weekdays featuring live coverage of the u.s. senate, on week nights keep public policy events and every weekend latest nonfiction authors and books on booktv, and get our schedules at our web site and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. >> to date the director of national intelligence and other security officials testified before the senate intelligence committee to deliver their annual assessment on worldwide friends. that is live at 10:00 eastern on

c-span43. on the heels of the state of the union address president obama will be in west mifflin, pa. to visit u.s. steel plant. we will bring his remarks live at 1:45 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> bringing attention to what women do or how women have contributed always concerns the question of the body. for one thing, many people object to bring in women's studies or women's history to a middle school, high school classroom because there is an assumption that women's studies is only about sex, birth control, abortion, and actually it is also about women and politics, women in law, working on farms, queens, prime ministers, my job is to break down the fear many people have,

what goes on in a women's studies classroom. >> sunday women's history, the anti feminist backlash, women's studies professor and author bonny morris will take your questions in debt fly for three hours starting at noon eastern, booktv's index on c-span2. online you have a few days to weigh in on the booktv book club. the liberty amendment and join the conversation. go to booktv.org and click on book club to and that the chat room. >> tell us where the clintons lived as professors in fayette ville. hillary's first year teaching here is it that is a cute house and bills that i bought you a house, not marry me and live with me in it becaus ce ian't live there alone and that was the fourth time he had proposed.

>> there 9 people at the wedding, a small intimate ceremony. the wedding announcement, the fact that hillary was retaining her own name. bill didn't seem to be bothered by this but when they sold virginia, when they told hillary's mother she cried. fayetteville was a place where they settled in. they thought they had arrived, they got married, bought a house, had successful jobs as law professors and finished law school. they had achieved a lot of things that go forward in life. >> first lady hillary clinton on our web site c-span.org/firstlady or see it at 7:00 eastern on c-span and live monday our series continues with first lady laura bush. >> confirmation hearing for a couple state department officials. senate foreign relations committee, the state department

foreign and service director general. this is 25 minutes. >> we begin the next panel. with that, to both ambassador a chacon and mr. smith, your statement will be included in the record. i ask you to summarize those statements in five minutes or so and then to have a dialogue with you after that. >> thank you, mr. chairman, members of the committee. i am honored to be here today before u.s. president obama's nominee to be the next

director-general of human-resources that the department of state. i deeply appreciate the confidence, the president and secretary john kerry have shown in nominating me for this key position. i am pleased to have the opportunity to advance american diplomacy through strengthening the department of state workforce, if confirmed by look forward to directing the recruitment, hiring, assignment, welfare, professional development, promotion, retirement processes of the civil service, foreign service, and locally of flagstaff and the department of state. if i may i would like to take a moment to introduce my wife who is also a member of the foreign service and i am pleased my daughter sarah, brother michael land might sun could be here today as well. my wife and i have had the privilege of serving together with our three children through latin america, europe and the number of positions in new york and washington d.c..

we care deeply about promoting the u.s. interests abroad and the future of the department and its people. john kerry said global leadership is a strategic imperative for america, not a favor we do for other countries. it amplifies our voice, extends our reach, it is key to jobs, the fulcrum of our influence and matters to the daily lives of americans, matters that we get it right for america and it matters that we get it right for the world. mr. chairman, diplomacy and development are more important than safeguarding national security and prosperity of our people in the united states because if we can successfully manage or solve problems diplomatically we save the lives and money that would otherwise be spent dealing with conflict. i believe the men and women of the department of state are among the most talented, loyal and hard-working people i have ever met. they and their families deserve

the best possible support and if confirmed by will work hard to equip them with personal policies they need to fulfil a critical mission. and i acknowledge your sincere gratitude for your unwavering support. as my predecessor before me i pledge to work closely with you to achieve a more diverse work force. i have personally seen that as our embassy team engaged with for an audiences, our support of the american values of social inclusion and freedom resonates far better than they see we walk the talk by employing a work force that includes people of all cultures, raises and religion drawn from across the united states. with innovative outreach and bolt action the department of state is making inroads that help reach our diversity goals.

the foreign service represents united states around the world that embassies, consulates and increasingly less traditional missions where diplomatic skills play a role in importing priorities and safeguarding our nation. the department remains focused on fulfiling positions and priority staffing post, embassies and consulates in iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, yemen and libya, insuring we adequately staff other posts around world and advance major initiatives in such areas as economic diplomacy, food security, energy security, climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation. if confirmed by will work with others to ensure the all employees have the support they need to serve in these high stress assignments to cope with the pressures such service places on them and their families. the department's foreign service employees spend most of their careers overseas the civil service employees provide institutional continuity and expertise in washington d.c. and offices throughout the united

states. civil service has an admirable record of volunteering for service in iraq and afghanistan and in hard to fill positions overseas. the department of state expanded its use of limited non career appointments to meet urgent needs including unprecedented visa adjudication demand in brazil and china. backlog for visas in china and brazil have been eliminated facilitating international travel for business and tourism, for 1.8 nil in brazilians who visited in 2005, nearly 1.5 million chinese which according to department of commerce calculations helped create approximately 50,000 new jobs in the united states. of 46,000 locally employed staff represents the largest group of employees of the department of state and an essential component around the world. they often serve under dangerous circumstances, sometimes kuipersinflated currencies and continued to advance our nation's goals.

if confirmed i will continue to build on the concept of one team, one mission. i was proud to learn from the partnership for public service the state department placed fourth among 19 large federal agencies in its 2013 best place to work rankings. if confirmed by will do all i can to make the state and even more attractive employer. in closing, mr. chairman i am pleased have the opportunity to address you and members of the committee. if confirmed i ask your help in strengthening security and prosperity of america by beating and building an effective civilian work force in the department of state. i look forward to helping the secretary to ensure that we prepared to do jus that. i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, ambassador chacon. >> thank you, mr. chairman. great honor to appear before you today as president obama's nominee as assistant secretary of state of the bureau of intelligence and research. i am grateful to the president, secretary of state john kerry

for their confidence in nominating the for the position as well as to the director of national intelligence james clapper for his support to my nomination. i want to thank my wife diane for joining me tonight, my sons could not be here. mr. chairman, a unique and valuable asset to the apartment of state and the intelligence community of which is part. the bureau has a long and celebrated history providing information and in depth all source analysis that helps guide our nation's foreign policy. strong reputation derives not from the size of its staff for budget but from the trend of pertise of its skill, the beer has the greatest regional and subject matter expertise everywhere in the united states government. it also plays a critical role in function in assuring intelligence, sent to the intelligence related law enforcement activities are consistent with and support our foreign policy and national

security objectives. throughout the course of my 30 years as foreign service officer i have worked with members of the intelligence community overseeing and coordinating intelligence and law-enforcement activities and witnessed firsthand the role that intelligence and analysis can and should play in the formulation of foreign policy. like many professionals within i and our i also have a strong academic background and appreciate the importance of drawing on the insights and expertise in the non governmental organizations and the private sector. as a leader in the department as chief of the mission abroad by have worked hard to enhance interagency cooperation, to improve communication and information sharing and to ensure we are working together to advance our national security. if confirmed i will work tirelessly to ensure that we continue to make a unique analytical contribution as well as continue to ensure our intelligence activities support our foreign policy and national

security objectives. thank you for having me here today and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much, welcome to your families as i said earlier, service of those in the foreign service, a particularly ambassadors and other positions, also a family commitment and you will begin in d.c. but nonetheless still a commitment so i appreciate their willingness to share you with the country. ambassador chacon, we are proud of your service to date. i would expect that the service you had will be reflected in his new position. you and i had the opportunity to discuss yesterday there are some things i am concerned about with the state department, that it lasted 21 years since i first came to the congress and the house of representatives, and has transcended various administrations, doesn't seem to

be getting it right. that is the nature of diversity in the foreign service and the overall presence of the state department of which i am concerned about it all, but one of the worst elements of the state department is the hispanic work force which would have to grow exponentially in order fairly reflect a hispanic component of the u.s. population. yet this is a goal that has proven elusive even when the department had the resources to conduct large-scale hiring programs. for example in fiscal year 11, 2011, the state department was one of only five federal agencies that saw a decline by a percentage of a number of hispanic employees. your immediate predecessor,

director general greenefield made a genuine effort to address this issue, working with my office and making minority communities aware of opportunities that stayed in the foreign service. this is something that i raised with heather higginbottom in in her role, i believe state needs direct guidance from the top but this is a priority. if you don't establish from the top, from the secretary to the undersecretary, throughout this whole effort to say part of how you will be evaluated is whether or not you are working to diversify within your field, the work force of the state department and the foreign service, then it won't be carried out because of less people know that as part of

their overall review, this is an important equation, it will be made be for another 20 years aspiration. this isn't about just doing the right thing from my perspective although it is. it is also about a powerful message across the world. when i was in china we had our nominee for the ambassadors to china. i was meeting with human rights activists and lawyers, struggling to represent a nascent effort to create change for basic human rights inside of china with a bunch of lawyers and human rights activists and dissidentes. the member of our team who from our embassy who was leading this effort and this group in terms of the engaging them and having set up a meeting many who did not come because they were

threatened not to come by the state security, was an african-american. the powerful message that was being sent to these human rights activists and political distance is someone who expressed some of the history of the united states and the change for basic human rights and dignity of african-americans in this country now representing the united states of america in the country in which they were going to -- cannot be measured so this is not just simply about doing the right thing, it is a powerful message, the same powerful message when you have been able to represent our country in different parts of the world. and so what i want to hear from you is 1, a commitment to me

about making this a priority as the director general, and 2, what is the plan? i don't expect you to give me the 10, 15 point plan right now but i do want to hear, you must have given this some thought. i want to hear some outlines of what you envision having to happen in order to change the dynamic and how do we get, do you believe you have commitment from the secretary to change this reality? i have been doing this for 20 years, trying to change the course of the events and this particular regard, i reconsider it one of the things i have not been successful at. the difference is 20 years ago i wasn't the chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you most definitely have my commitment and most definitely have the commitment upon the secretary.

i met with the secretary yesterday, we talked about this in preparation for my coming here and he wanted me to reiterate as he told me personally on a number of occasions his commitment to diversity that extends to the entire staff including deputy secretary hiddenbottom leading a second review of quadrennial diplomacy and development review and i want to say as on member of the -- proud member with 30 years of experience i have seen the culture change. we can do a better job. i am not satisfied but very impressed with the study progress we have made and it is my team that will be working very hard because this is an important priority. we are doing some novels things like a mobile apps to be able to communicate with underrepresented populations to demystify if you will what the foreign service is.

my personal case is emblematic. i come from colorado, new mexico, 250 years, never did much international travel in my youth, didn't know anything about foreign service, happened to run into a recruiter on campus, dodd volunteer work overseas in latin america became engaged with talking to foreign service officers, instantly smitten with this and it helped me prepare better and pursues this career. i hope to take this story out outside the traditional stream and to go to areas where we have people that are genuinely interested in public service and have major contributions to make. we hope to launch this spring as well, for insert exam on line that gives immediate feedback to people, died than in areas where they can improve their score. we have diplomats and residents

in 6 universities, many of those serving historically historic institutions that serve hispanics or african-americans. their mandate is to go out and find these people not just by chance. present lawyers want to start in public service and i like to tap into underrepresented groups and minority professional organizations and we are all working as a team. the secretary has innovative programs in terms of outreach to veterans. i would look to look at private partnerships, sponsor more fellowships' because it is a process, getting access to this

lifestyle and understanding so they can compete on a level playing field when they do take the exam. >> i appreciate that answer. i disagree with progress. progress is all relative but certainly we haven't had the time for progress over two decades that i think is commensurate with the growth in this country of a critical part of the population. so i look forward to having a more in-depth opportunity to work with you. i will tell you four points that are essentials to any plan. first of all its starts with measurement, making sure that at the very top it is clear the process by which those who are going to be reviewed will have as one of the measurements what they have done to promote this diversity. secondly, if we continue to

recruit in traditional places we recruit at we are not going to get a diverse pool. so i can bring you to new jersey and some great schools that are very diverse but that recruiting doesn't take place there. that is one example. then we go to the fletcher school of diplomacy which is a fantastic school or isis or others, gets an talented people but we are not going to get the most diverse pool. we need to diversify where we send these recruiters to. thirdly, we need to actually engage if we really want to make this happen, not only to recruit those individuals but to lead them in a process that prepares them for the written exam and the oral exam. and lastly, i am continuously concerned about an oral exam that is very subjective in which some people say you can communicate and effectively

orally some people cannot. obviously oral communication is important this job, but with all due respect those who appear before the committee and i met others who must of past the oral exam and i have known others who have been rejected to from my point of view are equally competent to orally express themselves. so we need a less subjective and more objective standard so that we actually get the padre that we want so we look forward to working with you on this. this is something that i am actually considering looking at something that we have not done on this committee for some time. ..

something they've laid out a roadmap on that we are looking at the staffing necessary in