for the witnesses to the chair which will be forwarded to the witnesses for their response. without objection all witnesses will have five additional days. the hearing stand adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> a state department official

is telling congress that the situation in iraq is extremely serious, and that the militant group isis is no longer just a terrorist organization but a full blown army. you can see the entire meeting at c-span.org. here is a little of the testimony. >> that the first review why this matters. isil is al qaeda. may have changed his name and broken with certain senior leaders, but it is al qaeda in its doctrine, ambition, and increasingly in its threats to u.s. interest. chair there be any question about the intentions of this group simply read what is said. it is important to pay attention because we cannot risk under estimating the goals, capacity, and reach of this organization. reach of this organization. baghdad in may 2011 the death of

osama bin laden and promise to vient nse. in his idea statement seat regularly issues named after osama bin laden. in his audio statements, he issues threats against the united states promising a direct confrontation and in his feud, he clearly is seeking to lead the global jihad. they are no longer just a terrorist organization. it's a full blown army seeking to establish a self-governing state through the

richard nixon knew about them and even authorized them. >> watergate 40 years later sunday night at:00 eastern on american history tv. >> no a hearing on cruise passenger safety before the senate commerce, science, and transportation committee. witnesses include representatives from the national crews victims association and passengers who

were victims of sexual assault on a cruise. this is about an hour and half. one. >> i want to apologize, this was a chance to get out the five bills. if he had been watching the united states said on the congress, giving a bill out of committee is a triumphant moment, so we have to take advantage of to get five out. a point of this hearing is all of you, so i will, again, make my opening statement. >> mr. chairman, may i be recorded in favor? >> of course. so ordered. all right. i would like to begin this hearing in this and when i started hearing held on the cruise industry last year, by saying that most will her to a cruise ship vacations have a good experience. millions of americans -- are would like to have silence please.

millions of americans go on cruises every year most of the time having a nice trip and returned home safely. once in awhile things can go terribly wrong. ships catch fire, passengers fall overboard get sick, crewmember sexually assault passengers. his senses like these are unfortunately also part of the cruise experience. am honored to welcome four witnesses who of us understand the first and the consequences of these really have talked about them in a larger way, but we have not had the direct testimony of those affected by aids and those who represent some who are affected by it. and so that is what this hearing is for, the fact of some centers have left, to not let that bother you. markups are unusual, and that is why they had to come. you are the point of all of this command want this to be clear.

as i said, i'm happy to welcome these witnesses who will help us understand. recognize this is not an easy subject to talk about. at that be said. it is painful. however you reflect that plane, the committee understands is come opposite, joins you in committee and now, the difficulty of coming up here and testifying before a senate committee, although it is not that difficult. the cruise industry, am happy to say, is not happy i am holding this hearing. they are very unhappy bury those companies to not like it when congress and the media talk about the risk of taking a cruise vacation. they have repeatedly told this committee the cruise trips and ships are safe.

that's its blakeman need to do anything. the facts tell a different story and it does not mean that the average personal never good experience, but you don't judge a steel plant barn, you know, 500 workers are being hurt but 30 workers being very badly hurt army commanders the problems you have to address. the facts tell a different story. last year our committee released a report that found hundreds of acres with crimes were not being publicly reported. a very basic negligence. several hearings where expert witnesses testified about ongoing safety and security problems like wrecks, fires, crimes, on board these fossils. we continue to see the same issues continuing to continue. i am fed up with it. i am fed up with him trying to

stonewalls. yes, they have lots of money and lobbyists. we are going to win this one. almost exactly one year ago carnival's president told this committee it is president to service companies number one priority is the safety and security of our guests. explain to us of the cruise lines of every expert defense and to to make sure customers of a good experience. that sounds eyes and a congressional hearing but is of little comfort to the many peoples whose vacations or the number of cases lives have been ruined by the cruise lines' failure to deliver on their promises, that is if they got a chance to see what the promises were, which is a problem in and of itself. in spite of the evidence that crimes, fires, mechanical failures, drownings commanders handled medical emergencies occur with disturbing regularity . the industry continues to deny that it has a problem.

it denies it has a new problems. it has circled the wagons and reflexively fog all efforts to provide consumers more information about the risks of cruise ship vacations. i don't mind if they talk about the joy and the pleasure, but people have to talk about the risk, too. it is not fair if they don't. they also refer to, you know, new york city has all kinds of problems. when you're on a cruise ship in the russian summer there is not a hospital next door, a police station to go to. you are on an island by yourself . last year i introduced something

called a cruise passenger protection act of 2013. in this bill to propose making it easier for consumers to report crimes and make complaints about problems on crew ships. everything is about making it easier. if you make it hard, of people will just not do it. unfortunately when you have a capsule landed environment like a cruise ship trips you have to be able to report. you just have to be able to do that and do it fairly easily. so we make it easier to report. i have proposed simplifying ticket contracts amplifying -- publicizing more intimation about crimes on cruise ships. you know what i'm talking about. you have to appeal layers of paper away. it is underneath that somewhere that says, by the way, you give

up reliability. that is not nice. it is a terrible thing to do the passengers. he's not crazy ideas i am suggesting. comments by consumers have that already traveled. but the cruise industry vehemently opposes my bill, even the simplest provisions like reporting crimes against minors are putting up website at the department of transportation that consumers get to consult while making vacation plans so that they can see what the problems might be and what the advantages might be so that they're making an informed decision. and in industry opposes even the most basic public disclosure about its conduct, and suggests to me frankly that it has something to hide. our witnesses said they are going to help us understand why it is so a board for consumers to have this information. unlike people vacationing on

land cruise ship passengers do not have immediate access to law enforcement. well, sure. they are out at sea. yes, but they don't have access to law enforcement. that is pretty basic. if they suffer a health emergency on makers they could be hundreds of miles away from my health facility that operates at u.s. standards or even below. our witnesses will tell us that in spite of the cruise industry talk about taking responsibility for passengers cruise companies sometimes treat their passengers with shocking callousness and disregard. if my words are harsh it is because i am angry. four witnesses are appearing before this committee today, and i thank him, but there are many more people, as you all know, and could have shared their experiences and have with my staff, can carver, jamie barnett

command countless others have fought for years to help protect others from the list tragedy. i would like to thank everybody who is battling budget step forward and tell us their stories despite the painful and sometimes tragic circumstances the answers that they happened but having to recall them verbally and publicly. having accurate statistics about crime and other instances is important and even more important to understand the human cost of the safety and security problems that this industry is not fully and acknowledging. this hearing along with other hearings had inquiries made into the cruise industry are about one thing, and it is called accountability, being honest with people. i know that cruise companies think i am singling them out, as they say to all with special scrutiny. i assure him that it is not the case. i have never hesitated to ask companies tough questions what i think the business practices are hurting consumers. it is my job.

the main reason we exist as it recovers committee is to have oversight and try and make things better. this process is called oversight to more of the most important jobs care rational committees have, bahia most important. a recurrence of the cruise industry have been during her job, held hearings to analyze data to rent parts of different people with experience is in the industry into the servers it has led us to the conclusion that we have to act. we need legislation to protect consumers. for anyone in this committee is still has not gotten the message , urging to listen closely today as his witness is birth to share experiences. we will have one closing statement. to the cruise industry instead of fighting this process i encourage you to listen carefully to the testimony.

checking jeff -- people love to travel. my son has done a. and did not begrudge people that. they have a right to do that, but they have responsibilities as there under our jurisdiction to do its if improperly for everyone. i believe there are steps we can take a bow began pushing to make sure those things happen. i call upon the distinguished a woman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think you have made a number of important and valid points. i also want to thank the witnesses for being here. it may be difficult for them to share their experiences, but it is important that they do so.

i appreciate their courage. we need to protect passengers from crime. we need to insure access to medical care will on the eyes cs these are important and worthy issues. i would say, i think it would be best if we consider this legislation as a stand-alone bill and not a connection with the co-star authorization act. i do not know what the chairs approached the this is going to be. khedive not believe it is the appropriate vehicle. we ought to consider separate

legislation. congress deserves he opportunity to examine how we can strengthen the transparency of crimes on the high seas and the public deserves the discussion with full congressional attention to making cruising safer for americans and foreign tourists will visit u.s. ports. there are many areas in which the industry is receiving criticism including the effectiveness of carper engine, response to crime, sexual assault, the report of incidents and tax concerns. i hope the safety standards like those that could have been beneficial in the treatment of pilots pilar are a priority in this discussion.

some ships have more than 6,000 passengers in some 2000 staff along with them. yet the only required to medical professionals on board. imagine a small town of that size, for example, in rural mississippi. imagine my native home where there is some 5700 people living what if we only had to medical professionals and old town? as a matter of fact in my native city we have 29 health care professionals, 21 members of the police force as well as 24-hour physician care in the emergency room. so there is -- that gives me great pause to think that a cruise ship of -- containing

8,000 souls would have only to medical professionals aboard. i think the chair announces that him about we should look for ways to partner with the industry and make passenger cruises they say for darn right for our american passengers and tourists. anchorage the cruise line industry association to work with congress to find a market driven solution. thank you.

>> thank you very much. my home town is about to win the 70 people. so your been compared to last. [laughter] poughkeepsie. let me go right to the witnesses . lori had a bad experience on aurora caribbean cruise in 2006. she's also an international cruise victims of some to have the association board member, which means she wants to follow through on that. all regional for. and until berson dollar represents a 15-year-old miner who was raped on a cruise ship is also on that same board and also chairman of the national center for victims of crime. i grateful that he is here.

a man the public, elijah's manna outsiders mother suffered a medical emergency and a carnival cruise and 2013 and likely passed away from a lack of adequate medical, am proud that you were here. a passenger on the carnival triumph that gunfire in 2013 and was stranded for four day. is the easy things for me this a bit hard to know gone through and to talk about. a skit that it. thank you so much for being here, laurie dishman. >> hello. my name is laurie dishman. would like to thank the chairman and committee for convening this hearing in inviting me to washington. it is quite an honor and privilege to be here today. senator rockefeller, i am a

cruise ship rape victim. and had the experience -- i haven't experienced so your about. a crucial an employee red meat during a vacation. working as a security guard. he approached me and asked me my name and seven number and letters back down to mike cavan forcing his way in. i resisted and struggled. he strangled me and really to rip me. awoke with literature marks around my neck. and i did not know what to do. it did not know who to turn to. there were no police was hesitant to call and report the crime because you more security. three days earlier i was looking for to this crews. the glossy color brochures advertising and adventure every day, and experience to remember the rita celebrate my birthday

and 30 years of. he had no visitors since five. that was excited and eating we reported the crime. the security officer came to the cabin and sat on the bed with the rape occurred. i try to tell the would have happened, but they insisted that i prepare written statement and sign it. they left without securing the cabinet taking me to the ship and firmer. after finished my statement as a security officer took me to the infirmary. dr. handedness to black garbage bags and thus has to go back to the cabinet collect the evidence. we try to preserve hair and other items not really knowing what to do. we returned to the infirmary along the public with still all men surrounding a spirited was a

painful and humiliating ordeal. the issue of doctors initially performed the rape kit and examined by nec but failed to administer richard barr of medication. i was returned to my cabinet after the ordeal traumatize to the bracket the scene of the crime. i could not take my eyes off the mattress where the crime occurred. the mattress and naked and dirty to me. it looked like i felt. could not stop thinking about what just happened over and over in. instead of know what would happen next. his is one of the closed eyes and, of the attack was eventually given three options, get off the ship where mexico and report it to the local port authority, state of the -- stay on the cruise ship and report it to the fbi would we returned or fly back to l.a. and report the ride to the fbi. i opted to fly back as soon as i

could get off the ship. once in l.a. i was questioned extensively by the fbi and that the vigor of the bruising as. a few days later the fbi boarded the ship and returned support together with the cruise line defense attorney. the crew member denied even knowing in canada. he did not pass the polygraph. the fbi said it was a he said she said case and declined to arrest him. the department of justice declined to prosecute. the crucial evidence said sell full of passengers with a rapist on board. today is the letter of led the crew member changes story and abetted going to mike cavan. it was only then that the cruise line confined to him to his cabinet and put a security guard outside his door and then tear it is abundant and lou have of trinidad.

and with nowhere to turn tired of maritime lawyer in miami. even though i've lived in sacramento the crews left from los angeles and the crime occurred in international waters in the ticket is says you need to find an attorney in miami. by jennie found out many faces of verizon baby. the security here was actually a janitor who the cruise line, and the cleaning specialists paid $550 a month assigned sacked as a security department because the limited number of legitimate cards on staff. she had the training or experience as a security guard. a row caribbean records uncovered reveal that the employee history which included lying, falsification of records, insubordination, and an -- vendor management and a sexually harassed to grow six weeks and

horry randy. and they put him in a security guard in a farm. in the lead on the night in question witnesses those urgent drinking beers. row caribbean pursuant to a court order that my attorney received stating that the cruise line has studied the problem of sexual assault on the ship back as far as 1999, the outside experts retained by the cruise line concluded the sexual misconduct occurred frequently. there had security guard told me, this never happens spree with the cruise line ignored with their action restore the blood still in a public that crimes are rare. in 2007 and joined the inch national cruise victims and and one member of the eyes seaboard. and testified in the past and support of cruise vessels security and safety and today and joined with the chairman of

ic be, barbarous, and friends. certainly congress can require them to provide reports of crimes without incomprehensible legal mumbo jumbo, hire competent medical providers and provide protection under consumer agency to help and our time. >> sent you very much. you did that well, and now it was hard.

we will have questions. first, we want to hear from philip gerson, her lawyer here root causes is a 50 year-old miner rape of a cruise ship. >> thank you, mr. chairman, errors of the committee. ina lawyer in miami, florida of more than 50 years. for more than 40 years my law practice has focused our representing crime victims both the cn on land. i appreciate your invitation and your willingness to consider a hughes. and will will be brief which states the case factuality incident the chairman just referred to in more detail. and by welcome any questions that the senators mask.

the cruise passenger protection act should be passed. it is far short of the needed solutions but a next step on the path to greater passenger safety he think that yen one banner safe on cruise ships can't think again. there are none. the 15-year-old autistic teen his client was an unsupervised like she was on land because her family thought that she was safe there were officials in managing all of her activities screw vigorously. and on the share issue as soon soon-and teen activities. on the last of the cruise 15 activity ended generally but no one told her parents, and she was led away by a sexual predator to a state room where she was proudly reeled to detect

by a juvenile and adult brown. this occurred two years after the cruise vessel safety and security act of 2010 was signed into law, but despite that fact her state room was less of an acclaimed before law enforcement could gain access to a. security said, while, there was a mistake. we locked it out, with their housekeepers somehow overruled the lockout, knowing that our crime had been committed and the evidence on the bed clothes and other evidence of the room was lost. unfortunately, our state legislature has said there was some to enact and exchange jurisdiction to crimes on a cruise ships with viciously and return from florida ports.

so there were four lauderdale based brewer shares 70's standing on the rear when the sure which returned to work who took custody of these two offenders and were punished of a state law. had this occurred anywhere else besides the florida they likely would have gone on every hand it and a botanist conoco what is worse about what happened is that the cruise line the only suppressed the facts to the foster a misleading disinformation campaign posting that vacationers are safer and see that they are on land. now, in some ways you are. you're not going to give it pyre car or truck working in public places where nor is it likely the you will be shot by and of proper because are no vehicles or guns of of the ship.

live sexual crimes like the one that my innocent teenage client was are far too common and the risks for higher. there are thousands of people on board and police to do it terror crime or stop her current. it should security officers are trained to protect shipowners, but passengers, and that is exactly what they do perry's the real answer in ride him based on a lifetime of experience is that independent see where shalls should be placed on cruise ships , a trio costs in view of the large jarupa he will who are assembled on these floating city vacations. vatican after the fed today we could start with dot empowerment

choose full disclosure and crescas been required of curve when it for decades and is a part of the fundamental fairness of this is the fabric of the american society. full disclosures of risks is a first of toward improving safety very few travelers understand the legal relationship which exists in the cruise. as passengers cross the game away in his surrender of legal right to protect their own welfare. this is not an informed consent perry did say it does not explain how the early your relationship was different to see for will we know it's a violent, and it is not semantics when we refer to the ship's captain as the master.

he is just that, and passengers have virtually no individual rights cruise line industry association bill of rights is illusory, and pico and meaningless. a close reading of their careers line tickets reveal a frightening list of contractual and statutory of an illegal responsibly for harm to passengers. tickets say that the cruise line has no legal liability import for any excursion which they arrange, sell to the passengers, and share fees with the chore of mergers with which is a clear responsibility. they say the same thing about the physician services on board, but if there is medical negligence they have no legal residents of louis.

where are also or carried statutory and international maritime treaties with its limit passenger rights and remedies when something goes wrong on board and another increase ticket or cruise line adequately inform passengers of the nature or extent of what cancun the bills should be passed so that the outdated buyer beware parses relationships at sea are replaced with a truce in advertising, full disclosure, and informed consent which are the hallmark so american life. and so car briskets passengers more protections american nationals on cruise ships are just saw the arrow.

the idea to read by been delivered statement which provides more details so that i take no more time than is necessary and i volunteered to assist in this process in any way in i can't in the future. >> thank you, sir, very commendable a loop. it bothers suffered about a nickel a emergency and in 2013 on a carnival cruise. as i indicated adequate medical care. >> solyndra rockefeller, members of the committee, i appreciate the our activity to tell another story pressure will we have learned and offer recommendations in an effort to insure no other family has to enduringly experienced. but other experienced a catastrophic health of it well

on a cruise and subsequently passed away. the cause of death listed as an uphill jury. he will and who love life and jeff amelie, its research, for him, a devoted wife and mother born in 800 people came from the community. and he had just returned from my shore excursion, passed through security, and her face the many events for the evening when she collapsed. she has no pulse and was not breathing. her rent to plead with security personnel in the areas, but all that they did was phil and some

of the bill when conceived in was in trouble. if they didn't step forward to help my mother and there was no indication they were calling for help pay round down the corridors and intensified day defibrillator or someone could explain that the defenders arrived after a mother had been on the ship for four what is estimated to minutes. no to fit a pattern and a medical equipment depreciation when her mother and waited for a guaranteed to arrive. to the weather was taken into the medical facility located within a distance of my father and myself could have carried her happily when told papa had to of locked doors, turn on lights and computers and a pair

of the tiny examination rent it appears they said in a bit cruel defibrillator director for cycles are posted return. nevertheless, the duration of time she would without oxygen reflexed 32 minutes, and once recesses did we ever told to leave the ship of it, father went to his room with personnel, got his price and carnival said christian elements of byron to get about poris. libya's them in game one after we get out of a water taxi we had to wait on an endless sea cow would get her. one employee accompanyist cabildo arrangements were made to exodus as a medical reason see. we are all processed as

torrance, including mike : toes mother. the carnival at the give a father the telephone number for the plan authority and left as completely alone to find our way of transport when the banks of the venice its packaged their current contracts to its that they are now responsible line 04 anything involving welfare or safety of the messengers. the campaign makes no assurances in the physician will be available in and says women who care may not be available unknown or delayed college the countries also states the carnival is the response will for the actions of physicians and nurses and who considers independent contractors copies as it turns out but others event i was the time that an she received cpr in a timely manner shall we be here today the is my

mother died needlessly because humane the reciprocal was not followed or enforced trade the contract was too small to read. the general public does understand all u.s. rates are surrendered to carnival upon entering the vessel. had we known, or family would have been reported addition. reoffer the for our recommendations your package of health care. some of these items are included in the cruise vessels security safety act of 2010 callable have been informed of the medical requirements of that act have been nearly into written our recommendations would be to modify it to launch its hand acts to have a section of zero medical care with the following requirements, the federally

insured in case there out each ship with liquid to the location is clearly designated discuss. >> cpr training in certifications should be a requirement for all personnel pitt and how to respond to situations including a lawyer in summoning barco assistance in the initial response to a. the english language should be a requirement for personnel that have united states ports of call in a minimal person's ability to understand keywords such as emergency, however, dr. perry to to for our health care is necessary given that the shoes carry several thousand people. the ship's position present

and available or wrong, for and the response practice must have a united states medical board credential in new orders is in madison, internal medicine, family medicine and an least served. in italy agreed to a bond standards. however, karl hess who virtually all of the stand is the a written to haven't they should pick this must change. my father and i greatly the selma mother's story, our experiences and her condition for the committee. >> thank you. thick grease no, thank you very much.

of the members of the committee esses been talking about him, i would have to lose 60 years off of my present wife length and have triple strong glasses and probably a magnifying glass to give the will to read what your process. >> i gave it. he is getting older. he give up your liability and have no idea because you can read this thing. i'm breaking it cotter, here, and i pay the give things up. your kind of an aria. as a whole point behind in this is your alternate committed to

me with his deceitful where easy to correct, and the emissary. >> i make one more statement. >> yes. >> kernel is pursuing my father and myself over to of hundred dollars while a level of medical care where received after they dumped us dominance and the do give up all of fair rights. in. by budget not have a chance some conflict the excess thank you and apologists of my colleagues or interrupting the parco but a passenger on the carnival triumph that caught fire and was

stranded for four days which are want to hear a round when he played corona won in stranded in >> chairman, recommended harrison, i'm from houston to a texas, the mother of 5-inch of her and three grandchildren and when. and i family and i have crews many times a. annually had never given a thought to the loss of lives in jefferson being wary of the cold : linda coffee one worth and a ninth of the last minute cruise of flintridge and the first two days everything went as planned in. on the second to have no ideologue was to come men love.

>> immediately knew it was a fire. fear ever came me immediately with kitchens and a crew had repeated over and over pay shortly thereafter vickers church and in love with informed us there was a situation confusion will among the passengers. several hours later our worst fear was confirmed. ahead in a fire while. it was out, both ardent and water and one. eventually the giant ship began to list which caused a great

deal of fear. was clear that they had no plan in place or such a disaster wounds. conditions with the ship began to decay. no electricity, water of a tear minimum the. informed of the sewage system no longer. all passengers are given read biota some of the areas passengers and understandably did not want to use the bank's of public toilets on board the ship columbus humanist hanna and in his search systematically backed out to come either shower drain line and later edge was terrible and sanitation was nonexistent.

there was a fortunate passengers when a bargaining kaplan. unlike the passengers who had parked inside cabins had no access to air refresh where it played for several other families to mattresses in the hall is what allowed us chairs on the pullback whom knew. tensity was nearing his passengers suffered the worst hardships. disconcerting to see the of the hidden and. i cannot help but wonder if ahead and of medicine line one lane. slicker lawyers suing his past week of passengers waited our 11

people had not. in this. with the unsanitary conditions of the food service and the sewage problem it is america and massive outbreaks did not occur. of those counts and the inherent seasick and choose the entire peninsula of was concerned the violence was going to an era of one. this seems to know security of gotland buried in night the ship and an ever sought secure a hidden tape back to sure calves changing. the final decision looks and was north iowa : alabama native

enough time to the passengers sunland messing us to endure the measure will conditions for an extra 24 hours with no way to communicate with my family i felt as the victors were never and and and moved. healing communication received and warn puzzle of why 500 thomas harkin won. after being high realize i had put my trust in the industry with no knowledge or what happened in. i now know that carnival said the triumph hour with only four of six generators and knowledge of a potential fire hazard and the is i wish i had known these things parlor limit hill

that the industry as a tuesday to provide not only agreed vacation but ensure safety and our costs and to impart the atmosphere is of the future passengers can make educated decisions is to have rented pursue compensation for wrongdoing and would create cruising is a wonderful tennant to vacation income harbor in is to automate safer costs. my hope is congress will pass legislation to ensure that the industry abides by a strict standards for passenger safety so that a future disaster of the beer and thank you. >> thank you very lunch bucket of going to start questioning

and to have fallen passenger worker and the hudson and nelson looked well will last year equals lowell in -- this is going to be a question for you, ms. butler policy of the major cruise lines adopted what they caught pasturable of rights in latin pretty weird and that in the airline industry hint time professional emergency medical attention has needed a hand to assure some medical hear echoes of whom want and leave it is

their link which cannot- 000000000 the few weeks you'll see here represent hamilton in it's a mustache that cruise lines have a duty to provide passengers compton to medical care will not carry my question to you is, would you say it at the medical care prefer to see your mother -- and the first edition it was forced on marriage and some medical attention as needed and prevent all of this in he became competent paid my question is, was the medical care provided to your mother competent american public's note. they did everything ron leyna new note in the and respect him one of the security gadgets of forward to initiate said karen pantages said they will head

least ten minutes. the and called for someone to come down and look at the cutting the to see if she was caught in that case he was not breathing and. she did not have a pulse and then paid to top off, the infrared as close to serve a handsome laden. the head sun lock for the five and played an employee and to the home care if they had to wear over their standing their waiting and complete an annex of to woman. >> in the mother's case, of cleanser's as and had no him, no dates the trainers of verizon medical staff and their duties to make the sick pleasure of the

home page for another, they contended some of our medical equipment bike basic automatic external design of it in machines when you bought your ticket from the coroner's did you understand that if you accepted medical care you of doing so at your own risk, at your own costs and one and that the cruise line with the mind of if the quality of care? >> we have no idea who. we could not read the font. and he had to cook a link he and craig is to buy a great quality and in of the printer if your ticket 210

i would just like to have it passed to each of you. i circle the word liability but it's unbelievable. i can't read in any of it. >> neither could we. >> yeah. at the beginning of the voyage the cruise lines provide safety, provide safety information that a quote -- to help passengers

prepare for an emergency like a fire or a wreck. this information helps passengers prepared and know what to do in the event of an emergency. my questions for the panel, many of you experienced an emergency situation that you are unprepared for. to the cruise lines providing information on what to do in the event of criminal or medical emergency, i'm asking any of you. >> senator, no. in my situation, no. the cruise line did not. >> in our situation as well senator, no, and it would be very simple to simply add oh by the way are medical infirmary is on a floor. we had no idea where to go. >> the obvious question, if you have had this information that might have helped, right? >> up we have the information we

could have saved her life. you know, someone should have given her cpr. >> okay. i have more questions but my time is up for my first round so i go to senator begich. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and i appreciate the opportunity to have you all here today and thank you for sharing your story. let me ask you and i think you gave some suggestions if i remember the lineup here and my writing here. you have suggested 18 machines should be more visible or available. i'm not sure that's the right word but tell me what you mean by that. >> we have been told that carnival does have defibrillators that they keep them locked up because they are afraid that the passengers may steal them. >> enter comment about cpr training, to make sure that

employees or all employees or employees related to security or help me understand what you are thinking their too. >> at the very least security when people are coming back on board from excursions. >> there is part of the proposal that the chairman house to make sure there's information available to potential passengers or customers. let me ask you a question. when you are researching your desire was this your first cruise? >> we have been doing this for years. >> you are a cruiser. >> we have a lot of cruise ship so i understand. when you look for a cruise tell me how you go about that. >> i will be honest, i have a cousin that organizes our family reunions and she picks it out and we basically all chip in for tickets.

>> maybe i may not be able to ask but i'm trying to find out when you go on line. i've been on a cruise and i'm very familiar with cruises. let me make that clear with over a million passengers coming to alaska with a small purses. i have been on many of the ships but not a full scale crews. when you go on line to look up what you want to do, do you in your mind are you looking for not only what your location is, what you are interested in but do you decide i want to know how safe this cruises? does not come across or is that one of the thoughts that you have? >> you assume that if you are leaving out of the u.s. poured that you have u.s. health care safety period. it was just an assumption. >> here's where i'm trying to go

and anyone can answer this and i appreciate the chairman's piece of legislation but in that it talks about putting a lot of information on the department of transportation web site. my guess is that is not a place you would go to if you were going to look up a cruise and think about the safety of a cruise. i mean do you see where i'm going? in other words if you are going to the cruise site and you want to go on a cruise to the mediterranean and you want to know how safe the cruises that is your question. is your first instinct to go to d.o.t.'s web site? where would that be? >> i think all of us would go to travelosity expedia cruise.com something like that but i think the assumption is they're just like with air travel that i thought regulations were in place. a corporation as large as carnival with a reputation to

uphold by just assumed that they have great safety measures in place on ships of that size. i was naïve. >> understand that. i'm just trying to figure out what i'm worried about and i have told the chairman this, adding another layer of information but the customer has no idea where that information is. >> maybe they could put something on expedia thing to do this site. >> i'm just trying to figure out the better -- go ahead. >> definitely ever cruise line the staff and updated recording on their web site and in regards to the transportation to me that would follow along with the airline or consumer looking for something that evolves all types of transportation and incidents that occur. the regular consumer may go to their royal caribbean carnival web site or even travel and you should be able to know what type of crimes you when you are planning a family vacation. the television commercials could be this false sense of let your

kids go and have fun and do what you want to do why you were on the cruise. i feel the different crimes and things that happen need to be reported and i feel all of them need to be reported not just if they are opened and never close. i believe they need to all be. >> do think that should be the case for all types of transportation? >> after what i have learned from what i didn't know because i left out of los angeles and i thought it was taking all my rights with me and didn't know it was flown under liberian flag and they were the ones that the law was under. >> very good. thank you very much. >> thank you senator begich. senator blumenthal. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for championing this bill which i'm very proud to be a co-sponsor. thank you for having this hearing which gives us an opportunity to really not only express our support and sympathy

but also to make you a part of the crusade for this legislation which will really in a sense make something good, pure her thick experiences. i have a family who is a constituent family in greenwich who suffered very tragically a loss that in some ways is reminiscent of yours a loss that is still with them. george smith the fourth vanished, literally disappeared sometime overnight going into july 4 of 9 years ago. he remains missing since 2005. there was blood on the ship when it went into the harbor. the crime scene was never

secured lead alone adequately investigated and his death remains a mystery today. much to the understandable consternation of his family. his death is with us still in connecticut. it is a grievous reminder that the rights of people who suffer as victims of crime while at sea art completely inadequately protected as ms. dishman you have reminded us so dramatically and graphically. that's the reason that these kinds of limitations on liability make a mockery of the implicit promises that are made to passengers on cruise ships that they will be kept safe. that's the minimal obligation that a cruise ship has two its passengers, to keep them safe. they can't guarantee them that they will be happy that but they will always be celebrity or a

end the weather will always be good to keep them safe is a minimal obligation and in each one of your instances an example the cruise ship failed in that basic obligation and passengers were left without remedy. without hope of real recovery and in your instance ms. butler what happened to your mother may well have been avoidable. and unnecessary in this consequence and you have my special sympathy in that regard. so we are really trying to impose minimal protections on cruise ships and that's the purpose of the cruise ship passenger protection act. it imposes standards of decency, standards of minimal basic

decency and fair dealing on cruise ship lines. i would like to ask you ms. butler whether you have taken any legal action and i know from your testimony that you consulted with an attorney and he advised you as to where you had to file suit and some of the basics for the law in this area. >> yes, we have. they have picked up our case. >> has indicated to you that there are obstacles because of the way the law is set? >> literally it's david versus goliath. >> passengers like yourself are not only on an island as the

chairman indicated, passengers are not only on an island in the high seas but it's a lawless island. >> exactly. >> ms. dishman if i may ask you have you taken any legal action? >> yes, i did. >> has your lawyer advised you to obstacles that are in your way because of the inadequacy? >> yes and i experienced several different challenges and things have occurred in regards to my case. >> ms. ware and mr. gerson let me ask you the same question. i know you are an attorney so let me ask if you asked on behalf of your client. >> indeed i did in my client's case was settled for a handsome sum i must say just recently and i would comment on ms. butler

situation that i litigated a very similar case for seven years involving the anoxic brain and injury to a 26-year-old third-year medical resident from ohio who collapsed on a treadmill on board the ship in the presence of the fitness center director who took no steps at all to resuscitate her and there was a factual dispute over the length of time she was down without any defibrillation, and there are international treaties that required crewmembers to be trained in cpr and the position that the cruise line's take is that the training is only advisory. they are not required to use it and it's discretionary as to whether or not they want to use it. the federal maritime law is that they are not legally force

possible if they don't use it and they didn't use it in this case. this young woman who had a brilliant career ahead of her essentially lives the life of the vegetable today was no recovery. >> thank you. ms. lawyer. >> yes, have taken legal action and i did not know that by signing the ticket i would be giving up all my rights according to carnival for compensation. >> mr. chairman again my thanks for having this hearing. i'm going to ask that a letter from my connecticut colleague representative himes he entered into the record in support of this legislation and that concludes my questioning. i'm out of time but i want to thank you again for being here today. thank you. >> thank you senator blumenthal. there are a lot of questions, a lot of questions.

do you know that the thing that amazes me is you have a very profitable industry. they make a lot of money. they are very popular. i think their popularity will continue to increase. many people will have a pleasant experience. they pay virtually no taxes in the united states even though they are based in miami and a couple of other places. everybody thinks they are getting on an american ship that they are getting on a panamani panamanian, you know it's always some other country where there are no taxes and there's no sense of accountability or responsibility. and i say to myself, why is it

that they are so resistant to making some basic changes on things which are so obviously going to come back upon them? we understand that 90% plus or whatever whether it's a 3000 person boat or a 6000, now i think they are building 67,000 passenger, if you are making the money and you don't have to pay the coast guard for when they come to bail you out or when the fbi is involved you don't pay them. you have a free ride. they make a lot of money. they have a very good future so why not as a matter of business, forget humanity for a moment but as a matter business sense, wouldn't they take steps to clear up some of these problems we have been talking about? i mean i remember when my wife and i, i had never done cpr and

our children were in high school. we went and took a lesson in cpr which i got through and i think probably three days later i could not have repeated what i did because there wasn't a focus. there wasn't the same focus because it was something that might or might not happen. why don't they make these, ball and barely make these things? why don't they inform you and i remember and i've said this a number of times on this committee, i come from a state with a lot of coal and coal is a dangerous occupation. it's one where minors can be kept safe if you ventilate the minds and you pay attention. operators for the most part -- part don't. they just get the coal out in your minors take their losses

and get black lung and eye from black lung. other companies continue to be profitable. i don't understand why the cruise industry doesn't spend the money to fix some of these problems. it would benefit them and protect them from people like me and senator blumenthal and others who are determined to make them do what they should be doing and will do that no matter how many years it takes. they just push us away. they don't want to talk. they don't want to discuss just like they didn't want to react to any for situations areas in modern society, if you are in bankruptcy that argues for not doing anything but if you are not in bankruptcy and you are make in a lot of money and these are really good people why

wouldn't you do that? i simply don't understand that. that sense of frustration, the sort of corporate mentality that you are from the federal government and don't do anything about this. you are talking about regulation. well yeah we do regulation and we did it on the airlines. when pilots were flying whale for their limit of being alert and they had a big airplane crash and lock a one in new york wherever that is that a lot of people were killed. twin-engine, this style, not jack and the pilots had gone a long time without sleep. we put on requirements they have to have before they get on an airplane to fly they have to have an eight hours of sleep. if they don't sleep a don't

sleep but they have to have that time to be able to sleep with time on each side to prepare and to get up from that. if that's government running roughshod over an industry that's just not true. it's just common sense protection for passengers. airlines are the safest thing you could possibly run. you wouldn't know that reading the international news recently. you stay away from certain countries and air spaces but i don't understand why they won't do it. one of the reasons we have this hearing today and you have been patient enough to put up with it and to answer questions and tell your story is to put certain colleagues on this committee in a position where they need to

tell. one of our colleagues said well this is a separate bill. and you shouldn't attach it to the coast guard bill. everybody knows the coast guard bill is a bill that you have got to pass. the cruise ships want the coast guard bill to pass but if you separate them, the coast guard bill will pass and the cruise ship bill will get flushed down the toilet. so you don't allow that to happen. you hold them accountable. it's done in life, it's done in business, it's done in family situations. you have to take responsibility. so i have got a lot of questions here. but i don't feel the need to ask

them because most of them have been in part responded to. this whole idea of the hotel versus the city you know. it's mystifying. we had our last hearing with representative clea which is their lobbying organization who sat right where you are sitting which is why you may want to move. [laughter] and just dismissed it off. we are doing everything we possibly can. people have a responsibility for their own safety. that's true but when general motors is discovering that when certain things don't work in gm cars the entire nation gets interested they are pulled before congress and they have to end up paying a whole lot of money to change their ways and to learn how to run a company

with the consumer in mind. i will give you just one final example. people often dismiss people who are trying to protect consumers. this committee is to be -- congress committee was more business-oriented. now we have tried to make a people oriented, consumer oriented. that is what it's meant to be. i give you this because it sounds so stupid but it affects people's lives so directly. so nasty. people move and so they call him over. and not in all cases but in some cases the mover comes than they sign a contract. they load all of their belongings onto the van. the mover goes five miles and goes into an alley and called them up and says we are going to triple your price.

sorry about that but we are going to triple your price. you have to pay us three times more money than the contract he signed. you can get a lawyer if you want but you are not going to get your furniture back because you don't know where we are. it's a horrible thing. you just don't let that stuff pass by. so we are making life more difficult for them and better for the consumers. you made a trip with good spirits, with good thoughts, with enthusiasm and ran into terrible problems. there was nobody to help you. now if you have been going on a rowboat or something that would have been one thing that you were going on a huge corporation ship who had all the experience and the wherewithal, the money to solve your problem if you ran

into them but they just didn't. the tent city concept that we were talking about. that's famous throughout the world now because it was such a file thing to do to people. corporations have to be responsible. this committee exists as to others in other areas to do oversight to find out if they are carrying out their businesses properly with care. some mistakes can happen and we understand that but when there there's this attitude of just neglect, and i was asking behind me and i'm not sure of the answer but i sort of remember the last hearing that when you signed the ticket with that invisible friend, many pages you give away your liability and

your ability to have recourse but i believe and i may be wrong and if i am i forgive myself but this is what i remember. it was in the signing of the ticket after your signature was on the ticket. it was then that you were able to take the sticky covering up the next page which had that liability cause which of course you are going to look at and you couldn't agree to it even if you decided you wanted to and you could see it if he could see it. it's awful behavior. if it was true and i'm not saying it was true. i remember that was the case but i may be wrong. but i don't have to be right about that because what happened to you was simply wrong in a modern society from corporations that are doing very well and are on the upswing and have every

right to want to make people have a happy experience and to make sure that they do. everybody knows that not everything works out the way it should. there will be problems. for days waiting stranded and a mother who didn't get any attention and a 15-year-old girl who gets raped in your own case. i mean you don't let stuff like that pass particularly if it happens with a certain degree of consistency. that is why we have had this hearing and it's all in the record. everything you said is all in the record. that bill, if we are going to pass the coast guard bill which

i will tell you those cruise lines won't because they need that coast guard and that coast guard is so broke it has ships that are very very old but they still function and they are still used by the cruise ship lines. the minority leader is asking why do we have to do these things? like a we do them separately? they had a clear purpose for asking that question. the coast guard thing would have passed in the cruise ship thing would have failed. it's my job as chairman to make sure we don't play the game that way. i want to totally thank you 14 talking about experiences that are not comfortable to talk about in doing so in a very forthright way and for educating this panel and believing just because not all the members are here, a lot of the staff is and it's always the staff that

really counts. [laughter] if you have good staff you are going to be a good senator and if you don't, well. so, i'm not going to carry this hearing forward because i think the points that need to be made have been made and that's because you have made them clearly with firmness and with certainty and with a degree of anger. which i share. wherever you have come from, go back safely. and i thank you. this hearing is adjourned. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations]

the house and senate are working on bills in response to the present emergency spending request for border funding. we talked to a congressional reporter to learn more. >> seung min kim of politico speaker john boehner supporter working group chaired by texas republican kay granger has announced their recommendations to deal with unaccompanied children at the border. he wrote about that plan today. what are the key details and a? >> and four -- focuses on enforcement but you can look at the heart and the proposal of a antitrafficking law that is come under scrutiny with the latest crisis of unaccompanied children on the border. what would do is in the most simplest terms treat children coming from the central american countries guatemala honduras and el salvador it would treat them

the same as mexican children are treated which in effect makes it a lot easier to send them back home. it would also expedite hearings and it would also create new border security measures. it calls for deploying national guard troops to the texas border so is god enforcement have a measures to deal with the crisis. >> what her house democratic leaders saying about the plan particularly changes to the 2008 human trafficking law? >> officially they are still reviewing the recommendations. they came out just this morning but house minority whip steny hoyer had a discussion with reporters earlier today and seemed to doubt that there would be democratic support for this proposal. we know that leaders such as nancy pelosi and members of the congressional hispanic caucus that guide a lot of the house democrats strategy in topics such as immigration they are very opposed to changing the 2008 law because they are concerned that compromises due

process for these unaccompanied children. >> you tweeted about a letter speaker boehner wrote to the president on the plan that says it will be difficult to move on supplemental without strong public support from the white house on changing the 2008 love. tell us more about that letter. >> the white house has had mixed messages when it comes to changing that 2008 law. when it first told congress that needs extra funding to deal with the crisis it called for changes to policies that would in effect tweak 2008 law and make it easier to send these children back home to their home countries. there has been very supposition from the immigration advocates, by the powerful senate democrats and the congressional hispanic caucus so they backed off on formerly setting those changes even though they say they would like some revisions to the law. speaker john boehner is pressing president obama on that point. he is saying here if you support

this love please come out and say it with clarity so we know where you stand. >> both us and senate working on their respective versions to respond to the president's funding requests for border funding. what is house appropriations committee chair hal rogers plan to include in his bill and how is that funding compared with what the white house is requesting? >> the white house is out for $3.7 billion. if you add a separate issue for wildfires in the west it's about $4.3 billion. what the chairman how rogers is working with is $1.5 billion for the emergency funding. that is clearly significantly less than what the president has asked for. we have not heard an administrative position on the proposal since it was just made public today. the senate democrats are also adding, pushing a smaller package as well. they have about $2.7 billion to deal with the border crisis too

so it's a question of whether that can be reconciled between the two chambers and go to president obama for to for the august recess. spann what might we see a compromise reached on the supplemental funding bills prior to the august for a? >> it's difficult to say right now. we are working with the simple factor of time. the august recess is not that far away. we have a couple of days this week and next weekend they are out for the month of august and not back until september 8 at the lead. on the policy measures republican speaker john boehner insisting on changes to the 2008 law. they think it sends a message of deterrence to these children who often makes dangerous journeys through mexico to come to the united states with democrats are raising humanitarian concerns and it's difficult to see common ground between the two parties at this point. >> seung min kim is a

congressional reporter for politico and she is on twitter at seung min kim. thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> senata probation's chair barbara mikulski of maryland came to the floor to announce a $3.5 billion emergency supplemental spending bill. it includes spending for the unaccompanied children crossing the border fighting wildfires and aiding israel's antimissile system. this is 10 minutes. >> i rise today as the chair of the appropriations committee that will be proposing the emergency supplemental bill. this will bill will be introduced tonight and i want to briefly describe it. first of all what does the emergency supplemental bill to? it deals with three crises. one, it will fight wildfires with additional resources about

what's going on in our own country. second, it will help israel be able to continue to man its iron dome anti-ballistic missile system as it's been under siege by hamas rockets and third pupil help be a down payment on resolving the crisis of the children arriving at the border. to be specific it will fight wildfires to the tune of $615 million. right now there are 127 wildfires burning in our western states covering over four or more states. second, it will strengthen israel's iron dome and add $225 million to replenish the antimissile defense rockets saving the lives by shooting down hamas rockets helping our

ally israel and third it will deal with the crisis of our children arriving at the border and that will be $2.7 billion. $1 billion less than what the president asked for. you will care for the children and provide food, shelter and other needs and resolve children's asylum status and add enforcement money to break up organized crime, cartels trench workers and smugglers. the total for all three of those will be 3.5 $7 billion. i agree with president obama, this is an emergency supplemental. these funds are designated as emergency spending because they meet the criteria for the budget control act of 2011.

it must be urgent, temporary, unforeseen and prevent loss of life. that's exactly what we are facing. what does it mean to designate the funds as emergency spending? it means no offsets so we don't take existing funds where we are either defending the nation are helping america's families to pay for the spending in the spill. the needs are urgent. firefighting needs are needed now. the fire service will run out of money in august. fires are burning in oregon and washington and other states. we need to be able to provide the support to fight those fires to help our neighbors and our western states. iron dome, the funding is needed now to replenish a key part of a missile defense system.

and replace iron dome artillery. it has already used -- israel has already used a great deal of its assets dealing with the more than 2000 hamas rockets aimed at itself. israel has the right to self-defense and we are helping them have what they need to intercept 90% of the rockets. funds to deal with unaccompanied children crossing our border are needed now. if we do not do this the department of homeland immigration and customs enforcement will run out of money in august and the department of homeland security border patrol will run out in early september. it doesn't mean that our border patrol agents or ice agents will stop working but it will mean the department of homeland security will have to take money from other homeland security means to keep these agencies

doing their job. also health and human services will run out of money to house children in august and that means children will stay longer at the border. there will be -- they will be an inappropriate holding cells and it also means the that border patrol agents will be taken care of them rather than child welfare social workers. if you want to use border patrol agents to take care of children, that's one thing. i think they should be for defending our border and we should have social workers taking care of the children. that approach is sensible and it needs human need and while we acknowledge a tight budget situation we find only that which is in calendar year 2014. this is very important. it funds only what is needed in calendar year 2014.

it defers 1 billion of the presidents request until 2015. subject to congressional action but there need be validated. we hope by 2015 the search will not diminish because of the prevention and intervention issues. make no mistake the funds that we say we need we really do ne need. i am deeply concerned that if we don't follow the senate number house will make the economy and cut that impact the care of the children and also being penny-wise and pound-foolish, they are going to stop our ability to go after the smugglers and the coyotes. we don't want to go after the children, we want to go after the people who are exploiting the children in trying to recruit them into despicable activities. we also don't want radical

writers that will weaken our refugee and human trafficking was but accelerate deportation of children without due process under existing law. we don't want a backdoor version of bad immigration reform. this bill mr. president is only a money bill. it does not include immigration legislation. that will be addressed on the senate floor and will be decided by the leadership on both sides. the challenges to this request are many. the changes -- we have made changes to the presidents request. we have included more money for immigration judges and more money for additional legal representation for children so we can determine their legal status and determine whether they have the right to seek asylum status. we also have to have enforcement

against gangs and organized crime. seven organized crime centers are operating in these three central american countries now they where talking about more guns at the border. we need more law enforcement and the health of the united states going after the real bombs and which are these drug dealers they were creepy's children, murder children before other children's eyes. and do you know what? we also know then we work on the crisis and we do urgent supplemental effort we sometimes waste money. we can only hope that some of the other agencies were we have done this. this bill include strong oversight from the inspector general's to make sure the taxpayers money is well spent to protect their border, protect the children and go after smugglers qaeda these and human traffickers. the best way to make sure the search of children is -- is not

by rewriting trafficking laws but by making it harder on these crooks and criminals. i'm going to conclude by saying this. we already have 60,000 children at the border. this crisis is not in our border however. the crisis is in our own countries, honduras, el salvador and guatemala. these children are truly fleeing violence. i've been down to the border mr. president. i have talked to these children. listen to children who face sexual assault. the recruitment to human trafficking gang intimidation, persecution, threats of grisly physical action directed against them. what is happening in these countries mr. president? when you listen to the cries of the children i can tell you in these countries there is a war

on children. we cannot turn our backs on these children. we need to pass the supplemental and we need to deal with the violence that is coming out of central america. if we don't deal with it there it's not that the children will come to our borders, except the violence and the gangs will come to our borders. mr. president i hope when the reader introduces the bill later on this evening we can proceed with due diligence and i look forward to chairing the committee as we go through this process. i now yield the floor. >> 40 years ago the watergate scandal led to the only resignation of an american president. american history tv revisits 1974 in the final weeks of the nixon administration. this week the house judiciary committee has considered impeachment of the present and the charge of abuse of power.

>> what you have your here are questions about what the framers had in mind, questions about whether the activities that had been found out by the committee and by the senate auditing committee were indeed impeachable and thirdly can we prove that richard nixon knew about them and even authorize them?

>> i thought it would be compelling to tell the story of a white family and a black family with the same name who come from the same place and follow them from slavery through the civil war, reconstruction, jim crow to civil rights movement up until today and compare and contrast.

>> now the house financial services committee looks at the effect of the dodd-frank financial regulation law four years after deregulation

or lack of regulation led us into the crisis. however, in the decade leading up to the crisis, studies have shown that the regulatory burden on the financial industry increased. there were few industries that were more highly regulated. the list could go on. we here a lot about wall street greed and i could not agree for doush sarbanes-oxley the list goes on. we hear a lot about wall street greed. i could not agree more. i'm just curious at what point was there not greed on wall street and xm wondering how that

could necessarily be the determining factor? what i do know is that affordable housing goals of fannie and freddie on steroids and other policies helped and send, cajole, mandate financial institutions in loaning money to people to buy homes that ultimately could not afford to keep them. my democratic colleagues at the time said let's roll the dice on housing. they did and the economy imploded. it wasn't deregulation, it was at regulation that helped lead us into this crisis. so if you get the wrong diagnosis you get the wrong limiting. dodd-frank has been the wrong remedy. adding incomprehensible complexity to the incomprehensible complexity. gringott lake in washington and

i say frequently, regrettably it is the rule as well is the exception laws are always evaluating either advertise benefits, not by their actual benefits are actual costs. this time dodd-frank was passed we were told it would quote increase financial stability and increase investment and entrepreneurship. instead what have we learned? we have learned it is now official that we are in the slowest weakest recovery in the history of the nation. tens of millions of our countrymen now are unemployed or underemployed. negative economic growth in the last quarter, business startups at a 20 year low, one out of seven depending upon food stam stamps. again increasing entrepreneurship, i don't think so.

ending too big to fail? we have had this debate before. we had it yesterday, we had today and we will have it tomorrow. dodd-frank codified it too fell into law. it's demonstrable four years later that the big banks have gotten bigger in the small banks have gotten fewer. financial stability i suppose that's a debatable proposition. financial stability is now defined by the unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. i don't know if increased increased concentration in our larger financial institutions whether one can say we have achieved financial stability. but what i do know is that comes at incredible cost thanks to dodd-frank. it's harder for a low and moderate-income americans to buy a home. again thanks to dodd-frank there are fewer community banks serving the needs of small businesses and families. thanks to dodd-frank main street

businesses and farmers face higher costs in producing their products which is impacting every single american at their kitchen table. thanks to dodd-frank's vocal rule our capital markets are less liquid than before and more expensive for companies to raise working capital which harms american saving for retirement. thanks to dodd-frank services that bank customers take for granted like pre-checking are being curtailed or eliminated. it is one of the reasons that the house financial services committee has moved numerous regulatory relief bills the number of which have actually passed with bipartisan support none of which i recall are being taken up by the democratic senate. by the time this congress is over at the house financial services committee would have addressed ownership housing finance reform and working along

our site our friends the should committee who are developing bankruptcy authority. we will have addressed dodd-frank's biggest co-mission codifying too big to fail and taxpayer pat's bailout funds and i yield to the ranking member for an opening statement. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. i would like to welcome all of today's witnesses and i too want to acknowledge and welcome the former chairman and longtime veteran of this committee mr. barney frank. [applause] and i'm so pleased he has agreed to be the democratic witness today. barney i have had your portrait hanging over me for just about a year now and during that time i've concluded that just saying barney frank without hearing him is no barney frank at all.

i am pleased we will all be able to hear you today and i hope to hear from my republican colleagues about just how close to the franqui came in 2008 and about why congress and the president responded forcefully with your namesake legislation in the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act. i'm hoping you will recount the income to pull widespread human suffering that was inflicted upon millions of americans suffering that still continues to this day day how years of deregulation blacks enforcement and zero accountability for the nation's financial institutions destroyed more than $13 trillion in economic growth, 16 gillian dollars in household wealth and led to millions of foreclosures and devastating it unemployment. in the aftermath of democrats and some senate republicans passed dodd-frank which provided

oversight to wall street comic if regulators the tools to end the era of too big to fail entities and taxpayer bailouts and eliminated loopholes to go unnoticed and unregulated and most importantly it restored responsibility and accountability to our financial system giving americans confidence in a system that works for and protects them. chairman frank i am proud to work so closely with you on this important legislation and i'm even more proud of the laws of progress in four short years. the consumer financial protection bureau bureau is up and running already returning $4.6 billion to 15 million consumers who have been subjected to unfair and deceptive practices. the volcker rule has been finalized which has forced banks to limit the practice of trading to make money for themselves and

refocusing them on making investments in the real economy. shareholders of u.s. corporations now have a say on pay and can better hold executives accountable by voting down excessive compensation of golden parachutes and thanks to loan authorities given to the securities and exchange commission one of wall street's top cops more than $9.3 billion in civil penalties have been recovered from bad actors since 2011. but before these were enacted republicans immerse themselves in an aggressive unrelenting campaign to repeal, weaken and pressure regulators to return us to the time before the crisis. they incorrectly blamed the financial crisis on government efforts to house the poor and disadvantaged. despite the and poor corporate governance

and risk management allowed to flourish. just as they may diagnose the causes they misunderstand the cure. republicans have pushed proposals to cut regulator funding and subject their rulemaking to consonantal mentation, hurdles and court challenges. democrats have tirelessly fought gop efforts to render dodd-frank toothless or risk turning the industry to the reregulation nation that caused the crisis. ad as time. and the same things can be heard from the ontarpponents of the 1 security act. though, they are the loudest critics, republicans have never offered an alternative. no alternative to protect consumers. no way to wind down large complex banks and no capacity to pass reforms of fanny may and

freddy mac. i continue to hear one. mr. chairman, the four year anniversary of the dodd-frank is an important milestone. we should look back and see how far we have come and where we need to go. i look forward to correcting the record and getting facts straight about his historic law and its contribution to our renews vibrancy of the nation. i welcome the witness testimony and yield back the balance of my time. >> the chair lady from west virginia is recognized for a minute and a half. >> thank you. this past monday marked the forth anniversary of dodd-frank and 400 new rules of which 298 have been finalized and 24% are

yet proposed. i think we see this legislation is having impact on the businesses, community lenders and consumers. for the past three years, i have had numerous hearing highlighting the challenges facing community lenders and small businesses. one of my fears during the drafting of dodd-frank was that it would limit the ability for community lenders to taylor to the client's need. later this afternoon i will share several accounts where they cannot offer tailored loans because of the nknenew regulati. lend