tv Key Capitol Hill Hearings CSPAN July 16, 2014 6:00am-8:01am EDT
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which was the first time that farmers were asked not to produce. at first, people couldn't believe the things that he was proposing regarding that, but then as prices went up, they started to listen to him. and people still refer to them today as a genius secretary of agriculture. >> explore the history and literary life of des moines, iowa, saturday at an eastern on c-span2's booktv, and sunday afternoon at two on american
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history tv on c-span3. >> each week while parliament is in session we bring you prime minister david cameron taking questions from the house of commons. this is the last session of prime minister's session before they begin their summer recess. prior to question time, members are finishing up other business. now live to the floor of the british house of commons. >> question relating to commemoration of the first world war, respectful attention. mr. andrew stephenson. >> number nine, mr. speaker. >> the northern ireland office is committed to assisting in the delivery of the government's program for the first world war. i patriot to the work of the right audible member for his work on the prime minister's adviser grew. the department is also coordinating closely with the irish governments on the wider decade of commemoration in the
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island of violence. >> every town council my constituency is given the freedom of the town to old world war veterans. what my right honorable friend join me in welcoming this initiative and whether he might encourage local councils across northern ireland to consider doing the same? >> i very much welcome my honorable friends local authorities movement to respect. there is great potential over this period for local authorities to mark appropriately the contribution made by local people. that goes for northern ireland as does for the rest of the country. >> order. questions to the prime minister. question number one, mr. speak mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in this house, i shall have further such meetings later today.
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>> thank you, mr. speaker. given his commitment to equality will be prime minister say why 75% of his cabinet are still meant? >> i think the honorable lady is being a little bit childish. the government, the government before my one had for women cabinet ministers and three additional women attending cabinet. we now have five full members of the cabinet and an additional three attending come so more people attending. in terms of the conservative party, it was of course i am leading a coalition government. when it comes to conservatives sitting around the cabinet table, i'm proud to say a third of them are now women. >> have been rightly reaffirmed his confidence in the transport secretary, can i urge my right honorable friend, to urge him to
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give early priority to the improvement of the railway line service? >> i'm well aware of this problem and some of the campaigns such as the 90 campaign and i know i read on worth in the transport minister now backed by a larger team of ministers, additional ministers in the transport department, will give that there urgent attention. >> mr. ed miliband. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, we've always said that we'll support the government when they do the right thing. so can i join thousands of parents across the country in congratulating on getting rid of the education secretary? why did he denote him? >> i hope the whole house can come together in this way, which
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is -- the right honorable member -- the right audible member for northwest hampshire has served in this house of commons for over 40 years and he will be retiring at the next election. so when it came to replacing an extraordinary politician as someone who is given so much to this country as the chief whip, i wanted to find the very much candidate and i'm proud to have done so in the former education secretary. [shouting] >> ed miliband. >> he's obviously got a very short memory, mr. speaker, because this is what used to say about the education secretary. on want to trust the education secretary to get on with that job for many years, rather than saying, i'm not going to shop you over somewhere else. so why did he do it? isn't a shortage of school places, the unqualified teacher or the failure of his of free
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school? >> let me die with the former education secretary achieved, record number of academies, new preschools, standards rising across the country, and reforms that will endure. but isn't it extraordinary, isn't it extraordinary on the day of record increases the number and work in our country, he will do anything not to talk about economic recovery. economy growing, numbers and work rising. i'm not surprised he doesn't want to talk about people in work. his own job looks a bit shaky. [shouting] >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, if it's all been such a great success, i still don't know why he back to the education secretary. and let's talk about the figures today. we have welcomed the fall in unemployment. but his real problem is that this recovery is not benefiting most working people who are working harder, for longer for
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less. that are 7 million people who are in working families who are paid so little they are in poverty. does he think the economy is working for them? >> first of al all of me bring s up-to-date on the unemployment figures that have been released this morning. we see employment up by 254,000 this quarter. we see women implement up. we see youth employment up, and we see the unemployment count falling by 121,000. and we've reached an important milestone in our country, which is more people in work in our country than ever before in our history. we can now say that since this government came to office there are 1.8 million more people in work. that is a record that we can be proud of. and something that the labour leader has raised week after week, long-term youth unemployment, that is now lower than when this government came
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to office. now, of course, of course it is disappointing pay is rising faster but let me remind them what the director of the institute for fiscal studies said. he said this, we've had a great big recession. with the biggest recession we've had in 100 years, and it will be astonishing if household incomes haven't fallen and earnings haven't fallen. that is what is happening and we know who is responsible for the great economic recession because extraordinarily they are still in their jobs. >> mr. speaker, is in his fifth year of prime minister and all he can do is try and blame someone else. [shouting] and he just doesn't get it. and he just doesn't get it. this week we saw shocking figures about another group suffering from the cost of living crisis. millions of young people whose earnings are falling faster than everyone else, one in four living with her parents because
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they can't afford to buy a house or even read one. does he honestly think they are feeling the benefit of the recovery? >> of course what living standards to recover faster, and there are two things you need to do to make that happen. first of all, get more people into work, and we're getting people into work. and secondly cut spending so you can cut taxes, which is exactly what we are doing. yesterday labour announced an important announcement that it is now their policy to put up taxes on middle income people. perhaps he cannot get to his feet and tell us which taxes on which people. >> ed miliband. >> asked the question and he fails to answer them. and the reality is he has the worst record on living standards on any prime minister in history. but there is one group, there is one group who is feeling -- they are shouting. i will tell them, i'll tell them. it's saying a month ago to that him he's happy with his team and
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their backing part of this team. there's one group is feeling the benefit of the recovery. can he confirm that while average pay is down 1600 pounds a year since the last election, last year the top 1% took home an extra 15 billion pounds after his millionaires tax cut? >> i've got to se set happy wity team, look at the shadow just a i'm pretty happy with his team, to. [shouting] now, let me explain one of the things that was a notice of that happened yesterday. the deputy leader of the labour party on the radio said this command want to quote this very precisely. i think people on middle incomes should contribute more through their taxes. that is what she said. they do, they should. they are we are. that is their policy. the squeezed middle will be squeezed more. now he needs to tell us which people are going to pay which taxes, because on this side of
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the house we have cut council tax. we've got petrol duty. we've got the job stack. we've increased the marriage couples allowance. labour would put a tax on your job, on your mortgage, on your home and on your pension. so tell us, where are the middle income taxes coming? [shouting] >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, this is totally desperate stuff because he has nothing to say about the cost of living crisis. that is the reality. is reshuffled had nothing to do with the country and everything to do with his party. after four years of this government we've got a recovery people can't feel, a cost of living crisis people can deny, and a prime minister people can't believe. [shouting] >> what is clear -- talk about fighters under this government. we've got record numbers in work, the economy growing, records -- record numbers of businesses, record number of women and work. our health service is improving and, mr. speaker, everyone can
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see the contrast. in this party the leader reshuffles of the cabinet. and his party the shadow cabinet desperately want to reshuffle the leader. [shouting] >> shirley right honorable gentleman is delighted to be lauded in such enthusiastic ways. mr. kennedy. [laughter] >> mr. speaker, as the prime minister's enjoying a week in which is making a new best friend, when he gets to the brussels summit would he give a particularly warm greeting to the man who might yet be his best, president hugo, yesterday called for more european reform and ward -- who wants to join the european union face a consequence difficult and drawn
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-- on a period of up to perhaps five years? as we don't meet before the scottish referendum, shouldn't the scots voters bear the those in mind a? >> mr. speaker, this is remarkable moment where the right honorable gentleman have together saved, said some which i wholeheartedly agree with. it is noticeable what he said that there wouldn't be new members joining the european union and the next five years, and i think that is very important in the context of the scottish referendum debate. but it will take them up on one point or cases will not meet again before the scottish referendum. in terms of my diary i think the house of commons will be meeting in september. >> can the prime minister explained why he is not given more knighthoods to men than he is given cabinet jobs to women? >> always interesting to take a lecture from a partner give knighthood to fred goodwin. i have appointed more women to
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the front bench, more women to our government on the basis that they deserve those jobs and i want a team that reflects modern britain and can be everything that modern britain needed to be. i make no apology for saying i think in public life we should recognize public service, people have worked hard, who have contributed to her nation, contribute your government. i think is a good thing to do. >> mr. speaker, people with autism have specific social and communications needs which can cause distress and misunderstand, particularly when they're admitted to hospitals for routine or emergency treatment. with the prime minister join me in congratulating bareness and gillibrand and from the national autistic society who tomorrow are going to launch the new hospital passport for people with autism? i think that will make a great difference to a lot of peoples lies in this country. >> i think the honorable lady,
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my right honorable friend for raising this important issue. bareness browning has worked very hard on this issue over many years in both houses as has my right honorable friend with the autism build a i think is making a huge difference to the way that we help young people with these conditions i join her in making sure these services are properly put together. >> given recent data shows the gender pay gap is increasing again, and the prime minister to confirm the excellent use any woman not receiving equal pay for equal work on other salary topped off from tory party funds? [laughter] >> what i would say, what i would tell the honorable john comfortable it is welcome news that under this government to pay gap and those below the age of 40 has all but disappeared. so we're making progress. in terms of the lead of the house of lords, happy to confirm that she would do the same job as her predecessor can will sentencing place around the
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cabinet table as her predecessor and received the same amount of money. >> charlotte felix is part of this national research project seeking -- a link between the dna of anorexic suffers. seeking to attain dna -- including my honorable friend the member. will my right honorable friend command the work and all those have been brave enough to speak out against their disorder? >> i very much thank my honorable friend for raising this issue. i'm sure that everyone in this house has friends or family who have been affected by this condition and he desperately want to see the health of the we provide as a country improve. so i would commend the bravery of all those who have spoken out a get out the extremes with eating disorders but it's not an easy thing to do. wendi doolan more about this condition so we can provide the right kind of support. in that context what the government is doing about this
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for mental health condition is important as well. >> mr. speaker, we now know for certain that taxpayers last year were robbed of around 8 million pounds because of the bargain basement firesale of royal mail. will he now do as the select committee have asked and published the list of those preferential investors? and when will somebody be held to account for this ride royal mail fiasco? >> obvious to a just completed to screw with the honorable gentleman for year after year, royal mail lost money, the taxpayer had to back it up, and in this government we've achieved what no previous government has achieved, which is a successful privatization of the royal mail. the taxpayer has received money from that sale and we now receive the tax on the profits of royal mail rather than the mismanagement of the labour
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years. >> later this year -- the best connected account in terms of broadband. [inaudible] does my right honorable friend agreed rolling out superfast broadband, a great boost job in all sectors and will help build on a marvel economic legacy of the tour de france? >> can i first of all thank my honorable friend for the warm welcome that he gave me, and people in his consecutive before the tour de france, the completion of the final stage marred only by mark cavendish is tragic accident in the tour de france but it was an extraordinary event and showed his constituency in its best light. he's quite right about the importance of superfast broadband. were putting 790 million pounds into superfast broadband access.
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we have half a million uk premises connected already, run 400,000 new premises are being upgraded every week. i hope i going to get out there and help to advertise what's happening with broadband and to encourage take-up rates. >> jack straw. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it is fundamental, is it not, that the holder of the office of the attorney general should be fearlessly independent, defended the rule of all, and be ready to speak legal truth to power? given the distinction and respect with which the holder of that office the future that role, what possessed the prime minister to dismiss him yesterday and? >> first of all can i say i absolutely agree with the right honorable gentleman, it is vital important the attorney general give unvarnished and independent advice and is the government's eveal adviser. in government when someone has served
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extremely well for four years there are oftentimes when it's right to bring on new talent and to make the most of all the talent you have in your party. that is the approach i take as prime minister and i explained that very clearly to my team. >> try to the number of young people coming off the unemployment register across north yorkshire is at record highs. with the prime minister agree that today small business bill conservatives inspired is not -- is yet another boost to the men and women are grading the job to make this happen? >> i thank my auto for enforced question. today's bill will help make the united kingdom the most attractive and easy place to start, to finance integral a small business. that is our ambition. he's right about these unappointed figures in his own constituency. the claimant count has fallen by 37% in the last year, by 51% since the election. and a long-term view the claimant count, this is the most
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important thing, to make sure they didn't people are getting those opportunities. the long-term use the claimant count is down 60% in the last year. >> pat mcfadden. >> mr. speaker, the last two european commissioners from the uk have helped major portfolios central to us. the outgoing commission has been the spokesperson for foreign affairs and her predecessor help the trade proposal. so could ask the prime minister, what does he hope to secure for this nominee as a consolation prize for his failure to stop the appointment of mr. younger? how does he intend to build support? >> first of all i think it's a good moan forever across the house to pay tribute to kathy ashton, the very good work is done as the hype represented effectively the foreign minister over the last four years in what is an exhausting job. i think there is an opportunity
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and we will discuss these issues tonight of whether they'll be a resolution or not, i don't know. i think it is an opportunity to make sure that britain has an important portfolio, one where we can maximize our influence in the areas that we care about most, and those are areas to do with our economy, and that we looked and worked very hard to do that. i think lord hill with his experience in the previous conservative government and in this government holding as it is the equivalent post that baroness ashton held before she became a commission will do a very good job for our country. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as you know, my constituency is are dependent on investment in the oil and gas industry with the unemployment rate is now half of a person i. the prime minister will understand there's some concern with the re- shuffle were both a treasury minister and energy minister responsible for the industry has changed yesterday. will he take this opportunity to reagan from the commitment to it would the review as announce any
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the sector a state in written statement today? >> i think my honorable friend makes an important point. yorkshire is vital, making sure we have the tax regime a program in place and implementing the would review absolute software committed to. i think my friend will do an excellent job and i'm delighted to welcome him to the treasury. >> thank you, mr. speaker. on the fourth of august people from across the country will come together to mark 100 years since the outbreak of the first world war. it's an important opportunity to commemorate a conflict of the change to britain forever. so can ask the prime minister if he will join with us in supporting the 1418 now lights out campaign? and it will encourage people across the uk to turn out their lights between 10 and 11 p.m. on the fourth of august so other country -- as a country -- as they can to weaken take fitting tribute to those who sacrificed, served our country 100 years ago? >> i think the honorable gentleman is right to raise this excellent campaign, a campaign inspired by sir edward grey amos
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remark on the eve of the war that the lambs are going out all over europe. i think it is way to get particularly young people engaged in what happened a century ago and to understand the consequences for europe and for our world and for our society. the are a lot of events that will take place this should commemorate appropriately the first world war. one of those significant will be tomorrow when the imperial war museum, a superb museum, has a major investment and is reopening for the public. i'm sure many people, i know my own children enjoy going there. many people will make the most of it. >> with the northwest and cheshire proud history of contributing significant our national economy, will my friend agree how important the rapid city government of the fracking is to boost not only the future competitiveness of her country but also in the northwest to continue to be significant contributor to our future welfare? >> i think my friend makes an important point, and it is good
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news in the northwest we've seen the payment account in his constituency come down 40% in the last year but if we want to sustain the increase in employment and sustained our economic growth, then we should not hold ourselves back from new sources of energy concluding unconventional gas. it is striking in the united states they have something like 100,000 unconventional gas wells dug where's in all of europe is something like 100. we have about three quarters as much unconventional gas across the eu as there is in america. i don't want us to miss out on this. it could help to deliver more competitive energy prices, helped to keep our economy competitive and our industry competitive, and i think it's vital for the future of our country. >> parliament might be about to close down for the summer, but can i tell the prime minister that even that won't stop people having babies, getting injured and needing routine and emergency care on the nhs? so in light of the forthcoming
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-- [inaudible] make sure the treasury is going to summon the changes for health services across the north the university hospitals has to provide and which has to provide no extra cost to the health of people? >> i certainly take into account what the honorable lady says. i'm following the situation very closely and readily advise about it. changes to need to take place. this inspection is taking place is why. i think the important thing is where we have problems is not to try and hid-but you probably ads them. actually today a report, 11 hospitals into special measures and what his report will show is all 11 are making improvements. five are able to come out a special measures altogether and we need to make sure we see improvements in all our
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hospitals. >> i think the prime minister for supporting the west culture, particularly investing in broadband. disagreed that it meets the match by a fair funding formula for all councils like mine which will deliver the governments longer-term economic plan? >> i think the honorable lady makes an important point. i think we must continue supporting infrastructure in the southwest. we've got important reform coming up. the work is being done now right now in terms of making sure it is more resilient, that the important announcement about the service down to the southwest an announcement about a number of other road and rail schemes. of the post about what she says about fai their funding. it is important everyone and see these situations are fair. [inaudible]
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doesn't the government got it all wrong when it comes to tuition fees and? >> of course what we're told by the party opposite is that no one would take up these loans, no one from poor backgrounds would do anywhere near university, and the numbers going to university would collapse. what has actually happened is record numbers are going to university, record numbers from low-income backgrounds are going. obviously, we need to make sure that this system is cost efficient, but i'm satisfied it's working to the chancellor announced in his recent budget that far from having problems with the funding we are uncapping the numbers they can go to university. that is the aspiration society we are building in this country. >> thank you, mr. speaker. unemployment has fallen by half in my constituency, and york is poised to benefit from
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investment through three science projects, to become an world across center of excellence and agriculture. would my right honorable friend not agree that physically demonstrate our commitment to tackling the north-south divide and delivering a northern lead long-term economic track? >> well, i'm delighted to share with my on with an that, of course, the claimant count in his constituency is down by 42% over the last year, and down by 61% -- look, i know labour don't want to hear about falling unemployment numbers, the numbers of people in work but the fact is every single one of these people getting a job is someone having the likelihood and chance to provide for the coming. he's right to raise the importance of the agricultural industry and linked industry in yorkshire. i'm sure the new agriculture environmental sector will want
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to make an early visit to her birthplace in yorkshire. >> specialist spinal cord injury beds are a precious resource for people and patients in desperate need. why is it, therefore, that on the prime minister's watch specialist bed, spinal injuries center are being used for people who did not have spinal cord injuries? >> obviously decisions are for individual trust and individual clinical commissioning groups of themselves, but we make important decisions as a government. first, to fund the nhs with extra money, 1,217,000,000,000 pounds in this parliament, and second, to abolish the bureaucracy that was built up under lead with 17,000 fewer bureaucrats. both of those decisions were opposed by the labour party, but we can see 7000 more doctors, 4000 more nurses, more patients treated, and then nhs that is
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doing well. >> mr. speaker, in the recent case on the question of assisted dying, the president of the of e supreme court said that parliament now has the opportunity to consider reform the law and the knowledge that if parliament doesn't act the court to me. this could raise serious constitutional issues. does he agree that whatever your views on the subject, the other places to be commended for having a debate but what the public really wants is a debate in this how? >> first of all what i would say to my right honorable friend is i think it is good a debate is being held, and i'm sure it will be worth while reading the debate that takes place on friday in the other place. i'm happy the debate could be held here. there are now opportunities for backbenchers to hold debates in the chamber, and ensure the new leader of the house of commons and i'm sure we all want to welcome to his place -- >> here, here.
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>> will be listening for that request. but my myself i am not convinced that steps need to be taken. i worry about legalizing euthanasia or people might be pushed into something they don't actually want for themselves but by all means let's have the debate. >> mr. speaker, returning to the issue of taxing the wealthy, can the prime minister keep a promise and publishes a tax return and? >> on the subject of taxes and the income people, when are we going to get an answer from labour about what is it the deputy leader of the party meant when she said at -- and let me repeat it again for the record. i think people on middle incomes should contribute more through their taxes. there is as we go into the summer, there is one party in this house with a big tax problem, and i'm looking at it. >> given that poor mental health is the biggest single driver --
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willie act on requisition for the think tank center and tackle 23 billion-pound gaza business by this government signing up to the employers mindful framework and tackling those issues? >> i will look carefully at the report he mentions. i think it is important and helped to do this in government that we not a situation where mental health is given proper parity of esteem to the nhs constitution. we've made good progress in terms of making available more talking therapies for mental health patients in nhs but i will look carefully at the report he is suggested. >> order. >> here on c-span2 we will not leave the british house of commons as members move on to other business. you've been watching prime minister's' question time and life wednesdays when parliament is in session. i remind you can see this week's session again sunday night at nine eastern and pacific on c-span.
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for more information go to c-span.org and click on series to the every program was aired from british house of commons since october of 1989. we invite your comments about the prime minister's question via twitter using hashtag pmq pmqs. >> we are at the henry a. wallis life center which is 50 miles south and west of des moines. and this is the birthplace on of henry a. wallis. the wallis is up i will consist of three generations. the patriarch was known fondly as uncle henry. and he was the founder of wallis' farmer magazine. his son henry c. wallis was u.s. secretary of agriculture under woodrow wilson. and his son was born on this farm in 1888. he went on to become editor of
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the farmer magazine. he was then asked by franklin roosevelt to serve as u.s. secretary of agriculture which he did for eight years from 1933-1941. in 1941-1945 he was roosevelt's vice president. as you secretary of agriculture, he is known for the agricultural adjustment act, which was the first time that farmers were asked not to produce. at first people couldn't believe the things that he was proposing regarding that, but then as prices went up they started to listen to him. people still refer to him today as the geniuses secretary of agriculture. agriculture. >> explore the history and literary life of des moines, iowa, saturday at noon eastern on c-span2's booktv, and sunday afternoon at two on american history tv on c-span3.
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>> yesterday, president obama visited a research center in mclean, virginia, and talked about transportation spending, calling on congress to fix the shortfall in the highway trust fund. the president is introduced by transportation secretary anthony foxx. this is 20 minutes. >> hello, everyone. how is everyone doing but it's just another day in the office, right? i'm excited to be here today, especially given who i am here with, president obama is with us here today. pretty exciting, right? [applause] the president gave an interview a few weeks ago, and he said that he missed a couple of things about life outside the
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white house. one of them was being able to get behind the wheel of his own and cruise down lake shore drive in chicago. you know, without a giant motorcade. well, i felt badly for him, and why we couldn't let the bear loose on the freeway this morning, we did come pretty close. because i know he got to do a little driving in one of our simulators here which test new technology that lets cars communicate with other vehicles -- [applause] , and even infrastructure like stoplights. [applause] >> that's right. our engineers are proving that talking cars are not just science fiction, that they are right here and within reach. and soon they may be on the road, too. i won't go into too much detail right now, but the vehicle-to-vehicle are what we
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call v2v, vehicle to infrastructure technology, or v2i, that technology is being developed right here in this facility and has the potential to stop crashes before they happen. it also can cut greenhouse emissions, and help drivers bypass traffic. that sounds pretty good to me. i wish i could say -- [applause] i wish i could say this kind of progress is happening in every corner of america's transportation system, but, unfortunately, i can't. there are a lot of places where our infrastructure is a relic of another era. and we need to fix it. in fact yesterday the white house put report online so if one can see how many of the state's roads are in less than good condition but in the answer is too many. about 65% nationwide. if you look at all the
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structural deficient bridges in this country and line them up into two and, they would stretch from the front door this is silly to just presidents house in chicago. that's not who we are. what we need is a long-term funding bill like the one of this administration introduced, called the grow america act. [applause] we need policies that help us cut red tape and help build projects faster, but there's one thing that we need that we already have, and that's the man to help us see it through, president obama may not have been behind the wheel of her real car, but he knows the direction we need to go. and ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the president of the united states, barack obama.
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[cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> hello, everybody! everybody have a seat, have a seat, have a seat. good afternoon. thank you, secretary foxx, for that introduction. i just got a tour of a lab where automakers and government researchers team up to create new technologies that help cars communicate with the world around them and with each other. they can tell you if an oncoming vehicle is about to run a red light, or if a car is coming around a blind corner, or if a detour would help you save time and gas. and i got to test all this in a simulator. it was sort of like knight rider.
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i have to say, though, it was a little disorienting, i haven't driven in about six years. and i'm going down the highway and i think i had a little bit of a lead foot, i was starting to hit 90. and then like right next to me, the press pool is standing there, and they're kind of traveling with me at 90 miles an hour, and it got me a little queasy. but i've recovered. now, as the father of a daughter who just turned 16, any new technology that makes driving safer is important to me. and new technology that makes driving smarter is good for the economy. one study shows that americans spend 5.5 billion hours stuck in traffic each year, which costs us $120 billion in wasted time and gas, that's 800 bucks per commuter. then you've got outdated roads
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and bridges that mean businesses pay an extra $27 billion in freight costs, which are then go passed on to consumers. so, all told, transportation eats up more of the typical family's household budget than anything except the rent or a mortgage, which means that the cutting-edge research that all of you are doing here helps save lives and save money, and leads to new jobs and new technologies and new industries. and that's why america has to invest more in the kind of job-creating research and development that you're doing right here at the highway research center. i'm also here today to talk about why america has got to invest more in rebuilding the infrastructure that these cars will drive on, because it will create better jobs and better position america for the future. we know that in a 21st century economy businesses will set up
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shop wherever they find the best roads and bridges, and the fastest rail and internet, the smartest airports, the smartest power grids. first-class infrastructure attracts first-class jobs. and right now, our investments in transportation are lagging the rest of the world. if washington were working the way it's supposed to, congress would be fixing that. we'd be investing in the things that help america bring more good jobs to our shores. instead, here's what's going on in washington. there's something called the highway trust fund, i suspect this crew is familiar with it. it helps states support transportation projects. if congress fails to fund it, it runs out of money. that could put nearly 700,000 jobs at risk, including more than 17,000 right here in virginia. more than 100,000 active projects across the country,
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projects where workers as we speak are paving roads and rebuilding bridges and modernizing our transit systems, those projects would be slowed or stopped. and some states have already had to put some projects on hold because they don't trust congress to get its act together. so remember that the next time you see a job site sitting idle. now, the good news is there are bipartisan bills in both the house and the senate that would help with a short-term fix. and i support that. at the very least, congress should be keeping people on the job who are already there right now. but all this does is set us up for the same crisis a few months from now. so congress shouldn't pat itself on the back for averting disaster for a few months, kicking the can down the road for a few months, careening from crisis to crisis when it comes to something as basic as our infrastructure. instead of barely paying our bills in the present, we should
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be investing in the future. we should have a plan for how we're going to make sure that our roads, our bridges, our airports, our power grid, our water systems, how all those things are going to be funded, and do it in a responsible way so that people can start planning. that also means we can save more money, because we're not doing it in stopgap measures. so that's why earlier this year i put forward a plan to rebuild our transportation infrastructure in a more responsible way. it would support millions of jobs. it would give cities and states, and private investors the certainty they need to plan ahead and hire more workers. it would help small businesses ship their goods faster. it would help parents get home to their kids faster. it would mean less wear and tear on your car. it would mean less money on gas. it would save people money. it would support cutting-edge research like the work that
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you're doing here, which could end up cutting back on the number of traffic fatalities. and my plan would not add to what is already a rapidly shrinking deficit. we've cut our deficit, by the way, by more than half since i came into office. and we wouldn't be adding to the deficit, because we'd pay for this transportation project in part by closing tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas and avoid paying their fair share of taxes. so far, house republicans have refused to act on this idea, and they haven't presented their own idea. and i think that's wrong. we shouldn't be protecting tax loopholes for a few companies that shift massive profits overseas; we should be creating jobs rebuilding the roads and bridges that help every business right here in the united states. that is a question of priorities. and what i keep hearing from
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folks all across the country is that if congress would just shift its priorities a little closer to working americans' priorities, we could help a lot of families right now. this is not an abstract issue. and it shouldn't be even a partisan issue. republicans, democrats, independents, everybody uses our roads. after this last winter, you got potholes everywhere wrecking your car. i mean, how many people here have had the experience of you're driving along and suddenly your car is wrecked? and you pay for that out of pocket. when you are in traffic congestion, because of poor planning and bad infrastructure, when you could be at home reading to your kid or catching their ballgame, that's a cost to you. everybody cares about that. it doesn't matter what your political persuasion is. after the worst economic crisis since the great depression, our
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businesses have created nearly 10 million new jobs over the past 52 months. the unemployment rate is at its lowest point since september of 2008. we've made huge strides in energy independence. for the first time in more than a decade, business leaders around the world are saying the best place to invest isn't china, the best place to invest is the united states of america. but you've still got a lot of middle-class families all across the country who are working harder than ever just to get ahead. they need a break. they need some help. and having better roads and less delays, that helps. and meanwhile, republicans in congress keep blocking or voting down some of the ideas that would have the biggest impact on middle-class and working families. not just creating more new construction jobs, they've said no to raising the minimum wage, to equal pay, to fixing our broken immigration system. now, i want to work with everybody, republicans and democrats, to move this country forward.
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but i can't just stand by while politics threatens all the hard work of millions of americans because we've just got gridlock in washington. so what i've tried to do is take a range of actions this year to help working americans with my own legal authorities, from speeding up big infrastructure projects to raising wages. i'm waiting for congress to act, but in the meantime i've got to go ahead and do what i can do. and in response, their plan so far has not been to join me and say, all right, mr. president, you're right, we do need to rebuild our roads; we do need to spruce up our airports. instead their big idea has been to sue me. that's what they're spending time on a political stunt that wastes america's time and taxpayer dollars. keep in mind it's your money that they're going to be spending on these ridiculous pursuits instead of just getting some work done. and i'm not interested in playing political games.
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i'm interested in making sure the economy grows and we're creating more jobs, and we're helping more middle-class families get ahead. we need to invest in america's infrastructure. you guys are helping to show us how to do it in a really smart way. we need to invest in american innovation and research and development. we need to invest in american manufacturing. we should be training more of our workers for new and better jobs. we should be preparing every child for a world-class education. we should be making sure that hard work pays off with higher wages, and greater workplace flexibility, and health care and child care. all these things would make a difference in people's day-to-today lives. and the point is we could do so much more if we just rallied around a sense of economic patriotism that says, you know what, the parties compete, but every once in a while, we got to actually do some work, instead of worrying about elections, or trying to score points on cable tv. and we can start by investing in
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our country. because historically, it was eisenhower who built the interstate highway system, working with democrats and republicans. this isn't a partisan issue. and when we treat some basic investments as something that we do as americans, when we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, things work and nobody can beat us. and that's the spirit that all of you show here. that's what i'm going to keep on fighting for every single day. so i'm proud of you. i want you to keep on doing what you're doing. we're going to try to make sure congress actually does as good of a job at what they're supposed to be doing as you guys are doing on yours. if we do, then you're going to have some parents who are getting home a little earlier. you're going to have folks who aren't going to have to go to the body shop quite as often.
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you're going to be seeing millions of people across the country saving money at the pump. we're going to see airline delays reduced, so when you plan that thanksgiving trip, you're not spending the whole time in the airport. all that can make a huge difference. but the american people have to demand that folks in washington do their job. do something. that's my big motto for congress right now. just do something. and if they don't like the transportation plan that i put forward, at least come up with your own plan. and then we can compromise. but don't just sit there and do nothing. we don't have time. america is on the move. and part of it's on the move, thanks to all of you. i really appreciate it. god bless you. god bless america.
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♪ ♪ >> today, a house rules committee considers whether congress should sue president obama for overstepping his authority. house speaker john boehner has called for a lawsuit in response to the president's decision to delay implementation of parts of the affordable care act. legal analyst will testify about the merits of a legal action. live coverage on c-span3 begins at 10 a.m. eastern. later, the senate is in committee, looks at telephone scams targeting the elderly. you can watch the hearing live at 1:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3.
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>> c-span to providing live coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings and key public policy events. ended weekend booktv, now 415 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2, grade by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a public service by our local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and fall of us on twitter. >> at a senate judiciary subcommittee hearing yesterday, the fbi assistant director of cybercrime talked about botnets, networks of computers taken over by criminals and used for illegal activities on the internet. senator sheldon whitehouse chairs this our 35 minute hearing.
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>> i'll call this hearing of the subcommittee on crime and terrorism to order.eldon thank everyone for being here. i have the permission of my ranking member to get under way. he will be joining us shortly, but allowing for opening statentsts and so forth, i think it's probably the best way to do this, to s simply proceed and go under way. today's hearing is entitled taking down botnets, public and private efforts to disrupt and dismantle cyber criminal networks. we are going to be hearingtle testimony about these botnets and about the threats that they pose to our economy, to our personal privacy, and to our national security. to
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a botnet is a simple thing. tional sec it's a network of computers connected over the internet tha can be instructed to carry out specific tasks. the problem with the botnets is typically the owners of thoseic computers don't know that they are carrying out of those tasks. botnets have existed in various forms for well over a decade and they are now recognized as a weapon of choice for cybercriminals. and it is easy to see why. a botnet can increase the computing resources at a hacker's disposal exponentially, all while helping conceal the hacker's identity. a cyber criminal with access to a larger botnet can command a virtual army of millions, most of whom have no idea that they have been conscripted. botnets enable criminals to steal individuals personal and
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financial information, to plunder bank accounts, to commit identity theft on a massive scale. four years botnets have sent most of the spam that we all receive. the largest botnets are capable of sending billions of spam messages every day. botnets are also used to launch distributed denial of service, or ddos attacks, which can shut down websites by simply overwhelming them with incoming traffic. this is a constant danger for businesses in every sector of our economy. we've seen this strategy is from everything from businesses to sovereign nations. the only limit to the malicious purposes for which botnets can be used is the imagination of the criminal who controls them. and win a hacker runs out of uses for a botnet, he can simply
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sell it to another criminal organization to use for an entirely new purpose. it presents a virtual infrastructure of crime. let's be clear, the threat from botnets is not just a threat to our wallets. botnets are effective weapons not merely for those who want to steal from us, but also for those who wish to do us far more serious harm. experts have long feared that the next 9/11 may be a cyber attack. if that's the case it is likely that a botnet will be involved. simply put, botnets threatened the integrity of our computer networks, our personal privacy, and our national security. in recent years the government and the private sector have launched aggressive enforcement actions to disrupt and to
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disable individual botnets. the techniques used to go after these botnets have been as varied as the botnets themselves. many of these enforcement actions use the court system to obtain injunctions and restraining orders, utilizing innovative legal theories, combining modern statutory claims under statutes such as the computer fraud and abuse act, with such ancient, long claim as trespass to chattel. in 2011, the government obtained for the first time a court order that allowed it to seize control of a botnet using a substitute command and control server. as a result, the fbi launched a successful takedown of the coreflood botnet, freeing 90% of the computers coreflood had
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infected in the united states. microsoft, working with law enforcement, has obtained several civil restraining orders to disrupt, and in some cases, takedown individual botnets, including the citadel botnet which was responsible for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. ..ions of dollars. and earlier this year the justice department and the fbi working with the private sector and law enforcement agencies around the world obtained a restraining order allowing them to take over the game over zeus botnet. this action was particularly challenging because the botnet relied on a decentralized command structure that was designed to thwart effort to stop it. each of our witnesses today has played a role in efforts to stop botnets. i look forward to learning m
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