you know, money lost by everybody that had anything invested. there was one republican i went to because he was so well respected for his business and financial mind, and i said, look, i've talked to a lot of republicans and i've talked to some democrats. something we could get through here even in september of 2005 is a bill that had one thing in it that just said, social security tax money for the first time in the history of social security, since its inception in the late 1930's, will require that that tax -- that social security tax money be put into the social security trust fund. want to hear ridiculous talk about lox box? there never was one. i want one. i want there to be social security tax money put in the social security trust fund and stop putting i.o.u.'s in there,

markers, that are non-interest bearing and we have to borrow every time we spend. stop it already. now, to put the social security tax money into the social security trust fund will require us to actually make some tough calls. and since this majority condemned us all the time for running -- spending too much money, then i think a good idea would be to go back to the budget of 2006. i know some are talking about 2008. we go back to that budget and i think that would help us maybe take care of the issue and give us a good start by being able to put all the social security tax money into the social security trust fund. now, the republican is so brilliant he told me we could never do that. i was shocked. why not? because the government would probably buy bonds with it and be the biggest bond holder, we

could never allow that to happen. well, not really. we could create a treasury note that's interest-bearing. so it's not risky, it doesn't put the social security trust fund at risk. that money makes interest. and it's there and we stop having a ponzi scheme. a very simple idea. and a republican has proposed it. but when we were in the majority , earlier we didn't go for it, but i hope they will if we get the majority again. health care. boy, we've seen what the obamacare bill has done to health care. and even though people were promised there would be no rationing, then we put a doctor in charge of it who's talked about, you know, as i recall, not whether there would be rationing, but when and who would be rationed. so all the promises about no

rationing, apparently those were not true. and it could be going back to the point -- the problem i alluded to earlier, we need to pray for the president's memory. so he can remember those things that were promised. now, another republican idea and i think everybody on this side of the aisle has signed onto it, is in support of it, is an energy bill, an energy plan that says, use what we got. make sure that when coal is used , that it doesn't harm the environment. put scrubbers on there to make sure that it goes in the environment clean and we don't harm the environment. we can do that. use uranium, use nuclear facilities like we do with our ships and our submarines. it works. that's why we have sailors who are able to go under water on

submarines and stay sub merged for six months -- submerged for six months. i was told by some of my friends that went into the navy and were on subs, under water six months at a time. he said, you know why we have to come every six months? i said, i assume to refuel. oh, no, oh, no. no, those submarines can stay under water just on and on and on. we have to come up so that the crew doesn't go crazy. because the nuclear subs could just stay under there as long as they needed to, you know, from a practical standpoint. but, there's a source. most of america didn't notice when our committee voted to put the second largest source of uranium in this country off limits. people in louisiana, republicans and democrats alike, have been screaming out, you are doing more damage to our state with the moratorium on gulf drilling than the oil spill did.

and when you hurt an economy and you put people out of work, tragically they don't care about the environment, they're just trying to survive. the only countries that can really do much about the environment are those who have such a prolific economy that they can take care of it. but when you have people out of work and they're just living hand to foot and they're trying to get by, they don't care about the environment. because the economy doesn't allow it. now, we -- i, and as far as i know, everybody on this aisle, wants to develop alternative energy sources. but what a great idea, and it's been proposed and we've pushed it over and over, instead of raising taxes and as the president's promise would happen when he was running for office,

having energy prices skyrocket if we use coal to make power, instead of doing those things and as one 80-year-old-something lady told me from east texas, you know, i was born and raised in a house with no electricity. we had a wood-burning stove. and now the price of energy has gotten so high i'm going to have to let it go. i can't pay for it. tanned looks like i may end up going out of this world the way i came in, in a home with a wood-burning stove and nothing else, no other power. because people are wanting the prices to skyrocket and that poor woman not to be able to pay for her energy bill? no. that's no way to do it. god bless this country -- god blessed this country with more natural resources than any country in the world. in the middle east they may have more oil but things are being found around the world, who

knows? but we have massive amounts of natural gas. maybe the most coal in the world. we've got nuclear power. we've got wind power. we've got all kinded of things. so many things that can be harnessed. but if you use the energy with which we have been blessed and designate -- i don't care if it's 25%, 50% of the royalty that we get back from the energy or from the mining, whatever it is, designate that that will all be used to find and research and develop alternative energy sources. so that when we run out, it would be well before we run out, we have over 100 years of natural gas that's been found and finding more all the time. before we run out we'll be able

to convert to alternative energy without raising anybody's taxes, without making any 80-year-old women living alone have to go without power, keep the power prices down. that's a republican solution and i have friends on the other side of the aisle over here who would sign onto that. if their speaker wouldn't punish them for doing so. you know, another idea, i know it's not popular with the administration, but we call it the u.n. voting accountability act. very simple. it says, in essence, you know, recognizing the fact, first of all, that every country is sovereign up. make your own decisions. we won't tell what you to do in your country. we shouldn't. but any country that votes against the united states' position in the u.n. more than half the time, the following year, will get no financial assistance for us.

as i've said before, you don't have to pay people to hate you, they'll do it for free. and there's some countries that we keep pouring cash into thinking they'll end up loving us because we'll buy it, not only do they not love us, they have even greater contempt because they know we know they don't like us and yet we're just pouring -- pouring money into them and it makes them not only not like us, it makes them have no respect for us. sound necessary. something that should have been passed in 2006 when we had the majority and we had the chance and some of the people that said they would not let it go through are no longer here, some are, the zero baseline budget bill. it just says, there are no automatic increases in any federal department's budgets. there's a republican solution for you.

if you want your budget increased in the federal government, you have to come justify it. and we ought to put those budgets online where people can watch them like -- i think the president put it this way, that he was going to go through the budget line by line with a fine-toothed comb, he was going to put joe besiden in charge of doing that, too they were going to get rid of everything that was waste. yeah, since he's an honest man i'm sure it will eventually happen but it hasn't happened yet. it would sure happen if you let americans see every federal department's budget, how they were spending their money, put it up online, make them put those purchases online the way congress is now doing. there would be people watching, all right. and if we had a tax holiday and people saw for a couple of months how much money they were actually sending to washington, they would demand it and they would be watching to see how every federal department was

spending money. and, hey, i got another one for you. this is a republican proposal. from this republican, our leaders have not endorsed this. i'm just talking -- tossing this out, but, you know we had to come in here in august, cost an awful lot of money to turn all the lights back on, do everything, to go back into session, but we did just so that we could get $10 billion extra to go to the department of education, to help so-called teachers. well, it turns out across america there's only about 50% of all the public education employees are teachers. if you did away with the department of education here in washington and kept that $68 billion, i believe, is what we're spending this year, and divided among the less than 14,000 independent school districts in america, i'm open to a good formula how to do that. just average it would be between $5 million and $6 million for every school district in

america. most school districts could really use that money. and, boy, that would help education. you wouldn't need near as many bureaucrats because there wouldn't be as many decrees from here on high, mount olympus here in washington, the local school districts would be able to comply with the constitution because the constitution does not imnumerate education as a power in the constitution, which under the 10th amendment means it's reserved to the states and to the people. the local folks. another idea, another idea after having been to china years ago and talked to c.e.o.'s about why you went, the corporate tax here is 35%, you lump on some of the state income taxes, you lump on local taxes, some are paying 40%, 50% in general, in tax, for

their companies. competing with countries like china that don't exceed 17% and if they're a big enough company moving over from anywhere from the u.s. to china, they'll cut you a deal, no income tax for a while, because they get it. if we dropped our corporate tax at 1%, i've had c.e.o.'s with major companies say, we would be rebuilding a plant in the u.s. almost immediately. when we went to a 12% corporate tax. what would happen? more and more people would go back to work and more and more people would be able to pay their taxes and more and more revenue would come into the federal treasury and then we'd be able to buy more and more of those mercury lights that are going to create such a problem for the environment. there are a lot of very good solutions. and so i don't mind somebody taking my idea, i love it. i think it's the highest form of

flattery. but i don't appreciate it when it's followed up with a comment that we have no ideas, no solutions. we have a lot of them. we just aren't allowed to make amendments on the floor to get those to flooder where they could pass -- floor where they could pass. before i finish tonight -- i want to finish tonight with a tribute. it is a great honor for me to recognize one of america's greatest songwriters in our nation's history who turned 70 years of age this week. he's a man to whom we are indebted for many of the songs that lifted us, especially those of us who were baby boomers, from our low points because his songs spoke our feelings. they spoke our dess pondence,

our hopes, our joy, and especially the joy that comes from loving other people. i had not met paul williams until recent years, but i knew the man well through his lyrics. i've known the man through his lyrics for decades. the hauntingly clear and comforting voice of karen carpenter shared some of his songs and expressed our hearts, that we had only just begun to live. white lace and promises. a kiss for luck and we're on our way. . . and all we needed was just an old-fashioned love song coming down in three-part harmony, one

i'm sure they wrote for you and me or that we had so much in common because we were all building a home for the family of man. paul williams expressed for us through the voice of bash bra streisand that wonderful -- barbara streisand that one love that is shared by two, i have found with you, like a rose. under the april snow. i was always certain love would grow, love, ageless and everygreen, and paul didn't recognize he had a drinking problem, he forecast down the road as a recovering alcoholic in that song with the words,

every day, a beginning. paul has now done that for over 20 years, as he has made each day a beginning. he knew for many of us that rainy days and mondays get us down and many of us feel you and me against the world. sometimes it feels like you and me against the world when others turn their back and walk away, we can always count on you to say just the right thing. paul williams. but for all the times we cried, you always felt the odds were on our side and we found constellation on that. paul williams asked the question through the voice of kermit the frog as to why there are so many

songs about rainbows and we'll find the rainbow connection because paul is a lover, a dreamer like me. paul is widely considered one of our most talented creator singer/songwriters and won oscar, golden globe, grammy and more than 20 times he has been nominated over his musical career and wrote the theme from "the love boat," he is deeply loved by so many like me who carry his lyrics. as a further attesttation of his talent, his songs have been recorded by our most famous and classic musicians such as elvis, ella fitzgerald, ray charles,

tony bennett, sarah vaughn, luther vandross, among so many others, but this house has time restraints, so there is not enough time to mention all of them. but additionally, paul has appeared as an actor in many movies and a favorite on television shows. he was one of the most frequent guests on johnny carson's tonight show." he had the most contagious sense of humor and audiences would smile because you just knew you were going to laugh. you knew you were going to laugh with him in the room. on one such occasion he was a guest on "the tonight show" with burt reynolds. the chemistry was hilarious and

burt called paul and wanted to deal with paul with johnny carson and pat mccormick and sali fields and jackie gleeson and others to make a movie and the fun they had came across from the screen to the audience which made it one of the most successful movies in history. it was called "smokeee and the band it." paul said billy bob thornton told him in the south "smocky and the bandit" isn't considered a movie but a documentary. though some identified him as the short guy, many of him know him to be full 10 feet tall. he was inducted in 2001 in the

songwriters haul hall of fame and chairman and chairman of the board of american composers, publishers and paul will tell you as he hit rock bottom through his drinking, god blessed him even still. he lifted him and gave him new life with an even more infectious joy and became a joy and some alcoholics fear that they won't be nearly as creative without drinking, paul showed that is absolutely not the case. like virtually all creativeen yusses, he has known times when he had time writing and collaborated and out came one of the most touching songs which became a huge hit for diamond r inch o. the words reflected his own struggle with alcoholism and the woman who made him face the truth was not waiting for him

when he sobered up. i say hello, i think i'm broken and though i was only joking, you took me by surprise, wouldn't you agree. i was trying to be clever for the life of me, i never, just how far the simple truth would lead. you knew all my lines, you knew all my tricks, you knew how to heal the thing no medicine can fix and i bless the day i met you and i thank god he let you and the good news is i'm better for the time we spent together, but the bad news is you're gone. looking back, it's still surprising, i was thinking, you were rising. and with the look, you caught me in midair. i know god has his reasons, but sometimes it's hard to see him

when i wake and find you're not there. you found hope in hopeless and you made crazy sayings and made the link and i thank god that he let you lay beside me for a moment that lives on. and the good news is i'm better for the time we spent together. the bad news is, you're gone. paul knows however all things work together for good for those who love god. but that doesn't mean that everything is good. it's certainly not. but thankfully, things have worked out so that paul has been a gift to this planet and to the millions that he has touched. paul has a true driving passion for his family, for his work, as

a drug rehabilitation counselor with a nonprofit organization created by and for the benefit of for musicians. paul obtained his certification as a drug rehabilitation counselor from ucla and has been imparting the lessons to others that he had to learn himself the hard way. he has been given a number of awards for his humanitarian efforts and remains a shining example of someone who has used fame not for self-centered ends but to promote the well-being of others. he is devout to his church, the lord and just as i found out after i got dumped in college by my girlfriend, god had something else waiting that was supposed to have been all along. one of the great mysteries in

this world, though, is that it is only after a broken heart so often that our hearts are stretched enough and then mend even bigger with a greater capacity for loving others. and so it was with paul. subsequently, he met and married maranna and are happily married and have the deepest love for and pride in their wonderful family. though he is a democrat by political affiliation, he just as just -- just as jesus did can feel like me. his quote is we can take to heart, care deeply, give freely, think kindly, act gently and be at peace with the world. one of my favorite quotes is before the rising sun, we fly.

so many roads to choose. we start out walking and learn to run. we've only just begun. we're so gaitful that the good lord led paul down the road of expressing what we felt, but paul expressed it in a way we never could. but, we can certainly sing even though some of us should do so only privately. it is also true, as paul wrote, time won't change the meaning of one love and 70 years of age this week, paul williams is ageless and ever, ever green. here in the congressional record for all the world to read as long as there is the united states, it will ever be recorded that paul williams lived, laughed, loved and was immensely

helpful to those around him doing the same thing and hopefully he will be around the rest of my life to add the music to my life. and yes, to borrow from another of his songs as a traveling boy, paul was passing through, but we will always think of you. god bless you paul, for blessing us. happy birthday. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas seek recognition. mr. gohmert: i move that we do know adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is now on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those

>> morning. the house republicans just finished our meeting of the house republicans. of the past six weeks i have travelled across the state of indiana meeting with small business owners, family farmers, and working families. it is true that the economic policies of this administration have failed. the policies of this administration have paralyzed small business in this country whether it be out of control spending, government mandated health care, cap and trade, the possibility of tax increases -- all of these policies are creating a paralysis in small business like i had never seen in my lifetime.

no single policies have a greater effect on him during -- higher taxes will not give anybody hired. it will not create jobs. house republicans will stand united to oppose any tax increase on any american in january. cutting taxes, cutting spending, and creating jobs. it is that simple. the people spoke last night in the elections that we saw. that is what this election will be about. it is that simple -- and not allowing tax hikes to occur and cutting the spending. people are tired of politicians are not living up to their obligations. that is what we will continue to be about over the next three weeks. that is what this election will be about.

>> after being home for several weeks, my big take away is that the american spirit is still strong. yet people are struggling, there is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of questions as to what is happening in washington, d.c. people remain positive. they say that despite the difficult times, they are going to overcome. they keep asking if anyone in d.c. gets it. for families, they understand that they have to live within their means and make difficult decisions. yet washington, d.c., politicians believe that borrowing and spending leads to prosperity. small-business owners realize that the cost of drilling business means that is less money than they can't -- that they can pay their employees. yet the washington, d.c.,

politicians and somehow figured the same small business owners will figure out how to pay these additional costs. whether they are families or small businesses, they are saying they cannot pay any more. the threat of increased taxes on any americans right now would further harm our economy. our hope is that the democrat leadership will start listening and joined in an effort that will actually help put people back to work and get our economy growing again. >> the number one question in america tends to be where are the jobs. the democrats have tried to spend their way into more jobs, but 3 million of our fellow americans lost their jobs and unemployment hovers around 10%. they have tried to bail out the way into more jobs. fannie mae, freddie mac, the list goes on.

the democrats have tried to borrow their way into more jobs. to deficits in a row over all -- two deficits in a row over $1 trillion. 3 million have lost their jobs. now democrats will try to tax their way into more jobs. a tax on small business and investors -- i do not know if this is in ideological blindness or economic blindness. the democrats do not get it. the republicans are united -- no tax increases on nobody. that may be poor grammar, but it is sound economics. we demand on the behalf of the american people and up or down vote on tax relief -- tax relief for all americans. >> we had a great august.

a lot of great listening sessions. i had a constituent that repeatedly said to me during august, marcia, i have too much month left at the end of my money. he is like a lot of americans right now. they are taxed to the hilt. we republicans believe that there should be no tax increase on any american at the stroke of midnight, january 1, 2011. we should not leave this town until we have made certain that the tax reductions are extended and that nobody is going to feed -- see a tax increase. >> good morning, everyone. i hope you had a nice recess. the american people want to stop all of the tax hikes. republicans will continue to stand with them. raising taxes on anyone,

especially small businesses, is the exact wrong thing to do in a struggling economy. economists agree and a growing number of democrats agree. if we are serious about helping our economy this month, we need to stop the tax hikes and we need to cut spending. let's cut spending back to 2008 levels, that before the bailouts and the stimulus and all the nonsense. we will save about $100 billion in the first year. i ask the speaker before me to ask -- to work with us on this plant and to have an open and fair debate said that the american people can speak. we do not need to be closed out of this process, democrats are republicans. we need to have an open and fair debate on the floor of the house. it the speaker is willing to do that, i am, the debt that the

american people will speak and will continue the current tax rates. questions? >> they still stand by what you said on sunday that if it comes down to it and the cuts expire -- >> i said about five times that i want to extend all of the current tax breaks. that is what the american people want. >> if that is your only option -- >> i want to extend all of the current tax rates. i want a fair and open debate on our plan. if we extend the current tax rate and we are able to cut spending, we will reduce some of the uncertainty coming out of washington, d.c., and employers will have the ability to continue to create jobs in america. >> [laughter] have you spoken with mr. castle

this morning? >> no. >> what is your reaction to a lawmaker -- >> you have heard me talk college year about the rebellion going on in america. i have never seen more americans engaged in government in my lifetime. the builders of delaware have spoken. you will continue to hear the american people speak. you hear them speak loud and clearly, november. >> some voters are saying that if it is going to benefit the challengers of both parties -- what it buys are you getting to your income but members? >> i talked to my members about

the fact that they need to work with their constituents. they need to listen to their constituents. they need to engage with people. by and large it the look at the house republican incumbent members, they have reached out and worked with all their constituents. >> speaker boehner, that is what i wanted to ask you about. everyone is talking about the likelihood of the republicans taking the helsinki becoming speaker. what do you think about you becoming speaker? your career has been described as "the comeback kid." what you think about all the people talking about this? >> we have a lot of work to do. we have to earn the it majority back. if we are able to earn the majority back, we want to do so to renew our efforts for a smaller, less costly and more

accountable government here in washington, d.c. >> do you think the republicans should use the filibuster to block any legislation that does not continue the tax rates? >> i think we should do everything we can to extend the current tax rates because raising taxes on anyone, especially small businesses, is the wrong prescription for an ailing economy. >> this last night not evidence that the republicans could be run over by the key party to some degree? >> we have seen and outside in the primaries. as we get out of the primary season, all members and all of our candidates have to work closely with all of these americans who are newly engaged in their government.

we want to encourage americans to take an active role in their government because when americans are engaged, washington listens. when the american people are not engaged, then the politicians are in charge. >> what impact did it spending have? >> i would have that they and other americans will stay engaged in what is happening in washington on a daily basis. if they stay engaged and they work with their members, they can drive the debate and they can't drive this town to do the right thing for the american people. >> can i ask you a question? the dnc are using third-party adds. is that helping raise money? it is not a dodge ball, it did.

[unintelligible] >> a final vote on the tax-cut measure is expected this week. the president spoke after a white house cabinet meeting. >> good afternoon, everybody. i just met with my cabinet and members of my economic team and i wanted to speak about a new developments concerning our ongoing efforts to strengthen the economy and the middle class. after months of partisan blockade in the senate, we are finally on the verge of passing a small business jobs bill that will cut taxes, provide loans for millions of small-business owners across america. while i am grateful for this progress, it should not have taken this long to pass this bill.

it is a time when small business owners are still struggling to make payroll and are still holding up hiring to put together a plan that will provide tax relief and make it easier for them to take out loans. the bill is paid for. it will not at a dime to the deficit. it was written by both democrats and republicans. for four months the republican leadership in the senate has said no. they had used legislative maneuvers to prevent this bill from coming up for a vote. small-business owners kept waiting for help. the capping off plans to hire more workers. thankfully, two republican senators have refused to support this blockade any longer because of their decision, the small business jobs bill will finally pass. i want to thank them for their efforts because they understand

that we simply do not have time anymore to play these games. not just on this small business jobs bill. let me give you another example. right now, we can decide to extend tax relief for the middle class. right now we could decide that every american household would receive a tax cut from the first $250,000 of their income. once again, leaders across the aisle or say no. they want to hold these middle- class tax cuts hostage until they get additional tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of americans. we simply cannot afford that. it would mean borrowing $700 billion in order to fund the tax cuts for the very wealthiest americans. $700 billion to get a tax cut of

an average of $100,000 to millionaires and billionaires. tax-cut economists say that would do little to add momentum to our economy. i do not believe this makes any sense. even as we debate whether it is wise to spend $700 billion on tax cuts for the wealthy, does it not make sense for us to move forward with the task as that we all agree on? we should be able to expect, right now, middle-class tax relief on the first amended $50,000 of income. 97% of americans might less than two entered $50,000 -- $250,000 a year. people who are making it more than that, say you are making

$500,000, you would get tax relief on half of your income. everybody believes that this makes sense. middle-class families in need this relief. these are the americans to sell their wages and incomes flat line. they have seen at the cost of everything from health care to college tuition skyrocket. they have been hardest hit by this recession. extending these tax cuts is right. it is just. it will help our economy because middle-class people will most likely spend this tax relief on a new computer for their kids or maybe some home improvements. it the other party continues to hold these tax cuts hostage, these are the same families that will suffer the most when their taxes go up next year. if we cannot get an agreement with the republicans, that is what will happen. we do not have time for any more games.

i understand there is an election coming up. the american people did not send us here to just think about our jobs, they set us here to think about theirs. they set us here to think about their lives and their children's lives and to be responsible and serious about the challenges we face as a nation. that is what members of both parties have done with this jobs bill. i hope we can work together and do the same thing on a middle- class tax relief in the weeks to come. thank you very much. >> will you sign it or veto it? will he veto it if you get all the bush tax cuts from congress?

>> on friday, sarah pailin speaks at the iowa republican party small reagan dinner. also, senator chuck grassley and former ally of gov. -- the former iowa governor. you can watch it friday on c- span. >> warren brown writes a column for the washington post. >> it is unarguable to say that we would not have a black middle class had we not had general motors, a port, and chrysler. >> in 2008 he supported the government bailout of the automobile industry. he would talk about his life on c-span's "q &a."

>> it is all available to you on television, radio, on line, and on social media networking sites. in our content any time on c- span's be a library. we takes the stand on the road and bring our resources to your community. it is washington your way, the c-span network, now available in more than 1 million homes. provided by cable as a public service. >> after bp c e zero tony hayward testified before the british energy committee. safetyward defended bp's record. the committee is examining the safety of deep water drilling all of the u.k. coast. this is 1.5 hours. >> this is a program to at the

net across our worldwide drilling operations. we would expect some of these to be widely adopted. this is -- i emphatically do not believe this is the case. the need to mitigate risk associated with offshore drilling is an industry issue and one i believe we all need to address. it is tempting to call for drilling bans. i think that is wrong given the world's demand for oil and gas. prior to this accident, the industry drilled for more than 20 years in deep water without a major accident. we should take a rational approach to this. we need to make sure the lessons are fully implemented across the world. there are for strategic actions this committee should consider in the u.k.

confirm things are working as we intended. enhanced testing protocols on blowout preventer, including the backup systems. enhance relief planning. ladies and gentlemen, thank you as for your -- for the opportunity to say these words. >> when you were appointed chief executive three years ago, he said he would be a laser light on safety. during those three years, we have had the biggest oil spill in u.s. waters and 11 deaths. last year, five of york north sea installations failed to comply with the emergency regulations. the offshore inspection records

said you had not applied with rules or regular training on how to respond to an incident. it also says that inspectors from the department of climate change say you've failed to conduct exercises adequately. why should this committee to conclude that bp is a responsible company to operate deep water wells in u.k. waters? >> that may address that question in two parts. the first in terms of what we have done over the last 3.5 years. we have made safety regulations the number one priority. it is about what we do under neath the banner of safety and reliable operations. safety is about three things. it.

a ballot [unintelligible] people and process. we have invested into the integrity of our programs. we have also established safety operations integrity group. we have recruited outside of the industry from the petrochemicals industry and the nuclear industry. we have added thousands of engineers to our operations. we have established new processes around the company including one designed to assure that our operations are safe. it is undeniably a fact that because of all of that, this constituency is so devastating to me personally because we had made an enormous amount of progress in that three years. . if i could take the question of the north sea -- we take all

safety issues very seriously. i do not believe that the issues reported this morning point to any fundamental problem in our north sea operations. we have a very strong track record in the north sea. it is better than the industry average. we have seen major improvements in the course of the last three years. spills or a good indicator of safety performance. they have fallen by 20% over the last two years. i will ask for further comment on the north sea, but i think it was commentary this afternoon from the ecc that said nothing that they identified compromise the overall integrity of

installations. >> thank you. as tony said, we take observations like this very seriously. we welcome the opportunity to improve our business, specifically in those two areas you mentioned, specifically training. there were less than 10 people who had undergone a mostly refresher training. it was an administrative error. clearly today all of our people are complying with that training requirement. beyond that, we have taken action to make sure that that initiative error does not occur. the second point you raised was

on the matter of drills or how we practice for spill response. we had been carrying out and continue to carry out exercises for how to respond. i think it is fair to say that there was some confusion within the industry as to what was exactly required within those drills. i think it is reasonable to say that the confusion was recognized by the regulator. in august of this year, the regulator issued a clarification and guidance on what exactly should be carried out when those exercises are undertaken. clearly today we are in full compliance with what is required of us. >> in the effort you have been making over the last three years, was or decision to have

anyone -- was that decision taken to save money and therefore -- >> we have found nothing in our investigation that suggests -- the blowout preventer was fully compliant. it should have options. the fact it did not function is something that the industry needs to understand and ensure direct actions are taken to ensure that equipment erupt -- equipment operates as it is designed to.

the fact is, it operated as it was designed to. >> was an effort taken to save money by bp? six days before the explosion, why did your staff described the well as the nightmare well? >> there are chilling challenges with that well. they have to do with a gassing flux at a higher elevation. i think the description is unfortunate. the well had been challenging, not unusually so. the gulf of mexico is a more

challenging jelling environment than any other part of the world. >> on the working of the blowout preventer, it should be failsafe. it did not seem to fail in a safe mode. was that a misunderstanding? >> there are three memos for the operation of the blowout preventer. the first is when the well is connected. if the rate becomes disconnected from the blowout preventer, the deadman function should activate the blowout preventer.

the third mechanism of activating the blowout preventer is through manual intervention. in the case of this accident, all three mechanisms failed. >> only 6 centralize servers were used instead of the

recommended 21. this is contrary to your all plan in april. this or individual operational decisions. we get the impression i think it is important that we understand what did and did not cause the disaster. >> it doesn't really matter if any of those caused the accident. it is more about the principles that the recommended approach -- >> let's take this one at a time. the flow was up the production casing per it was not around the side. in decision to run the long

stream was -- if you use a line with a time bank -- or the type that connects to the rest of the casing is subject to degradation and can leak. we have a lot of examples of exactly that occurring in the gulf of mexico. the practice of the majority of the industry today is to run a long streams to avoid the possibility of degradation between the tieback. the decision not to run at the cement was because they believe they had demonstrated that the cement had been effective. conduct a positive test, will

oil flow into the formation? then we can get a negative test rate we note with the benefit of hindsight that the negative test was erroneously misinterpreted. they believe that it was good. therefore, they had a good cement job and there was no need to run the cement bond work. it is used to determine whether you have a cement problem. it cannot determine pin prick holes in this segment. it identified correctly that the negative pressure test was wrong trade it was very light -- likely they would have run to determine whether additional cement -- cement needed to be place. >> the problem was with the

cement. could that problem currently exist on any of your other wells? >> we clearly have taken a lot of action to clarify and provide much greater rigor and around the assessment of the negative pressure test. ibp, we have been very prescriptive about what does and does not constitute a negative pressure test and we have elevated the authority to say that it is acceptable in the event that there is any ambiguity. >> do you applied the same safety standards -- safety standards to all of your operations worldwide? >> we apply the same standards. but they are influenced by their relations in the -- none >> standards apply in your current operations in the u.k. are to the same standards that you apply --

>> they are very heavily influenced by the safety regulations in the u.k., which we may wish to discuss at some point. the standards in the u.k. are driven by safety regulations -- they are very different than the ones in the u.s. >> do you operate lord standards in the u.s.? >> we have the same standards, but there are differences in the ratings regime spread there are different requirements. >> you talked about one of the problems was human judgment. we have before us last week transocean. he said that there was a chain

of command would then his part of the company. he said there was a time out period. are you suggesting that there was a call for a timeout that was neglected? he is aware of the dangerous. are we led to believe that when a timeout is called, it happened each and every occasion? how the reports identified anything different? >> anyone at any level on a drilling facility. there is no evidence from our investigation that anyone at any moment in time pulled a timeout. in the negative pressure test,

the bp well site required to be taken again. it was taken again. the conclusion was that they had a good test ban could proceed. >> i did not understand when you talk about -- surely, that would have been tested. >> the back trip that was flat was in the blowout preventer at 5,000 feet. -- the battery that was flat. the last time it had been tested was prior to being put on the seabed. what we have to determine is exactly what was tested at the time the blowout preventer was last put on a sea bed. >> what we have done is as soon as these things came to light, we have implemented across our

global drilling operation, a program to ensure that the equipment will do what it is designed to do. in a number of cases, that has required us to halt the killing and bring the blowout preventer to the surface. we have done -- hold drilling and bring people out prevented to the surface. -- bring in the blowout preventer to the surface. everything that we have in operation today is working as it was designed to do. the second thing we have done, which i believe is significantly enhance the testing process of blowout preventers. insuring that the backup systems work and are tested in the course of drilling a well. previous to this, they were only tested at the end of each well.

>> halliburton is confident that the work was completed on the welt meeting bp specifications. you said that it was a bad cement job. i wonder what you are doing new or different lead to ensure that when you do sign off on other providers, you are happy with it. >> we know that the cement was not good because we had influx into the well.

there is no doubt that this was -- exactly why it was is not clear. we have not been able to complete the investigation in that area because we have not had access to the cement. " we have done -- what we -- we have simulated it, but we have not gotten a sample. we need to be cautious until we can complete that analysis to understand why the cement failed. what we have done is to required that all cement contractors have first party verification of their standards and procedures, a cement formulas, everything around the cement. it is a new -- it as an enhancement to previous procedures.

>> they can verify that the mixture is correct? >> this wanted to follow up on the recommendations. there is a lot about how you need to change the conditions you apply -- in terms of how the industry performs, a lot of things that used to be in house are now provided outside. that involves a lot of small operators. is there a lesson that the industry needs to learn about having the same culture -- a culture throughout the contract?

>> it would be surprising given the nature and the gravity of this accident if many in the industry would not look afresh at the relationships between themselves and their contractors. i know bp well. i think it is too early to conclude exactly what the changes will be. in our reports, we talk about -- it is possible that it may go beyond that. some of the things may come back into bp. but i think we need to be quite critical of of doing that. the reason the industry is involved in the way that it is and it goes back 20, 30 years, the idea of creating skills and a narrow space. we need to be certain that if we bring things back in, we reduce the risk. the industry will look very hard at the nature of relationships between operators and contractors in a number of the

mansions in light of -- in dimensions in light of this tragedy. >> having read the summary in terms of the substance, i was looking at looking at -- i was interested in looking at the technical side. there was very little reference to anything to do with the management of contractors, how you manage. from the recipe -- from the report, you will say that you are now looking blowout preventers. are you doing more than that?

are you looking at risk assessment? are you looking at management structure? it struck me that you can always look at the technology and engineering, but ultimately, it is people and shareholders to end up being responsible. >> in defense of mark, the investigation was launched to understand what happened and to make recommendations relevant to the immediate cost. what bp is looking at -- the issue is the management of local ability. this risk was identified at the very top of the bp crew. it was identified as a principal risk in the production business.

yet it's still crystallized. we clearly have to ask ourselves what more can be done in managing the general question of management of -- we have to keep reminding ourselves that the industry that drilled for 20 years in deep water without the blowout. the believe that we mitigated the risks. >> if we could move the risk assessment, what is your prime risk issue that you are looking at when you are looking into operations? >> can i just make a couple of comments? it is important that is all the lessons learned need to be applied. there are some important differences. the first one is that there is no where -- the reservoirs'

have high pressure and high temperatures. it occurs in shallow water. it is in the central north sea. in the deep water, there is no high pressure and high temperature. it means that it was a very different challenge. the strength of the ratings the regime here. the north sea had its own disaster 20 years ago. as a consequence of that, the safety regulations was fundamentally changed. the: reports provided the foundation for extraordinary regulation of the last 20 years. i think those are quite important. >> my party in the north sea is

very clear. it is the number one thing. if you come into our office, you will see it on the walls and screens. the number one priority is and has been the reduction of hydrocarbon it releases. the reason for that being, not just in a risk or in safety or in business, it is that priority in the business. the reason is, as we have seen in the gulf of mexico, the consequences of its going wrong are significant. for that reason, we have focused on back priority over the last several years. the first thing is to declare that it is the most important thing. we have done a lot of work on education in this space and helping our work force. there is a facility in the u.k. that helps people see what happens physically in an

explosion. it is very -- it helps people understand the strength of what can happen. we have invested in maintenance and inspection and our facilities to improve the integrity of our facilities. i am pleased to say that all there is -- we must -- we have made significant improvement in the last two years. that track record continues this year. the reduction of hydrocarbon releases -- is the thing that i worry about first in the morning and last in the evening. it is the thing that when it goes wrong, people can lose their lives. that is why we focus so much on edge. -- so much on it. >> [inaudible]

what should have happened? >> let me start. the primary measurements of a drilling operation is the pressure and volume of mud. those are the two most important that are monitored and measured on a continuous basis. if it is increasing, it tells you that something is going into the well. if it is decreasing, it tells you that the money is flowing into the formation. -- mud. they are monitored on a continuous basis in the drillers control units. >> in addition to that, there is another service provided on the

drilling rig. this service also monitors those parameters to provide a set of eyes on the data. it was important finding in the investigation that the influx in this well occurred over several tens of minutes leading to the explosion. that is counter to what you would expect to see. if the fundamental practice is early detection and early action and for some reason, that was accomplished here. >> [inaudible] >> but the report has been able to do is identified that the signs were not -- some of the equipment was available. we cannot say it all was at all times. we captured that with real time data. there is record of the information that has been

available so we know that was there. we cannot explain why they did not see it. >> it was up to 40 minutes. the you have concerns about the training of your resources? what is going -- what are you doing to rectify the situation? >> the recommendations that we have made are to consider enhanced training. there was industry standard training. all the people who were close to this, we were concerned that they were up to date and have the appropriate training. the recommendation that we made to the company is that we should consider superseding that and going further with training and competency. the other thing we recommended

is that this is almost something that you could take for granted because it is such a common practice in the industry. let's go back and absolutely define what the minimum requirements are for well monitoring. while we could not get to the to the bottom of it, we stepped back and made recommendations to make it more robust anyway. >> i have a family member [inaudible] >> [inaudible] you report does not to be --

show any evidence of that parade i wonder why that was the case. -- evidence of that. i wonder why that was the case. >> we wanted to understand the sequence of events, remembering that at the time it was a horrific incident to look at. we went to understand what were the chain of events that happened and what were the immediate costs is so that we could get some insight as quickly as possible. that is what we have done. i think it is a good contribution to develop understanding. there may be more to do. >> on the basis of that, does bp had any -- is it a series of threats? >> i think it is important to

consider all the things we have identified and recognize that any one of those could have prevented or significantly reduced the impact of the incident. there is a way to think about each of those and how he would strengthen that. the recommendations that we have made are targeted at exactly that. thinking through what steps you could take and a range from consideration of engineering design, consideration of improved standards and practices and procedures realization of the things, and consideration of paul you -- of how we up our game in ensuring that we gets quality there. those are the broad themes. >> i guess what i am trying to get that -- even to insure

safety record. you mentioned that straightaway. are you still dealing with that legacy? and are used to working through that? >> i think it is very dangerous. it may beat -- not be appropriate to join up. i do not think we have any evidence there of the sort of issues that we were confronted with in texas. but we do have very clearly is a lack of rigor and oversight of

the contractors' trade the contract is we're using your -- you may not expect that they would need that quality of oversight. but it is clearly something that the report make strong recommendations around. it is something that we have already taken action on. including the waiting for the reports be published. including the oversight that we apply in the operations. that is a legitimate concern. i do not believe that it is back to the issues that week -- >> and [inaudible] >> this report satisfies our

terms of reference. >> it is close to home. are there plans in place prior to the incidence? >> i think it is evidence and we have certainly acknowledge it that the industry was not prepared. we believe that we had effectively mitigated that risk. that was not the right conclusion. over the course of the last four or five months, we have built an enormous amount of capability.

it would allow you to cut away and put a cap on a blue not well and contain it. -- a bellona out well. -- blown out well. we are shipping to of those kits -- capping structures across the u.k. to be based in south hampton at the oil spill response center as the beginning of creating the capability to be able to intervene if such a situation to occur. that does not mean to say that there is no lack of focus on mitigating that risk and ensuring that it does not occur, but as the industry fully -- industry in the u.k. is moving forward to create capability to deal with it blowouts.

the first of that is to bring to of the multipurpose capping equipment to the u.k. to be based in southampton. >> i am a practicing medical doctor, whistleblowing is difficult. it strikes me that most people are under contracts. these think that it is a problem in terms of reporting concerns? -- do you think that is a problem in terms of reporting concerns? for the sake of the industry's

reputation, that they would be -- at the moment, potential conflict of interests. >> there are a lot of things that could be done. we found no evidence of anyone being under any pressure to do something you did not want to do. he testified under oath, he is the ultimate authority on the red, he said that at no time he felt he was under any pressure to reduce costs or to go quickly. as far as he was concerned, he was the accountable person. he makes those -- was a tempting

to believe that this was caused? there is no evidence of that whatsoever. >> maybe in terms of management and reputation of the industry, you might want to consider that. >> both of which are legislative requirements. the first is the requirement to have a group of people who are volunteers. it is a legislative requirement. their job -- when i go offshore to our facilities, i too often meet with them at independent of the management of the facility to understand if they have issues with the management, if they had issues they want to

bring to my attention. that exists today. the other thing you will see when you travel to an offshore installation is people are encouraged that people have direct access to a hot line should they wish to raise concerns. people do use that facility. there are the things today -- i just wanted to make sure that you knew what was in place in the north sea today. >> you are upset that there could not be any hydrocarbon spillage. he did not have a recovery mechanism in place. i am concerned about [inaudible]

there was a presumption that to -- in some ways, it is important that we learned less than from the gulf of mexico. you start opening up a lot more and revisit some of the risks. we are talking about idifferent areas. i would urge the industry to look again and not to dismiss something because it has never happens or believe that we have -- these disasters could start to increase around the world, not decrease. >> i agree with you completely.

>> either we have a technical solution or have it -- or it has not happened. >> i completely agree with you. the occurrence of seems to be more often than not these days. we are looking very carefully across the company and the local ability that we believe we have effectively mitigated break not just the extent of the medication -- mitigated. not just the extent of the mitigation. >> the capt. technology --

deepak and technology is impressive, but is it the right lesson in terms of not to have a blowout preventers really do failsafe so that you do not have to have the cap containment. >> that is the right approach. you have seen the reports and you heard what i said about the action that has been taken on blowout preventers. i would expect that to the changes will be made to a blowout preventers as the industry moves forward to further ensure against anything further. >> page 48 of the report, you identified the three options.

the third one suggests that the assembly was -- that is why it did not operate. >> this was their explanation for one of the reasons why it did not work. what this stems back to is that we strongly believe that during the intervention activity, and they did take an action that managed to close. it did not stop the flow from the well. at the time the report was written, we could not determine the specific reason for the failure mechanism. these three were identified as the most likely possibilities. this is one where we may learn more about as the equipment is taken out and basically did constructed. this is one where there may be

more information on. >> i want to go back to the point you were making about people feeling under pressure. in the context of the north sea, -- >> i do not believe we have any evidence of it at all. >> i think people are clear on our priorities in the north sea. i see no evidence of that in my time in the role. it is something that -- it is important that people feel that they can do two things. one is stop a job if it is happening. and secondly, not feel under any pressure that they cannot say something to someone.

that is something that when i go offshore, i test. i talk independent of the management of that facility to the people who are volunteering their time to be safety representatives. i sit down with them and these are the questions that i ask them. that is at the root of our safety culture. i have not seen any evidence of that. if i did, i would take action. >> i expect that to, when you are talking to these people, perhaps their responses may be slightly different. going back to this point about the safety record, i accept parts of their reports.

how can you ensure there is consistency across the whole of the company and your contractors that the safety is at the heart of everything? >> the first thing is ensuring that the management will talk. and is not only about saying it, but doing it. before we invest anything, we invest in safety. it is about making certain that we have the right capabilities. it is about having the right environment so people feel they can speak up and raise their hand if there is something that they are not happy about with respect to safety. we were discussing that over the last four years, we have

implemented a management system which is designed to ensure that all of our operations are conducted to the same high standard and there is the same look and field to the safety of those operations everywhere in the world. > do you operate on your rigs in the north sea? >> we are fully compliant that the trade association has with the unions and the work force and we have no issues with that policy. it is fully in place and our operations today. >> you have brought to the structures to the u.k. -- two structures. how long will it be before we can have confidence that the

industry in the u.k. has a routine procedure in plan to deal with something? >> the plan is to build that capability over the sexed -- six months. >> thank you. >> moving away from the technical side, are there any aspects of public create -- public relations handling that you regret? >> i think there are many things that i would do differently if i had the opportunity to again. but i think it is also the importance that we all understand that given the scale of this tragedy and the enormity of the disaster, emotion and anger in the united states was

very high and quite understandably so. therefore, it made the whole public-relations area extraordinarily difficult. >> do you consider that you were fairly treated by the authorities in the united states? >> there was an enormous amount of emotion and anger. it was very understandable. >> does that suggest that you were not fairly treated? >> it was causing immense stress and distressed to thousands of people. >> their reaction from the administration? >> their reaction was entirely understandable. i would like to be very clear that bp had and then stored in -- extraordinary constructive with the government -- -- relationship with the government of the united states.

the largest spill response ever seen by a -- others in history will be determined. it was the largest response of its kind. that required tremendous cooperation. >> how many countries around the world does bp operates in? >> around 30. >> have any of those countries attempted to interfere with your dividend policy? >> the united states government did not interfere with the dividend policy. our decision to suspend the dividend was made by the board of bp at the height of the crisis, where our financial liabilities and extreme

financial prudence was warranted. it was a very painful decision for all those who were involved in making it. it created an enormous amount of pain and short-term to our shareholders. but it was taken by the board of bp in the interest of preserving that the financial strength of the bp and the long- term interest of shareholders. >> bp was not influenced by any way of the comments of the president? >> it was all to do with looking at the liabilities that we could see coming towards us and insuring that the company's balance sheet remained strong and robust and we were able to deal with everything. i think there is political risk to operating in those

jurisdictions. >> many people would say, nigeria or somewhere might be riskier than the u.s. >> i think that is a pretty fair assessment. the think you were treated by the british press fairly? most of the headlines were -- said that bp was blaming everybody else. how do you respond to that? >> not a consequence in the

matter of report. >> you take all rot -- you take all responsibility? >> we were a responsible party. we had an obligation to stop the spill, which we succeeded in doing. we had an obligation to clean up the oil. we had an obligation to repeat any environmental damage, which we will do. we had an obligation to compensate those who read been affected. the report was not desert -- not designed to apportion blame. the report was designed to point to what happened and to ensure that those learnings could be applied across operations. >> i think you are a sang -- you

have the drilling operations here. did you say that the press was there in his response? >> it was what it was. >> can i take you to u.k. deepwater drilling? >> [inaudible] >> what we're talking about a deepwater drilling, a popular

supposition in the u.k. is that we are not talking about deepwater to the same extent as the gulf of mexico. you have the experience of reasonably deep water. what experiences have you already learned from both exploring and drilling in this field? >> those fields were found in the late 1990's. we have been active and developed in the late 1990's. we have been there for 20 years. with a very good safety track record, would note incidences' or major actions -- accidents. the water is deeper than the

rest of the north sea. the temperatures are relatively low. he did not have the juxtaposition of high pressure and high temperature. business has been welcomed. >> you mentioned that the pressures and temperatures are lower. is that something you would extrapolate across all fields or is it something that is an unknown? >> but we do not know, we do not know. we can extrapolate in the areas where we drilled.

there is the possibility that higher pressures and higher temperatures make it a possibility. it is a possibility. >> you are intending to more deepwater drilling later this year? >> we have not made a decision yet. >> do you have any evidence as to what you might find? >> the water is deeper. >> the projections on pressure and that while are similar to the predictions that we would have -- they are about half the

pressure that we experienced in a well in the deepwater of gulf of mexico. that is very similar. the pressure is roughly half. we do not have that combination. the geology is different and we do not have that combination of water depth and pressure that we experienced in the gulf of mexico. >> on your plan for the north u.s. prospect while -- well, what would be the status of the blowout preventers? >> we operate at a moment's --

what we do prior to taking on any new rig is go through a very comprehensive audit system where we established the condition of the rig, the track record, the confidence of the people. we will be looking very closely when we bring in a third party company who looks at that block out prevent her and confirms that is -- it works as it is intended to work. >> [inaudible]

i was in the process of talking about the plans for exploration drilling in the north u.s. prospect and what your plans for sure cutters -- sheer cutters were and what you have in place? >> we have a prospect in the deeper waters. we are not drilling that prospect this year. we will likely draw that to next year. the types of rigs that can operate and that water tend to be dynamically positioned.

they tend to be new are. they tend to have more than one one -- we do not have a rig identified that we will use at this time. we have standard equipment that is used throughout the industry. he alluded to what we now do consequent on the accident in terms of how we look at a blowout preventers. if the blowout preventer has operated as it was designed to, as it was intended to, the consequences could have been very different. that is why we have taken the steps to give an additional level of assurance to what we had in place, where we bring in a third party.

to say that the existing fleet operates as intended and operate as they are designed. going forward, every time maintenance is carried out on that bop, we will ensure that there is a third-party, independent company on back to -- on thaat rig. that is a very important thing that we will do. the second thing we are doing, which we believe is very important, is the -- is testing the secondary systems. one of the things you do it is in the event, you have a

remotely operated vehicle that connects itself to be -- to operate that. we actually simulate that and we do that today on service with the same kind of pressure and the pump to confirm that if that secondary system is needed, it will operate as we require it to. those are some of the things that he alluded to in his opening remarks, they may have more impact across the industry. >> what would you say is one of the lessons? >> what we have to do, i think, and mark's report makes it clear, -- it is an area where there are some unknowns remaining.

the plot out printer has just been recovered. -- the blowout preventer has just been recovered. what is important is that we take action in the near term to ensure that systems work as intended. if they do, they will operate and do what we expect them to do. there is no doubt that the industry will work harder at the design of the bop itself and what can be done to it to enhance its reliability. >> we will run through until about 5:10. >> there is a time scale involved.

a multibillion-dollar industry like this, for the layperson, it seems extreme. do not understand the frustration and anger? not just from the american senators and congressmen, but the people who care about the environment. two-thirds of the whole spillage is gone. i just find the whole thing a lesson to be learned, it is our greatest, -- it is outrageous,

honestly. >> i understand why people feel the way they did. there is no doubt about the inability of bp and the industry -- it was not properly prepared and it was unacceptable. what we did was to -- or strategy was around partial containment, complete containment. we pursued them from the very beginning. we implemented as the crystallize the engineering around it. the truth is that it took longer than any of us anticipated. the industry was not prepared because it believed it had

mitigated the risks. that was a very bad assumption. >> the layperson would think that you have this thing sitting on the region. i am talking about an experienced area. >> there was no new science, a lot of new engineering. this sort of engineering has never been done before. in doing it, we created an enormous amount of lessons for the industry. if it is ever required again, at the industry will be far more

far -- quicker and to intervene. i do not want to defend the industry. when something like this happens, it is not defensible. we had been doing these operations for 20 years. we drilled more than 5000 wells all over the world and had a very strong track record of no accidents. >> that was in hindsight, wrong room. -- wrong. >> but you say that the industry placed a lot of blame on bp and said it would not happen to them. how do you respond to that? >> i think it was understandable given what was going on in the united states. i think it has been made clear that this was not an issue of

well designed. >> what about bp in the way that its structures its finances. you?ave insurance, don't >> we do. >> [unintelligible] d used think that we should be here-do you think that we should be involved here in very large engineering without dave true barometer of risk and ability to assess safety? >> the reason bp has moved to the southern shore, which occurred about 20 years ago, was that we found that the insurance

market was not deep enough to cover the risk. and when it was, the premiums far outweighed -- we looked at a 15-year time frame of the claims verses premiums paid and it was such that the premiums were far greater than any claim ever made. >> i think this issue is a measure of risk. the premiums are very expensive, but that is -- and that is the barometer of the risk that you are taking. >> that is true. that is one measure of risk. if there are many others. it is also a measure of the death of the insurance market. -- debt of the insurance market. >> we touched on a financial

incidents, those that depend on bp for their investment. but also, those that rely on what bp is doing. it's what local ramifications are there of bp's operations in the north sea of having to meet these obligations? with our investment in the north sea, we have a very -- >> our investment in the north sea, we have a very significant investment program there, 12 billion pounds in the next five years. that is not in any way affected by this need to restore financial strength of bp. >> is it true that two weeks after the explosion that the president announced that bp was

responsible? >> under the [unintelligible] it did not surprise us. >> even though york are actual report said that responsibility is shared. -your actual report said that responsibility is shared? >> we believe we have there's possibility to deal with the incident, cap the well, clean up the oil, repudiate the environment. >> -- were mediate the environment. >> but you feel that you are responsible for the cross? >> [unintelligible] >> newfield that it was preempting due process? >> i do not feel it was preempting due process. in the first instance, it was very clear from the u.s.

legislation that it was bp's responsibility to respond to this and i think we responded well. >> the british prime minister said two weeks afterward you'd be paying for that? >> i'm afraid i was not in the country at the time. i was in china. >> with respect to the slow response, i've got this statement from bp released june 19. "our initial tests show that when we apply this persons under water, we have it -- we use a much smaller amount of this person then we need. [unintelligible] that kind of information might be helpful to other companies in the future." would you agree with that statement?

it has a rather glib quality to it. it is like a vast laboratory experiments on the deep sea oil spill. >> that is not what was intended. the facts are facts. what we found through the application of dispersants in the subsea environment was that the amount of this person that you had to apply was much smaller. and the reason for that was that the oil and disperse and were traveling through the water and mixing very effectively. it was rather like a washing machine. what i have to say about that was that no one knows today the

environmental impact of this. we have a very substantial science program in place measuring the water column and the marine fauna and flora to determine what impact there has been from the application of dispersants. i think is fair to say that time and science will determine precisely what environmental impact there has been. >> you also discussed the commission process in using the dispersant. but this person is designed to work in certain types of water. i cannot see particular deaths in your plan. i wonder what the ticket of

process -- particular depths in your plan. i wonder what particular process you used with this plan. did you know what the environmental impact would be? and that sort of level, that sort of pressure, you have a substance formed and you do not know what is going to go to the top and what is going to go to the bottom. there is a lot in play. is it possible to predict where this substance is it? how are you going to deal with that? >> i think is very important to recognize that the application of the dispersant was approved by the u.s. epa.

of every application of it, whether on the surface or on the subsea, was some of s approved. >> on what basis? you were essentially saying, we're going to try this, but we do not know what is going to happen. i just wonder how the u.s. authorities made that judgment. >> i think it was a belief that it was going to be more effective. it was a theory. it turned out that, indeed, that was true. the dispersants applied creed of

the same effect as physical this version. >> it was using it as a laboratory. i guess that was a bit of a scientific punt. >> it was a scientific guess that was applied and proving to be accurate. -- and proven to be accurate. >> [unintelligible] presumably, if you did the same thing, it would have the same effect. i wonder, do you have any prediction as to the heart come of that? >> the data that has been collected so far, there is no

evidence of dispersants for oil entering the food chain. there has been a very extensive program of sampling of marine flora and fauna. there has been no evidence since the 28 of july that any oil or dispersants have been detained in the water problem. since the 28th of july, all of the sampling that has been taken across the water column has not identified any residual oil or dispersants in the water column. >> it does struck -- strike me as an ongoing experiment here. it surprises me that there is no in burma to representative

from bp here today. -- environmental representative from bp here today. >> i think we have fairly significant environmental capability. there are a lot of lessons here. there are lessons in this accident across many dimensions. one of them is the area you are referring to, the application of dispersant, its effectiveness in mitigating an oil spill, and its impact on the environment. lots of good science will come out of it. i believe we should allow time and science determine exactly what the consequences are. >> you think there will be much more deep water drilling now?

>> i think if you look at the world's demand for oil, today, the world produces and consumes about 85 million barrels per day. if you look at the next two decades, that number is going to rise between 90 million barrels and 100 million barrels. that does not sound significant, but if you put that year to year, the world will have to increase oil production of to 10% -- up to 10%. it is projected to go up by 10% by 2020.

if you look at the u.k., the u.k. imports close to 30% of its domestic gas. the 65% of that gas is produced in deep water. in the u.k., we are dependent between somewhere between 17% to 20% of our domestic gas supplies from deep water. i believe that the deep water provinces of the world will be a very important source of oil and gas as the world makes it -- makes a transition to a more diversified industry. but it is a transition that will take decades. >> [unintelligible] >> it depends very much on the fiscal regime that his presence -- that is present.

it is run more by a fiscal regime that it is by water depth. >> i was referring to the energy consumed in recovering the oil. >> it is not going to be any greater than that of onshore or zero wells. in the deep water, where we are to begin producing fresh new foods, [unintelligible] >> is it true that under your leadership, [unintelligible] >> that is not actually the case. if we have actually increased our investment into other types of technology. we have focused into four areas. we have focused into wind, solar, biofuels, and carbon capturing sequestration in

excess of $1 billion per year. in the last three years, significantly more than anyone else in the industry, and significantly more than we were four years ago. >> and is that going to continue? >> of course, that is not for me to say now. but i believe it is very likely that the investment into alternative energy will continue. it is something that bp believes in, but we also believe that it needs to be commercial. >> right. may i present the idea that [unintelligible] how easy is it to adapt these preventers to have a configuration of these plans? >> i think it is fair to say

that adaptation is not totally easy. i do think it is important to keep coming back to -- if it had functioned as designed, there would not have been the accident. >> i wonder, given your recent experience, do you think it is safe, the licensing [unintelligible] do you think it would be better to have it all under one agency? >> i think they are clearly different. i think the separation of duties between safety oversight and license granting is very

beneficial in the u.k. and is something that the united states has now decided to do. it is one of the yearly changes that was made during -- early changes that was made during this accident prepare. i think it allows much greater separation of duty, much greater focus on one specific area. >> [unintelligible] astonishing, really, that you say we have got to learn from this. [unintelligible] and if it is linked to the fact that there is a moratorium in the united states, the

norwegians have not issued any more licenses. reducing the -- do you think, shouldn't the industry [unintelligible] i'm just astonished that the industry would say that we can learn lessons from this. certainly, we learned lessons from tankers. >> i was not implying that lessons have not been learned. but this was the first spill in 5,000 feet of water. >> [unintelligible] >> i would prefer to lead time and science speak to that one. it just is not clear today.

>> the environmental impact is a consequence of this. i support the british oil industry, but there is an environmental impact for all coastlines. >> the first thing is to make total lessons learned to ensure that this is mitigated -- this risk is mitigated. the second thing is to put in place the ability to respond far more effectively than bp was able to in the gulf of mexico because as you quite rightly observed, we were not prepared. and i think those two things, you can have confidence that in the event that something like this did happen, the environmental impact could be

significantly mitigated. if >> is there anything else you would like to tell us before we close and? >> i would like to thank again the government for their support throughout this crisis and to say that bp remains a very committed to exploration, development and production in the north sea and we intend to make absolutely certain that all the lessons that we learn from the gulf of mexico in all the dimensions that we discussed today artfully applied to everything we do in the u.k. >> right, well, thank you very much for your time and we will be producing our report briefly. we have got some security arrangements now. if we want the public to the

first and then the witnesses and members can remain here. >> but next on c-span, the hearing on the crime of seats -- on sex trafficking. later, house republican leaders and president obama on taxes and the economy. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> tomorrow on "washington journal", "weekly standard" editor bill kristol. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> was weekend on afterwards, the conflict between the first amendment and national security. giver assurance is interviewed by u.s. attorney general michael mukasey this weekend on "book

tv." >> and now, a hearing on child sex trafficking in the u.s. will hear about how those cases are handled and providing funds to the victims. this is three hours. >> today, we will hear testimony of the importance of this bill and the issues pertaining to the situation that is not only difficult to comprehend, but

also tragic. the commercial exploitation of children, many of them u.s. citizens. on june 23 of this year, the gentle lady from new york and the gentleman from new jersey introduced this bill into committee. it was introduced primarily for the need to a comprehensive victim-centered approach for children in the united states and providing shelter and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of the survivors of this particular crime. it also provides information to track missing and exploited children. the funding is also provided to law-enforcement to increase improved and -- increase and improve investigation and to prosecutors to increase the number of cases brought to

trial enter shelters to tailor their needs to the vote -- to tailor services to the needs of the victims. it is important we understand the term "domestic minor sex trafficking." it is child sex slavery, child sex trafficking, prostitution of children, commercial exploitation of children, and rape of a child. the shared host institution -- the shared hope institution indicates that it is referring to some of our most vulnerable victims of sex trafficking, that is, children in need of understanding and specialized treatment.

working with law enforcement that they are correctly identified as victims. nationally, children run away from home each year. it is estimated that -- sadistically, approximately 150,000 children are referred into prostitution each year, although, there are so -- some instances -- of these children come from all backgrounds. they come from all socioeconomic backgrounds. usually, beginning around 12 years of age. many come from homes where they have been abused. one study concluded that 59% of miners arrested for prostitution

vegas hadosin a las been victims of sexual abuse in the home. the 74% have run away from home prior to rest. they are runaways or children in foster care system and child protective services and they come by many different names such as those. during today's hearing, representatives maloney and smith will testify about the victim support act of 2010, which they introduced to specifically deal with the exploitation of children. we will also hear from a woman who has devoted her life to helping victimized children here and abroad the second panel will discuss how we are helping her children and ways in which law enforcement community is not ing this demand, but

also the lessons learned and the resulting law enforcement community progress in labeling these children as victims rather than criminals. we will hear from companies such as craigslist and we will get information on whether the company's move to remove the adult services section is permanent. at this time, it should be clear that the old issue is not just craigslist, but rather, the issue of what role the internet plays in facilitating the sex trafficking of miners. i would like to thank all of our witnesses in advance and those individuals and organizations who contributed to the preparation of this hearing. and most of all, i want to thank all of people present for you are doing to protect our children.

it is now my pleasure to present the ranking member of the committee. >> thank you, chairman. the sex trafficking of miners is -- minors is the ticket advantage of children that are already at risk and suffering from abuse. i saw that as a judge. in response -- the response to human trafficking in the united states is focused on providing assistance to victims of trafficking and arrest of traffickers. in june of 2003, the fbi in conjunction with the department of justice's travel exportation and obscenity the center for missing and exploited children launched an initiative aimed at the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the united states.

it has resulted in approximately 38 task forces and working groups throughout the united states. these efforts bring federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies, including local prosecutors and social service providers, together for the coordination of cases and training opportunities innocence lost campaigns usual began as local operations. the initial arrests are often for state, or local charges, and it is later that the fbi or department of justice review the case to see if filing of federal charges is the proper it. to be effective, we should also be addressed the demand side -- for an effective law enforcement and prosecution initiatives that target those who do the actual trafficking in those the purchase commercial sex.

prosecuting crimes are generally of a local nature. however, all law enforcement must address the interstate trafficking problem which is certainly a federal issue that resists tossing kids in jail while ignoring a lot of problems. while the goal of eliminating sex trafficking and assisting authorities in this effort are laudable, caution must be exercised so there is not a gradual move towards federalization of local prostitution-crimes. caution must also be exercise to ensure that the relatively limited resources that are or will be available to the victims of these crimes are spent on those that have been truly victimized. for instance, i am concerned

about a provision in h.r. 5575 which authorizes the grant money to treat "johns"who engage in lieu ofs, and do a proxy prosecution. they may have enough money themselves without taking money away from young victims of trafficking. this is a complicated problem. the solution will not be easy. we need to bring together the experts that experience in different areas, and we are making strides toward solution. i appreciate your being here today. we appreciate your diligence and committed efforts on behalf of the victims of this crime. and i do look forward to hearing

your testimony. thank you very much. i yield back. >> i will ask other members -- do you have a statement? >> yes. just to accentuate what you are saying and draw a close to home, mr. chairman, i want to thank you for all in this hearing, but the offenses you describe -- child sex slavery, prostitution of children and the rape of a child among others -- you would like to think or i imagine this would be in some third world country or at least not in nice neighborhoods, but you can go out into lake view, one of the nicest communities in the city of chicago and the nicest areas you'd ever want to live in, you will see social service agencies trying to find the kids, runaway kids, who are exposed or ball rolled to these offenses are right there and some of the nicest -- exposed or

vulnerable to these offenses right there in some of the nicest neighborhoods. unfortunately, they are there from within. the fault lies within ourselves. we have to look at the people who are committing these offenses and recognize that they are not far away. i appreciate all those law enforcement agencies, social service agencies and not a fraud agencies that try to help. >> other members, without objection, will be able to enter statements into the record. we have two distinguished panels with us today. our first panel consists of four members of congress as well as an esteemed former member. our first witness is carolyn b. maloney who represents the 14th district of malone. she is the first woman to represent them. 111th congress, she

was a senior member of the house financial services committee and the oversight and government reform committee, and a co- founder of the house and 9/11 commission caucus. she is the lead sponsor of h.r. 5575. our second is cumbersome and jackie speer, first elected in april -- our second is congresswoman jackie spear. she authored more than 300 bill signed into law. she serves on three key committees in the house, the committee on financial services, on oversight and government reform, energy independence and global warming. our next witness will be congressman ted, a prosecutor and judge in houston for over 30 years before presenting the second congressional district of texas. serving as the victim rights caucus a founder. he has been pivotal in passing

legislation to safeguard our children, legislation such as the child creditor act that later became the adam walsh child safety act. and also the needs and issues -- making sure that the needs and issues of the victims of crime are equally addressed. [unintelligible] he currently serves as the ranking republican on three congressional panels, foreign affairs subcommittee on africa and global health. he is also the ranking member on the commission on security and cooperation in europe and the congressional commission on china. he is the author of america's three landmark anti human trafficking laws including the trafficking victims protection act of 2000, a lot designed to prevent modern-day slavery and enhanced civil and criminal penalties against traffickers.

he is a co-sponsor of h.r. 5575. and finally, a former congressman and linda smith represented washington state from 1994-1998. in the fall of 1998, she traveled to mumbai and visited one of the worst brothel districts in the world. this compelled her to found shared hope international. through this organization, she built partnerships with local groups to provide shelters were women and children can live with no time limit. these villages of hope have a holistic approach to recovery, including education and job skills training. in 2007, shared hope international produce a report in documentary featuring footage of world sexed traffickers and buyers. that documentation found that

startling numbers of american children are being trafficked with in the u.s. borders. we will begin at this time with representatives malone. >> thank you. thank you so much, chairman scott, and ranking member judge gohmert, for your leadership. and for being on the front lines of battling this devastating problem that is found in the backyards of american cities. as co-chair of the human trafficking caucus, i have been working on these issues with representative chris smith and others for many years. today's hearing is an important opportunity to educate people about the reality of the trade in human lives and work towards its elimination. the sex trafficking is the slavery of the 21st century. human trafficking it is a $10 billion industry worldwide. it is the third largest

organization -- organized crime ring in history, proceeding only by drugs and guns. but unlike those, which can be sold only once, the human body can be sold over and over and over again until it is destroyed. too many people believe that child sex trafficking is a problem only in foreign countries, but experts estimate that a minimum of 100,000 children in the u.s. are exploited through commercial sex every year. mr. chairman, as you know, the in demand sex trafficking bill and the force -- the other bill we worked on require the justice department come forward with the study on the problem in the united states. we still have not gotten that study. we know that 400,000, according to the state department, our traffic internationally, but we

have no numbers of the problem that is growing in the united states. although it is hard to believe the average age for first exploitation is a young girl's 12-13 years of age, these are our daughters, their schoolmates, their friends. in fact, this past june, in brooklyn, in new york city, eight people were indicted with charges that they forced girls as young as 15 into prostitution. these young women were recruited from local middle and public high schools. there were threatened with the violence and kept out of contact with family and friends. law enforcement in the york believes that many of the missing children that are reported are literally children that are stolen or coerced into sex trafficking. there are disturbing stories that come to my office about walking down the street and then coming up and tried to

shove girls into cars. and they get away. assume they were shot in the car. then that grow would be one of the missing children that ran away. so i think this is a huge problem in our country. and i thank you for looking at it with this important hearing. despite the needy, a congressional research service report that are requested found that funding for specialized services and support for victims of domestic minority sex trafficking are extremely limited. -- minor sex trafficking are extremely limited. we spend more in our country on the victims overseas than we do in our country. throughout the country, organization specializing in sex trafficking collectively have fewer than 50 beds to address the needs of we do not know how many victims in our country. and this is totally

unacceptable. after hearing from former victims, season it cops and hard-hitting prosecutors about the horrors of domestic minor sex trafficking, i knew something had to be done. working with others, we have introduced the domestic minor sex trafficking deterrent and victims support act of 2010. this bill takes of multidisciplinary cooperative approach to shutting down child sex trafficking and offering rehabilitation for its survivors. through a series of block grants, the bill would provide care for victims and shelter, including specialized counselling, clothing, and other daily needs to keep victims from returning to the streets. it creates a comprehensive, victim-centered approach to addressing this sex trafficking of miners. it aims to ensure adequate resources for law-enforcement and prosecutors in to rescue victims and put camps behind bars.

police across our country do not have the resources. prosecutors did not have resources. it provides funding to implement improvements in the national crime information center which tracks information about missing and exploited children with the core of that -- the goal of identifying the children who are at high risk. the portly, the legislation will strengthen deterrence and prevention programs aimed at potential buyers. it will focus exclusively on minors, those under 18 years of age, increase the share of funding available for shelters. lack of proper shelters often forced law enforcement to send victims to juvenile detention facilities were there -- were there is no access to appropriate services, or releasing them, knowing that they will end up back in the hands of their pimps, . in july, the caucus held a

briefing to address the shift of sexual exploitation from the streets to craigslist and other online venues where children are marketed for sex. the internet has changed the way sex slavery operates, but craigslist announced it is shutting down its adult services section from his website in the united states. i look forward to hearing from the representatives from craigslist as we work together to eradicate this violence and protect our most vulnerable children. i hope we will hear from craigslist today, that they will be shutting down the erotic pages in the more than 250 cities that feature this section. we can no longer ignore that children in this country are being exploited for economic gain. we have a moral obligation to help the neglected victims of sex trafficking and to crack down on their abusers.

thank you very much for this opportunity, and for your studied attention to this. i know from past experience, when you get involved, things happen. thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member judge gohmert. >> thank you very much. >> jackie spears. >> thank you for holding this hearing. this is a human tragedy, a national tragedy. up to 300,000 children in our country are enslaved sexually. the number ris anywhere from 100,000 - 300,000. i attempt to u.s. attorneys. i spoke to the fbi -- i talked to u.s. attorneys. i talked to the ceo of craigslist.

i talked to the national center for missing and exploited children, and i talked to many victims. one victim when i asked, how many times were you forced to do this today? a minimum of 10, a maximum of 15 times a day. she was 17 years of age. to put very simply, houston, we have a problem. it is not just in houston. it is in a glance at, san francisco, oakland, new york. -- it is in atlanta, san francisco, oakland, and the york. there are reasons. first, the internet. today, perpetrators hide behind their personal computers and have a child at their doorstep

with a click of a button. between 2004, 2008, child sex trafficking complaints originating from the internet actually grew by 1000%. and that is just the number of complaints, not the total volume. in fact, estimates are that on craigslist alone there are more than 3.2 million posts on the adult services section a year. and this section has been taken down very recently, but just to give you an appreciation of how widespread this is. further, websites are immune from being held liable for these crimes. in an effort to spark innovation, congress passed the communications decency act in 1996. today, web sites escape liability when an ad on their site results in child prostitution, rape, or even death.

i am pleased to see that our representative of craigslist is your period daughter is a constituent in my district. so i recognize full well what we are taking on here. thinly disguised ads on craigslist received three times the response. when they say, look to the other sides, remember that they have been the 800 pound gorilla in the industry of sex trafficking of children. recent reports speculate that the advertisements that previously appeared in adult services sections will migrate to other portions of the side. let the company not forget that control the activities of their sight. if they are truly committed, they will exercise due diligence. that said, craigslist is not a lone wolf. redbook.com is equally as

horrific. we must consider a response within the confines of the first amendment. child sex trafficking has been decriminalized we passed tough laws and then they sit on the shelves. even though the trafficking victims protection act imposes a lifetime sentence on those convicted of trafficking, it is rarely used in prosecutions. we should all ask the question, why is it? during a seven year period, 60% of child exploitation cases presented to the u.s. attorney's office, 60% have been declined prosecution. meanwhile, in contrast, just 15% of drug trafficking and 26% of weapons charges were declined. why the disparity? our priorities are clearly out of balance and perpetrators are taking full advantage.

in fact, a pimp selling four children can earn over $600,000 a year. today, we live in a country where a person is more likely to go to jail for selling marijuana than for selling a child in sex. in san francisco, where my district is located, only one fbi agent is assigned to work with law enforcement. the u.s. attorney's office in the name of curtailing sex trafficking. further, the inability to bring trafficking to justice is directly tied to inadequate victims services. corals were rescued from prostitution typically come from -- and girls who are arrested for prostitution typically come from an abusive household. victims were rarely report the identity of their trafficker because they fear retaliation.

these children have been traumatized. they have been brainwashed. they have been abandoned. and they need specialized services and resources for a successful recovery. it is a travesty that only five residential facilities specific to this population exist across this country. ongresswoman malone;''s bill is important, but the money should be increased tenfold. again, thank you for taking up this very serious issue. >> thank you. >> chairman scott, and ranking thank youny haywardjudge gohmer for a holding this hearing. we're only beginning to hear about the sex trafficking that preys on our children in the united states. as co-chair of the victims of rights caucus along with my friend from california, we are concerned about the treatment of

domestic crimes sex trafficking victims appeared the fb. the fbi calls it the most overlooked and under investigated form of child sexual abuse in america. why is this the case? according to the fbi, it is because too many people believe that child prostitution is a victimless crime and that the children involved are criminals themselves this kind of thinking is absurd. these children are victims of crime. the man that by the young girls for sex are guilty of exploitation and abuse and they are criminals. and the traffickers are the filth of humanity and they are criminals. as one of friend of mine said, when you see one, judge ,, rope. a

houston is one of the main hubs. in recent years, the city has made strides towards addressing this issue. we have one of the 42 human rescue alliance groups in the country in houston. together with the fbi, they have rescued 140 domestic victims. numerous traffickers have been prosecuted receiving life sentences. i met with the human trafficking alliance. included in this group as a law- enforcement leader in texas. he and his officers told me that one of the biggest issues they face in combating trafficking is how to care for the victims. more specifically, they told me there is better care available to international trafficking victims that the rescue and houston then there is for our own citizens that are traffic. consider what is available to an

international trafficking victim. and i am not saying we should not help these victims, but here is what is available. they are eligible to apply for a visa which allows them to stay lawfully in the united states. immigrants service groups help them apply for free legal, medical, mental, housing and educational services. they can receive care in a residential facility or a long- term foster homes. basically, we provide care to international trafficking victims. here are the resources available to the victim of domestic trafficking in houston. at the moment, law enforcement agents come across these victims they are required to take them into custody. once in custody, domestic refiner -- minor victims can only gain access to these services being labeled as delinquents and charged with the class b misdemeanor of prostitution. to gain access to short-term services, i have to be arrested,

obtain a criminal record, before they can be served. furthermore, the short-term services did not begin to address the severe physical or psychological trauma that these girls encounter. without access to specialized care, it is shown that they return to their traffickers and continue the cycle of abuse because they have no other place to go. we need in houston and throughout the nation all long- term residential treatment facility to care for victims of domestic minor trafficking. any legislation that addresses this issue must include this component. we have made improvements in caring for the victims better traffic across our border, as we should. we need to ensure that we are doing the same for our own children. and those that expose these children -- exploit these children, hold them accountable. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> mr. smith? >> thank you very much, mr.

chairman, and a thank-you to the ranking member for convening this very important hearing on domestic human trafficking. mr. chairman, i want to thank you for this hearing. we were able to pass the megan's law recently. it prevents those who abuse children and others to sex crimes. before they travel abroad, the countries of destination are guys in a timely fashion. you helped us get as -- get that through the judiciary committee. the legislation would make it difficult for those who commit sex crimes and exploit children abroad to get into the united states. if we have that information, and it is actionable, if we can get this law passed all over the world, we can protect our children from these predators who make their way to the united states. in the trafficking victims protection act, severe forms of

human trafficking is defined as sex trafficking in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which a person and used to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age. any person under the age of 18 and involved in commercial sex x is a trafficking victim. and those who exploit and abuse these individuals can be subjected to long prison sentences including up to life imprisonment itself. at the time of our first trafficking law, we had no idea how many domestic victims this trafficking problem, this new modern-day slavery actually included. the excellent work of linda smith of share quote international -- share hope international, and research at the national center for missing and exploited children has the number of domestic victims at at least 100,000, and the average

age when they first got exploited in this fashion was 13. 13 years old. these are our daughters. these are our children. driven by demand and fueled by the ease and secrecy of the internet, we are facing a huge and escalating crisis of child sex trafficking in the united states. the fbi has coordinated the innocence lost initiative with local law enforcement, state prosecutors, and social service providers since 2003 to fight domestic minor sex trafficking. using this framework, the fbi conducted at least four cross country raids to catch pimp and rescue sex workers and working the streets. they rescued over 100 child victims ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old. over 1600 law enforcement officers from 120 state and

local agencies participated between june, 2003, and october, 2009. they rescued nearly 900 children. i applaud the hard work and coordination of state and federal resources to stop domestic minor sex trafficking, but there is a huge gap in the numbers we rescued versus the estimated 100,000 plus victims out there. that is why it is so important and joining carolyn malone and introducing h.r. 5575 to respectfully ask the committee to mark up as soon as possible this very important legislation that will at long last provide the necessary refuge, the theters, the beds -- estimate is about 50 beds available for domestic minors and sex victims in the united states. that is appalling.