dlib raid and -- deliberate and calculated and now tens of thousands of armenians are fleeing the area. the united states cannot sit by and tolerate atrocities by either side in armed conflict. that cannot be the way to move forward because it does nothing to resolve cincheses and will -- cincheses and will never -- differences and will never allow people and families to have closure after decades of conflict. in light of azerbaijan's renewed aggression, the u.s. government must respond. i was relieved to the see the state department and usaid announce $11.5 million for the humanitarian response needed in armenia, i fear, however, this is only a small portion of the actual need so i urge additional funds be ready to support the refugees quickly.

and we need to do more. it is very clear they have not met the conditions for a waiver of section 907 of the freedom support act. therefore i call for the immediate succession of security assistance to azerbaijan. my colleague senator whitehouse have pressed the state department to issue global magnitsky sanctions for those responsible for the human rights abuses. given the situation on the ground, i believe that the administration needs to exert more pressure and take a more active role in ensuring the government of azerbaijan understands that there are consequences for actions at the united states -- and that the united states is watching. after decades of conflict, i

understand the skepticism of both sides grounded in centuries of mistrust b.u. the process for durable peace has to begin somewhere. the governments in baku must take it seriously and avoid a divisive and hateful rhetoric that only fans the flames of disruss and conflict. -- distrust and conflict. without it i worry only future bloodshed will follow. i will continue my long-standing support for the armenia people from nagorno-karabakh and i call on my senate colleagues to urge the administration to do the same. we cannot sit idly by while a nation defies the world, claims territory that is in dispute, and has a systematic policy which appears to be emerging of ethnic cleansing. we must stand up against this and i urge all my colleagues to urge the administration to take

a strong and vigorous stand against what is i think deplorable, despicable conduct by the government of azerbaijan. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

our witnesses today at the president and chief executive officer of hawaiian electric and mr. mark did energy officer for a state energy office and the chair of the hawaii public utilities commission. appreciate you all being here and i look forward to hearing from you. you are aware that the subcommittee is holding her oversight hearing and was doing so with to take you under oath. anyone have any objections for giving your testimony under oath? see no objection we will proceed and i advise you and council present the house rules do any

good desire to be advised by council during your testimony today? i don't see any asking for that so if you would all please stand and raise your right hand. do you promise to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? seeing the witnesses have all answered in the affirmative you were born in under oath and set forth under title xviii section when does one of the united states code. without i will now recognize you for your five-minute opening statement. push your microphone. maybe you can pull it closer to you. >> is that better? >> it's a little better. where are our technicians? i think we are good. go ahead. >> okay. aloha and good morning. on august 8 and lahaina maui is

a human loss and devastation that exceed the scale that is difficult for our hearts and minds to process. i want to start by honoring those lost and those whose lives have been forever changed in this overwhelming tragic event. most of you know the word aloha. there is another word in the hawaiian language. loosely translated this word means responsibility. like aloha he cannot be defined. it is a deep sense of responsibility that is both an obligation and a privilege. it's a responsibility that has been entrusted to you by your family, by your community by the generations that came before you and those that will follow you.

it's once responsibility within the bigger system for community in which one belongs. it's a privilege to have it within the interdependent system and through one another. for generations past present and future hawaiian electric's -- we are committed to be there for maui and lahaina for as long as it takes to recover to rebuild and to help ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. with that spirit i hope elvis can see it as their shared responsibility to honor the people of lahaina as we do this work for our collective community. i hope you can start to find a

solution that will help protect hawaii and the rest of the nation from increasing threats of natural disasters like hurricanes and those that we have rarely experienced, including drought that can fuel catastrophic wildfires on the island. hawaii is the most isolated population on earth. there is no electrical connection to the continental u.s. or nearby islands. this is one of the reasons for why he has the highest electric rate in the nation. on an island we have to be our own safety net. we can't call in a neighboring state. our isolation is one of the drivers for efforts to become energy independent. we get it expensive imported

fossil fuels but it's not only about the environment. about our economy and energy security. utility schools were small. born at 70,000 customers on five islands, 70,000 on maui. the department of defense is their largest customer. why is home to the u.s. in the pacific command and we are the only utility in the nation in all components of one -- i became president and ceo of hawaii electric in january 2020. every day i feel a tremendous responsibility to our customers community and employees. since august 8 i've much of my time on maui. seeing the devastation first-hand. our team including our maui employees who have been personally impacted by this

tragedy have been working tirelessly to support our community. we all want to learn what happened so that it never happens again. on that day at 6:30 a.m. when i referred to is the morning fire caused by hawaii's powerlines that fell in high winds. the maui fire department probably responded to this fire. they reported by 9:00 a.m. it was contained. after monitoring it for several hours the fire department determined the fire had been extinguished. they left the scene in the early afternoon. about 3:00 p.m., a time when all of hawaiian electric powerlines in west maui had been de-energize for more than six hours, a second fire, the afternoon fire, began in the same area. the cause of that afternoon fire

that spread to lahaina has not been determined. we are working tirelessly to figure out what happened and we are cooperative and fully with federal and state investigators and has indicated it may take 12 to 18 months toe complete. i look forward to fulfilling our shared and respective responsibility to honor the people of maui. made his mission in life to never ever give up on any kid. father michael found his vocation at the christian brothers in the 1970's and i was privileged to be a product of the christian brothers high school. like the founder of his order st. john baptist, father michael dedicated his life to educating and lifting up children at risk of being consigned to the margins of society and life. he began his career in morning

as a math teacher but was soon drawn into the word of social work. he moved from the classroom to a residential facility for justice involved youth. fortunately, his journey brought him to rhode island where he first worked as a chaplain at the adult correctional institute. in 1974 he cofounded ocean ties, a residential program that.s a challenging, safe, and healthy learning environment for young men who have experienced severe educational difficulties in regular school settings and indeed have had other complicated social problems. over the years i have met many students who have been transformed by their experience at ocean tides. i have had the privilege of hosting them in my senate office here at the capitol. their poise, leadership, and

thoughtfulness gave me confidence in our shared future and also exemplify the remarkable contribution that brother michael made to our community and to these young men. he literally transformed their lives, lives that in many cases were headed to a very difficult, dangerous, and destructive end and now lives that are poised for success, for contributions to community, a vindication of his faith in all men and women. in 1983, brother michael expanded to help at-risk youth to help the tides family services, which promotes family preservation and keeping youth within their communities through individual family and group counseling, home visitations, educational and court advocacy as well as a networking of

social services. with a mere start-up funds of $15,000, brother michael built an organization that employs over 140 dedicated staff and serves 500 youth a day. when i say serve, i mean it. i've talked to these counselors. they will literally pick up young men from their homes and drive them to school so they get there, then get them back. they will counsel them. they will encourage them. they will support them. they will give them confidence in themselves so they can succeed. it's a remarkable organization, reflecting the spirit of brother michael, the dedication of brother michael, and his commitment, again, to making sure that no child, as they say, is left behind. i was proud to secure federal resources to support the work

that tides is doing and the families it serves. strong families are the foundation for everything else -- economic security, educational attainment, civic participation, and healthy communities. these are investments that change lives and strengthen our society. brother michael lived the mission of the de lasalle chris brothers. over -- christian brothers. he found innovative ways to reach our most challenged youth, and bring along partners to support his cause. his tenacity and great love for the community built two organizations that are places of hope and healing for struggling youth and families. we are forever in his debt. brother michael left us on sunday, september 24, 2023, but his work lives on in the lives

he changed, in the institutions he built, and most importantly in the example he left for all of us. with that, mr. president, i would like to yield to my colleague from rhode island, senator whitehouse. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. and thank you, chairman reed. we are joined on the senate floor today in sorrow for a person who met a lot -- meant a lot to both of us. one of life's profound joys is when you encounter people who are unforgettable, and in the case of brother michael he was unforgettably kind. he started out as a schoolteacher, always was interested in kids.

went to work in an incarcerative in-house juvenile facility. i think there developed his love for kids who are on the margins, kids who were involved with the justice system, kids who were facing difficulties in their lives, to try to make sure that he could help turn them to a more constructive path. it was with that spirit that he came to the aci, the adult correctional institute in rhode island, a formidable building in which, this is where i first met him, in which he was a figure of unique kindliness. there was really almost nothing that you could do that could cause brother michael to turn

his back on you, and that came through to people so well. so, when he started ocean tides, he went to the kids that he could find who often didn't even have a home to go to, but they knew that they were welcome at ocean tides. they could come through the door any hour of the night. if it was open, he would find them, look out for them, if they had a need he would take care of them. if they needed a meal, they'd get a meal. if they needed a bed, they'd get a bed. if they needed counseling, he'd connected with them. his motto was exactly what senator reed used -- neff, never give up on a -- never, never give up on a kid that was the similarity motto of his life. child after child after child came through ocean tides, and faichessed with that relentless -- and faced with that relentless love, that

completely open and forgiving approach he could be firm discussing behavior with a kid, but it was always, always, always clear that he was never going to give up, he was never going to turn his back, and he was never going to stop loving that, in most cases, that boy. as he developed his skills and his expertise and as people began to flock to him, and as ocean tides grew, he came to recognize that caring for the child was vitally important, but making sure that the child could reunite with the family, that the family as a unit could succeed and could love and could receive love and give love,

became his passion. with that, tides family services was born. there are so many people around rhode island now, including people who are very successful, who can look back in their lives to where brother michael's endless patience, endless kindness, and endless affection gave them a pathway to work through whatever problems were clouding and bedeviling their lives, and move on, and then become successful. i had the privilege, with then-chairman grassley on the judiciary committee, of rewriting the juvenile justice delinquency prevention act, back in 2018. actually, we did a lot of work first. we finally got it passed in 2018. and i remember going all around rhode island to make sure the people who were engaged with kids for the juvenile justice

system were -- that i heard their input and what they needed. no one, no one was more important to that process, no one had more fingerprints on the 2018 reauthorization of the juvenile justice delinquency and prevention action of the united states of america than brother michael reis. and the policies it provided were consistent with his advice and his judgments, which were consistent with his life of service. you know, it's just endlessly difficult, i think, to deal with a child whose life has gone off the rails somehow. it is agonizing work. brother michael never had enough, never said i'm done, never seemed exhausted, always had a smile, always had be a

kindly hug, always was available and present and forgiving. what he accomplished is a wonderful thing, but what i can't get out of my mind as i think about him is just who he was and how your own heart would soar, your own face would smile just in the encounter with him, because he was that kind of a person. at one point he said to me, we need to take particular care for the last, the least, and the lost. and still to this day, on my computer screen in my office i have a faded sticker that has last, least, and lost written on it, that i wrote down way back whenever it was, when he said it, and it stuck in my mind. so, as senator reed said, we

lost brother michael, but in addition to the institutions and the lives that he changed he also leaves a very powerful legacy in the law, through the juvenile justice delinquency prevention act, and i think most importantly in the hearts of so many people who were changed by being able to be near such a wonderful person. and with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin.

that is not our protocol to do that. going forward are you looking at doing the public safety power safety shut off program and are you re-examine your protocols because they didn't work? >> we are absolutely bury examining our protocols. i want to make it absolutely clear the afternoon fire the cause of that fire has not yet been determined. >> i heard your testimony and they just want to confirm you never reenergize or powerlines once you shut them down. is that correct? >> that is right. a little bit before 7:00 a.m. our lines were not reenergize. >> how long did it take for the energy to get out at those powerlines? i understand it takes time once

you push the button and turned off, how long does it take before the wires are no longer dangerous to the public or firefighters etc. like >> i don't know that exact answer. >> can you get that formulator and i apologize that my time is up so i had to yield even though i'm the subcommittee chair. i had to follow the clock to and i yield back to ranking member cast her. >> a want to focus and the conditions prior to the fire but i was in honolulu on august 8. we were headed to the pacific rim and it was extraordinarily windy. everyone was commenting on it and they didn't have an understanding of the extent of the devastation and lahaina. officials have been warning about the likelihood of high winds for a couple of days. the information we have is on august 6 the national weather

service warned of fire conditions due to severe drought in strong winds and on august 7 and national weather service issued a red-flag warning indicating severe fire risk so you said he was a aware of these warnings from the national weather service? >> that's right. >> the protocol is, what exactly were the protocols on the books that ensured when you receive these warnings that action was going to be taken? >> the protocols on the books were for many years, to disable a setting on our system that automatically closes the circuit if there is a fault meaning if there's a fault indicated on the line, that it won't reenergize. it is that so bad that won't

regenerate. >> how quickly after receive the warning did you do this? >> i don't know the exact time. and it's subject to check but i believe the warning happened overnight and by the morning protocols were put into place. we can get that for you. >> did they practically de-energize these lines? does pico have the authority to de-energize the lines? >> yes, they do. >> thank you. >> ms. kimura when did you first become aware that one of those powerlines was down and lahaina? >> we had a number of powerlines coming down and i'm trying to remember when the first one was

down and i can't recall right now. there was a lot happening on august 7 and august 8. >> do you know exactly when, when did you receive notice? >> i received notice of lines going down basically in the afternoon of the eighth and pico informed us they activated the incident management team. >> list your pico submitted a plan to spend $189 million in grid markings and to make the energy grid more resilient and announced $95 million to lahaina coming from the bipartisan infrastructure bill. can you explain the proposed hardening plan and the steps you have taken to improve your lines prior to the fire and how you intend to use these federal

investments? .. wait had filed for approval for that program in june of 2022. and that program was a result of years of work including a lot of work with stakeholders as well. and that program includes addressing critical transmission and distribution infrastructure. >> you said yourself you been working on this for number of years. you weren't waiting for the federal dollars hopefully.

what work had been underway already to protect against it? >> we had been starting to work or we had been in process on doing work. utilities doing hardening work. the proposal was to increase and for that the work we are doing. >> to have that plan in writing? - the presiding officer: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. bennet: i was right. i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i am glad to be here with you, a member of this body who probably more than most understands the consequences of this government shutdown and of maybe 100 people in this body and 435 people across in the house of representatives, i would be surprised if there was somebody among us that would be less likely to close the government

down over politics than the presiding officer. from the commonwealth of virginia, because he knows how important it is to the -- among other people -- the dedicated public servants who live in his state and work for the federal government. tonight, mr. president, i wanted to come to the floor to talk about a group of men and women who most people serving in this chamber know very little about. they may know nothing about, men and women whose livelihoods are at stake and being held hostage by a small band of extremists dead-set on shutting down the government for their own political purposes. and these are america's federal wildland firefighters. this is a photo -- wildland

firefighters -- federal wildland firefighters responding to the pine gulch fire in colorado. the picture in many ways sort of says is it all. one of the things it says is is that neither you nor i nor anybody on this floor really can fully imagine or describe what it must be like to do this work. i can't imagine parachuting through yellow skies that can't allow you to even see where the ground is and dropping down in the total wilderness. i'd be very surprised if anybody in this chamber could comprehend what it must be like to hear nothing but the roar of chainsaws and crackling brush all around you while tankers and helicopters overhead on top of you dump blood-red retardant and

water to suppress the flames, or what it's like to carry food, enough food to sustain you for days at a time. there's nobody that's going to come feed you. axes and water, a sleeping bag, all on your back with a pack that's just made heavier by unrelenting smoke and unrelenting fire. doing the heartbreaking work of slashing away at brush and small trees, the back-breaking work. it's probably heartbreaking sometimes. the back-breaking work of slashing away at brush and small trees, gasoline for a roaring wildfire, making a fire line until you get to mineral soil. i don't know about any of that. i can't mapping the flood of relief -- i can't imagine the

flood of relief after 16 hours of grueling work, getting back to the black, mr. president -- that's the area that's already been burned, and that's a sign that finally, after those 16 hours or however many those hours are, that you're in a safe spot. and for all that effort, making $15 an hour, less than somebody could make at subway. or another fast-food restaurants. i never have lived in my car as a price of doing a job that i was asked to do, sleeping cramped in the back seat after a 16-hour day because you can't afford a place to live. or the loneliness of being out without your wife and kids for months and months at a time while working on a fire.

i don't know how it must feel to work a thousand hours of overtime every year for your country and know that your family is still on food stamps because no matter how hard you work, you can't make enough money to put food on the table of your family. i don't know what that feels like. but that's the reality for america's wildland firefighters. helicopter propellers and engine operators and hand crews and hotshots and smoke jumpers make up wildland firefighting crews, and these men and women parachute into fire, they walk into fire, they drive into fire.

here's a picture of a smoke jumper parachuting through smoke. you probably can barely see it. it gives you a sense of the danger of -- these are highly trained experts in their field. believe it, take it from me, they are in peak physical condition. and in the last few decades, the wildfire season has extended and extended and extended by over 70 days. it's common for politicians to say, we don't have a wildfire season anymore. it's all year round. but the reality for these workers is that they're having to work those fires all year round. and the fires have become increasingly intense. if you talk to people who've had to fight them on the ground -- mr. president, there are people who have been doing this, believe it or not, for 25 years, for 30 years.

they've seen it what it used to look like and what it looks like now. they can tell that the intensity has changed because of climate change and because of the historic drought that we face. and, by the way, important for this body to understand, this is not just in the west. you know, we have obviously been beset by fires and by drought in the west. but right now, while we're here, there are wildfires in louisiana. we've seen the total destruction, the tragedy of maui. even new jersey this year has seen wildfires, has been ravaged by them in that state. i heard of a firefighter say to me the other day that the wildland fire fires are like the swiss army knife of first responders because in the off season they support hurricane relief efforts back in the

south, they administer vaccines at the peak of the covid epidemic. they even helped with the space shuttle recovery. and two years ago during the infrastructure bill, as part of a recognition that the drought was creating a huge problem for us in the west, we made things a little better for our wildland firefighters and the bipartisan infrastructure provided over 20,000 wildland firefighters a temporary pay raise and that's been a godsend for them. and by the way, it's only bring them up to -- it's barely what they should make a but at least you can make it on what we're paying them now but what money is fast expiring and this lifeline is almost again. for them, it meant that skilled firefighters could remain in the profession, who might have

otherwise quit. by the way when you ask them about that, the reason they've stayed is because they have such a sense of mission. that's part of it. they also know, mr. president, they don't know who would replace them, who would take their job, who would walk in their shoes, who can't -- you know, who's making the kind of money that they're making. but they final lay had a sense that -- but they fine -- finalld a sense that we could at least provide nor their families. on friday, a i met with a group of wildland firefighter whose shared their stories with me. i would encourage every member of this body to do the same. they described being so disconnected from their families and friends during fire season that they feared they would lose them. they feared slipping into deep depressions because of the grueling nature of the work and the months spent away from home.

talk about riding a bike back-and-forth to work because they couldn't afford to maintain a car. feelings of having your passion for your job -- remember, these are people who in theory are, you know, inspired by the sunset. -- having your passion for your job exploited by the federal government who knows you'll show up because you love the job, even without the pay you deserve. year after year, fire after fire after fire. grappling with the trauma of seeing other people's homes burn to the ground and losing crewmembers in the line of duty. one crew leader in colorado told me, mr. president, she's lost three firefighters to suicide. another just lost a friend to cancer, likely due to smoke inhalation. wildland firefighters are 10 to

20 times more likely to commit suicide than the average american. and they face a 43% increased risk for developing cancer. a firefighter told me, none of us wants to be a millionaire. we just want to do good work, the work that we love. these are the men and women saving lives. these are the men and women saving homes, defending the 640 million acres, thank god, of american public lands. congress' failure to act has forced talented firefighters to leave the profession, which is the last thing they want to do. and it's going to cost us the next generation of wildland firefighters, who are needed more than ever because of climate change and what it's doing to the west and fire seasons all across this country. and, mr. president, real lit

importantly, the continuing resolution that the you support and that i support, that we've passed miraculously with almost 80 votes in the senate showing the broad bipartisan support there is all across this country for keeping our government open, that bill will extend their pay by a couple of paychecks, and that's really important. but i'm here to say that our wildland firefighters need a permanent raise. something we could do today is pass the wildland firefighter paycheck protection act to permanently extend the pay increase in the bipartisan infrastructure law. believe me, that is the least we could do. -- for these men and women. we owe our wildland firefighters so much more than just fair pay.

they deserve paid leave, housing benefits, and mental health care. and that's why i've introduced tim's act with congressman neguse, also from my colleague from colorado, which would provide all of that and ensure that every wildland firefighter makes at least $20 an hour. that doesn't seem unreasonable. our bill is named for tim hart, a smoke jumper who lost his life after parachuting into a wildland fire in new mexico, and, mr. president, this is a photo of tim. tim hart. i've been fortunate, more fortunate than you can imagine to meet tim's wife michelle who is upholding his legacy through her relentless support of tim's, what she calls tim's fire family. and that's what i met the other

day, was a family. that's what anybody here, if you had been here or had been in grand junction, that's what you would have thought. michelle has been kind enough to share a bit about tim with me. tim was a practical joker who loved a glass of rye whiskey neat, and he loved halloween. mostly he loved his calling, his passion, being a wildland firefighter. every year, every year he would consider it all worth it -- the bad pay, sleeping out of his truck, leaving michelle to put his life at risk, and every year the answer was yeah. every year the answer was yes, it's worth it. he answered yes for his country. his brothers and sisters in fire

and for his love of our nation's landscape. these firefighters are much more, mr. president, than the blazes that they battle, and the least we could do is pay them a living wage. as i mentioned, there's a saying among wildland firefighters, which is they pay us in nucete -- in sunsets. and i'm here, mr. president, to tell you that is not enough. it is not enough. it is this country's duty to support these men and women. our nation's duty to support these firefighters who are defending us. there's nobody else that's going to step into the breach if we lose them. and someday there will be somebody coming to this floor, standing here from the state of colorado or maybe the commonwealth of virginia who's going to say if only we had done

it differently back then. we need to keep this government open, mr. president, for the nation depends on it. we need to permanently raise wildland firefighter pay. and after we do that, i hope we'll come together, pass tim's act to give our wildland firefighters just a little bit of what they finally deserve. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the line was installed the actual configuration of the line was different. is that if they are concerned? >> it is fair. i think some of those lines depending on the age had a different type of standard or code at the time. our rules are perspective. if it's going to be doing maintenance if the cooperative is going to be doing maintenance on the line or installing new it's getting up to that particular code at that time. so, if the coefficient you want to call it is different today we would expect our utilities to build to the current standards. >> think it mr. turner yelled back it was a judgment yields back fred denies the rank member

of the full committee for his five minutes. >> think it mr. chairman. i guess i reiterate again that i appreciate the witnesses being here and helping us understand what we can do in congress to help with this catastrophe. i cannot help think you might be better off being at home and we would be better off if we could figure out how to avoid the shutdown. so again i appealed to my colleagues on the other side to work with us to prevent the shut down. but in any case i know there are many details still to be uncovered. but the electrification of hco power lines. i understand hco is taken responsibility for the brushfire that broke out before 7:00 a.m. on august 8 is that correct?

and can we explain what led aco to this conclusion? >> so, we have a team doing an investigation. many have seen a video that a resident had taken in that area of in high winds our lines fell to the ground and it appears a fire was sparked in that area. >> i'm sorry. >> eyes just going to explain it started on a grassy area between a sidewalk and a road. what we think is it traveled up to the adjacent field that was behind one of the homes. and as we understand it turned into about a 3-acre fire and the fire department was able to contain it and extinguish it. >> so it is clear then your lines were energized before 7:0t

fire was eventually contained by the maui fire department and monitored for hours until early that afternoon. then around 3:00 p.m. employees report a fire in the same area as the earlier fire this is the blaze that then grew out of control and eventually destroyed it is that accurate? >> that is right. by that time is 3:00 p.m. our lines had been out for over six hours. >> okay because they were already deenergized at that time. so, can you explain exactly -- make when exactly hco shut the power off to the slides that day when did that happen? >> just before 7:00 a.m. none of our lines in the west maui area serving customers were energized for. >> how can you confirm the lines were not energized at that time? >> this is based on a lot of our system data are smart meters and

discussions with our employees. and so that part of the information we looked at this from all angles because it was such a critical fact. so we made sure we looked at that very closely. we are making our information available to the atf. i mean it is still important for the fire investigators to determine the role of these powerlines. have you agreed to cooperate with all the investigations into this matter? >> absolutely. we've been fully cooperating maker information of able to them. >> and is is still conducting an internal investigation into the overall events of that day? >> yes we are still early in our investigation for. >> when you expect to have results from internal investigation? do you commit to make those public when you have the

results? >> i do not have an exact time went on how long it will take we expect it will take many months to get done. i am sure there will be more to talk about once we know with the results are. >> you are committed or willing to make those results public wants investigation is completed? >> it is too early to speculate on exactly what comes out of this and what forms comes out we are committed to sharing what is critical with the public on this. >> is there any reason why you wouldn't make it public? you seem to be hesitating a little bit. >> is just too early to speculate on what that's going to look like in the future. we are very focused on finding out what happened there to make sure it never happens again. sorry i'm going to conclude mr. chairman again we pledge to be a partner to the people of o'malley as they recover and rebuild and do whatever we can to help. on both sides of the aisle here.

thank you, thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you the ranking member yields back i will recognize myself for five minutes for questions. i am going to talk about it once asked these questions. it's how we monitor at remote areas i'm from kentucky with rural areas as well with powerlines and interested in moving forward to establish, i believe hawaiian electric and its subsidiaries have elect equipment running to remote territories is that correct? what sims are requested. >> you have a clue that runs remote territories for. >> yes for quick select learn how you monitor that in the grid for potential problems question of new sources have reported monday august the seventh 10:47 p.m. security camera at the maui bird conservation center cut a bright flash in the woods and one person at that location stated the power then went out. the surrounding forest was on fire shortly after that. was hawaiian electric aware of an incident involving its

powerlines at that time? >> i do not known what was known right at that moment. we would have had indicated that i cannot tell you exactly what our personnel knew right in that moment for. >> of the personnel know of it from some internal system or did you only learn when the news report came out? >> i would need to get back to you to let you know exactly what they would know in that moment. >> several new sources have reported data shows a number of line faults in your electric grid on august the seventh in the early morning of august the eighth and the washington post indication a power line has come in contact with another object or was knocked down a previous hawaiian electric employ any sensors or technologies to detect or display these faults? >> i'm sorry can you say that last part of your question? >> is hawaiian electric employ any kind of sensors or

technologies to detect or display these faults? >> we do have technologies to do that. but we are also investing in additional technologies to have the situational awareness of what is happening on our systems. and more control and awareness for our systems. >> okay. were any of these entities so you do have but you do have fault protectors as you said. were any of these working on it maui on those dates? did they alert the company look a bit issue a sum of lines? did anyone respond to a check out the problem? >> i can tell you in general we had many indications and we had employees going out to look at these. for that particular when i gotto know specifically what is happening in that moment. >> so also and hawaiian

electric's response to the committee august 30, 2023 letter hawaiian electric stated. totally avoidable government shutdown, one thing remains clear. the only way forward is bipartisan cooperation. that's what we've been pursuing here in the senate, and i want to salute not only patty murray but susan clawns, leader mcconnell and our republican colleagues as we work to pass the c.r., but that work is not yet done. for the information of all senators, we will convene tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. to consider, to continue consideration of the c.r., so we can avoid an unnecessary and devastating government shutdown. members are also advised that we will hold two roll call votes beginning at noon on u.s. attorneys for the southern district of california and the sornl -- southern district of mississippi. i hope we can come to agreement to pass the bipartisan c.r. quickly. a government shutdown, as we all know, would be a terrible

outcome for the american people. it would gravely impact pay for our troops, our border, tsa, nutrition programs, food inspections and so much more. if no agreement is reached tomorrow, members should plan on voting saturday morning on cloture. i thank my colleagues for their good work. now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. res. 360. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 360 designating the week of september 25 through september 29, 2023, as national hazing awareness week. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will proceed to the motion. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it recess until 10:00 a.m. on friday, september 29. that following the prayer and pledge, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. that upon conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 3935. further, that at 12:00 noon the senate execute the order of september 27, 2023, relating to the gee and mcgrath nominations and the senate vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand in recess under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the today at senat lmakers voted to officially begin debate on a short-term spending bill for it

to a wert a shut down this comi surday at midnight for the bipartisan measurements extend current fundi levels until november 17. in addition the bill pvide $6 billion each for aid to ukraine and u.s. disaster reli. also on the flirt members failed to override president biden's veto of two republican resolutions that would've stripped species act protection. the lesser prairie chicken the northern longar it back to you. watch live cere of the u.s. senate lawmakers return here on cspan2. the house oversight and accountability committee held its first hearing for the impeachment inquiry into president biden that was first announced two weeks ago by house speaker kevin mccarthy. it is one of three committees tasked with investigating alleged wrongdoing by the president. you can watch it tonight at eight eastern on cspan2. she's better now our free bubble video app or online at c-span.org.

monday, watch a cspan2 seri c-ss partnership with a library of congress books that shaped america. we will feature the journals of lewis and clark the journals came about following louisiana purchase president thomas jefferson commissioned meriwether lewis to lead an expedition to explore the west all the way to the pacific ocean. chose clark to lead the mission covered nearly 8000 miles until 1806 for it lewis and clark have detailed journals throughout the trip on the train, plant native people are potential trade routes. stephanie ambrose tubbs author tubs author ofseveral books on k expedition a veteran traveler of the trail will learn us to discuss the expedition bird watch books that shaped america featuring the journals of lewis and clarke mende life at nine eastern on c-span, c-span now our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. also be sure to scan the qr code

to listen to our companion podcast. you learn more about the authors of the books it featured. ♪ c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. including comcast. >> you think in this is just a community center? no, it's way more than that but comcast has partnered with 1000 committee centers to quit wi-fi enabled so students from low-income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. or i c-span as a public serce apart along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> transportation secretary pete buttigieg held a news conference outline the impacts of potential government shutdown. specifically on air traffic controllers and rail inspectors. his remarks and agency headquarters in washington d.c. are about 25 minutes.