trying to serve the community? >> dear congressman chris collins spoke to reporters in buffalo wednesday about insider trading charges filed against them by federal officials and whether he will remain on the ballot for reelection in november. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you all for coming today. before i get started, most of you here know my wife, mary, of over 30 years. thanks for being here. the national press may not know mary sue as both our local press

does. over the years i've often talked about the american dream. i am extremely fortunate in that i have lived it. it started for me when i borrowed and started scraping together every dollar i could divide the westinghouse gear division here in buffalo. and move it to niagara falls under a new name. i am proud that we put hundreds of people to work who are still working at today. after selling metal gear in 1997, i ran for congress in 1998 up in the niagara falls area, knowing that my business experience would benefit the citizens of new york and offer a new giving congress. after being humbled in that race, i spent the next 10 years as an entrepreneur, investing in and helping to stabilize dozens of bankrupt and financially distressed companies, saving and

creating hundreds of jobs here in western new york. in 2007 i was recruited to run for theory county executives to turn around the effect of bankrupt county. i was elected in by applying the principles of land six sigma turned around the county finances in 18 short months all the while honoring my campaign pledge to work for 1 dollar a month. one of the many companies i invested in was a small drug development company, innate immunotherapeutic that was circa 98 unique here for hiv patients suffering with aids. ultimately, the focus shifted to a treatment for a secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which is one of the deadliest autoimmune diseases known to mankind. my affiliation with this company is why we are here today. i've been an avid and unwavering

reporter of the nate knows the therapeutics long before i came to congress or was elected county executive. erie county. over this time, my affiliation with a native indonesia therapeutics with my integrity and my investment in my political opponents. i believe in the company and still do and in the potential of a drug that had the real possibility of improving the treatment option for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis patients, which is about the most debilitating disease untreated disease known to mankind and something i saw firsthand affecting close family members. over the years i invested heavily, and became the company's largest shareholder in an uncompensated member of the board of directors. without my investments and steadfast financial support, the company would have gone under,

bringing with it a premature and a drug i truly thought would revolutionize treatment options for secondary progressive ms. of all the things i wanted to accomplish in my life, finding a cure for secondary progressive ms was at the top of the list. after years of blood, sweat and tears, we firmly believed we were on the verge of a medical breakthrough. sadly, despite showing great initial comments, the drug was ultimately shown to be unsuccessful, which is that kasparov was suffering from this deadly disease. many have speculated about the relationship. here are the simple facts. my connections with the company are well known. i believe i acted properly and within the law at all times with regard to my affiliation with any. throughout my tenure in congress i have followed all rules and all ethical guidelines when it

comes to my personal investment including those with innate. when we fall short of our hopes and expectations, i held onto my shares rather than sell them. as a result of a significant investment in made in the company with millions of dollars were wiped out. that is okay. that is the risk i took. my real concern lies with the millions of people suffering from secondary progressive ms who struggle without lifesaving treatments for their deadly disease. i have said it before and i will say it again. i am proud of my affiliation with innate. i may have lost most of the money i invested in the company, but i took a chance to bring related to those who deal with dreadful disease of secondary progressive ms everyday. the charges that have been levied against me are meritless and i will mount a vigorous

defense in court to clear my name. i look forward to being fully vindicated and exonerated, ending any and all questions related to my affiliation with innate. i spent the last 10 years in public service as a member of congress. i've also spent and he is volunteering to give back to my community. where there was a member of the federal reserve bank, small business advisory council, member of the board of trustees of kenmore mercy hospital by longtime mentor to small businesses at the center for entrepreneurial leadership at suny uv. the public knows my dedication to western new york. because my focus is to defeat the charges in court, after today i will not address any issues related to innate in no

therapeutics. as they fight to clear my name and the rest assured i will work hard for the people and constituents of the 27 congressional districts of new york and i will remain on the ballot running for reelection this november. thank you very much and have a great night. [inaudible conversations] >> congressmen, i should be able to ask questions. congressman -- [inaudible conversations] >> what must that sound like? >> what we are hearing are the cries of children, immigrant

children who had just spent separated from their parents and a border patrol detention facility. it was an audio that i obtained a month and a half ago or so with the help of a lawyer, civil rights attorney on the border named jennifer harpring and she had attained his tape and thought it was important and shared it with me and asked what i thought about it and i told her i thought we should try to publish it. it wasn't an easy decision for the source of that tape who felt that the tape could put them at risk for being identified and fired. but the source ultimately agreed to allow me and pro-public to publish the audio. the macro public senior reporter

talks about covering mexico and the u.s. government immigration policy. sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a.

>> coming up on both tv, recent books on social media. computer scientist and philosopher argues against the use of social media in his book 10 arguments for deleting your social and media account right now.