they refer to the muslim brotherhood five times. they refer to religious 65 times. they refer to a mosque four times, hezbollah two times, al , eda, 36 times, caliphate seven times, and shari'a twice. and it's etiony it see when it -- and it's easy to see when it comes to enemy, neither the national intelligence strategy under 2009, under this administration, nor the f.b.i. counterterrorism lexicon, the words that are allowed to be used by f.b.i. agents and their terminology, apparently it's ok to talk about violent extremism, which is why

homeland security secretary apolitano has -- she created a countering violent extremism working group, although she could not tell me how many members of the muslim brotherhood were part of that working group. we knew that there were some. she could also not tell me how many members of the muslim brotherhood, who would like to see a giant caliphate in which the united states was included, how many she had in her homeland security advisory council that she gave secret clearances to, there's no way they could have been properly vetted and still gotten secret security clearances. but we see with the new f.b.i. terminology and the new intelligence terminology they can't talk about the enemy, they can't talk about jihad, they can't talk about muslim, they can't talk about islam,

they can't talk about the muslim brotherhood, they can refer to religion but as we know from the homeland security reports that they yielded, that the thing they're worried about really is more people who believe in the constitution and eterans and christians who are evangelical christians. they'll talk about religion there, but obviously not in terms of radical islam. they won't talk about hamas, they won't talk about hezbollah . the f.b.i. counterterrorism lexicon doesn't even include reference to al qaeda or shari'a, nor does the intelligence strategy. so the question comes to my mind about that interview, the interviews back in 2011, because i know so many f.b.i. agents that are incredible

americans, real patriots, smart . a lot of wisdom and judgment. but they follow orders. like i did when i was in the army. you do what you're ordered to do. and they do. but what kind of interview must that have been of the guy who was going to blow off arms and egs and kill a child and who had dreams of killing so many more, what kind of interview must that have been when you can't use the word jihad, you can't talk about his muslim faith? did they even bring up tamerlan's muslim faith in that interview? i mean, they're not supposed to talk about it. and i do not believe in using religion to discriminate against anybody, but when you find out that there is a radical sect, not like the vast

-- incredibly vast majority of muslims who don't want to kill people and don't want to maim and don't think it's right to cause that kind of human suffering, but there is a sect, a radical islamist sect and they can't talk about it. what kind of interview was that? is it any wonder that the f.b.i. came away from their interviews and said, we don't find any problems? well, i guess not. if you don't -- if you can't islamic tail about faith to find out whether someone is a radical, whether his beliefs have now embraced e book, the milestone that egypt embraced, that some in this country, some that our own

homeland security secretary think are wonderful people, they've embraced the same writings that saddam hussein said help -- osama bin laden said helped radicalize him, if you can't know about those things, how in the world can you do a legitimate interview and find out, is this a peace-loving muslim or is this a radical that wants to kill people and if i don't get this conversation right two, years from now there will be people -- two years from now there will be people dead in boston? how silly must we be as a law n to blindfold our enforcement and not let them see an enemy that wants to destroy us? i've talked to enough intelligence officers, justice department officials, people that love this country, homeland security, and they are so frustrated with the shackles that they have to wear,

figuratively speaking, while they try to protect this country, where you can't talk about the beliefs of people that want to destroy this blessed country. what kind of interviews must those have been when you can't use the terms that let you get to the bottom of what may be a plot to kill people down the road? there's no problem in the justice department, there is a problem with leadership that will not let them do their job. and it needs to change. and i'm blessed to be joined by a colleague, i yield such time as you may consume. whatever you may wish. >> thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the memory of howard phillips, a statesman, a patriot, and to the very end of his life, a brilliant thinker

and tireless organizer for constitutionally limited government. he sought to limit the federal government in almost every term . in 1974 he founded the conservative caucus which we might call the tea party movement of its day. he helped forge the new right and perhaps more than any other leader, he never put party above principle. he organized behind the scenes, he was a mentor to today's conservative mentors and above all he believed in the sovereignty of god. and not of the state. he was a brilliant speaker and a brilliant thinker. mr. bentvolio: any american searching for the meaning of american values might look to howard phillips for guidance. tomorrow's young conservative leaders may not learn phillips name, but his ideas will live on and for that we should be grateful. the conservative movement lost a lion last week and it is my

privilege to remember him. thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. gohmert: thank you for that worthy tribute. part of the erence special order address that was delivered here on this floor february 16 of 2012 by me. and in that i had before me a transcript of a hearing where he f.b.i. director testified and i pointed out, well, i just read the transcript as i will do now, particulate of it -- part of it, and i pointed out before the reading that i don't have a problem, something about

the f.b.i. having an outreach program to communities, and i said, well, why would the f.b.i. see the need to make positive outreach into any community of a specific nature? i said, so after director muller had indicated, yes, we have this wonderful outreach program with the muslim communities, and those communities are exactly like every other community, i said, you had mentioned earlier, and thths -- this is a quote from my comments to director muller, and it's in your written statement that the f.b.i. developed an extensive outreach to muslim communities. and in answer to an earlier question, i understood you to say that muslim communities were like all other communities . so i'm curious, as a result of the extensive outreach program the f.b.i.'s had to the muslim community, how is your outreach program -- how has your

outreach program gone with the baptists and the catholics? director muller said, i'm not certain of necessarily the thrust of that question. i would say that our outreach to all segments of a particular city or county of society are good. i said, well, do you have a particular program of outreach to behind e.u.s, buddhists, the jew -- hindu, buddhists, the jewish community, or is it just an extensive outreach program to -- he interrupted and said, we have outreach to every one of those communities. i added, how he did that, and then he started to filibuster and i had said, i have looked -- and i said, i have looked extensively and i haven't seen anywhere in any one of the f.b.i.'s letters information that there has been an extensive outreach program to any other community trying to develop trust in this kind of a relationship and it makes me wonder if there is an issue of

trust or some problem like that that the f.b.i. has seen in that particular community. and just so there's no mistaking, let me read directly from the judge's opinion in the holy land foundation case in response to the effort by isna, the islamic society of north america, council on american islamic relations, the holy land foundation and others, and i read this, the judge said the government has produced ample evidence the associations of care, isna, nait and the hoeland -- holy land foundation, the islamic association for palestine and with hamas. while the court recognizes that the evidence provided -- produced by the government largely predates the holy land foundation designation date, the evidence is nonetheless

sufficient to show the association of these entities with the hoeland land foundation -- holy land foundation, the islamic foundation for palestine and hamas. there was plenty of evidence to support that. according to the judge. that was affirmed by the fifth circuit. it's important to note that out of concern for the f.b.i.'s outreach program and the state department and the white house, for reaching out, bringing in people who courts have said supported terrorism, and these people are being brought in in the military, we say brought inside the wire this in case brought inside the state department, brought inside the white house on a regular basis, brought inside the justice department, my friend frank wolf had this language added to the continuing resolution that was passed that president obama signed into law. this is language in the law and my friend, mr. wolf, included

it to reference the f.b.i.'s policy. it says, and this is the language in the law, conferees support the f.b.i.'s policy, prohibiting any formal noninvestigative cooperation with unindicted co-conspirators in terrorism cases. the conferees expect the f.b.i. to insist on full compliance with this policy by f.b.i. field offices. and a report to the committees on appropriations regarding any violation of the policy. guess what? we didn't get this from the f.b.i. we had to get it from the islamic society of north america's own website. they reported that on wednesday, february 8, it was last year, 2012, that the american arab antidiscrimination committee, the arab american institute, the interfaith alliance, the islamic society of north america, isna, which has been

pronounced by the fifth circuit as having plenty of evidence to support that they fund terrorism, and have, and then it mentioned other groups, including the shoulder to shoulder campaign. but they, it says, they had an opportunity to discuss the matter with the public affairs office of the f.b.i. director robert muller joined the meeting to discuss these matters with representatives from the organizations. the conversation with director muller centered on material used by the agency that depicts falsehoods and negative connotations of the muslim american community. the use of the material was first uncovered by "wired" magazine. and that was uncovered by an organization that seems to be right in there with those who were unindicted by named co-conspirators in funding terrorism. from isna they say director muller informed the participants that the f.b.i.

took the review of the training material very seriously and he pursued the matter with urgency to ensure that this does not occur again in the future. isna president, who's a frequent visitor to the white house, who the white house consults on speeches or has and welcomed to the inner sanctum of the state department, other democratics here in washington, he stated -- other departments here in washington, he stated that the discovery of f.b.i. training materials that discriminated against muslims did damage to the trust that was built between dedicated f.b.i. officials and the american muslim community. we welcome and appreciate director muller's commitment to take positive steps toward eradicating such materials and rebuilding trust in an open dialogue.

nearly all f.b.i. training materials, including more than 160,000 pages of documents, ere reviewed by subject matter experts multiple times. consequently, more than 700 documents, 300 presentations of material have been deemed unuseable by the bureau and pulled from the training curriculum. material was pulled from the curriculum if even one component was deemed to include ctual errors or be in poor taste or be stereotypical or lack precision. i guess stereotypical would mean if they point out that terrorists have one thing in common, that would be stereotypical. isna also reports, quote, it was clear to all meeting participants that the issue of trust between community members and the f.b.i. needs to be taken seriously by all our

nation's decision makers. it was evident the bureau must strengthen this effort to build trust. how about trust from the other side? how about condemnation of terrorist acts? how about coming out and making clear all ties have been severed with hamas and hezbollah and those who would seek to make terror on innocent people? anyway, isna's rejoicing because they got the f.b.i. to actually go through and comb material that has words like jihad, words like extremists, words that have been purged from the f.b.i. lexicon. now, i was one who was allowed in a classified setting, which i felt was totally unnecessary, to see the names of the so-called subject matter experts. i was allowed to go through material and see what it was, and it's time, mr. speaker,

that our f.b.i. agents and intelligence be allowed to remove the blindfold and see who the enemy is when they do interrogations and questioning and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentlewoman from massachusetts, ms. tsongas, is recognized for 60 minutes as designee of the minority leader. ms. tsongas: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. tsongas: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today with my colleagues from massachusetts to thank the law enforcement officers, medical professionals, first responders and citizen heroes for their incredible bravery and sacrifice during and after the tragic events last week at the boston marathon. given the time constraints, i'd like to now defer to -- yield to my colleague from massachusetts, bill keating.

mr. keating: i'd like to thank my colleague for yielding and thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank my colleagues that we work day in and day out. when we came back into session, some of them gave their heart felt feelings for all those that were hurt during the rrible marathon bombing that occurred on monday, april 15. you know we first remember those that lost their lives during this terrible, terrible tragedy. there's never words that are adequate to deal with these issues. the type of loss to family, to friends, to loved ones can't really be put into words. i can only convey my own and all our colleagues' sympathy or those families.

four young people, four young people whose lives were taken too quickly from us all. four people who had so much to ive, four people who had a glimpse with the accounts of their lives as the public mourned and joined with their families at their loss. it was just a glimpse but what a glimpse. a young boy, marin richard, with a profound message as his poster revealed to all, no more , peace.people lingzi lu, who came from another country to better herself. accomplished student,

pianist, had friends in the short time she was here who came to this country to learn more, to become more and to ffer more. sean collier, a young police officer, to protect people and to serve, that was his goal, who gave his life doing just hat. krystle campbell, despite a busy life, busy schedule, put much of her life on hold over a year to help her grandmother when she was ill. the first responders and the people that were injured, the people that were injured, over

donohue ding richard who slowed down these perpetrators who could harm more people who was seriously injured and we pray for him in the process. first responders to the scene, including sievians who just risked everything they had to provide emergency aid and help to those runners and those bystanders who were there. first responders that had been trained for years for terrible moments like this who sacrificed their safety moving forward, e.m.t.'s, police officers, firefighters. the incredible medical community in the boston area, some of whom ran to work who were t happened

there ready. the emergency room doors opened, everything in place saving lives. we honor the citizens in our area who all gave up a small part of their freedom, listening to their leaders who displayed good judgment, common sense, moving forward to put their safety first. u know, those lives of these young people, these four young people that aren't with us now as well as the lives of those people that are recovering from the injuries and those first responders that helped us, they ll not be defined by a depraved act of violence of two are iduals, these people

the definers themselves, ivers, people that care. that's who we are. they define us, the best in us, the selfless side of us. they define the best of what's boston. they define the best of what is in the commonwealth of massachusetts. they define the best of us as americans, and they are all to be remembered today. it's time to put politics aside and remember what a great country we have because of individuals like this. i yield back my time. ms. tsongas: i thank the gentleman and appreciate very much his heart felt comments. at this time i'd like to yield to my colleague from rhode island, david cicilline.

mr. cicilline: i thank the gentlelady very much for yielding and thank my other colleague for accommodating me. my home is in providence, rhode island, which is about an hour south of boston. two weeks ago several of my neighbors and friends traveled to boston to compete in the marathon. when i first learned of my horrific thoughts, my thoughts immediately turned to them and their families. like all rhode islanders, i kept the people of boston and their loved ones in my thoughts and prayers over the past two weeks. it's in moments such as this that words can't adequately describe the pain we feel in our hearts, our continuing sense of disbelief and the anger we hold toward those responsible for such a senseless and vicious attack. the actions of these two individuals that demonstrate such a calous disregard for so many lives, some were ended and many more were irreversiblely changed, these attack were to

shape our lives. after the bombs exploded on this sunny day in boston and we saw the incredible harm caused to so many, we also witnessed the very best of humanity and the courageous actions of the brave men and women who responded to this attack, health care for the injured and relentlessly pursued their perpetrators and brought them to justice. we think about those brave police officers and first responders who witnessed these attacks firsthand and instinctively raced toward the source of these blasts so they could assist the wounded and keep others from harm. we think also about a 26-year-old m.i.t. campus police officer who was murdered as he worked to keep his community safe. we think about a transit police officer who never hesitated when he answered a call to report immediately to watertown and continues to fight after sustaining life-threatening injuries trying to apprehend these suspects.

sometimes it takes a tragic event to remind us of the incredible sacrifices our first responders make every single day. and the heroism demonstrated by these men and women in the face of such overwhelming danger helps remind us just how much we owe to those who keep our communities safe and towns across the country. these attacks were designed to strike fear and intimidate the people of boston and all americans. but instead they brought out the very best our country has to offer. not just in the actions we saw from men and women in boston, but in the generosity shown by those who gave blood, donated money and did everything they could to bring any measure of relief for the victims and their families. i join my colleagues in applauding their service today and ask that all of us remember the responsibility that those of us in the house have to serve our first responders and to continue to keep the amilies affected by this

attack in our thoughts and prayers. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i yield back. ms. tsongas: thank you. mr. speaker, on april 15 and in the days after, local, state and federal law enforcement personnel from across the commonwealth of massachusetts and nearby states, rhode island and new hampshire, joined in a week-long effort to respond to the marathon bombing and assist in finding and capturing the suspects. these dedicated first responders saved hundreds of lives in the immediate aftermath of the attack and saved countless more from the threat of future attacks. through unprecedented communication and confident leadership, public safety agencies at every level coordinated to bring justice down upon those responsible. their actions proved that no act of terror can blunt the spirit of resiliencey, of fortitude, of endurance that is at the heart of the american people. as relief and pride wash over the boston area, weseanollier,

somebody beloved by the student body. i had several m.i.t. students in to see me a couple days ago. they said everybody knew him and everybody liked him. and the more than 200 innocent people, a number from my district who suffered severe injuries from this senseless attack. . we want to remember and encourage all of them as they go forward. jeff baumann who as he came out of surgery was able to help identify the suspects. the corcoran family, a mother and daughter who are currently sharing a hospital room together as they begin the long journaly of recovery. but who already -- journey of recovery. but who are already having tremendous assistance. local high school where cyst something a student. and many -- crystal is a student. and many amp tears who were in the waiting room -- amputees who were in the waiting room to

encourage them and show them what is possible. also from my district, brittany lohring, steven burn, james gauntlet, david yepez. many members of the white family, the brussard family. remarkable people who share in a tremendous and troubling moment in our history. i'd also like to remember some other specific people who have roots to my district. commissioner ed davis. i have known commissioner davis since his early days on the beat in my hometown of local. during a 28-year -- lowell. during a 28-year career at the lowell police department, he worked as a beat cop, a detective and a vice and narcotics officer, being named chief in 1994. during his time in lowell, chief davis helped to turn around our city and set it off into an age of growth. we were proud of him when he left to become the boston police commissioner and we are even more proud of him now.

commissioner davis showed extraordinary intelligence, professionalism, poise and confidence from monday through the capture of the suspects on friday. he was a calming influence in a time of great chaos and crisis. he deserves our thanks, the gratitude of the people of boston, of our commonwealth, and of our country. and i commend special agent in harge richard who proved himself capable during the entire crisis as he oversaw the massive operation of identifying and tracking down the suspects and helped bring the swift arm of justice down upon those responsible. and also at times of great crisis we look to our lead for guidance and confidence. our -- our leaders for guidance and confidence. our leaders did not shy away but rather confronted the chaos head-on. challenged the evil and pushed forward so that we could together as one community arrive quickly at healing and justice. in particular, mayor tom

menino. this mayor came from the hospital to be involved in the aftermath and suspect search. seeing him on television in a wheelchair gave everyone a great feeling of pride and couldn't help but notice how deeply he cares for the city he has so ably overseen for many years. he embodies the grit and toughness that boston is known for. he embodies boston's strong. governor patrick was a true leader during a time of cry sills. he helped oversee the -- crisis. he helped oversee the coordination of so many agencies, to ensure optimal collaboration. made sure the public was up to date and aware of the situation as it developed. as we all watched moment to moment from our homes or wherever we might be. he stood with a determined, strong composure that trickled down throughout the state public safety agencies. and we will always appreciate president barack obama's deep involvement since the start. his words during the service at

the cathedral of the holy cross were a touching example of our nation's unwavering resolve. as much as we are boston strong, commonwealth strong, we are all one and we are all strong. and i have to say that the interfaith service was a remarkable moment when representatives of the many different faiths came together as we embark on a journey of healing and reassurance about the unity, strength and resiliency that boston is known for. it was a uniquely american day. the marathon that is much celebrated, draws people from across the world, across our country, across massachusetts, a great red sox game, many go from one event to the other, and patriots day, which commemorates the beginning of the american revolution, the reenactment of paul revere's ride, and the shot heard around the world and the commemoration that takes place in my district.

all of that is to say that we will work hard to follow up with and be a strong supporter of those who still seek to recover, make sure they have all the necessary resources going forward and that they have the strong support of their community and friends and that we will do all that it takes to move forward from this tragic moment and make of it something good that brings us all together and continue -- helps to continue on a path -- this country on a path of healing. with that i'd like to recognize my colleague, mr. mcgovern, my colleague from massachusetts, r. mcgovern. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i first want to thank my colleague, mrs. sonkas, for organizing today's -- ms. tsongas, for organizing today's special order, it's with immense gratitude that i rise

to commemorate massachusetts first responders today. while i'm proud to call myself a resident of the commonwealth of massachusetts, being from massachusetts has carried a very special significance these past 12 days. the tragic bombings that occurred on april 15 took three precious, innocent lives. and caused hundreds of others to suffer devastating wounds. a former intern of mine, patrick downs and his wife jess, were wounded and i want them to know that we are continuing to pray for them. and for all the others who were wounded. and we also remember officer sean collier, an m.i.t. police officer, who was shot and killed. and our prayers with his family. so many lives were upended by this tragic, senseless act of violence. citizens of the commonwealth and americans across the country are still coping with the horror of the bombings that took place on what is normally a celebratory day in massachusetts, patriots day. amidst these acts of violence

and terror, our belief in the fundamental goodness of people is strengthened with when we reflect on the courageous acts of so many in the wake of such a tragedy. i want to recognize the incredible sacrifices of massachusetts first responders and the sacrifices that they made from the moment the bombs went off until the time the final suspect was apprehended. and even as we speak, victims are still being treated by medical professionals at some of the world's finest hospitals like massachusetts general, the beth israel, boston medical center, brigham and womens and boston's children hospital, among others. police, firefighters, medical professionals, members of the national guard, even ordinary citizens rushed to the scene of the bombing last week in order to help the wounded. potentially putting themselves in harm's way. sleep was the last thing on the minds of many of these self-less men and women who worked -- selfless men and

women who worked back to back shifts in support of the communities they call home. the extraordinary response of the boston medical community is very much a part of the story of the 2013 boston marathon. the explosions took place at 2:50 p.m. emergency medical teams mobilized immediately and 35 minutes later, after the injured were swiftly and efficiently stabilized, transported andtry anded at hospitals -- triaged at hospitals throughout the city, the first patient was wheeled into an operating room. nurses, doctors, all medical personnel simply showed up to help. i want to recognize the incredible leadership of president obama, of governor deval patrick and boston mayor tom menino. they offered words of confidence, they reassured us and they helped us get through this terrible ordeal. and i was particularly moved to see mayor menino, who was recovering from a broken leg, stand tall and lead his great city. i also want to recognize

richard dess lawyer yea, the -- deslaurier. they have all made our state very proud. at interfaith service last week, we showed the world that boston and massachusetts will not be deterred. we are a resilient community and we will emerge from this stronger than ever. in a week where we saw the very best and worst of human behavior on display, i am proud to say that massachusetts' best, our first responders triumphed. while we continue to reflect on the tragedies of last week, we move forward with the renewed sense of pride, knowing that their exceptional commitment to public service is what makes us all boston strong. i thank the gentlelady for yielding me the time and i yield back. ms. tsongas: i thank the gentleman and appreciate his comments and the fact that we are all coming together to talk

about this event. we still are working very hard to comprehend. and with that i'd like to yield to my colleague, our newest member from massachusetts, congressman kennedy. mr. kennedy: i'd like to begin by thanking the gentlelady from massachusetts for the opportunity and most importantly, excuse me, for pulling us all together here today to mark a moment that none of us will ever forget. a signature moment in massachusetts history. i also want to begin by recognizing the victims of the horrific attacks that happened last monday. thoughts and prayers with them and their families as they begin a long road to recovery. i think, like many of my colleagues from massachusetts and like so many people from massachusetts and from really around the country and around the world, have always delighted in marathon monday.

i don't know how many times i went out and watched the runners as they ran by on their quest to the finish line on boylston street. my step-mother has run the marathon a number of times and, together with my dad and brother, we would often go down to heartbreak hill to watch the runners at the times they need it most. and as you see all the runners run by, i think one of the things that always stuck with me was how many people were there cheering them on. you think about it, 26.2 miles. eople from the very beginning, to the end, two, three, four, five rows deep on each side of the streelt street. sitting there -- street. sitting there, screaming, yelling, offering a bottle of water or literally a hand to those that are trying, striving for an incredible feat, personal endurance and

excellence. and that's really i think to me what that marathon, what that day is all about. it's about a community that comes together to cheer on not just the runners but to celebrate what we have built together. to recognize that that day isn't just about those individual feats of excellence but about a community that's willing to cheer on complete strangers, for runners to know, and you'll hear it to those who have competed in that race, yes, it's an extraordinarily different course. but that boston is one of the best marathons to run because there is always a crowd that is there to carry you through to the finish line. complete strangers. people you will never see -- you have never seen before and will never see again. but they are there to offer a hand. d so it was with great sadness, but also great pride that i watched the events unfold on monday. to see complete strangers run into danger rather than flee

from it. to see our first responders answer a call of bravery without hesitation. to meet the doctor that after running the marathon and completing 26.2 miles ran to work so that he could get started helping save victims. to meet some of the victims and their families. to know that we will never, despite how much we have come together, be able to replace martin and chris talat and lu -- krystle and lu and officer collier. but that the long path to recovery, that we will be there them every step of the way, to recognize the law enforcement officers that put themselves in grave danger, never quite knowing what might happen or what weapons these two terrible individuals might have on them. that took great risks for the sake of safety for our own

communities. to the investigators and the prosecutors that now have the long task of bringing these individuals to justice. to our sports teams, for the 17,000 strong that sang the national anthem in boston garden and the 30,000-plus that belted it out at fenway park. to mayor menino, vice president biden, president obama, for their leadership in this difficult time. to the one fund for boston that in over 10 days has already grown to over $20 million, poring in from citizens from around the country, to help provide a little bit of relief to those who will need it most in this long road to recovery. it is an extraordinary message, a powerful symbol that gets back to what boston and massachusetts has always been about. from the first people that set foot on our shores, the earliest settlers and the

pills, that we have each other's -- pilgrims, that we have each other's backs and we always will and next year on patriots day, the marathon will be run, more crowded and louder than ever. and with that i yield back. ms. tsongas: i thank my colleague thank my colleague for his inciteful comments. it is so true, it's embedded in the race itself, the marathon itself. it's something that was so evident as everybody responded, as the bombs went off to tragic effect. it's been followed up with all of the tremendous outpouring of contributions, both to individual funds as well as the one fund, and in the smallest ways, as i mentioned, when lowell high school sent prom tickets to sidney. they wanted to make sure she would be able to attend. and also that spirit of help from across the country to have a young man who lost his leg in

a shark attack in hyatt his own expense come to boston to visit with some of those who had sadly lost their legs to say, yes, you're going to be -- not fine, forever changed but your life will be very productive and positive. we have seen this over and over again. and i thank you for your comments. and with that i would like to recognize my colleague from new mpshire, congresswoman carol she porter. -- carol shea-porter. ms. shea-porter: thank you. i want to talk about boston and boston's neighbor, new hampshire. on that day, like so many others, i had a family member whose brother-in-law was running in that race and he was running because his father had died of cancer, and so many people were running for causes that day. fortunately, the family's fine, but some families were

devastated beyond belief. you know, boston's a small city, but it's a great city. new hampshire is a small state but it's a great state. and so what happens to boston and what happens to massachusetts is felt deeply in new hampshire. you see, we work together, we play together. and we attend events together. we also grieve together. and so when that call came to new hampshire when boston reached out and asked our police forces to help, the team member swat was, of course, we can. the answer from the manchester swat team, manchester, new hampshire, was, yes, and they were on their way. the answer from the response team that has officers from 11 different seacoast communities was, yes. and the answer from the new hampshire state police swat and the explosive disposal unit was, yes, we'll be there. they understood the danger, but

they also understood that they were needed and they didn't hesitate. and the stories coming from that experience are very moving. one team reported how an elderly woman in watertown had hidden behind her couch for hours. you can imagine the terror that the residents felt, and yet our first responders were there, the police were there, the comfort was there. so as we pray for the victims and we remember those who died, the victims are also from new hampshire and many other states as we know, and somebody died from a foreign country, but we're all one. we're all boston strong. and as we remember all of them, we thank our police officers and our first responders for always being there when we need them, because as i said, when the call came, yes, of course we'll do that. thank you very much for having this and i yield back. ms. tsongas: i thank the gentlewoman and appreciate very

much her comments as well as the shared commitment of rhode island, new hampshire and massachusetts to responding to the horrific attacks. as we face the days ahead, patriots day will continue to be a day when we commemorate a people who refuse to be terrorized and courageously defend the ideals on which our nation was founded. in the world of our great poet, ralph waldo emerson, our flag will most defiantly remained unfurled. hank you and i yield back. -- ms. ker pro tempore:

tsongas: mr. speaker, i ask that the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the ch the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on april >> wrapping up to date's session, members completing work allowing for the sale of the government's supply of helium, also for the faa to shift funds to avoid air traffic controller for lows. that wraps up the week. we will have more house coverage when the gavel comes down here on c-span. the 2013 congressional directory

is here. it includes contact information, district maps, committee assignments, information about cabinet members, supreme court justices, and the nation's governors. you can order online at c- span.org/shop. we will show selected dinners from the white house correspondents' dinner is from the last three administrations. theay, the dedication of george the bush presidential library and museum. withdedicate this library an unshakable faith in the future of our country. lifetime tonor of a lead a country that is as brave and noble as the united states. whenever challenges come before

us, i will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead. 10:30 a.m. rning at donovan campbell, on leaving a platoon of marines in iraq. 4:00, the insanity trial of mary todd lincoln. >> in this documentary, "free candy," alan shimp asks what government spending will have on future generations. alan is the first-prize winner in this student cam competition. ♪

because i'm sweet on candy and candy is sweet on you. >> mr. president, thank you for seeing me. i'm here to tell you that 25% of americans have no representation and heavily taxed. i remember four years ago speaker of the house john boehner complained -- >> we're broke. we're broke. america's broke. all year long our friends have been on this massive spending spree that our nation can't afford. >> in fact, we're more than broke, $16 trillion in debt, a debt that will be paid by my generation. if i remember my school house rock, it's our founding principle. >> i don't know how worthy all these projects are but i do have to ask the question, are they more important than our kids and grandkids who have to pay the debt? >> there are others who dismiss

the debt is even our problem. 34that means over the last years there's more dollars than it's taken away from us in taxes, in other words it's a net $15 trillion of dollars that the public hold. >> so he's saying that the government debt is my asset. in fact there's other people who think we should go further into debt. >> central irony is caused by too much spending, too much lending and it can only be resolved with more confidence and more lenting and more spending. >> and yet i hear larry somers and austin goolsbee and i hear paul krugman and joe stiglass, all of my colleagues talking about how we need to stim threat economy with more government spending. government redistributes sources from the people who produce them to the people who didn't produce them.

>> anyone? anyone? >> this is like november 1. you wake up and your stomach hurts from having too much halloween candy. is the result to gorge on more candy? >> i could have had candy apples and gum and spent money on all sorts of things. >> your company created a $16 trillion debt for my generation. annderstand you're building infrastructure for the future. some spending is necessary and good. >> this money is spent and injects demand into the economy and it's jobs created. it creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you could name. >> you are my candy, girl and you got me wanting you >> we've got do something. >> honey aw sugar, sugar >> when we first met angel

adams, she was living in a hotel room with 15 of her children rangeing from 11 years to 15 months and she was angry at the system. >> somebody needs to pay for all my children. >> that's where food stamp benefits come in. they help you eat right when money's tight. >> more than 10% of their discretionary income left after shelter and food on college loans. >> i tell you this college is a failure. you are my candy, girl >> after you invest in infrastructure. contractors and manufacturing but they will have that income and put it back into the economy and affect our tour

ifplg and education sector. >> roads? where we're going, we don't need roads. >> i can talk about what the recovery act did. they basically saved the state of nevada. from going into bankruptcy. >> mr. president, i can't ask more from our government than that. however, i can conserve less from them. some spending is just wasteful. >> the cowbell hall of fame. >> the defense contractors thinking rich off their failure and incompetence. and they want to build a bridge with $223 million of your tax dollars. thatanks but no thanks on bridge to nowhere.

>> because when the american people no longer belief that this is a place where only their willingness to work hard and to act with honor and integrity and engine newty determines their success in life then we will have a bunch of people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check. >> yes, it takes the bull by the horns and starts spending i had an vesting in things that make sense. >> the administration has pledged $3.5 in stimulus money also known as tax dollars, and that's just so far. now california says lit need more. tens of billions from federal taxpayers to finish it.

>> it's not in mississippi from this year's commissioning. >> i want one. i want one. i want one. >> the mesh worm. an m.i.t.-led team that designed a robot that moves like an earthworm. >> it's all hopeless. you might as well buy greek bonds and go down together. >> mr. president you realize if i had $16 trillion of these little pieces of cavendy, i could cover the entire area of washington, d.c. 4,000 times over. the youth of this country are being taxed without representation.

now, while i sit around watching c-span all day, most kids are not that well inform sod you can't give us the vote. you can either spend more responsibly or you canthis lead. spend irresponsibly or you can eliminate the debt. the youth of this country demand it. thank you for your time. have i lollipop and a great day. >> congratulations to all the winners in this year's studentcam competition. >> margaret hamburg testified on capitol hill today on the agency's 2014 budget. the fda is requesting $4.60 billion, with $2.80 billion from food safety. she told subcommittee members that the fda will have 2100 fewer food inspectors.

because of budget shortfalls. with funds authorized by congress and in part by fees charged to industry to cover the cost of doing and approving new drugs. this is just over 90 minutes. -- viewing and approving new drugs. this is just over 90 minutes. >> good morning. i would like to welcome everyone to the subcommittee today, dr.

margaret hamburg -- the commissioner for the food and drug administration, and joining her is mr. norris cochrane, of the u.s. department of health and human services. and j. tyler, the chief financial officer of the fda. the work that you and your colleagues perform touch the lives of every american. and we appreciate the service that you perform on a daily basis. there are many challenges that face fda. pharmacies and drug shortages -- food borne illnesses. those are just some of those challenges. from where i said, i know the challenge -- of the pace where fda moves with guidance and rules and regulations to the process. on thiso focus bureaucracy that just can't seem to produce crucial guidance even though the science is evident.

the dietary guidance for americans on seafood consumption for women who are pregnant have been in place since january 2011 but this subcommittee has asked to finalize seafood consumption guidance with no indication of closure because this issue is tied up in bureaucratic infighting at the department of health and human services. this kind of delay causes frustration with congress and millions of people -- millions of women who need answers on this and other matters. turning to the budget, i don't know what the budget was submitted so late, when the basis for the request was the resolution signed into law september 28, 2012. the result is a simple request of a repeat of last year's budget. this budget could have been submitted much earlier and there

would have been more clarity regarding the request that there are currently. on monday we asked the fda to provide something as simple as a table that shows the proposed changes between the final labels and the budget requests level. other agencies within provided this to the committee -- more than two weeks ago without us even asking. we just got the information well after the sun went down last night. budgetarysic information the fda should have provided without the f -- without asking and they should provide this upon request without delay. $4.70 billioning for 2014 of which 2.6 billion is in discretionary budget

authority. authorityuesting new for food imports and food facility registration and inspection. these fees total 226 million, and they do not seem to enjoy the same level of industry support as the prescription drug or medical device industry gave to their programs because the food industry believes that this is a food-safety tax. it seems that the fda has failed to communicate to the industry what performance measures they would use to manage this program. these fees are not currently authorized, and a chance of congress authorizing this would be very slim. with that i will turn it over to the gentleman from california, the ranking member. the welcome also commissioner here -- and i want to thank her very much for

coming out to the valley to see how fresh produce is grown in the field and we are still talking about your visit and how you compared having to dress up net, and -- and a hair gloves, in order to go into the field, like going into an operating room and that is why we are trying to keep the fields very healthy and clean. we have all -- criticize the administration for a late budget but we also need to criticize ourselves, or even producing a budget. we have not had a bill out of this committee since 2012 and the only time we have this was 2010. is supposed to base his budget on what congress approves the year before. i hope that we can remedy that.

i would also suggest that we need -- this committee ought to give the fda the flexibility -- and the authority to use the user fees. these are paid by the private sector to get the job done but they can't get the job done because we have the unintended consequences of the budget cuts and sequestration. this is money in the bank sitting there and we need to give this as we have in so many different ways, letting the parks keep the fees and use them, and look at the way that forave to qualify to run congress. you have to pay a fee at the local area and they get to keep that feed for running the election department and so on. the private sector is going to get really frustrated, really discourage of the government is not being affair partner. and i think if you agree with

private enterprise, they want answers to their questions and we ought to allow the department to use the fees that they are paying now for that purpose. i think this is something that we ought to work on in committee. have the fortunate to full committee chairman with us today and i would like to recognize them for any opening remarks. >> thank you for recognizing me. the morning. you foroner, thank being with us today, to this up -- discuss the fiscal four -- the fiscal budget today. in other subcommittee hearings i have lamented the fact that this budget request is woefully late, and it will not get our nation back on solid financial footing, but we will persevere. before i comment, let me hasten

to thank you for the recent generic,that prohibits from reible oxycontin coming to america. the drugs used are a recipe for disaster and advocates across the country salute you for your landmark decision on these generic pain killers. the abuse of prescription drugs, especially opioid pain pills, is the fastest-growing drug threat in the nation. so great that -- your colleagues at the center for disease crisis have called this an epidemic. must responsibly address other epidemics, hi-n! and meningitis from steroid examinens, you must

drugs entering on the market including the prescribing patterns and the potential abuse. and last week's decision by your agency was -- will surely save lives and i hope that this is a sign of things to come as a relates to our nation's very serious pain-pill addiction. is abtably, the fda criminal -- is a critical partner in getting this education issue under control. i am anxious to hear from you today about how we tend to do all this on the success story and what other steps the fda can take to fight back against the abuse of prescription medications, like rescheduling of our most abused paint bill -- pain pills, and limiting the indications -- for severe pain only.

now, to your budget. the fda isr, seeking $4.70 billion, 622 billion above the fiscal 2013 level. i should note that this request assumes that sequestration is undone. far from a given, considering the president's unwillingness to engage in discussions to address our real cost drivers, without talking more about taxes. to that end, this budget assumes the inclusion of six new user fees, including the registration of food facilities, likely to be passed on to consumers. the publicimagine, has little appetite for food fees, and go so sure that we will discuss this issue at length, as well as your comments about the effects of sequestration on food

inspections and the recent court order to move forward on the implementation of the food safety modernization act. so we look forward to hearing from you this morning. >> thank you, chairman rogers. have votesn mind, we today so i don't expect those to be called for another hour so we should be well into the hearing, and we will just see, how long we go, because sometimes the floor schedule is very unpredictable. with that, your statement is entered into the record, but this time we would like to recognize you for your opening statement and comments before we go into the questioning. all members of, the subcommittee, i want to congratulate you on your new

position as chairman. thank thet to subcommittee for your past investment -- if it helps reduce the gap between the budget and the demands of our increasingly complex mission. congress has given the fda commission many products that are important for the safety and well-being of every american. treatew medicines to killers like cancer and heart disease. americans rely on products overseen by the fda every single day. we also recognize that those who produce our food products are vital components of the u.s. economy as is the most from fda. -- trustsublic trust the fda oversight, these industries flourished.

there is severe economic issues involved. the measurableon accomplishments this year. 39 novel medicines, the highest number in over a decade, and the majority of these drugs were approved in the united states before anywhere else in the world, some after as little as 3.5 months. the number of drug shortages were cut in half. and we turned around a decade backlog. working with state and territorial partners we conducted 150,000 tobacco retailers to make sure that they are not selling cigarettes to minors, and we published our first to food safety proposed rules with the implementation of this historic modernization act. the fda is a smart investment.

consider the products we regulate, with 20 cents of every dollar. with the fda and public forars, every american pays the services and as the fda oversees a multitude of products, our job has become increasingly demanding. first we are in the middle of dramatic changes in the way that food and drugs and biological devices are produced, would sing revolutionary advances in science and technology that holding such promise to improve health and prevent disease but also bringing in new regulatory complexities. and we face the globalization of our food and medical products demonstrated by a quadrupling of imports in the last decade.

congress has continued to expand responsibility with new laws, the most sweeping reform of the food safety laws in seven years. the family smoking prevention control act to give fda the responsibility to regulate tobacco products and most recently, the passage of the innovation act which -- among other things creates two new user fees for the more affordable versions of drugs essential for holding down health care costs, to increase efficiency and effectiveness. budget needs 2014 we must respond to the increasing responsibility while recognizing the responsibility of the strained economic environment. the leverage -- the present

proposed the budget request for over $4.60 billion including $2.50 billion in budget authority and $2.10 billion in user fees. 769 million in user fees including two new user fee proposals. this shows our efforts for fisma -- working on permission that -- on prevention rather than waiting until the problem occurs, to put in place. -- the risk-based flexible system, that recognizes and respects the components of the food enterprise. $40nt to thank you for the million in the money of that will help us to continue our

outreach and activity. request and our budget congress hasn, long endorsed the use of fees to help the agency work and meet specific agency needs as well as benefiting the american public. that they will benefit with the food and safety administration that works effectively to prevent the safety problems. modern foodild this safety system including the new mandates for import overside without the funding laid out in the president's budget. we look to all of our stakeholders to shape a proposal that advances both industry and public interest. in addition, we must respond to

an harness modern science to enhance the pipeline of new and better medicines and vaccines. we ask for 80 million to consolidate fda scientists on the campus to outfit the bio- science lab, and without these funds that cannot be used and the $300 million cost of constructing them is wasted. we want to continue this and other work. we believe our budget targets our needs, focusing on programs that are essential for food and effective medical products. i look forward to answering your question today, and working with you in the coming years. >> thank you, dr. hamburg. your testimony this money -- morning, let's go right into the budget request.

your testimony says that you are asking for an additional $10 million, which is above for overseeing safety, safety products from china. add 60 newu will inspectors in china. the question is, is this the same $10 million provided in the currency activities? >> i apologize to the issues with the budget -- this has been complex in developing fiscal year 2014 going forward. there was uncertainty about the funding levels but we're asking for a continuation of the $10 million to continue our efforts to oversee food and drug safety in china, imports from china, we're asking for a continuation of the base that was established

within the addition of $10 million in the budget. not the additional $10 million on top of that. is $3.50 million with fy 12, did the committee provide this as part of fy 13. that $3.50 million as wecal year 13, implement this area, for countermeasures in the american public and we need to continue that into fiscal year 14. >> they are seeking $14 million to continue the food andrnization -- safety act,

the fda was provided with an additional $40 million in food safety. does this replace this $40 million -- for the food safety that was provided. 2013, theal year addition of $40 million is vitally important. if this was to be occur there would be $40 million and we would get an additional 3 million, to make 43 million in fiscal year 2013 and this would be terrific. -- in fiscal year 2013, there was no your money and that is important in terms of using this affectively because you need those forces, coming late in the budget cycle.

in the fiscal year time frame and we are counting on those sources. >> you mentioned the white oak facility, and the fda is taking $17.7 million for that facility -- and again this committee provided those funds for the federal year 2013 resolution and the request for these funds was described as a one-time request that would complete the $300 .illion investment at white oak is this the same $17 million that was provided in 2013? this is for the same thing that was asked for and received in 2013. >> this would actually be a

continuing need in fiscal year 2014. further requirements for fully outfitting and training the individuals and making sure that we have the critical components to make the laboratory work, the loading docks for delivery, and the pickup of materials, the services, etc.. those are actually additional needs on top of what was in the fiscal year 2013 funding. >> it looks like from the request that this was for the same fang so we need some additional justification. >> i would be very pleased to clarify and again, i apologize for the confusion that may have arisen in the budget process. >> let me recognize --

>> i want to follow up on the comment i made about the fee structure. what kind of a backlog they have? not being able to spend these fees? >> we are just beginning to implement the sequestration cuts but this creates the very serious concern for us, we carefully negotiated with the industry around a set of critical program goals, in priority areas for work, and performance measures to track our progress to achieving those goals, and without the full funding, that was a valley with as necessary to achieve those goals we will obviously fall behind and it will have implications for a number of important activities, medical product reviews, training, and recruitment. >> what will that do to the private sector, seeking

approval? >> it is troubling to them and to us that there were agreements made including starting to critical new user fee programs, that will make any difference to the american people and those monies are being collected from the industry but they are going the treasury- department, i guess, and they cannot be used to support the program's activities and cannot be used to offset the debt, as i understand it. this is a troubling situation that compromises our ability to move forward in critical areas of mutual importance to industry, and to all of our stakeholders. >> i would hope that we would look at this the way that we looked at giving flexibility to air-traffic controllers and the department of defense, we should

give the flexibility in the fee structure to be used for the purposes to which they are collected. let me ask you about the countermeasures that the chairman asked you about. it is three years since he began the countermeasure initiative and congress is always looking for a way to measure success of these programs. has the fda approve any drugs or diagnostics to treat chemical or nuclear threats, since establishing -- >> we have made enormous progress going forward, in key areas of activity and a number of important new drug approvals, anti-biotic is with the prophylactic play, treating the inhalation of anthrax and to prevent this under certain circumstances, botulism, anti toxins which can make a real

difference, both in response to a potential biological threat and also disease and a number of important influenza diagnostics to help us deal with a pandemic threat as well as seasonal fluke. when there is a public health crisis, to treat smallpox and the smallpox vaccine. there is a pediatric indication -- and a serious gap in the this iseasure ability, an area of -- real progress that will make a difference. >> this will be pressured -- is

so pleased to see that we are moving forward with that, and hopefully we can strongly support you in that. one other question that comes up is the backlog on sunscreen. -- my brother law welaw died in our house, went through all of the suffering that families go through, and it would shock me that we have not done any new sunscreen approvals for a number of years, decades. are a pending sunscreen applications and none of them have yet been approved. what is taking so long? >> we have made some progress on issues of labeling, and other aspects of assessing safety, and indications for the use of sunscreen.

this issue is a priority for and we're trying to move forward with respect to the availability and the safety of sunscreen products, and their ingredients with the applications -- and we are -- i am not aware of the particulars, but i am willing to follow up with you. >> do you think something will be done this year? >> i don't want to talk about that because i don't know the specifics but sunscreen is regulated under the monograph of the framework, and a thecreen monograph is highest priority and the processes in place to move forward with respect to the overall regulation of sunscreen, enabling us to

provide the best possible science with safety and ingredient -- ingredients. data that has been used in other settings as well. but we will follow up on this with you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. commissioner hamburg, as discussed last week, at other times -- i am thrilled by the fda's decision to keep the crushible oxycontin off the market. wereeople, especially, crushing those time release bills, injecting this and getting the immediate high. all at once.

this keeps a very dangerous drug off the street. from a legal perspective the fda determined that the reformulated have the oxycontin did abuse deterrent and the original formulation was removed for reasons of safety or effectiveness. this is part of the new pharma -- they have the current abuse deterrent formulations. product is another being looked at in that

context, not in terms of the new specific applications, but -- in terms of whether or not it meets the criteria of abuse deterrent and one hope is that we can help provide incentive to industry, with the models of abuse -- to strengthen the and alsoapproaches, developing new approaches dynamic,t needs to be as unfortunately the of users can overcome the abuse deterrent strategy. we put out the guidance, as you know, with how we talk about the criteria for the abuse encouraging more

innovation. and we want to see more applications before us. use for the you application of the abuse deterrence? >> i regret to say that there are four criteria but i don't think i can't reproduce them for you. it can be treated that they say what they do, and they behave in ways that significantly reduce the ability to crush, and quify forelt or li injection, these products. we need to see this scientifically in the laboratory context and also in terms of actual clinical experience.

be sure that the same standards are applied with oxycontin and i am sure that you agree with that. >> it is also important that just because the company claims this abuse to turned it does not mean that it is. sameve to apply the standards to achieve the goal. we don't want the standard so high that nobody can meet them, we want to the industry to work on these products. >> you are doing good work, and instead of the disease control -- and the epidemic, it is killing more people than car wrecks, especially young people. your decision so far will save lives. rescheduling,out

drugs.odone andate january, the fda the drug advisory committee voted 2-12 tighten the prescriptions for niger code on -- 2-1 to tighten prescriptions .n hydrocodone an emergency room visits involving -- the emergency room visits involving hydrocodone increased -- and these are taken with drugs or alcohol, the most trinitiy" tehe "holy

alium.rocodone with v there is a false sense among some patients and doctors that vicodin is les potent or -- less formingor less habit- than oxycodone and -- perscriptions for schedule -- prescriptions for schedule 2 -- have no automatic refill and as almost every opiod is a schedule-2 drug and more carefully regulated, the most abused narcotic is missing from this list. please by letter

-- pleas by letter to you. and i wonder when you will decide this issue. and where it is going? >> it is an ongoing process. we did have an advisory committee and we did have more information discussed. we are looking at the information presented in that committee. and more information came into different perspectives on this issue and trying to address the importance -- as we have the access for medical needs and potential for the abuse and misuse, and we will be making a recommendation soon. i cannot speak to the direction

that we are going, and the specifics of timing but i can assure you that -- as i did with the other of used to turn to issues, i will reach out to you. >> i thank you for reaching out to me on oxycontin. finally, on the matter of opioid narcotics which can be used for moderate to severe pain, this is not as and we havedrug been pleading with the fda for years, to restrict the labeling n.oxyconti -- oxycontin.

haveis for people who terminally ill patients, which have been thrown out there for toothaches and everything else. not misleading people that this is not as habit forming or as difficult to kick as it really is. when we may get some indication of what may happen on changing the labeling, to strike moderate? >> as you know, we are in a process of consideration of these important issues and what is the appropriate management, acute and chronic pain with respect to this class of drugs, and had a public meeting, to hear the presentations and get experts on public comments on these issues and we are

reviewing, that we take the issue very seriously. we believe that the fda labeling has been used as an important component of what needs to be a multifaceted strategy to address this clip -- critical problem, and we are actively engaged -- and i want to commend you for your leadership on this issue and other leadership, making sure that adequate attention is paid and there is a sense of the agency. we do feel that, and we are working hard to really address this, in a meaningful scientifically-based way. be a very -- this should not be a very difficult decision. i would not imagine why you would keep moderate pain labeling for such a dangerous drug that has proven -- around

the country. -- proven lethal around the country. congressman frank wolf and i, 10 years ago, talked about this issue of removing moderate on the label, which invites thisrs and patients to use for less than severe pain. and nothing happened. this was 10 years ago. we have been the lone wolf out there in the forest, crying for help but now we have some help. petition --' clinicians and health officials, all of them are asking the fda to change the way that opioid narcotics may be prescribed. with the proper labels and the prescription painkillers, the prescriptions would be more aware of the safety concerns and

beforeiveness of opiods prescribing highly addictive narcotics. there is a growing consensus there, to do this now. >> we have heard you and your concerns and we take them very seriously. as you know, we have taken steps with some aspects of the to theg of opioids, and thef opiod drugs voluntary requirements on education -- which is key. we hope that there will be legislation that will actually improve mandatory training as part of the dea licensing for the physicians who use these products because they are so powerful with effective treatment -- and the potential

for abuse as we come forward with a response to your question. >> thank you for being here. >> we have been joined by the ranking member of the corporations committee, and now we will recognize you for an opening statement any questions you may have. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and welcome. we are fortunate to have a person of your caliber in this position. this week there has been a lot of attention paid to the damaging effect of the sequester, and commercial air travel. are anght delays inconvenience and represent real losses to the businesses in new the, we cannot ignore dangers of effects of the sequestered. in other areas of the budget, especially when they have a profound consequences for public

health. with medical countermeasures, to address nuclear threats, and the major causes of death by cancer and heart disease, the american people rely on the fda to review and approve projects -- products that they review every day. to congressional action replace the sequestered -- is clear that the fda and the agency will undertake 2100 fewer inspections that adds an 18% decline from last year, and the implementation of the 2011 food safety modernization act will be further delayed, meaning we can continue to expect an estimated cost of $75 million in lost funding for medical expenses and fordrugs to sustain life --

the quality of life and more time with their loved ones, by cutting services and decreasing investments critical to our economic competitiveness, these budget cuts are having a severe impact across all sectors of our economy. reckless,place indiscriminate cuts with a new focus on jobs and economic growth and a balanced fiscal package to create long-term deficit reductions. and i look forward to the day soon, and german writers and i can work together in a bipartisan way, and address the serious issue as a result of sequestration, and into a budget that makes sense for the american people. we know the discretionary budget is at the lowest level in the last 45 years as a present -- a% of gdp.

i guess i made my message clear so let me ask a few questions. millions of americans with celiac disease have been waiting for the fda to finalize a standard for gluten-free labeling and it took five years to get bipartisan support with just labels on food, which is food allergies and celiac disease. in 2004, the consumer protection act that i offered -- offered became law. aen the provisions required gluten-free standard by august of 2008, nearly five years passed and nine years since law was signed. angeles was still waiting for the administration to finalize the rules. i know the rule-making process is complicated, but when will a

rule be finalized which will give those with celiac disease the peace of mind that the food they purchased -- is truly gluten-free? and no matter who i speak to, everyone is on they flew in-free diet, so it would be helpful if we could be assured that what is declared the gluten-free is gluten-free. >> this is an important problem and it does turn out as we learn more about celiac disease -- that a gluten-free diet is affecting more and more a month -- americans and it is critical that people have that information about the nature of their products. able atped i might be the hearing -- to have been able to speak to the role actually happened -- having been issued but this is in the final stages of administrative review and i do believe that you will see

i promise and as congressman rogers, the first call but i make will be to you. this is very important and another area i am concerned with, is drug compound in. by safety of products sold pharmacies following last year's deadly meningitis outbreak -- is a serious concern and in efforts to crack down on unsafe facility is the fda has conducted a number of inspections of these pharmacies. can you share with us your findings? >> we did undertake a fairly about 31e effort to do surveillance inspections of facilities we considered high risk because they were making sterile, enjoyable products, and

we knew about them either because of past problems, with the state telling us that they should be on the high-risk list, or in some cases, what we learn from the public and the media. and we also did away set of inspections in relation to reports that we are getting of actual reports about products. those inspections were very concerned because we did find real stability concerns, and i would underscore that these are the buildings that -- are not required to register with the fda because they are compound in pharmacies, so they are not routinely inspected by us but when -- when we went in and saw the standards for sterile processing there were real reasons for concern and we took a number of recall projects --

products that reflected a more limited risk, and we certain believe -- certainly believe this underscores the certainty of a stronger, more clear regulatory and legal framework for oversight of the effect -- these facilities and it is striking that in light of recent events, we have real trouble the number of these inspections, having our authority question, and in two cases we had to go to the court, to get administrative warrants, to have access to the records that we needed, to assess what they were making, and their business practices, the-- really understanding risks. a veryave -- indicated serious and urgent desire to work with congress, to create new work, stronger, more clear

legislation, to provide the oversight of these facilities that the american people deserve and expect. >> i hope that we can continue to work together to resolve this huge challenge. i have been told in talking with some people since last year's deadly outbreak there have been recalls and other cases of thetions, loss of the eye with repackaged -- for the off-label treatments -- and i would assume that you will agree that certain areas of the body, such as the in the brain and spinal column are least able to defend against infections such said any great repackaging war compound in products injected in this area, they have a higher likelihood of

resulting in injury or death. hope and i will conclude that the fda would consider prioritizing the oversights while we're working on regulations, and enforcement activities to focus on those compound or repackaged products that pose the most significant risk to patients, based on the risk factors. and with all patients benefit from a single, wally standard relating to sterile injectable? >> we believe that there needs explicitar and standards for sterile practices in terms ofrm -- the fda regulatory oversight we think we can provide the greatest benefit in terms of where the risks are, by

addressing sterile and injectable products, those facilities making sterile and injectable products in advance order without a prescription and selling across state lines, to represent the category that represents the highest risk to the american public. we think that clearly, any sterile product should be made in accordance with sterile procedures. >> it seems so obvious that it is shocking to me that this is such a huge issue out there and it is costing people their eyes, and some cases their lives, and enormous expenses in trying to treat this. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman, commissioner, thank you for being here. as we have this discussion about solving the sequestered -- it is interesting to note that the federal government continues to

grow and that a significant rate, this year the federal government will have more tax dollars from the american people at any other time in history but we still run record deficits and as you endeavor to try to do more with less, greater requirements are put upon you based upon the implementation of the obama health care bill, and those additional requirements that your agency did not have some time ago. that is what the private sector has had to deal with and i know that you get this. but in confidence -- we think about how we have to handle these reductions. most american people have had to deal with more than this, folks have lost their job and had their hours cut and i talked to a constituent who had her hours cut because her employee does not want her to have over 30 hours to qualify for the health care bill.

onre is the increase mandates in businesses and the increased cost of doing business and i want to talk about a couple of those and i have some questions. one of the impacts on the economy is billions of dollars in unfunded mandates and trillions in taxes -- and if those burdens were not enough we now have federal food-labeling mandates, on the local grocers and convenience store owners, all of this is bad for the economy and job creation and the cost of doing business and to meetate was to try the requirements coming from the health-care law, with the affordable way to be implemented. i ask for we are with the food- labeling requirements, working hand in hand with our grocery in thers -- to be done

most cost beneficial way possible. but do we know the impact in terms of the output that these grocery store owners will have to pay? >> the health care reform act did include menu-labeling, four chains of 20 or more and vending 20 or more by the same honor, and we have been doing rule-making on that, and it has been an extended process, with the proposed rules, and comments and we are now working through all of the comments that we have gotten in the process to move forward with the final rules, and one of the challenges of been defining what is a restaurant like a establishment. a restaurant seems straightforward, and i thought implementing this would be one of the easier tasks but this has been enormously complicated and

the issues about convenience andes, movie theaters, movie theaters that sell processed food -- they have been part of these discussions for generations and we attempted to look at the public health impact, and the economic analysis. the requirements for implementation and making this excessively burdensome, that has the spirit of the legislation and by the end of the calendar year -- we will be putting out the final rules on many -- on labeling. >> do we know the cost for compliance? i have seen some reports that this would be up to $1 billion for grocers and convenience stores. does your agency have an idea what this will cost and how can

the fda reduce those costs? >> there have been estimates out there that people have thought about with different models of may be definedse in terms of the broad array of restaurant-like establishments, and the final determinations have not been made, in terms of which kinds of facilities will be in and which will not be, but we're looking at economic analyses, as well as public health implications. with the overall consideration of the appropriate -- >> what appropriation with the user fees, to those fees go back to the paying entities. or will they be suspended at a later date? is this a delay on expenditures? to see you go back to the paying entities?

>> i think that this is a question that is still being resolved, at the higher levels -- and the user fees are subject budget sequester, these fees are still being collected from industry, but they're not going to support the fda programs that were negotiated with the industry, as do you want to speak to -- >> the only thing i have to add is the f.d.a. and user fees reguarding sequestration follows guidance and our understanding is those dollars are held, basically, in f.d.a.'s account. the only way the f.d.a. would have the authority to spend them s if congress took action to effectively preaappropriate them. so it is not a cut but they

can reappropriate those if congress has permission and i have to yield back. >> i don't know about that. >> thank you for the great job that you do with an amazing portfolio, which includes food, devices, drugs, tobacco. i want to make a note about user fees quickly so i can get to the my question. the budget without user fees is $2.5 billion for 2014. contract for nasa is $200 billion in 2014. nasa got $17 billion. it is at 7.3 times larger than the f.d.a. again, review the portfolio of this agency and what it does. we're not talking about hardware, we're not talking about -- we're talk about life and death at the food and drug

administration. if we are serious, let us provide the f.d.a. with the budget authority that it needs, with the job that it does and let's start, in fact, putting our mouth and our dollars where our mouths are. i would rather have budget authority than user fees any day of the week and i'm willing to vote this to give this agency the money it needs to get there. i'm glad to hear the f.d.a. has moved forward on reclassifying tanning beds to their appropriate risk category. it is long overdue. we'll wait to see where we are. i hope to see, as the author of the -- i would say to my colleagues, i authored the menu labeling rule and it became part of the a.c.a. it was to include movie theaters, chain, we're talking about chains, chain grocery

stores and similar retail establishments. this is about the movie industry who claims they are not in the food business. i take pictures when i go. this is chicken tenders combo, hot dog and fries, a curlly fry cone, funnel cake. we're not talking popcorn and soda any longer at movie theater we're talking about hot and cheesy. i just -- go to the movie theater, take pictures and find out what business our movie theaters are in these days. so this is a key part of their marketing and their profit. they ought to be required to label in the same way that is restaurant association agreed and we worked closely with them to agree to put the calories up on the board. let me talk about the question

that i really want to ask here. the transpacific partnership. those negotiations are under way. i understand that some segment of the food industry are strongly advocating for a binding dispute resolution. what are your perspectives for making the provisions subject to binding dispute settlement? >> well, as you know, these are ongoing discussions and they involve very important issues. we are partnered across governments in these discussions. our role is, obviously, to make sure important issues of public alth and public safety are adequately addressed. we think there is a clear role for incorporating consul today tive cooperation as part of a

dispute resolution mechanism. our concern, of course, is we want decisions about the safety -- ported products, the bringing in certain types of products for the american people. those questions are adjustdy kated with the right subject tter based on the best possible science and knowledge about public health. i think the issue of, you know, whether it is a binding dispute mechanism is one that needs further discussion and exploration because we would never want to be in a position where critical decisions would be locked into that might not reflect the best possible science, the subject matter, the expertise necessary to best serve the health of the american people. one needs to really think

through what are the unintended consequences of various propers that could be undertaken. >> there's a danger in my view about the integrity of the standards that are imperative to consumers and confidence in our food safety. i will say that the substance ranging from the inspection process to my crow biological standards are zero tolerance for the most dangerous path agains an be put in harm's way -- pathgens can be put in harm's way. i want to know about you asset table t your seat at the and the weight of your voice in that effort. thank you, mr. chairman. stay re going to try to

with the time because votes are coming up. >> hispanic women are 20% more likely to have a child with a devastating birth defect that can be deadly. 70% of these can be prevented if men had adequate levels of b vitamins before and in early pregnancy. our nation has worked to enrich cereal grain products. i understand a petition was filed with the f.d.a. that proposes to allow the addition corn tortillas and other products. neurotube that

defects continue to develop during delivery. >> this is a very important public issue and i've been briefed on the petition. i'm not up to speed on the timing of the review. if i may, i would like to get back to you on the specific information on that. it is certainly an issue that is on our radar screen and being worked on i will give you more specific information, if i may. >> all right, thank you. >> thank you, mr. chair. thank you very much for being here today. it's been fascinating to hear the wide rain minging level of information that you have to cover and i know there is a tremendous amount of responsibility that rests your organization so thank you for your hard work. i hear about the f.d.a. from my constituents in a variety of ways. i want to talk about the food

safety modernization act and the role of implementation that you're going through. we all want our food to be safe. every day we hear about a concern about make sure our food is safe. i represent a lot of farmers and small farmers and i know i can say i have never met a farmer who takes seriously the responsibility to produce good, safe food for consumers. i want to commend my colleague, i know she worked so hard to produce a bill to produce ensured food safety for consumers so from the consumer side she's been with working hard. during the debate of the act, congress had a healthy discussion on a one-size fits all and how to assess where risk comes from. i was encouraged during the senate hearings when he reminded

us that he included a provision in the bill to make regulations more workable for small and mid-size farm involved in low-risk supply chains. i'm encouraged that is in there i'm worried about the final rules on diversified small food producers. for my first four years in congress i have not heard anything from farmers except fear, frustration and confusion. they want to know how the rules will impact them. they are very concerned about the cost and the administrative burden it will put on them and if they can stay in business. i have talked frequently in front of of the committee about the growing local foods in agriculture and how people are interested in buying foods from mall foods outlet, farmers market. i know you have a lot of work to do but this is a deep concern of

mine. i want to make sure your looking at diversity and you have those farmers in mind and you're scaling the regulation to the size of the farm and the amount of risk. the fact that different supply chains pose different levels of risk must be part of the guiding principle that the f.d.a. works with. i know we don't want a repeat of what happened in the meat processing role that had the unintended consequence of shutting down hundreds of small meat processors because they could not ato do business and has not provided the consumer with all safe or all perfect food. some of the f.d.a. estimates have said that the cost to comply with this proposed produce rule with farms at less than $250,000 annual revenue will save over $22,000 in compliance costs. many farmers who are starting to

grow, that is their profit for the year. i hope you're looking carefully at how these rules will be imposed, understanding the food hub, things of the department of agriculture are promoting and we're finding great success with. as you look through how the rules are imme mmented that there is not a burden and it makes our food safer but does not cut of the small to medium-size farmer. >> i could give you a quick answer to a very important question. we are very mindful. as we were shaping the rule we did a lot of outreach to meet with the diverse grower community and actually go on to many of these different kinds of farms to get a better understanding of their issues and concerns. of course, the original food modernization act did have the tester amendment that excluded ertain size farms with limited

distribution areas altogether. as we think about the rules going forward, as we get feedback from the rules that are throughout for comment, we are very much recognizing this set of issues. i think no matter who is growing an producing the food, at the end of the day everyone wants safe food. we do need to recognize that the propers need to be tailored to unique and differing needs, including the approaches and the faze in to enable and support farmers who are trying to make a living and trying to produce safe, high quality food. >> thank you very much. i'm out of time but i want to say i'm looking forward to working closely with the f.d.a. this is an issue i've heard

pretty much as much about anything else from the farmers in my area and i hope we can continue to have a conversation with this. thank you. thanks, mr. chair. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you dr. ham berg for appearing today. -- hamburg for appearing today. is our imported food safe? >> we're fortunate in this country that we have the one of the most safest food in the world. the volume of food imports have increased and many of the foods imported in this country are coming from places with much less regulatory oversight. our commondies that are i nerable intensically and saw a survey that showed 61% of the american people are concerned about the safety of imported food.

it's a concern that i share and we are really making aggressive efforts at the f.d.a. to respond to the growing volume of food safety imports, doing it in a number different ways. we feel that we have to strengthen oversight of these products in order ensure that the food that americans get in the grocery store and in other settings is safe as it could possibly be whether it comes from an imported source or a domestic source. >> there was an interesting article in yours truly the new york times" say how there is a significant lack of business ethics, as well as distrust of chinese people among their own food supply. ofon't know what the percent what we import from china.

it is category that, i think you pointed out that 80% comes from china or india. i don't know how that correlates to food imports but i assume it is a significant percentage. 80% of our seafood is coming from overseas and i don't know how that correlates to china. is arger generalalty here that given the aggressive expansion of food imports, there is real reason to be concerned here. >> yes, we're very focused on a set of critical products and our working relationships with critical regions of the world that are importing products to us. china is a major partner in our efforts to improve food safety. >> would you unpack that statementsome?

explain that. >> we get a large volume of products food medical used here. it means we do need to sister a obust, regulatory framework to address the known and existing concerns and the ones we can anticipate in the future. e have three offices in china. it strengthens our ability on the ground and we do more inspections. >> what percent do we inspect? >> the percentage of facilities overseas that we're able to actually inspect is not very large. i don't know what the number is. we are doing many more foreign inspections than we've ever done

in the past. we're not going to be inspect our way out of the realities of the modern world and the challenges we face. we also have to put in place new systems that involve new arraignments with authorities, more sharing of the information, sharing the work load in terms of inspections. we need more sophisticated screenings methodologies based on risks. we need industry to work with us to put in place the kinds of supply chain protections -- >> my time is running short i'm sorry to interrupt you. does the american taxpayer subsidize the imports? what is the mechanism they are paid for? >> our inspectional program whether it is doe metic or imported comes out of our budget. we're asking for user fees to help support some of the important import oversight activities and inspections

activities. but, yes, our activities whether domestic or international for food safety comes from our available budget. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you very much, dr. hamburg ining if here with your team. i have some questions i would to to explore with regard antibuy ox debts and poultry. i try to balance when it comes to regulations. my thoughts is that regulations should be based on sound science, they should be subjected to a cost benefitting analysis and they should make common sense. i appreciate very much and the

committee does the f.d.a.'s effort to examine the sales data of antibiotics. but the data is flawed because of two things. one, the data includes antibiotics that may be used on nonlife stock or species and also because the data includes tracking carnivores. tracking that is different than antibiotics. the use of it in livestock does not pose a risk to human, why does the f.d.a. still classify it as antibiotics. i'm going to ask my second question since we're running short on time. microbial on

resistance on the trends and in the farm, we heard the program is undergoing changes. i would like for you -- after you answer the first question, chat with us why why the program is being changed? what changes are you proposing and what changes particularly on the farm monitoring? >> you asked a lot of questions embedded in one. the problem with antibiotics resistance for humans and animals is a serious one. we need to protect the ability to have antibiotics to work against important infections. the use of antibiotics is a major contributor to the major resistance we've seen evolve over the years. we are are making efforts to

really understand the nation's scope of the problem and to address it. importantly, we are taking actions, i'm sure you know, to really achieve judicious use of in iotics of what we have animal and human use. we're making sure that antibiotics use is not used for growth promotion to used to treat infections. >> i appreciate that very much. >> we do feel that our system is very important -- >> excuse me before you get to that. which are different from antibiotics and my understand has not proven to contribute to any resistance in humans. >> you know, i think -- i can give you the best possible answer if we get back to you

part of the record. i'm not directly familiar with the data on it. >> make sure when you do get back, it is based on sound science. >> i will do my best, that is a guiding principle. but with respect to the system, we put out an p.r.m. to get information from the stakeholders and the public how we can affect enhancements to your data collection systems and o make sure we have good solid data. >> thank you for that answer. but i was shocked to find out that the f.d.a. is categorizing as antibiotics because they are different and they have a different way of working in

terms of being mixed with feed for the livestock and our poultry. of course, that, again, as a proposed regulation and i understand you're looking at the anti-resistance developments could have a great impact of the meat industry and the poultry industry as they process and grow the food we eat. it's got to be balanced. when you regulate, make sure it is based in sound science. make sure it is subjected to the cost benefit analysis and it makes good, chon sense. sense.ou -- common >> he asked questions about the user fees to pay for approval analysis of pharmaceuticals.

the users are still paying those fees but some of them are being set aside in some kind of suspense account that is not being used to evaluate the drugs. is that right? >> let me be clear. this is not an f.d.a. policy. this is a decision or determination based on the way in which the user fee dollars are appropriated, that they are treated like budget authority dollars. in terms of the impact on f.d.a., you are absolutely right. the user fees are being collected from the industries that we negotiated for those fees with but they are not available for us to use as we stand up the new user fee programs or as we implement the ongoing ones. they have access to some of them but the total number of dollars

is being cut as the same level as a result of the sequester. >> what effect on approving life-saving drugs is this suspense account that is sitting over the side of money having on the f.d.a.? >> of course, we are going to try to do as much as we can with what we have to achieve the important goals of the user fee programs. however, the dollar amounts of the yires fee agreements reflected a very careful call you laces of what was the critical needs, what were the goals, what would it take to achieve them? when those dollars are cut, it means we aren't going be able to fully achieve the goals and the performance targets that were

set in con junction with industry. so we are worried it will slow our ability to put out important guidances to review applications that come before us, to do a set of important new hires, to stand up new programs that expanded others, to improve business processes, to make our regulatory path ways more effective and efficient and to do some of the work to develop the new tools that will make our regulatory systems, you know, really appropriate for the sophistication of the products coming before us. the other thing is, we know that the system works better when we can work more closely with the companies, the sponsors of the products to identify what kinds of data is going to be needed,

the kinds of studies that would be most important for them to do and have ongoing communication and this will certainly limit the staff and flexibility to engage in those activities. >> you said this is not of f.d.a.'s making. in response to the other made on was you said this at a higher level than i. who made the decision? >> i might turn to my colleagues in the department of health and human services who is a budget exert but i believe -- >> so the implementation of the sequester government wide is determined or led by the office mansion and budget so the council at o.m.b. determined what the appropriate application of the sequester would be in the fiscal year.

>> so a lawyer made a decision that we need to take money that has already been paid, set it aside and not do anything with it. and you're saying it is slowing the prolve of life-saving drugs. >> my testimony is that the user fees werele negotiated and specified to a set of activities and what they would cost to achieve. if we have cuts in available dollars it will likely have meaningful impacts. >> i think o.m.b.'s view is that this is not an elected decision it is the interpretation of the statute as it stands. >> we're we are approaching a vote. we have a series of votes. i do not anticipate we will be back in 40 minutes. up.e going to riot -- wrap

we do have questions we want to submit for the record. we will go ahead and adjourn so you are not left out here and so we can consolidate our schedules. we would like to get expedited questions for these answers -- expedited answers for the question for the record. >> i appreciate your indulgence. myt for the record because colleague who dealt with the compound and drugs, i would like me and my get back to office about the authorities that you need, the specific authorities that you need to be able to address this issue. i would ask you to take a look at the state legislation introduced in this area to tell us whether or not it helped to meet your concerns and how we

can mitigate against what has happened. food safety, the cdc is investigating an outbreak of salmonella in 18 states. that is associated with imported cucumbers. it takes up to three years to fully trained an inspector. the fda is not going to meet the target for foreign inspections this year or the next with only 1200 planned inspections. 2016, the fda is supposed to inspect 19,000 foreign facilities. , if you are to meet the requirements for inspections, will the fda need more inspectors? if it does, when do they need to be hired? what does this budget due to meet the requirements? to answer those questions. i would like for you to submit for the record and also directly to my office a detailed breakdown of your food inspection personnel, noting the

number of personnel for domestic inspections and the number for international. thank you. >> a quick question -- and answered your question. last year we did meet our target, we exceeded it i believe for foreign inspections. the numbers ramp up very quickly. the real worldut we live in and what is going to be required, we need to think about not just the role of inspections but other important activities as part of our overall program. many are reflected in new authority in the food safety modernization act in terms of information sharing, strengthening regulatory capacity, during training, technical assistance. the foreign supplier

verification program and third- party are it will be very important to our overall program that will address food safety. safety rules for produce and preventive controls will apply whether you are a domestic or foreign manufacturer or a grower. there are a number of things beyond inspections that will help to strengthen security of the supply chain in our food imports. a if there is going to be trans-pacific partnership agreement, the influx of imported seafood from vietnam, thailand, and malaysia will be extraordinary. as my colleague pointed out, 80% of our seafood is imported. the rate of contamination and the alerts that have occurred.

that will make your job harder. we need to know on this committee what is required to ensure a public health of this country. if the public health of this country. domestically, internationally, and how overwhelmed your agency may be if this committee does not do something about the resources it supplies to you. thank you very much. this wraps up our last hearing 2014.e budget for fy i want to thank staff on both sides of the aisle during the hearing process. we look forward to working with you as we proceed with the budget. .> thank you [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> here is a look at our prime- time schedule. at 8:00, president obama and the jordanian king discuss the serious of war and the possibility of the country using

chemical weapons. on c-span2 a hearing on the disclosure of medical records and why it may be misused. on c-span3, the fda commissioner testifies on the 2014 budget request for the food and budget administration. all of these programs tonight beginning at 8:00 eastern on the c-span networks. this weekend on c-span, we will show selected dinners from the past three administrations. then our live coverage of this year's dinner starting with the red carpet arrivals at 6:15. on sunday, a thursday dedication of the george w. bush presidential library and museum. >> he once described the dedication of the library as an act of face. i dedicate this with an unshakable faith in our country. it is an honor to lead the country as brave and noble as

the united states. whatever challenges come before us, i will always believe our nation's best days by ahead. >> sunday morning at 10:30. donovan campbell on leading politicians -- marines in iraq. reconsidering the insanity trial of mary todd lincoln, part of american history tv on sunday at 4:00. this sunday, we talk with congressman adam smith, the top democrat on the armed services committee. he joins us to discuss the latest news out of syria that the government likely used chemical weapons against opposition forces. this point, i think it is fairly clear chemical weapons were used. i am not 100% confident of that,

but based on the intelligence reports we have seen. what is still being sorted out inby whom it was used and what situations. how it came to pass. who got hold of the weapons. regime giving a direct order to the military or did it happen in some other way? the details are still very murky. the confidence level seems high that chemical weapons were used in some circumstances. >> you can watch the entire interview with ranking member adam smith this sunday at 10:00 eastern and again at 6:00 eastern on c-span. obamar today, president spoke at the annual hala for planned parenthood. he talked about women's health care and ways to make it more affordable. this is about 20 minutes.

president andthe mrs. obama traveled to texas to be with the families who lost loved ones in the deadly explosion. he was where he needed to be bringing comfort to a community that had dealt unspeakable loss. we are especially grateful he flew back here to join us this morning. i want to take you back for a minute to a couple of years ago when we were fighting our way back from the worst recession in a generation. it looked like things were going to get even worse. congress cannot agree on a budget. the u.s. government was facing the real possibility that we were going to shut down. go, just 24 hours to speaker john boehner made an emergency trip to the oval office to tell the president what he needed to get the budget through congress. what was his demand? it was to defund planned parenthood and cut millions of

women off from life-saving preventive health care. ,ithout missing a beat president obama responded no. speaker they tried again. the president told him it was not going to happen. that is what needs to have a president stand with women. [applause] this is a presidency of historic firsts. this morning, we have a first of our own. we have a sitting president address planned parenthood in person. that is worth a shout. [applause] president obama has been with us women since day one in his first week in office. [applause] fact,ned billy ledbetter

his first piece of legislation trade -- his first piece of legislation. of course, passing the affordable care at, one of the most important accomplishments of his presidency for all americans and especially for women. for the first time in history, insurance companies will no longer be able to charge women more than men. when is preventive care, including cancer screenings, will be covered with no co-pay. for the very first time, women will no longer be able to be denied insurance coverage because they are a survivor of sexual assault or breast cancer. as would like to say a planned parenthood, here is the punch line. because of president obama, being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition in america. [applause]

it has been a great four years. there is no proper moment for me than a year ago when the president called to so -- to say he was about to announce that for the first time, women will have their first -- birth control fully covered by insurance with no co-pay. that is equity. that is justice. that is what it means to have the president cares about women. [applause] has had some fabulous folks by his side. i want to acknowledge two women here today who have worked along with planned parenthood and everyone else to make extraordinary advances for women. in recognizing them for their extraordinary work. [applause]

we know the president believes in strong women. he married michelle obama, right? the wonderful thing is together, the president and first lady are raising two extra were married daughters and standing up for them and all of our daughters to make sure that they have every opportunity in the world. as we know, in the last election, we were part of the national debate unlike anything we have seen before. some of you may remember during the second debate, president obama mentioned planned parenthood four times. he talked about our life saving more. the interesting thing is that evening, his message went beyond talking to the pundits and folks following the back- and-forth of the political campaign. it reached millions of ordinary americans. just a few days later, a woman showed up at a planned

parenthood center in houston, texas. i am glad all of you texans are here today. this is the story. it had been years since she had an exam. she found a lump in her breast. she did not know where to go. said we're glad you came in. who referred to? she said i heard president obama say on tv i could get a breast exam at planned parenthood. [applause] we're proud to partner with president obama to change the lives of millions of women in this country. we are proud to stand with him. today, we are so proud to be. he is standing with us. please join me in welcoming the president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] ["hail to the chief"] ♪

>> hello, everybody. [applause] thank you. [applause] thank you very much. thank you so much. thank you, everybody. [applause] thank you. all right. everybody, have a seat. you are making me blush. i love you back. cecile, thank you for the warm introduction, and thank you for the outstanding leadership that you've shown over the years. you just do a great, great job. i want to thank all of you for the remarkable work that you're

doing day in, day out in providing quality health care to women all across america. you are somebody that women -- young women, old women, women in between -- count on for so many important services. to we are truly grateful you. i'm sorry that i could not be at the party yesterday. i understand it was a little wild. [laughter] that's what i heard. but as all of you know, obviously, we've gone through a pretty tough week and a half, and i was down in texas, letting the people of west, texas know that we all love them and care about them in their time of grieving. [applause] but obviously this is a special national conference, because

it's been nearly a hundred years since the first health clinic of what later would become planned parenthood opened its doors to women in brooklyn. and for nearly a century now, one core principle has guided everything all of you do -- that women should be allowed to make their own decisions about their own health. it's a simple principle. [applause] so what i see in this audience, extraordinary doctors and nurses, and advocates and staff who work tirelessly to keep the doors at health centers all across the country going, then i'm reminded of those very early efforts and all the strides that we've made in subsequent decades. and i also think about the millions of mothers and daughters and wives and sisters, friends and neighbors who walk through those doors every year.

somewhere there's a woman who just received a new lease on life because of a screening that you provided that helped catch her cancer in time. somewhere there's a woman who's breathing easier today because of the support and counseling she got at her local planned parenthood health clinic. somewhere there's a young woman starting a career who, because of you, is able to decide for herself when she wants to start a family. [applause] one in five women in this country has turned to planned parenthood for health care. one in five. and for many, planned parenthood is their primary source of health care -- not just for contraceptive care, but for lifesaving preventive care, like cancer screenings and health counseling. so when politicians try to turned planned parenthood into a punching bag, they're not

just talking about you. they're talking about the millions of women who you serve. and when they talk about cutting off your funding, let's be clear. they're talking about telling many of those women, you're on your own. they're talking about shutting those women out at a time when they may need it most -- shutting off communities that need more health care options for women, not less. [applause] so the fact is, after decades of progress, there's still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century. and they've been involved in an orchestrated and historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health. 42 states have introduced laws that would ban or severely limit access to a woman's right

to choose -- laws that would make it harder for women to get the contraceptive care that they need, laws that would cut off access to cancer screenings and end educational programs that help prevent teen pregnancy. in north dakota, they just passed a law that outlaws your right to choose, starting as early as six weeks, even if a woman is raped. a woman may not even know that she's pregnant at six weeks. ballotissippi, a initiative was put forward that could not only have outlawed your right to choose, but could have had all sorts of other far-reaching consequences like cutting off fertility treatments, making certain forms of contraception a crime. that's absurd. it's wrong. it's an assault on women's rights. and that's why when the people of mississippi were given a chance to vote on that initiative, they turned it

down. [applause] mississippi is a conservative state, but they wanted to make clear there's nothing conservative about the government injecting itself into decisions best made between a woman and her doctor. and folks are trying to do this all across the country. when you read about some of these laws, you want to check the calendar. you want to make sure you're still living in 2013. [laughter] 40 years after the supreme court affirmed a woman's constitutional right to privacy, including the right to choose, we shouldn't have to remind people that when it comes to a woman's health, no politician should get to decide what's best for you. no insurer should get to decide what kind of care that you get. the only person who should get to make decisions about your

health is you. hat's why we fought so hard to make health care reform a reality. [applause] that principle is at the heart of the affordable care act. because of the aca, most insurance plans are now covering the cost of contraceptive care, so that a working mom doesn't have to put off the care she needs just so she can pay her bills on time. because of the affordable care act, 47 million women have new access to preventive care like mammograms and cancer screenings with no copay, no deductible, no out-of-pocket costs, so they don't have to put off a mammogram just because money is tight. because of the affordable care act, young people under the age of 26 can now stay on their parent's health care plan. and insurance companies soon will no longer be able to deny

you coverage based on preexisting conditions like breast cancer, or charge you more just because you are a woman. those days are ending. [applause] those days are ending. [applause] now, i know how hard you worked to help us pass health care reform. you and your supporters got out there -- you organized. you mobilized. you made your voices heard. it made all the difference. but here's the thing -- if americans don't know how to access the new benefits and protections that they're going to receive as we implement this law, then health care reform won't make much of a difference in their lives. so i'm here to also ask for your help, because we need to get the word out. we need you to tell your patients, your friends, your neighbors, your family members what the health care law means

for them. make sure they know that if they don't have health insurance, they'll be able to sign up for quality, affordable insurance starting this fall in an online marketplace where private insurers will compete for their business. make sure that they know that there are plans out there right now that cover the cost of contraceptive and preventive care free of charge. we've got to spread the word, particularly among women, particularly among young women, who are the ones who are most likely to benefit from these laws. comeed all the women who through your doors telling their children, their husbands, and the folks in their neighborhoods about their health care options. we need all the college students who come through your doors to call up their friends and post on facebook talking about the protections and benefits that are kicking in.

and you are all in a unique position to deliver that message, because the women you serve know you and they trust you. and the reason for that is that you haven't let them down before. i know it's not always easy. plannede described, parenthood as the only organization that she's ever been at where there are opponents who, in her words, "literally got up every day trying to figure out how to keep us from doing our work." now, if she had worked in the administration -- [laughter] [applause] she'd be more familiar with this phenomenon. [applause] [laughter] yourhen it comes to patients, you never let them down -- no matter what. and that's because you never

forget who this is all about. this is about a woman from chicago named courtney who has a disease that can leave women infertile. so in college, she turned to planned parenthood for access to affordable contraceptive care to keep her healthy. you didn't just help her plan for a family; you made sure she could start one. and today, she's got two beautiful kids. [applause] that's what planned parenthood is about. [applause] this is about a woman in washington state named joyce who for years could only afford health care at her local planned parenthood clinic. and heeding your advice, she never missed her annual exam. during one of them, your doctors helped catch an aggressive form of cervical cancer early enough to save her life. today, she's been cancer-free for 25 years. [applause] so every day, in every state, in ever center that planned

parenthood operates, there are stories like those -- lives you've saved, women you've empowered, families that you've strengthened. that's why, no matter how great the challenge, no matter how fierce the opposition, if there's one thing the past few years have shown, it's that planned parenthood is not going anywhere. it's not going anywhere today. [applause] it's not going anywhere tomorrow. [applause] as long as we've got to fight to make sure women have access to quality, affordable health care, and as long as we've got to fight to protect a woman's right to make her own choices about her own health, i want you to know that you've also got a president who's going to be right there with you fighting every step of the way. [applause] thank you, planned parenthood. god bless you. [applause] god bless america. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> it is a look at our prime- time schedule on the c-span network. beginning at 8:00, president obama and the jordanian king discuss the syrian civil war and the possibility of the country using chemical weapons. on c-span [applause] discusses the disclosure of medical records and whites could be misused. margaret hamburg testifies on the budget request for the food and budget administration. all of these programs tonight beginning at 8:00 eastern on the c-span networks. next, today's white house briefing with press secretary jay carney. he talked about the prospect of

chemical weapons used in syria and the impact of automatic spending cuts on the faa. congress approved a bill ending furloughs of air traffic controllers. this is about 50 minutes. >> good afternoon or good morning to you all. thank you for being here. we had a long and eventful day yesterday. but is great to be back with you. i have no announcements to make. i will go straight to your questions. have we concluded syria did use chemical weapons? then we are not sure and will hold off while we figure it out completely. -- give assadct a reason to think we are not serious when we say not to cross this line or else?

>> the white house has said it has been assessed by our intelligence community with varying degrees of confidence the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin. this assessment is based in part on physiological samples. we're working to establish corroborated facts to build on this intelligence assessment to establish a definitive judgment as to whether or not the president's redlined has been crossed and inform our decision making about the next steps. the president himself raised this issue, the profile of this issue, the seriousness of the prospect that the assad regime would use chemical weapons or transfer them to a terrorist group. last year, and the president has made it clear from the beginning, this issue is gravely serious. now that we have a growing body thatidence that suggests

we can say with varying degrees of competence that he has in a limited way, or the regime has a limited way, likely use weapons, we need to build on that. is the correct thing to do to take the exceptional work that our intelligence community does and continue to build information. together a credible set of facts that are based on firm evidence that can be reviewed, and that is what we are endeavoring to do. we are supportive of a united nations investigation into this. the president lead in calling for that investigation, and we continued to press for that investigation to proceed. we are also working independently and with our

allies and with most importantly the syrian opposition to assess credible reports of the use of chemical weapons and to build evidence to support the assessments that have been made thus far. >> considering the seriousness of the application, [indiscernible] investigation went on for a number of months, is that something the president would be comfortable with? >> the president wants the facts, and i will not set a time line, because the facts need to be what drives this investigation, not a deadline. the situation in syria is and has been grave. the saudi regime has the blood of its own people on its -- teh as the blood of its

own people and its hands. he has seen the leadership role increase significantly step up our assistance to the opposition, including nonlethal assistance directly to the seller in military -- to the syrian military council, and that is in what is in reaction to what we have seen in syria. it is instructive to look at the past for guidance when it comes to the need of be very serious facts,athering all the establishing a chain of custody, linking evidence of the use of chemical weapons to specific incidents, and actions taken by the regime. that is what we will do, because that is responsible. [indiscernible]

we have learned the administration has known about this for a number of weeks. wo? do you square those teet >> you're talking about varying degrees of confidence that weapons were used. i talk about conclusion in that context of crossing a red line, and what i am saying today and what the white house said in letters that were sent by the director of our office of legislative affairs to two toators is we are continuing build on the assessment made by the intelligence community, that that confidence here is burying, that this is not an air tight case, and that is the responsible thing to do, as i think many observers of this, with a little historical perspective, have made clear in

the last 24 hours. >> yesterday an official told reporters that all options remain on the table. [indiscernible] what does that mean now in the context of these letters, and how far away with the united states from making a decision regarding military force? >> the second part goes to town minds, and i will not set any, because we need to be about the business of assembly in a credible set of facts, assemblyman robert of information, and that is what we are going to do, and we are pressing for a united nations investigation into this as well. on the first part, all options remain on the table. the present has been clear about this. i have, as you noted. and that remain the case. i would not speculate about what should wemight take

establish that the red lion has been crossed, options remain on the table. >> what about the next steps, as you work on getting information? will there be more outreach to russia and china in terms of diplomacy and getting them on board? what does the united states do next? >> we work with our allies who have been working on this issue. we work with the syrian opposition, who have been helpful and can be helpful in providing evidence of chemical weapons use. we work with the united nations and press for thoreau united nations investigations. we continue to provide significant assistance to the opposition and to the syrian people who have been and are in

need of aid because of the violence in syria. it is a multifaceted approach that is focused in one sense on this issue of chemical weapons use. it is also more broadly about our policy of helping the syrian people rid themselves of the regime and put themselves in the position for a better future. >> what does the white house think of the faa legislation, and when will the president sign it? >> it has to arrive here before he can sign it, so i did not have a timetable. the president would sign this if it is passed and it will be good news for the traveling public if congress spares them the delays that would take place if the sequester were

implemented. the furloughs were unavoidable. you had a lot of republicans in particular who insisted flexibility existed that this administration and the faa itself could implement, and we made clear that is not what the law said. as i said the other day, you had members of congress who wrote the law, voted for the law, but had not read the law. the action taken by congress now, an act of congress that is under way now, to fix this specific and narrow problem with the faa proves it requires congress to act to deal with this. the problem is this is a band- aid solution. with theng associated furloughs at the faa is $253 million. that is one-half of 1%.

one-half of 1% of the sequestered. it would be a welcome development at members of congressman, -- members of congress, republicans who celebrated this as a tea party victory, which show even a portion of that concern they showed about these real problems with flight delays for the families whose children have been kicked off of head start, for the seniors who have lost access to the meals on wheels program, for communities hard hit by cuts, the mindless cuts in our defense budget, communities that depend on defense industries and on military spending. we have not seen that. it would be welcomed if we did, because the point of the sequester was it was my less. it was written in a way never to become law, written to an agreed to by both parties so it would never become law because it would have these defects. it was designed to be terrible

and onerous, and lo and behold, whether it was a tactical political victory for the tea party or not to embrace it, these defects are happening. look at the big picture and you still see the cbo estimate of 750,000 jobs that would be lost if the sequester were to run its full course. fully half of a percentage point of gdp that would be cut from our growth. congress has the power as it did in this never case to do the responsible thing, work with the president toward a balanced deficit-reduction plan that invests in our economy, helps us grow, eliminates the sequester, replaces it with sensible deficit reduction, which was always the plan, and we can move forward as a nation. ; at remains within congress

power to do, and that is why the president has been gauged on how to move forward on the specific budget issues. >> how is it fair or right or just that these kids on headstart get their cuts, that these cuts go into effect on the defense to barbara, and it is tough luck, but when a bunch of business travelers bellyache because of their for lands that the faa has come up one of the fastest pieces of legislation to move to washington in recent memory -- why doesn't the president take a stand against that? >> you can throw in members of congress who need flights home, also. the delays are a problem with not just business travelers and members of congress, but for many americans, and that is a negative consequence of the sequester. report is excellent, and we call on congress to show as much concern for others who are

being harmed, other hard-working middle-class families who are being hurt by this, are working communities that depend on defense industries and should not have been dealt this blow of arbitrary cuts that caused furloughs and layoffs and job terminations because congress decided, republicans decided, and they said it publicly, never mind, it is a victory, it is a tea party victory. >> why is the president making an exception with the air travelers proved >> he believes it is good news to emanate this problem, but he believes this is a band-aid covering a massive wound to the economy. a seven-253 million of month problem, and congress should do the responsible thing

and stop dealing with these issues from crisis to crisis and engaged in a discussion about how we can eliminate the sequestered through ballast deficit reduction. in the end, this is a choice between a special interest tax , closing loopholes in the tax code that the well off and well-connected and joy, but average of medicare -- americans cannot and do not. on the one hand, purses these unnecessary cuts on the other. if they would move forward with the kind of balanced deficit reduction that was under discussion late last year that includes revenue earned through tax reform, along the lines of speaker boehner openly talking about last year and a couple that with tough choices and entitlement reforms that produce

savings and we can get somewhere productive here for the economy and the american middle-class. onyesterday's official said that conference call with reporters that there is a need to be careful, because look what happened with iraq and the weapons of mass destruction that did not exist in iraq. in syria you have evidence that chemical weapons were used on people there. is there not a concern you might be showing leniency when it comes to the use of mass destruction? >> absolutely not, and the fact is we do have some evidence and we need to build on that. we have varying degrees of confidence that in the assessments that are being made that chemical weapons were used in a limited way, but we need to build on that, and the president -- president you cite

is a severe one. the assessments we make, the intelligence community makes, are valuable and they do excellent work, but they are building blacks -- blocks toward a broader objective here, which is the accumulation of concrete evidence, evidence that can be corroborated, can be presented and reviewed, and then acted on if the conclusion is a red wine has been crossed. i want to move around, because i noticed that for several times in the last few weeks we spent about 45 minutes on the front row here. > first of all, what exactly does real confidence mean? secondly, there are several plans on the ground that the chemical weapons used -- as the

u.s. government in any way been negate these claims on the ground with the rebels? last question, yesterday there were some senators star recalling for a no-flight zone in the country [indiscernible] a few things. we are working with the syrian opposition on this effort. i am not going to get into specific reports and our assessment of the specific reports of instances of the use of chemical weapons. simply to say that the syrian opposition is a key component in an effort to gather more information and established facts and answer questions about chain of custody and things like that.

think comments you referred to coming from capitol hill could to the question of responses, and we are in the process of gathering evidence, but to establish whether or not has been crossed, that is verifiable and it reviewable. that is an important task. we are not in a static position. significantly increasing and broadening the scope of our assistance to the committingas well as significant resources to the humanitarian effort for the syrian people. theare working both with united nations, but with friends and allies and partners who are concerned about the serious

problem to help bring about a thatge their that -- there allows a better future, that has to exclude a tyrant who has been killing his own people now for two years. >> democrats have been speaking about the role of government. i wonder if the president believes more regulation could prevent what happened in texas, more funding for first responders make it easier dealing with what happened in boston? >> i think we had to step back regarding --and no note regarding the tragic explosions in west texas, that is under investigation. we do not know what the cause was. that is under investigation. response by first responders

in boston i think has been noted to have been remarkable, and justifiably so. i am sure a lot of a valuations, as is wholly appropriate, would be made as time passes about lessons we can learn in each instances, a very distinct events, and that is the way it should work, but we are not at the stage yet where your question suggests in terms of gments.those jud the president is focused, agreed with the families of victims of the fertilizer plant explosion. was an incredibly powerful service he attended. if you did not watch it, it really is worth doing, because

it was an incredibly powerful thing. not least because of the remarkable bravery and commitment to community that volunteerst entirely first responders demonstrated by running towards a situation that all of them had to know was one that would put them at great risk. on behalf of their fellow citizens. he met with -- and families and local and state officials to talk about that. we are stuck in the early phases of investigating everything around the boston incident. the questions are valid, but i did not have specific responses for you now. >> is it epsilon to use these tragedies to make an argument about the role of government? >> i have not had that discussion with him. the focus now is on the areas i

just discussed. >> does the president mean it when he says the use of chemical weapons would be a red line? >> yes, he did. >> what does that mean, and what is a red line? >> the president made clear the use of or the transfer to a terrorist group of chemical weapons by the regime would be crossing a red line. all options to respond to that -- >> including a military option -- >> all options, and there are many tools that a president has available to him in this kind of situation. they include all options, including the ones you mentioned, but there are many other options. that is not to suggest one direction or the other.

simply to say often the discussion when people mention all options are on the table everyone talks about military forces and it is important to remember there are options available to a commander in chief in a situation like this that include but are not exclusive to that option. secondly, i will not speculate about the action united states may take should it be firmly established that a red line was crossed, but he was serious about that. he went out of his way to make that point from this very podium because of the seriousness of it, and it demonstrates the fact that the united states is focused in particular on this issue, and a really so. >> given he got here in the first place as somebody who questioned and call for resisting the clamor to go to war over intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in

this same region, is the more skeptical about the intelligence he is receiving now? >> he has enormous faith in our intelligence community, but he also believes the proper use of intelligence in a case like this is to have it be a component of, yourot the only source of, decision-making process. as i was saying, it is an important building block toward gathering evidence that needs to be gathered in a situation like this. cedent is asiden significant one, and it is important knowledge that an assessment -- they are based in part on fax but they are not solely facts. they are that judgments of

professionals, they are not in and of themselves policy decisions, and that is what president makes the kind of decisions that are made in this situation, and he or she makes them based on a broad array of information. >> i know you believe and you have said the president placed a red light is a reasonable standard and that factual evidence must be behind to support it. will you address concerns of the syrian opposition, members of congress expressing, that the volatility of the war may make it practically impossible to obtain that kind of definitive proof, making the red line rhetorical than practical. >> we have evidence. that is reflected in the letter that was sent to two senators,

reflected in conversations you had with the disease s survey, and we have been able to gather undergirdsce that his assessments being made, but we are not done with the process. we are building on that, and we are able to not just press for a united nations investigation, which is essential, but to work with friends and allies and the syrian opposition to procure, share, and if i wait an additional information associated with reports of the use of chemical weapons so we can establish the facts. the answer to your question, the concerns you have mentioned are real, but it is the case we are able to work with our friends and allies and the opposition to facts to help establish a set of facts and evidence that can be corroborated, and that is what we are setting about to do. >> when the president convinced

that the line has been cross, whatever happens will be multilaterally down, not unilaterally? i will not speculate about what action he might decide to take in the event that that assessment is made. too many steps forward. i will simply say that he will -- >> doing it in concert with allies? the united states may act unilaterally? >> the united states retains the ability to act unilaterally as a general -- retains the ability to act you around early -- unilaterally as a general principle. is this a model for resolving other issues related to the sequestration? >> no, because of the -- [indiscernible] i will not attach a number that

many times you can do it, but it is a drop in a bucket, a band- big wound. the fact is this is a small amount of funding compared to the overall sequester, $250 million, that was an ability, because of the funds available that could be transferred only through an act of congress, not through administrative action, because it was not legal or otherwise, and this is a case. the question points the overall problem which is the sequestered itself cannot be finessed. it is having negative consequences around the country. >> to people who are feeling the effects of sequestration might have, if someone were to present something that could be access to cancer funding, as an example, they found money or was

a band-aid, would the administration be open to that put created people in congress worthwhile-->> endeavor would be the decision to eliminate the sequestered antara. the effort expended to be expended on that, because that would deal with the whole problem and the broader impact of the sequestered on our economy and job creation. given hal congress deliberates and the disagreements that exist on a variety of specific issues, you can imagine how little would be accomplished if that were the path chosen. the right path is to agree on principles that everybody is to agree on which is the sequestered never should be implemented and be to eliminate it through balanced deficit- reduction. that was the way it was designed, the charge given to the supercommittee, avoid this

terrible thing by coming up with a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction. but if someone were to come with a sensible solution for meals on wheels, with the administration to get up? >> i will not speculate about that because it is not remotely practical. i would welcome and be surprised by concern on the part of republicans for kids who have been thrown off of their head start programs or seniors who are not receiving their meals on wheels. that would be a positive step. the fact is the way to deal with the problem is to rid ourselves of it entirely to responsible governing, and as -- that is what has 10 apps and on capitol hill of late. yes. >> [indiscernible] is there concern that [indiscernible] i have tried to address this.

it is not credible to imagine you can mitigate the damage done to our condi in a piecemeal -- to our economy in a piecemeal fashion. we're pleased we can take this action to alleviate the problems caused for americans traveling at our airports, but this is a band-aid solution. it does not solve the bigger problem, and it is impractical to expect that all of that negative consequences of sequester can be solved this way. the responsible way to do it, the way americans across the country when they have time to even consider this issue in their busy lives with what congress to take is to simply eliminate the sequester, to go about the is a reduction in a responsible way, to concede when

randomled it, you being republican member of the house, a tea party victory, you are not really thinking about how it hurts average americans. you were thinking about politics, inside the beltway. you were thinking about whether or not you will have a primary or how this would affect your stature in the leadership. that is not what the american people sent you here to do. they sent you here to solve problems in a common-cents way, and instead by allowing the sequester to be in splendid, congress has caused problems for average americans, at airports, in the homes of middle-class folks shuttling to get by, in military communities around the country, congress has caused problems, make things worse by adopting a policy they themselves decried only a few

months ago. >> after the president signs the bill, will the controllers at be back? >> the problem is argue [indiscernible] byding the wrong message save the sequester is bad, he got to address it across the board, but we will sign this one bill carving out the section? are you inviting more acceptance? >> there is no way for this to be done except in a broad action by congress to eliminate -- >> [indiscernible] >> this is causing unnecessary harm to travelers around the country, and this is a case where an act of congress could unobligated funds and apply them to address these flows. it is exactly what i have been

saying hamas a solution that does not solve the bigger problem. >> except the somebody will come down tomorrow -- small business, farmers, cancer patients -- they will come up with the same argument. >> they may. what i am saying is this is not the answer. about the facts that the furloughs would have on air travellers so much so that the secretary of transportation came here and more the american people about it. it was amusing to hear members of congress say the administration blindsided us, and fortunately some very worthy producers at tell the reason -- producers at television stations had the video, telling you this would happen. it behooves members of congress

to recall the passed. >> [indiscernible] the limited use of chemical weapons in syria -- two occasions last month suggest it was perhaps ordered by one of himself.als, not assad insuggests assad may not be full control. is that a red line? that, assad is responsible for the disposition andthose chemical weapons, it is his responsibility not to use them or to transfer them to terrorist groups, but to secure

them and make sure they are not used by anybody else. that is all i can say about it. that is our assessment at this time. >> senator mccain says this push an excuse notbe to act at all. how do you respond to that? >> i think it is the responsible thing to do, what the american people want and expect their leaders in washington to do on a matter of such seriousness to ensure we have gathered all the facts, that we build on the quality work done by our intelligence community and work with our allies and the syrian opposition as well as the united nations to assemble a credible set of facts that can be corroborated and review before we make a decision before

has been red line crossed and what actions to take it that is the case. >> can you verify that calls for actions -- senator feinstein said the red line is clearly been crossed. they think this intelligence is more reliable than the white house does. why does the senator think the red line has been crossed with such clarity? ourhat i can tell you is intelligence committee, which is providing this information to members of congress, assesses with varying degrees of confidence that the origin has used chemical weapons on a sarin.cale in syria, are working to establish credible back to build on this assessment. that is the responsible thing to

do. what we should do and the american people would expect us to do in a circumstance like this. .> what about major's prove how you expect to get this answer? regime -- the assange cooperate withto the investigation they say they wanted, but we're working with allies and partners and with the syrian opposition to gather information and fax to assess credible reports of the use of chemical weapons, and we will continue to do that. that is the right path for parry >> where does are russia factor into this? [indiscernible] we have clear about our

disagreements with russia on the on syria in and general. there have been security council votes that reflect our disagreements with the russians, but we continue to discuss with the russians and others the nature of the assad regime, the assault he has waged against his own people, the mass of harm done to the syrian people. >> [indiscernible] >> again, we will continue to work with united nations and the security council, but also perceived as i describe with allies and partners and the syrian opposition in our investigation into these reports of chemical weapons. >> a representative said he plans to introduce immigration reform in cases. would the president support that

approach? >> i will not speculate about bills that have not been written. the president has made clear that we need to reform our end of racism and a comprehensive need to reform our immigration system in a comprehensive way, improving our legal immigration system, it includes a holding businesses accountable, and it includes a clear path to citizenship, and those are the corners of why a reform bill would look like. it is also reflected in the legislation proposed by the gang of eight in the senate. these principles are important, and we have seen this effort for a while now and washington, and we have seen its move forward, but not succeed yet, but what has become clear to everyone

here who has followed it or work on it, it will only get done if it is done and a bipartisan way. the president spoke about this yesterday at the ceremony at the bush presidential library and museum. he credited george w. bush for his support for comprehensive immigration report -- were formed. reform.- that reflects a consensus or a bipartisan consensus was time is and at this growing even more in washington and across the country, behind the need to do this, and the president will work with congress to try to get this done. aret is true many americans affected by flight delays. it seems people of means, members of congress are most affected. what i do not understand is why the president did not say the republicans are going to this, but he will have to do something for the very poor being affected

but sequestered. if you are hard to fix this for people who fly, we will amend something be done for head start, seniors, something for the most vulnerable. >> the president does insist congress take action to eliminate the harm being done by toe sequester and the harm -- congress's refusal to act. >> does he not use his leverage? >> we support an effort here to take care of this problem, and we are highlighting the fact that it is a band-aid solution, that deals with one-half of 1%, not even come out of the sequestered, and irresponsible and right thing to do by congress is to address the entire sequester and harm it is doing to families across the country and communities that depend on defense industries by by reversing

themselves and their folly when they declared that they, the republicans in this case, declared it a victory, a great thing for the politically, and the tea party. i do not think americans who have suffered under this because they have been laid off or furloughed, i do not feel that way and i am sure that families who have been dealing with fact their child is no longer in head start feel that way. i am sure americans who have been delayed in airports hours feel that way, unless they are devoted tea party members. even as they are sitting on the tarmac for three hours, it feels like victory. i doubt it. but congress needs to do something about it. willd not wait and say not sign this bill until congress protect the more vulnerable?

>> [indiscernible] you are imagining never cheered, zack, that is about political gamesmanship. gettinginking about things done on behalf of the american people. ishe said the administration trying to build a case -- >> we are trying to find out if there is a credible case. >> right, so who would that case be presented to cove, again, you are taking me beyond where we are, speculating about what the next deaths would be. we have to take the evidence we have and of varying degrees of confidence we have about the assessments that chemical weapons have been used and build on that, and that is what we will do and not just a month, but working with partners and

the syrian opposition, as we work to press the united nations investigation forward. what happens after that depends on what conclusions are made and what facts are gathered. >> and then you said also that the administration believes assad full responsibility of the weapons, so in the use would be -- he would be the responsible party. is that correct? >> without getting into a specific instance that is speculation at this point, it is a fact that he is responsible for the stocks of chemical weapons under control of his regime. i do not want to speculate about the judgments we would make use ofn verified

chemical weapons we have been able to verify and have a set of facts to back up, because we're in the process of gathering those facts. we have physiological samples, but we do not have all the information we need to be more than -- to have more than varying degrees of confidence that this has happened, and we need to be able that a credible set of facts that are corroborated and are reviewable, that is what we're trying to establish now. there are about 100 detainees on guantanamo on hunger strike. low-or feinstein is saying level [indiscernible] should be of repatriated. do you agree with that? >> we continue to monitor the

hunger-strikers at guantanamo closely, and is something that the defense department has the most specific information on. at the white house the president remains committed to closing the detention facility at guantanamo bay. some progress has been made under this administration and under previous administrations. congress has enacted and renewed legislation to foreclosed our ability to close the facility great desolation which restricts our experienced counter-terrorism professionals from exercising their judgment as to what the most appropriate disposition is for individuals held there, as you know, we have been best there is a process and continues to be a process that assesses the detainees at guantanamo and that process is ongoing. a fundamental obstacle here to closing this facility, which is so clearly the president

believes and his predecessor and numerous others, including military is believed, is in our national-security interest to do, the obstacle remains at congress. we will continue to press forward to deal with this problem carried, the senator says with a change in leadership in yemen it would be ok now to yemenis back to their country. how do you feel about that? >> those assessments are made by officials, but i did not have any announcements to make regarding those detainees. the schedule for the week of april 29 is as follows -- monday the president will deliver remarks at the national academy of sciences.

tuesday, as part of the joining forces initiative, the president, vice president, the first lady, and dr. jill biden will make and implement announcement for veterans and military spouses. this will take place at the white house. wednesday the president will attend meetings. on thursday, the president will depart washington for his visit to mexico and costa rica. this trip is an opportunity to reinforce the deep cultural, familial, and economic ties that so many americans share with mexico and central america. while in mexico he looks forward to meeting with the president. the president welcomes the opportunity to discuss ways to deepen our partnership and further our engagement on a broad arc rate of regional and global issues that connect our countries. on friday afternoon, the president will part mexico for coaster rica. while there, he looks forward to meet with the president of

grocery the and others whom the president has offered to host. the trip will be an important chance to discuss our efforts to promote growth and development in central america and our cooperation on citizens to carry great saturday he will depart costa rica and returned to washington. sunday the president will deliver the commencement address at ohio state university. he will were turned to washington later that day. thanks, all. all done. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] at 8:00, president obama and the king of jordan discuss the syrian civil war. on c-span2, a hearing examined the law on disclosure of medical

records. margaret3 hamas hamburg -- on c-span3, margaret hamburg discusses the food and drug administration. all beginning tonight at 8:00 eastern on the c-span network. >> dave the house approved a measure allowing the faa to shift funds within its budget to avoid air traffic controller for us by a vote of 361-41 pair here's a look at the floor from earlier today. it is 50 minutes.

faa employees, the airlines, flying public, and the congress. the administration has played shameful politics with sequestration at the cost of hard-working american families. as i have often said, this is no way to run a government. the congress is stepping in to correct the problems, created by the administration lost in action. where taking this step because of the mismanagement of this important function for the safety of all americans who fly and on behalf of the commerce that depends on a reliable -- a reliable air system. we are taking this action to end the administration costs political games that are threatening our passengers

rights and safety. the fact that we are here today tried to solve this problem is a result of the sequester. i remind you the president brought the sequester to the table. in an effort to avoid the arbitrary $1.20 trillion of cuts mandated by the budget control act, twice the majority in this house have passed legislation that would have replaced the sequestration with targeted spending cuts of an equal dollar amount. the senate has never considered either of these bills, and thus the sequestration was triggered. this situation goes to show we need to return to regular order and consider appropriation bills in their entirety and not rely on continuing resolutions to fund the government. is no way to protect

programs related to the safety of the american public. it shows we must have a long- term comprehensive solution to our budget challenges, one that sells the sequester and provides sustainability and stability in the federal budget. mr. speaker, i put the administration, the secretary, the agency on alert that we are watching. we have questions that we want answered about how they are using these funds and how they are going to be managing the rest of their departments. like i said at the faa hearing this last wednesday, the safety of our air space cannot be subject to political posturing. i reserve the balance of my time. >> the gentleman reserves. consent toker, i ask revise and extend my remarks. >> so ordered. >> i yield myself such time as i

may consume. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> i would tell my dear friend that we agree on one thing, and this is the notion that this is not a good way to run a government. after mike him and remind all my colleagues -- i have to remind him and all my colleagues that a year and a half ago we were in this house, in this chamber talking about the budget control act, as i remember. a year and a half ago we had a vote. i did not support the legislation because i felt that sequestration was a bad idea. ed the billass cleared the senate passed the bill, and the president cited. for me, it is difficult to lay blame on any one party, because

this was done in a bipartisan manner. it is difficult for me to lay blame on one chamber, because bergschanged -- chamge [assed teh bill, because this was an action taken in the house, pass by the senate, and signed by the president. that the tell you administrator was before our subcommittee this week. he detailed the cuts that he had to make based on the rules and regulations of the various laws that deal with sequestration.

that is why towers were ordered to be shot, and that is what we had to furlough the faa air traffic controllers. thehis testimony, administrator reminded us that in february of this year a letter was sent by secretary lahood to the leadership, including myself and chairman latham, that this sequestration was going to cause a problem in the efficiency of the air traffic control system because there would be a furlough of air traffic controllers in order to meet the cuts that were required

by sequestration. that was done in february. when it sequestration was invoked, the faa had to implement a plan to see what it had to do to meet the number of tos it had to make, but not take away the safety of our air traffic control system knowing efficiency would be diminished. today we are here bringing a fix to this situation. , 10%ughs have been taken of employees have been furloughed, and that has a esult of the passengers' inconvenience, delays, or

canceled flights. the problem is, and i agree with my chairman, this is not a good solution because there are other agencies that have to make their cuts and are in a crisis themselves. not -- hopefully not. when we come back from our work time, there will not be another agency, another crisis that we have to start shifting from one account to save another account. mr. speaker, the solution is a comprehensive removal of sequestration, and that will only come about in my belief in my opinion if the house with its budget, the senate with its and workill conference

out the details that it needs to work out to have a comprehensive buttion, not to our budget, also to sequestration, and that needs to be done in order we are not dealing with issue by issue, crisis by crisis. so i agree with my chairman, that this is not a good way to run a government, but this morning i asked my colleagues to support the legislation, and i reserve. >> the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from iowa recognizes -- is recognize. >> i would yield one minute to the gentleman from north carolina. >> thank you. for this administration, the terms sequestration has become

synonymous with fear. i have been disappointed that the faa chose to close the contract control towers in 149 airports, including my home town of concord, north carolina. this airport is the third busiest in north carolina. it was named as an airport of national significance because a is the reliever airport for charlotte, which is the sixth busiest airport in the world. the decision to close these towers at a savings of $50 million is hard to understand when you consider the fact that the faa requested $15.1 billion for fiscal year 2013 and through sequester is receiving $15.9 billion, an increase over the amount of money the faa said they needed to operate. i can only conclude their goal is to make sequester cuts as people as possible for the people, and three -- and friends

their safety. threatens their safety. >> i would yield the gentleman 30 seconds. saying i conclude by support this bill because it ends the political gains by giving >> mr. speaker, the gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. >> i rise in opposition to this piece of legislation.

>> visible above the water line for most americans and as time es on without a big balanced deficit solution more icebergs will surface. more americans will be negatively affected. while i want to tend delays, i will oppose this bill because it fails to address the whole impact of sequester. let me share a handful of examples of how sequester will affect americans. education, head start, 70,000 children will be kicked out of head start. nothing in this bill deals with them. furloughs for disability claims, nothing in this bill deals with them. 4 million fewer meals on wheels

tr seniors. 600,000 people dropped off wic. nothing for them. housing, 125 less housing vouchers, nothing in here for them. emergency unemployment insurance cut for out of work americans, nothing in here for them. f.d.a. fewer food inspections, nothing in here for them. longer waits to approve new drugs, nothing in here for them. defense and homeland security furloughles equivalent to 1,000 fewer agents rgs f.b.i., border etc. on the job. 1/3 of air combat units are grounded, nothing in here for them. 89,000 agency wide furloughs in irs up to seven days -- may i have 30 additional seconds? >> you may. >> nothing in here for them. they serve 89,000 taxpayers

trying to find help. we ought not to be mitigating the scrors affect on just one segment when children, the sick, our military and many other groups will be impacted by this irresponsible policy are left unhelped. instead of addressing this serious wound with a small band aid let's get to work on a real solution. let's go to conference and get a big deal. let's deal with all the adverse consequences of sequester, not just those that affect the powerful air travel letters of america. we ought to help them but we ought to help everybody else as well and i yield back the balance of my time. >> i yield myself 30 seconds. it's fascinating what the administration that insisted on the sequestration, the gentleman just spoke supported the sequestration. so now to come and make a

. atement is quite fascinating mr. speaker i would yield one minute to the gentleman from new york. >> i'd like to thank the gentleman from iowa for yielding. i support the underlying bill and before i make my comments i would ask my colleague from maryland we have an opportunity to send a message to america we have a bill that will address an issue that needs to be addressed on behalf of american citizens. let us start here on a bipartisan fashion to solve the problems. mr. speaker i rise in support of the underlying bill because i have heard from my constituents in new york where a contract tower is going to be closed. what this bill does is restore that funding on a common sense basis where that contract

tower, my sincere hope and belief will be preserved and go forward. that will preserve the safety of my air traveling public. i'm proud to stand here today because of bipartisan efforts we worked together to solve this issue. let's pass this bill and move forward. >> the time is expired. >> i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from maryland tpwhrfment i thank you the gentleman for yielding. let me inform my friend in iowa he misstates my position. i have been gent the sequester every year i was on the appropriations committee. i opposed your cap bill which you supported which had sequester as the alternative. the president is against sequester, the senate budget is against sequester and you would not allow us to offer an amendment four times which would have precluded sequester,

not only for air travel but for the children of head start and buy medical research. if you are going to state the facts, state the correct ones. >> the speaker reminds all members to address their remarks to the speaker. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from north carolina mr. price. >> gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. >> hi pock crasi is reaching new heights in this body. many said bring it on as sequestration loomed. to this eally lished crisis. speaker boehner said the sequestration bill included 98% of what republicans wanted and republicans showed they valued their anti-tax ideology more than defense or any other cuts. now that sequestration fell as

a result they claim it doesn't need to hurt very much. and when the cuts bite, the president must be doing this decwroust make a political point. so this apparently wasn't supposed to be about air traffic control. the read the bill caucus needs to read the bill. it was about air traffic control and today we are going to apply a much needed band aid. maybe tomorrow we can have a bill applying to cancer research. then the next day let's have a bill about cancer treatments. then the next day let's have a bill about head start. then let's have one about tuition assistance to our military personnel. then let's have one about the border patrol. and by the way, if and when we apply these band aids, we need to realize we are shifting cuts to equally important areas that aren't in the news at the moment or that don't have powerful lobbies working on their behalf. my colleagues, i want to

address these crisis as much as any must be and contain the damage. but damage control is not a budget policy. sequestration is a self-inflicted wound unworthy of those who profess to govern. it's hypocrite cal and misleading having imposed on the administration to pretend that the president could fix this problem with a flick of the wrist. sequestration is a disaster. it needs to be reversed. it need to be replaced. by a comprehensive budget plan that includes tax expenditures which are the real drivers of the deficit. > the speaker would now like to recognize the distinguished gentleman from arkansas for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. i rise today to encourage my colleagues to pass this measure to stop president obama's needless furlough of air traffic controlers. further this legislation

empowers the f.a.a. to restore funding for 150 towers operated by private contractors around the country. the furloughs have received media attention this week but we shouldn't overlook the role these towers play in places like arkansas. these airports handle almost 30% of all aviation traffic providing vital relief to some of our most congested airports. the importance of these towers can't be overstated. i introduced legislation to restore funding for those towers. i'm confident the f.a.a. will use this bill to restore funding for these essential contractor operated air traffic control towers. again, i want to thank my colleagues for their support for this measure and i yield back the balance of my time. >> mcbefore i yield time i'd

like to remind my colleague this bill was passed by the house, the senate and signed by the president. that is what brought us sequestration. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding. this is an usual morning. we are because of the refusal of the republicans to come to the table for a conference. what is a conference? a conference is a public open meeting where differences between the house budget bill and the senate bill can be reckon siled. it is done with transparency understand full public view. we have the american people be the judge of what is their statement of values. afraid of that public scrutiny

the republicans have refused to appoint confer rees for a conference. e call upon the speaker to amount conferees so we can have that public airing, that transparent view of something very important. the republican leadership has said in the house and senate they want the regular order. what is the regular order? the regular order is the house passes a bill, the senate passes a bill. you go to conference. now afraid that their views may be rejected by the american people they don't want to go to conference. that's why we are here this morning for sequestration. what is sequestration? sequestration is a mindless across the board cutting of what we are now recognizing and

republicans are recognizing as something that should not be cut. it affect it is efficiency and safety of our airports. that's very important. t as our distinguished democratic mr. hoir has pointed out, there is much more that need to be addressed instead of using this as a vehicle. one of the distinguished chairman said earlier the safety of our airports should not be subject to political debate. negotiate should the education of our children, the nutrition for our seniors, 4 million meals on wheels. tens of thousands of children thrown off head start. our defense mindless across the board cuts. what that means for our national security and for the workers in our national security sector. the list goes on and on.

investments in our future. buy medical research cut by this. so i suppose if this is an example of governance that the republicans will next come one something else and say we should t exempt that. why don't we just get rid of the problem? why don't we just get rid of the problem and go to conches? some of the press said to me does this hurt your leverage in going to conference. i said no this is an opportunity because it demonstrates to the american people how unwise this course of action is and how much better it would be to find solutions to get results in the regular order respectful of everyone's point of view but recognizing that decisions made here have an impact. not only in the lives of the children and the lives of their

teachers, in the lives of all consumers, it will have an impact on our economy as well. so this should be a clarne call. it's almost lewd cruss to here my republican colleagues to get up there and talk about their individual airports. most of us have airports. we understand what this issue is about. why don't you understand that there is a great deal at stake including the efficiency and safety of our airports but also again the education of our children? how can we is it there and say 4 million males on wheels for seniors gone. meals on wheels for seniors gone. thousands of children off head start, but that isn't important. what is important is for the republicans to hold a hard line about the debate that a

conference would provide. some members vote the way they are going to vote on this but recognize that this is not the way congress should be meeting the needs of the american people. let's go to a conference. mr. speaker, appoint conferees so we can end this mindless addressing the sequestration. thank you mr. speaker. >> the gentlewoman yields back. i would like to recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania for one minute. >> the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. i do support this legislation. on wednesday f.a.a. stroir mitted he saw no flexibility for the flying public. we are giving him this flexibility now. they blind sided everyone by

failing to properly notify them about implementation of the sequester. they noletfide them a week ago about the specifics. that is mismanagement. this bill nix it is problem by keeping air traffic controlers working and the towers operating. it provide the flexibility the f.a.a. need and should have been asked for by the administration. traffic case of mismanagement. pleets support the legislation. i yield back. >> any manifestation of approval or disapproval is in violation of the rules of the house. gentleman from arizona is recognized. >> mr. speaker i yield one minute to the gentleman from west virginia, the ranking member of the authorizing committee. >> gentleman from west virginia is recognized for one minute. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding. i support as the flight delays mounted this week due to the

furlough and republicans claimed the f.a.a. had the flexibility to avoid this disruption and politics were at play. that's like the pot calling the kettle back n. march many of these same members recognized the across the board nature of the sequester when there was a bill to avowed the furlough of meat inspectors. my good friend of secretary of traffic is a good honorable man. i take issue with those who accuse him of playing politics. those who take a piece mill approach. i share the concerns of others who are being burdened by the sequester such as a child thrown out of head start or a senior who depends on males on wheels. the sequester is not just an inconvenience to business

travel letters, we are talking about transporting patients. >> time is expired. >> the gentleman from iowa is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i would like to recognize the distinguished chairman of traffic infrastructure committee the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. >> i rise in support so we can stop this needless pain on the american traveling public and our economy. the administration and the f.a.a. has refused for months to provide us with a plan torks work with the airline industry to figure out how this could be implemented without all this pain to the traveling public and the economy. i'd like to remind my colleagues this industry provide a trillion dollars to our economy. it's important to the hardworking men and women of america that our airlines and folks are getting where they need to be on time without

delay. this is damaging to the economy. this has been mismanaged and i believe this bill will force the administration to stop these needless furloughs so we can continue making sure that the airline industry is functioning to keep our economy growing and stop the safety concerns to the traveling public. with that i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. >> i yield one minute to the gentleman from washington. >> the gentleman from washington is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. before we pat each other on the back for this bill, i think it's important we recognize it's not fixing the bigger problem sequester created. head start students will have to find their own way to school as bus service is being cut because of sequester. now we can ask these four-year-olds to ride try sick tols class or book a flight.

budgets are being cut mandated by sequestration. we're not doing anything to help the kid today. we're not helping seniors who are getting males on wheels no longer delivered to them. it not just my district. every member represents a district whose kids and seniors are being hurt to clean up a failure we caused. this is a band aid and sequestration needs a triple bypass surgery. sequestration is a little bit like the person who kicks a boulder and then blames the boulder for his broken toe. congress created this problem. we need to fix it. i yield back. >> the gentleman from iowa is recognized. >> i'd like to recognize the gentleman from illinois for one minute. >> is the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. i'd like to first thank the senate for sending this piece

of legislation over to us to provide a fix, a fiction that isn't necessary to provide. but the administration through a lack of leadership is proving that we have to do this now. we are here today because this administration has decided to put politics over passengers. from the very beginning of sequestration this administration and its departments claimed they didn't have the flexibility to avoid cuts that would affect americans the most. the proposed tower closings and furloughs that were announced are irresponsible and indefenseable. the f.a.a. already has the flexibility we are granting them today but they are unwilling to take advantage of that. we are here today because it's time to stop the excuses. we oh it to the american people to pass this bill to get the f.a.a. to act responsibly to protect the traveling public.

i urge you, tell your administration to grow up. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. >> i yealed one minute to the gentleman from new jersey. >> the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. >> so ordered. >> we're here this morning because americans are understandably upset at sitting and waiting at airport gates. but there are other americans who are sitting and waiting. there are moms sitting and waiting at home to enroll their children in head start. after this bill they will still be waiting. there are pilots in our air force and navy sitting and waiting to fly their training missions, 1/3 of our planes are grounded. after this bill, they'll still be sitting. they'll still be waiting. there are senior citizens who need to go to chemotherapy at out patient clinics around this

country but because of the cutback of sequestration their doctors aren't seeing them. after this bill, they will still be sitting and waiting. this congress has done too much sitting and too much waiting when it comes to sequestration. the senate has passed a budget that ends sequestration. there is an opportunity to is it at a conference, negotiate and pass that budget instead of sitting and waiting, let's start working and negotiating and pass the senate budget. >> the gentleman from iowa is recognized. >> thank you mr. speaker. i'd like to recognize the for one from florida, minute. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. why are we here? we're here because of a colossal failure of leadership and the ability to manage resources. first of all i can tell you that there are plenty of air

traffic controlers. just go online and get this report plan for the future. some of our airports have far more air traffic controlers than we need. in fact, air traffic control, the last ten years is down 27% and we still have close to 15,000 air traffic criminalers. this legislation does -- controlers. this does provide a figure leaf for the administration that says they don't have the authority. they have the ability and authority to move resources and people around. so that gives us the opportunity to get the flying public flying again. so again we have the resources, they have the money and here we are giving them the final figure leaf they have asked for and they say they need to get this done. i can tell you if ronald reagan were president, we would not be in this mess.

thank you. >> mr. speaker i yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland. >> the gentleman from maryland is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. after the vote on this today, members of this house are going to run for the airports. they are all going to be flying home on airplanes and yes they will make it easier for members of congress to get through these lines. and they will pat themselves on the back and say job well done. well obviously we should address the issue at the airports. but we need to address the other issues right now. and not make it easier for members of congress to fly home for a week away when we should be a week right here making shure we do not see the negative impacts of the sequester grind on for the kids in head start or seniors on males on wheels and folks doing important life saving research. lk mc, four times this year we have offered a propose toll replace the entire sequester,

to achieve the same deficit reduction without the kind of damage that's been done and four times we haven't even had a chance to vote on the floor of this house. now we're simply asking to go to conference which our republican colleagues complain they didn't pass a budget. they got one. let's go to conference rag than go home. >> the gentleman recognized. >> mr. speaker i would now like to recognize the gentlewoman from minnesota for one and a half minutes. >> she is recognized for one and a half minutes. >> it's high time that the f.a.a., mr. speaker, have the flexibility they need to have on closures of any air traffic control towers. it is my hope that minnesota and amptes do remain open. they are vital and much needed. we are looking at approximately 189 airports. i want to speak to something

else. we were listening to representative hoyer and representative pelosi be extremely passionate about the loss we'll see for children through head start, for senior citizens through meals on wheels. for children who will be dealing with other food nutrition programs. that breaks everyone's hearts. but i want to reminde the people of this country that it was former speaker pelosi, senator reid and president obama who signed the sequestration bill and it was press secretary jay carney who admitted that the sequestration was president obama's idea. there are numerous republicans that voted against the sequestration because we knew all of these clam tiss were in the future. and so it reminds me of the shakespeare line thousand pro test ith too much.

didn't you know this was going to happen. that's why we voted against this bill. and the higher the level of passion that quals the conscious we're seeing of those who voted the wrong way on this bill the first time. i'm for this bill and i yield back. >> the gentleman from arizona is recognized. >> mr. speaker before i yield time to the lady, i have to remind my colleague that i voted against that bill. and the bill passed because there was a majority of republicans who supported it. and so we just can't blame one house or one senate or the president because all of us share the blame. >> the republicans offered their bill. it was called cut, cap and balance. and they voted on that bill before we ever got to

sequester. and in cut, cap and balance your alternative if you didn't reach your numbers was sequester. sequester was your policy. and the c.r. you had mr. rogers bring to the floor which i voted against when it went from here to there as did every democrat, it said it was going to be subject to the sequester. >> the gentleman from arizona is recognized. >> one minute to the gentle lade from california. >> the gentle lady is recognized from california. >> i rise to support the bill reducing flight delays act of 2013. i don't want anybody to be mistaken about why i support this bill. i want ms. backman to understand we know that she has led the tea party and the right wing on all of these issues and

that she led on the discussion on sequestration. it was a bad policy. it should not have been adopted by either side of the aisle. however that is the order of the day. and we need to bring the budget to the floor and have a conference committee so we can adopt some of what was adopted the faa plans to furlough of the vast majority of the 47,000 employees, including 15,000 air traffic controllers for one day during each two-week period. furloughs have already expired. >> the gentlelady's time has expired. will reserve my time. >> the gentleman from arizona is

recognized. >> how much time do we have? >> 2.5 minutes. the gentleman from iowa has 7.5 minutes. chairman, d. my you want to even out the time and i will reserve if you like? >> you have two or speakers? i have one more, so i would suggest he go ahead with your speaker now and you will have one and i will have won and became close. the yield one minute to gentle lady from texas. but the gentle lady from texas is recognized for one minute. this is a hostage taking, and the american people are watching the blame game. the blame game falls clearly on this side of the aisle. republicans held this place

hostage. now we are losing 2 million jobs, head start programs, and i believe in controllers, but we are holding them hostage. how about the person who cannot afford an airline ticket? it is important we stand for the millions of dollars we are losing for homeland security. mr. speaker, i ask consent to that up hr 900, a bill repeal the section of the budget control act of 2000 led it to get rid of sequester, bring it up now, mr. speaker. unanimous consent. >> does the gentleman from iowa yield for that purpose? >> yes. >> excuse me? >> can we bring it up now? [indiscernible] from is the gentleman

will yield for that purpose pa? >> no. are 5000 children in texas who will lose head start, because of the way we run this government is slash and burn. >> the gentleman from iowa is recognized. i would like to recognize the gentleman from texas for 1.5 minutes. isthe gentleman from texas recognized. >> we have heard rhetoric sequestration is a problem. i remind you sequestration, president obama proposed and was the only solution we could agree on to the real problem, the fact this government is spending $1.50 for every dollar it brings in. sequestration came into effect and we are now having to deal

with it. it was our intent all along to find cuts. he could not agreement from -- we could not get agreement from the other side. even though sequestration is painful, it is working. we are able to take the faa, get the cuts need to be made to the budget made without affecting flight delays and without furloughing people. i contend this can happen to route the government and all agencies. if these agencies and the president had come back to this congress saying we can do these cuts this like a lot of us do it, i imagine almost every one of those which have passed. they would have pass on a suspension. i urge my colleagues to take this step to solve the problem with the faa, and i look forward to work with the other agencies and the administration to find the cuts we need and spare the people the pain that is potentially being inflicted because some people did not want to cut a dime out of the american budget.

the people know instinctively there is waste and fraud and abuse in this government, and we will find it and try to do it in the best possible way. >> the gentleman's time is expired. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. >> how much time do we have? half.minute and a the gentleman from iowa has six minutes remaining. minute toyield one the gentle lady from washington, d.c. the gentlelady is recognized. mr. speaker, congress did not foresee the controllers crisis. they will not foresee the next one. we have not solved the crisis with money. it was not about money, not about cuts, it was solved the old fashioned way can they move

money around. this is exactly what was done with the appropriations that are not having this crisis. we can solve this if we have a meeting of both sides of the aisle on the budget. what would happen at that meeting would probably be not to cut a thing, but simply to allow agencies the flexibility to move money around precisely as has been done with the controllers crisis. not 1 cent was changed, just the flexibility, the common sense that we now need to do with every single operation. i yield back and think the german parent, the gentleman from iowa is recognize. inquire, this tournament from arizona? , 30 seconds. >> i reserved the scion. >> mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i will consider.

i rise to ask my colleagues to support this bill pay it is a one time it takes in a crisis we're having today with our air traffic system. i join my colleagues as well as my chairman in the asking the house leadership, but the republican leadership, democratic leadership, to work on a comprehensive solution on the sequestered so we can bring regular order and get the type of government the americans deserve. i yield back. >> the gentleman from iowa is recognized. >> i think the gentleman paid, i yield myself such time as i may consume. , i want to associate myself with what the good -- my good friend and ranking member on the subcommittee, mr. pastor josette, that we have to find a solution. this is a horrible way to run a

government with the question, when you take a meat axe approach to departments that have no common sense, and that is why we need to get back to regular order brent here, do appropriation bills. we would avoid these types of that wephic situations find ourselves in. mr. speaker, i would ask everyone to understand that as the senate sent this over last thet, it is an h.r. bill, senate will notapprove it. it is important we do this for the american people, the traveling people, for the safety of the system, to make sure that our commerce continues. i would ask everyone to support this bill, and let's fix the big

promise -- problem and come to a budget agreement. >> the house went on to pass the bill, after the vote, we spoke with a capitol hill reporter. snyder is a transportation reporter. >> the number one thing was outcry from the public. there have been thousands of delays in flights. they have heard from the airline industry. there was a lot of pressure from the public on this issue. >> with the bill of kate, what does it allow the faa to do? itit is a narrow bill but gives the transportation secretary in a party to transfer $253 million, enough money to pay both the comptroller salaries and also has about $21 million extra

leftover that can be used to keep contract control towers open, which is another issue that had been hurt by the sequestered. >> does the president support this effort? >> jay carney this morning said the president plans to sign it he expects to see that any time today or very soon. say there are other priorities that should also get a reprieve from sequestration. should we expect to see other bills line up aimed at stemming the effects of the sequester on other programs? >> yes, and a lot of democrats want a full sequester replace the. there is a lot of stigmas of people saying signing off on this, but i want the whole thing replaced. we have heard about meat inspectors. we have heard about meals on wheels and head start. there is a lot of banks to out

there, especially in the democratic side of the aisle on this issue. >> during debate republicans argued that the disclosure cuts are the brainchild of the president and that this bill is congress' way of fixing a problem created by the president. true or false? >> both, actually. a lot of people say it was the president's hidea, but congress had to sign off on this in the first place. this cleared the house and the senate. congress had a hand in this. whose idea might be irrelevant because everybody ended up approving this. >> republicans are did this bill was unnecessary and the faa already had the authority to move money around and controllers did not have to be furloughed. what are democrats saying about that? but democrats say that is false. a number of republicans have argued they already had the flexibility.

me thisnkford told administration is not necessarily known for sticking to the letter of the law, which a was a jab at the administration. he said even if all law is not on their side, i did not see why they do not go ahead and do this anyway. democrats have said the sequester is an account by account, line item cut and they did not have that authority assuming the president signs the bill, how quickly can the fda they get back to business as usual? >> quickly. the furloughs have done one day per pay period, and i would think a small administrative issue, and they can start working, be able to work that next friday that they might not have had to work. we should see things moving quickly. snider, we thank you for your time today.

candy," alan shimp asks what government spending will have on future generations. alan is the first prize winner in this student cam competition. >> ♪ because i'm sweet on candy and candy is sweet on you ♪ >> mr. president, thank you for seeing me. i'm here to tell you that 25% of americans have no representation and are heavily taxed. i remember four years ago speaker of the house john boehner complained -- >> we're broke. we're broke. america's broke. haveear long our friends been on this massive spending spree that our nation can't afford.

>> in fact, we're more than broke, $16 trillion in debt, a debt that will be paid by my generation. if i remember my schoolhouse rock, it's our founding principle. >> i don't know how worthy all these projects are, but i do have to ask the question, are they more important than our kids and grandkids who have to pay the debt? >> there are others who dismiss the debt is even our problem. >> that means over the last 234 years there's more dollars than it's taken away from us in taxes. in other words it's a net $15 trillion of dollars that the public holds. >> so he's saying that the government debt is my asset. in fact, there's other people who think we should go further into debt. >> the central irony is caused by too much spending, too much

lending, and it can only be resolved with more confidence and more lending and more spending. >> and yet i hear larry summers and austan goolsbee and i hear paul krugman and joe stiglitz, all of my colleagues talking about how we need to stimulate the economy with more government spending. government redistributes sources from the people who produce them to the people who didn't produce them. >> anyone? anyone? >> this is like november 1. you wake up and your stomach hurts from having too much halloween candy. is the result to gorge on more candy? >> i could have had candy apples and gum and spent money on all sorts of things! >> your government created a $16 trillion debt for my generation. i understand you're building an infrastructure for the future. some spending is necessary and good. >> this money is spent and

injects demand into the economy and it's jobs created. it creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you could name. >> ♪ you are my candy, girl and you got me wanting you ♪ >> we've got do something. >> ♪ honey aw, sugar, sugar ♪ >> when we first met angel adams, she was living in a motel room with 12 of her 15 children, ranging from 11 years to 15 months, and she was angry at the system. >> somebody needs to pay for all my children. >> that's where food stamp benefits come in. they help you eat right when money's tight.

theire than 10% of discretionary income left after shelter and food on college loans. >> i tell you this college is a failure. >> ♪ you are my candy, girl >> after you invest in infrastructure. contractors and manufacturing but they will have that income and put it back into the economy and affect our tourism and education sector. >> roads? where we're going, we don't need roads. >> i can talk about what the recovery act did. they basically saved the state of nevada from going into bankruptcy. >> mr. president, i can't ask more from our government than that. however, i can conserve less from them. some spending is just wasteful. >> the cowbell hall of fame.

>> the defense contractors getting rich off their failure and incompetence. bridgey want to build a with $223 million of your tax dollars. >> thanks, but no, thanks, on that bridge to nowhere. >> because when the american people no longer belief that this is a place where only their willingness to work hard and to act with honor and integrity and ingenuity determines their success in life, then we will have a bunch of people sitting on a couch waiting for their next

government check. >> yes, it takes the bull by the horns and starts spending. i had been investing in things that make sense. >> the administration has pledged $3.5 billion in stimulus money also known as tax dollars, and that's just so far. now california says it need more, tens of billions from federal taxpayers to finish it. >> it's not in mississippi from this year's commissioning. >> i want one. i want one. i want one. >> the mesh worm. an m.i.t.-led team that designed a robot that moves like an earthworm.

>> it's all hopeless. you might as well buy greek bonds and go down together. >> mr. president, you realize if i had $16 trillion of these little pieces of candy, i could cover the entire area of washington, d.c., 4,000 times over. the youth of this country are being taxed without representation. now, while i sit around watching c-span all day, most kids are not that well informed, so you can't give us the vote. you can either spend more responsibly or you can eliminate the debt. the youth of this country demand it. thank you for your time. have a lollipop and great day. >> ♪ lollipop, lollipop oh, lolly lollipop ♪ >> congratulations all the

winners. to see more videos, go to studentcam.org. obama and the jordanian king talk about the syrian civil war. on c-span to come to a hearing on the disclosure of medical records and why it could be misunderstood. margaret hamburg budgeties on that 2014 request for the fda. a conversation about intelligence reports of chemical weapons used in syria. our guest is the former director of the national security agency. then a look at the process for getting a visa to enter the

united states. we will talk about the director of the american immigration lawyers association perry also, the semi annual report on the consumer protection bureau. >> next, a discussion on homeland security bombing about it -- after the boston marathon bombings. this is about 35 minutes. host: our guest representative jason chaffetz from the utah homeland security committee welcome. guest: thank you. host: we're going to talk about the boston marathon and that but first syria and information coming from the white house what does this mean going forward? guest: very serious situation and in a volatile place of the world but when you step over the red line and start using chemical weapons, that's a scary proposition given their close proximity and we have something

senator kerry and others will lead this. i can't talk about what goes on in there, but the administration is taking it very seriously, as they should, and it's a very scary situation. host: how much should be done as far as looking at the evidence and going forward before we make decisions? guest: i think what we're going to hear is what degree of certainty and evidence do they have? you don't want to make mistakes with these types of things. senator mccain is saying we should have taken action in there years ago. this will really push the envelope. again, it's proximity to such a volatile part of the world and creates concern that many will want to take proactive measures if that evidence is really there. host: should that include ground force? guest: i don't know.

that's where you want to have the best electronic and ground intelligence and also military with capability in place to take out a threat if there is truly a clear and present danger to the united states. host: two stories want to get your reaction to. the "daily news" says the f.b.i. knew on monday that the bombers were going to attack. also in "the washington post" the f.b.i. losing track of a man. in the ricin case. guest: we're rooting on the men and women in the f.b.i. and what they are doing in a very swift manner. the way they took these suspects down, everybody, it gives you a surge of pride both with local law enforcement and federal officials. i think there are a lot of homeland security looking at how these individuals immigrated and what sort of signals did the russians give us?

evidently according to the intelligence the russians contacted the c.i.a. and state department giving us heads up that they had concerns. was any of this information stove piped? there's a news report out this morning that maybe this information wasn't shared with local terror experts. that will be a deep concern moving forward. there are also a lot of us who aren't convinced this is just an isolated case. one of the things that concerned me is right rat the very beginning the official it's said this is an isolated case. i think the starting point should be, let's make sure it's not a bigger, broader thing. i would say let's make sure this wasn't two kids that went awry and thought let's do this. i would worry that they were radicalized and others may have been radicalized as well. both the f.b.i. and other

officials should figure out if this is bigger and broader than just these two individuals. host: questions for our guest should be directed on the phone. democrats -- independents -- and republicans and if you want email us or contact us social media. guest: i'm on a judiciary on oversight and government reform but also on homeland security so there's -- i think we will be involved in lots of different places here. we're different in the united states of america. we're open and transparent and we talk about these things. i'm proud of that fact. think that's the role of government to make sure if there were mistakes we don't make those again.

so of course we're going to look into this from many different angles not just in regards to these two punks and their family but also to the bigger, broader question of terror, because it is out there. we do have to defend against it. we're going to have to stop being as politically correct as we have been in the past and get very serious about dealing with those who want to terrorize america. cheryl: there will be information-sharing and who said what to whom? >> yes. the we've got to give authorities in real-time an opportunity to do their job. we are still days out from when the terror happened but i would expect in the coming months, days, we will take a closer look and how can we communicate better? keep people's privacy in place? but: now in the house

before in the senate, how does one impact the other? >> we have to fix immigration. it's not working for anybody. stanceken a strong against certain parts of immigration but always advocated that we have to fix legal immigration. i don't care how far and wide the defense is but if you don't fix immigration, you don't fix it. so the boston situation creates issues we have to look at closely. how do we deal with the asylum? we bring in tens of thousands of people under asylum. thedo we go through adjudication process of whether they should or shouldn't be granted asylum? that's part of the immigration discussion. host: our guest joining us to talk about homeland security and immigration-related matters. the republican from utah.

jason chaffetz. our first caller from our democrat's line. how are you doing? caller: go ahead. tose guys if they are going be finding out how they got their guns because one police officer was killed and another was badly wounded and they had a shootout with police officers and so what's going to be done to find out where the guns came from, how they purchased them and what's going to be done with that? because they got guns you've got -- they can go to gun shows and things, so what's going to be done about that? thank you. host: i think it's a legitimate question. guest: how did they get the information they had in order to do the bomb making? did somebody give them these weapons and bombs? i think this is all legitimate questions.

how did they get their weapons and bombs? w dihothey get trained? who informed them? that's right at the heart of what we need to understand and absolutely, i think that's a very legitimate question. host: john from maryland. republican line. hi. i think it's unbelievable how there's a coincidence of what's going on in washington as far as immigration and gun control and then showing it having the boston marathon bombings having involving illegal guns around immigrants and it tells me what they are trying to do with with regard to newtown and over places is not going to help. and i really think the end result has to do with --mpensation and guns. doesn't

confiscation of guns. it doesn't have to happen right now but nobody thought that this loss of liberty would happen in five years but what upset me was when i heard they were questioning the younger brother for 16 hours or whatever time it was the f.b.i. wasn't done with it and all of a sudden a federal judge shows up with someone from the justice department and public defender and the president said we want to bring the full weight of justice down and make sure that this never happens again. i am so sick of hearing after every incident we want to make sure it doesn't happen again and then they shut down the interrogation for no good reason and i want to know who ordered that judge to go there. host: peter king has the same question why is the justice department granting him the right to silence and arraign him after just 16 hours of interrogation? guest: peter king knows a thing

or two about this. i think it's a very legitimate question. i'm sure in the house judiciary committee this is something we will be looking at deeply and --ey seem very avengs to see. very anxious to come in there. the judge coming in there so swift lyrics i understand it's an unprecedented case. host: but it goes to process. guest: and how do we deal with these. one of the frustrations in general republicans have had about president obama is we don't have an enemy combatant policy in this country. remember, when the president first took office, he was justed a mesht that we should be-- adamant that we should be closing down guantanamo bay. i've tpwhrn a couple of times.-- i've gone there a couple of times. it's a difficult situation but also a very necessary place to

have. if you were to have the democrats and others trying to explain how guantanamo bay fits into their protection policy, i don't think they could explain it to you. i couldn't. i think it's a necessary part of what we have to deal with in this country. host: but you say -- guest: it's a process. i'm not ready to be judge and jury days after this attack but there has to be a policy in place so when we do have things like, unfortunately they happen overseas and domestically, how are we supposed to deal with that? and the president has not had a policy, and i think that's wrong. host: from north carolina, hello? caller: hello. i'm calling to find out what the thinking is about following the money. and that is where does all the money come from that supported these two men?

and their multiple housing situations. the ammunition, the guns, the materials for the bombs. the financing that goes to take them to and from russia and etc. no one is following the money that i can tell. would you please comment on that? guest: i have every confidence that these officials are actually diving into that money trail. hear, supposedly -- i am living in press reports like you are -- but supposedly this family was living on welfare. if they are in a situation where they were getting all this welfare, how do you afford to to russia? that is a pretty expensive trip. you are right, not only the personal finances of what is happening with respect to terror, but what is the bigger money trail? how were they able to purchase

these types of things? if they are not -- i would be shocked, but i have been given every assurance that that money trail is being followed. caller: i am following up on the same question. where did they get the money to be able to do this? they seek asylum in this country, and when you are granted it, that means you are running away from the country because you are afraid you will be killed. you are not allowed to travel to the country you are from unless you get a visa from the russian government. it is very expensive to do that. they seem to be going back and forth all the time. how are they able to do this? follow the money trail. guest: not only that, but how did they in pieces and documents?-- get visas and

documents? there were questions of whether their names were misspelled, algorithm that were said to track this. they are still piping so that homeland security. perfectly phrased questions, i totally agree with you, but i do think we will need months to let this play out, let law enforcement folks do with a need to do without the pressure of having to prepare testimony for the congress. they have to do their job in real time to make sure there are none other people out there in this same situation. host: we had discussions about information after september 11. here we are now. why has more not been done? guest: we just do not know. i do not want to jump to conclusions too quickly. we have had some conflicting testimony from secretary napolitano.

that needs to be cleared up. i am giving him a little leeway here given that we are so close to the proximity of what happened. the public is raising the right questions, i hope we are in congress. host: how long before actual hearings take place? guest: we are not in session next week, so in may we will start to get to it. there are opportunities to ask officials questions. we had fbi director muller there, we had secretary napolitano there, counter- terrorism people there. we got information appear that is the way a representative government works. host: were you satisfied with what you're hearing? guest: when a disaster happens like this and you still have people in the hospital, funeral

going on, it is not a partisan thing. we are all cheering them on. i am as right wing and conservative as you can be, but clearly i am routing on get napolitano and her staff. these are a group of professionals, but of course we are going to hold their feet to the fire. make sure that they are making wise decisions, that we are solving the problems. right now we are just making sure they are doing their job. host: silver spring, maryland. republican line. caller: i am very much in agreement with what has been said, but what bothers me is, if they were here for asylum, wasn't there something along the way that said something is wrong here? with immigration, no amnesty.

they made maryland such a soft place, it is amazing that we all speak english. guest: i do not mind if other people speak other languages in our country. i do think english should be the official language of the united states of america. but you are right, when somebody comes here on asylum, and then they suddenly apply and get a be said to go back overseas, that is contradictory to the concept of asylum. we have to make sure we are precise in what they applied for, what they said the threat was, where did they go? we do not know the answers to those questions yet, but you are spy upon. i hear you loud and clear.-- you are spot on and i hear you loud and clear.

host: mark from georgia. independent line. caller: good morning. my voice is a little horse this morning. talking about those boston bombings -- i saw these little girls on television, one of them was a dancer that lost her foot, the other one, i cannot remember, she was 38 years old, but they have to take her light off. -- leg off. the government needs to be responsible and help those people with their medical bills. some of them might be poor and need help. i am going to lay this at the foot of our government. they are not doing their job.

as far as immigration, illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from american citizens. i have heard that argument over and over. i think several industries in the country went downhill. they come over here and work for $7 an hour. working at a meat-packing plant used to pay $18 an hour. guest: i think i saw that same interview with anderson cooper, did a great job interviewing this woman. she lost her legs just below the knee. she was already up on crutches, learning to deal with the one -- withthat she has now.

the one leg she has now. her husband was by her side. it was very inspirational. her attitude was so good. she was a dancer for a living, she loved to do the waltz and all these other dances, and already, one week out of the tragedy, with a positive attitude saying, i am going to do this again and i hope they have a follow-up story. it was something that touched our hearts. if i know something about the people of boston, mass., of course they're going to rally behind anyone having a difficult situation. everybody, i hope, will be embraced by the community, and i am sure that will be the case. host: the house will begin work on immigration. one of the papers this morning says -- could you comment on both of those? guest: the chairman is a representative of virginia, a good man, has some experience

here. i am not an attorney but i am on judiciary. he made a commitment that we would have an open and transparent process, that we would go through regular order, which in the world of congress means we have the opportunity to offer up amendments, we will vote on those amendments. i agree, we should be tackling this one issue at a time. comprehensive disobey and massive, so complicated, given its history, it has collapsed before. that would be a shame. we have to fix illegal immigration. the best approach is to build some bridges, build some trust, get some common ground, go one bill at a time. that is the smarter way to go. democrats and republicans probably agree on 70% of this, so let's go solve this and that

the situation better, but there are issues that we legitimately disagree on. host: chief among them is what? guest: do you grant citizenship to those people here illegally? i believe in a touchback provision. we have a high moral obligation to america. number two, we have a higher moral obligation to those who are not willing to break the law, the people who are trying to go through this legally and lawfully. they have been waiting patiently. some people have been waiting two decades in order to go through this process. those people should be given higher priority. we have to deal with families,

business needs, on the ag side and high-tech side. if there was a simple solution, it would have happened a long time ago, but that is why i advocate one bill that time. host: other instances of accusing congress of dragging out the process. guest: supposedly weaver supposed to get fun of reform,-- there was going to be a comprehensive reform, we get to the final steps, and then it breaks down. i think this is the way to build bridges. i was proud of the fact that i sponsored and passed a bill that dealt with high skilled immigrants, the family-based visas. we only had 15 people of of 435 that voted against it. so there is a bipartisan way to approach this. it would have helped hundreds of thousands of people.

very bipartisan in this approach but unfortunately, the senate never took it up. host: border security is still a big issue. guest: i have to go through a iot more analysis and details. appreciate them doing something. the so-called triggers on border security will be a big thing. if you do not solve the problem with visa over stays.40% of people here illegally came ehre here legally.there are a lot of people who came here and never left. we do not have an entry-exit schedule in this country. i go to my local deli and they can tell me what kind of sand which i always order. homeland security can not tell thatho is coming in and out.

is so wrong. we need entry-exit, when the border security in place. we have to have the interior enforcement in place. what are the so-called triggers? this is a discussion that has no answers, at this point. host: our guest is jason chaffetz. let's go to the phone calls, cherie, democrat's line. caller: i find it interesting how much discussion and resources have been spent on the boston case and how little about the explosion in west, texas. when corporations are allowed to skirt regulations and break the law, we are condoning corporate terrorism. do you? guest: what happened in texas, all those people that were killed -- boy, you watch and

explosion on television -- i cannot imagine having been there. a lot still needs to play out. i am sure texas officials will be looking to what happened and what did not happen there. we want people to be held accountable. i do not know the specific details as to what the company did or did not do. it is not necessarily a federal issue. maybe more of a local issue. of course, companies should be held accountable. i am sure there will be a series of lawsuits and examinations. boston, obviously, has gotten more media attention, but that does not mean that people in texas and other places are not totally forgotten. i think, if you went to texas, that is much more of a focal point. host: on twitter -- will you be complaining about all the spending in the future about

border security? guest: what bothers me about the u.s. government is we do not make tough choices. maybe we should say, look, we have to prioritize things around here in this country. one of the thing to that bothers me, we are about to turn the corner of giving $100 billion in aid to afghanistan. we have been a very generous nation, but that is not counting the fighting, this is just physically to buy things for them and help them build within afghanistan. should we be spending that much money, or cheroot be making the tough choice and say, we need to make sure we have enough ice officers on the streets. we have to make tough choices.

that is what we do not do. i have been very critical of the department of the defense saying, folks, you are not immune from this. you have to learn to become more effective and efficient as well. i had a hearing yesterday that dealt with ammunition that would be purchased by the department of homeland security. they have 240 million rounds of ammunition in storage. they are using, on average, 3400 rounds per person, in storage, for each person that carries a gun. that seems a bit excessive. i am a lifetime member of the nra, i carry a glock at home, at times, i have a rifle, shotgun, i love hunting. but i am still critical of homeland security and how they're doing their training and use their ammunition.

of course we are born to hold people accountable. host: joe is from texas. republican line. caller: in 1986, when ronald reagan legalized all of these immigrants, there have been problems with the border. democrats, republicans, had it has not been done. i live in texas, i hung around the border. it is still not done. if you beat your wife, you can stay, just cannot do it a third time. i am having a hard time. i do not trust that we are going to get our borders secure because they have found on it before. guest: i have the same worries, that the federal government does not have the political will to do what is necessary to lock

down that border and enforce visas. assurances that we can secure the border and get serious about the sun -- visa enforcement, it will be hard to pass an immigration bill that grants amnesty. host: jason from georgia. independent line. caller: yes, how are you doing? my problem with the whole situation right now -- i am disgusted with our federal system. the thing that bothers me the most, i guess, i did not know -- host: ok, we will leave it there. guest: we pay a lot of money, 23 cents out of every dollar in the united states of america, 23 cents is spent by the federal government.

we need an engaged public and hold people accountable. that is way too much money, we have to cut back on spending. we have to make a priority of the things that are the most important. that is what we are fighting for. the federal government's is just not living up to the stand right now of holding people doing immigration reform, one at the time in regular order, which takes more time, but you usually have a better product. then we will pass along to the senate, were all good bills go to die. host: our guest it serves on the judiciary oversight and government reform committee. at one point, you were the head

campaign manager for the michael dukakis campaign. guest: my dad's first wife was kitty dukakis. we could not be more polar opposites politically. i knew that when i sent my brochure over there and they looked at it, they would say, i disagree with everything, so i thought, good shape. we are good. michael dukakis has been a huge cheerleader, pushing me on, saying, we need good people on both sides of the aisle. i love him for that. a great man. host: we will continue our-- >> our guest at the former deputy director of the national security agency. then a look at the process for getting a visa to enter the

united states. we will talk with crystal williams, executive director of the american immigration lawyers association. also washington post reporter danielle douglass on the semi annual report of the consumer financial protection bureau. washington journal is live on c- span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> a look at our primetime schedule on the c-span network. beginning at 8:00 eastern on, president obama and jordan's can come to a lot discuss civil war to the possibility of country using chemical weapons. c-span2, a hearing examiner the law disclosure on medical workers and why could be -- medical records and why could be misused. testifying on the bus request for the fda. all these programs tonight beginning at 8:00 eastern on the c-span networks.

>> this weekend on c-span, before saturday night's correspondent dinner, selective dinners in the past three administrations. starting saturday at 3:00 eastern them live coverage of this year's dinner starting with the red carpet arrivals. sunday, the dedication of the george w. bush residential library and museum. >> for good roosevelt once described the dedication of a library as an act of faith. i dedicate this library with an unshakable faith in the future of our country. as the honorable lifetime to lead a country as brave and noble as the united states. challenges come before us, i will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead. god bless. >> sunday morning at 10:30. on book tv this weekend, donovan campbell on leading a platoon of marines in iraq.

sunday night at 8:00. on c-span3, reconsidering the infinity trial of mary todd lincoln -- the infinity trial of mary todd lincoln. , members of new england congressional delegation came to the house floor to talk about the boston marathon bombings. his book about half an hour. >> i rise today with my colleagues from massachusetts to thank the law enforcement officers, medical professionals, first responders, and citizen heroes for their incredible bravery and sacrifice during and after the tragic events last week at the boston marathon. given the time constraints, i would like to yield to my colleague from massachusetts, bill keating. >> i would like to thank my colleague for yielding, and i would like to thank you, mr. speaker.

i would like to thank so many of our colleagues that we work with, day in and day out. when we came back into session, so many gave their heartfelt feelings for all those who were hurt during the terrible marathon bombing that occurred in boston on april 15. you know, we first remember those that lost their lives during this terrible, terrible tragedy. there are never words that are adequate to deal with these issues. four young people whose lives were taken to quickly from us all. four people who had so much to

give. we had ale who glimpse of, with the accounts of their lives as the public more and and joined -- public mour ned joined with their families and their loss. it was just a glimpse, but what a glimpse. a young boy, martin richard, with a profound message, as his poster revealed to all. " no more hurting people. peace." --liay lou -- lindsay lou who came to study and better herself, an accomplished student, a pianist, who developed tremendous friendships in the short time she was here, who came to this

country to learn more, to become more, and to offer more. young police officer, who dedicated himself to helping people to protect , who gave his life just doing that. , a young woman, vibrant, a person who, despite a busy life, busy schedule, put much of her life on hold, over a year, to help her grandmother when she was ill. the first responders and the people that were injured. the people that were injured, over 280, including richard police officer,

who participated with watertown police in slowing down these perpetrators before they could harm more people, and was seriously injured. we pray for him in the process. first responders to the scene, including civilians, who risked everything they had to provide emergency aid, and help, for those runners and bystanders who were there. the first responders that had been trained for years for terrible moments like this, who sacrificed their safety, moving forward. emt's and police officers, firefighters. the incredible medical community in the boston area, some of whom ran to work, knowing what happened, who were there, ready. emergency room doors opened. everything in place.

saving lives. we honor the citizens in our area, who gave up a small part of their freedom, listening to their leaders, who displayed good judgment, common sense, moving forward to put their safety first. those lives of these young people, these four young people that are not with us now , as well as the lives of those people that are recovering from the injuries, and those first responders that helped us -- they will not be defined by a depraved act of violence. of two individuals. these people are the definer's themselves. givers.

people that care. that is who we are. they define us, the best in us, the selfless side of us. they define the best of what is is in, the best of what the commonwealth of massachusetts. they define the best of us as americans. and they are all to be remembered today. it is time to put politics aside, and remember what a great country we have, because of individuals like this. i yield back my time. >> i thank the gentleman, and appreciate very much his heart out comments. i would like to yield to my colleague from rhode island. >> i think the gentle lady for

yielding, and thank my other colleagues for accommodating me. , rhode is in providence island, about an hour south of boston. two weeks ago, several of my friends and neighbors traveled to boston to compete in the marathon. what i first learned of these horrific attacks, my thoughts immediately turned to them and their families. i kept the people of boston and their loved ones in my thoughts and prayers over the last two weeks. it is in moments such at this -- such as this that words fail to convey our continuing sense of disbelief, and the anger we hold toward those responsible for such a senseless, vicious attack. the action that demonstrates a callous disregard for so many lives. somewhere ended, and many more irreversibly changed. these attacks were attempts to shake the foundation of our democratic and free society. after these bombs exploded on a beautiful sunny day in boston,

and we saw the incredible harm caused to so many, we also witnessed the very best of humanity, in the courageous actions of the brave men and women who responded to this attack, healthcare for the injured, and relentlessly pursued their perpetrators, and brought them to justice. we think about those brave police officers and first responders, who witnessed these attacks firsthand, and instinctively raced toward the source of these blasts, so they could assist the wounded and keep others from harm. we think also about a 26-year- old m.i.t. campus police officer, who was murdered as he worked to keep his community safe. we think about a transit police officer who never hesitated when he answered a call to report immediately to watertown , and continues to fight after sustaining life-threatening injuries trying to apprehend the suspects. sometimes, it takes a tragic event to remind you of the tragic sacrifices our first

responders make every day. the heroism demonstrated by these men and women in the face of such overwhelming danger hopes her mind is how much we owe to those who keep -- reminds us how much we owe to those who keep us safe every day. these attacks were made to strike fear and intimidate all the people of boston and americans. instead, they brought out the best our country has to offer, not only from the men and women in boston, but those who donated money, and did everything they could to bring any measure of relief to victims or their families. i ask that all of us are member the responsibility that those of us in the house have to serve our first responders, and to continue to keep the families affected by this attack in our thoughts and prayers. i think the gentle lady for yielding. for yhank the gentlelady ielding.

i yield back. >> law enforcement personnel from across the commonwealth of massachusetts and nearby states, rhode island and new hampshire, joined in a weeklong effort to respond to the marathon bombing and assist in finding and capturing the suspects. these dedicated first responders saved hundreds of lives in the immediate aftermath of the attack, and saved countless more from the threat of future attacks. through unprecedented communication and confident leadership, public safety agencies at every level coordinated to bring justice down upon those responsible. their actions proved that no act of terror can blunt the spirit of resiliency, of fortitude, of endurance, that is in the heart of the american people. as relief and pride wash over the boston area, we must not forget that there is still much healing to be done. our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families of martin richard, a young boy

whose big smile we will never forget, and who signed -- and whose sign is a living challenged all of us. . krystle campbell, a fine young wasn, who since she could, there every marathon day, emblematic of the great event it was for the city of boston, and also for the commonwealth and region. studentingzhi, a young from china, emblematic of the ways in which boston's great academic institutions draw people from across the world to share in the great treasure that we have, but also to participate in those great days that are uniquely american, like patriots' day. an officer sean collier, somebody beloved by the student body. i had several m.i.t. students into seeing me a couple of days ago. they said everybody knew him and liked him.

and more than 200 innocent people, a number from my district, who suffered severe injuries from this senseless attack. we want to remember and encourage all of them as they go forward. , who suffered tragic loss of limbs, but as he came out of surgery, was able to help identify the suspects. the corcoran family, a mother and daughter sharing a hospital room together, as they begin the long journey of recovery, and who are already having tremendous assistance. lowell high school, where kr ystle is a student, sent tickets to make sure she would be able to make her way there. ,nd those in the waiting room

waiting to encourage them and show them what is possible. also from my district, brittany loring, stephen burton, james caught lip -- galtlett, many members of the white family, and others. remarkable people who share him -- share in a moment in our history. i would also like to remember some other specific people. commissioner ed davis. a vice and topics officer, named chief in 1994. during his time in the wall, chief davis helped to turn around our city, and set it off into an age of growth. we were proud of him when he left to become the boston police commissioner. we are even more proud of him now. commissioner davis showed extraordinary intelligence, professionalism, poise, and confidence, from monday through the capture of the suspects on friday. he was a calming influence in a

time of great chaos and crisis. he deserves our thanks, the gratitude of the people of boston, of our commonwealth,, and of our country. i commend special agent in charge richard laurier -- delau oversaw the massive operation of identifying and tracking down the suspects, and helped bring the swift arm of justice down upon those responsible. also, at times of great crisis, we look to our leaders for guidance and confidence. our leaders, city, state, and federal, confronted the chaos head on, challenged the evil, and pushed forward, so that we could together, as one community, arrive quickly at healing and justice. in particular, mayor tom menino. this may or come from -- this mayor came from the hospital to be involved in the suspects search. seeing him on television in a wheelchair gave everyone a great

feeling of pride. everyone could not help but notice how deeply he cares for the city he has so ably overseen for many years. andmbodies the grit toughness boston is known for. he embodies boston strong. governor deval patrick helped oversee the coordination of so many agencies, to ensure optimal collaboration, made sure the public was up-to-date and aware of the situation as it developed, as we all watched, moment to moment, from our homes or wherever we might be. he stood with gravitas in a determined, strong composure, that trickle down throughout the state public safety agencies. we will always appreciate presiden barack obama's deep involvement since the start. his words during the service at the cathedral of the holy cross were a touching example of our nation's unwavering resolve. as much as we are boston strong, commonwealth strong, we are all

one, and we are all strong. i have to say that the interfaith service was a remarkable moment when came together as we embark on a journey of healing and reassurance about the unity, strength, and resiliency that boston was known for. it was a uniquely american day. the marathon that is much celebrated ross people from across the world, across our country, across massachusetts. a great red sox game. many go from one event to the other, and patriots' day commemorates the beginning of the revolution, the reenactment of paul revere's ride, and the shot heard around the world. all of that is to say that we will work hard to follow up with and be strong supporters of those who still seek to recover, make sure they have

all the necessary resources, going forward, and that they have the strong support of their community and friends, and that we will do all that it takes to move forward from this tragic moment, and make of it something good that brings us all together and would help us to on a path of healing. with that, i would like to recognize my colleague from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern. i first want to thank my colleague for organizing today's special order. i thank her for the time. it is with immense gratitude that i rise to honor massachusetts first responders today. to callam always proud myself a resident of the commonwealth of massachusetts, being from massachusetts has carried a special significance these past 12 days.

the tragic bombings that occurred on april 15 took three precious, innocent lives. it cost hundreds of others to suffer devastating wounds. we are continuing to pray for them. and for all the others that are wounded. remember officer sean collier, an m.i.t. police officer, who was shot and killed. our prayers are with his family. so many lives were upended by this tragic, senseless act of violence. citizens of the commonwealth, and americans across the country, are still coping with the horror of the bombings that took place on what is normally a celebratory day in massachusetts, patriots' day. amidst these acts of violence and terror, our belief in the fundamental goodness of people wake ofgthened in the

such acts in a tragedy. these are the sacrifices they made from the moment the bombs went off at a time the suspect was apprehended. at the time we speak, victims are being apprehended at some -- examine at some of the finest hospitals. brigham and, and boston's children's hospital, among others. even ordinary citizens rushed to the scene of the bombing next puttingtentially themselves in harms way. sleep was was on the minds of selfless men and women who worked back-to-back shifts in support of the communities they call home. the extraordinary response of the boston medical community is very much a part of the story

of the 2013 boston marathon. explosions took place at 2:50 p.m. , after thelater injured were swiftly and efficiently stabilized, transported, and triaged, the first patient was wheeled into an operating room. all medical personnel simply showed up to help. i want to recognize the incredible leadership of barack deval patrick, and mayor tom menino. they help get us through this terrible ordeal. i was particularly moved to see mayor menino stand tall and lead his great city. i also want to recognize the special agent in charge of the boston fbi, for his outstanding work which led to the apprehension of the final suspect. they have all made our state

very proud. at the interfaith service last week, we showed the world that boston and massachusetts will not be deterred. we are a resilient community, and we will emerge from this stronger than ever. and a week when we saw the very best and worst of human behavior am display, -- on display, i proud to say that our first responders triumphed. while we continue to reflect on the tragedies of last week, we move forward with a renewed sense of pride, knowing that their exceptional commitment to public service is what makes us all boston strong. i think the gentle lady for i yield back. and >> i thank the gentleman, and appreciate his comments, and the fact we are all coming together to talk about this event. with that, i would like to yield

to congressman kennedy. i would like to begin by thanking the gentle lady -- gentlelady from massachusetts for pulling us all together to mark a moment that none of us will ever forget. a signature moment in massachusetts history. i want to recognize the victims of the horrific attacks that happened last monday. i, like many of my colleagues from massachusetts, and so many people from massachusetts, around the country, and the world, have always denied it -- delighted in marathon monday. i do not know how many times i watched the runners as they ran by on their quest to the finish line at boylston street.

my stepmother has ran the marathon a number of times, together with my dad and brother we would go down to watch the runners at heartbreak hill. as you see all the runners run by. whatl the runners run by, stuck with me was how many people were there, cheering them on. .6.2 miles people from the very beginning to the end in boylston street, five rows deep on each side of the street. sitting there, screaming, yelling, offering a bottle of literally a hand, to those that are trying, striving for an incredible feat of personal endurance and excellence. that is really, i think, to me, what that marathon, what that day is all about. it is about the community that comes together to cheer on not just the runners, but to

celebrate what we have built together, to recognize that that day is not about individual feats of excellence, what about the community that is willing to cheer on complete strangers, for runners to know -- you will hear it, if you talk to those that have competed in the race that it is an extraordinary difficult first. it is also one of the best marathons run, because there is a crowd to carry you to the finish line, complete complete strangers, people you will never see again. it they there to offer a hand. there to offer a hand. it was with great sadness, but also great pride, that i watched to events unfold on monday, see complete strangers run into danger, rather than flee from it. to meet the doctor that, after running the marathon, and

completing 26.2 miles, ram to work, so he could get started helping save victims. to meet some of the victims and their families. to know that we will never, despite how much we have come together, be able to report a krystle, ace martin, lu, and officer collier. but the long path to recovery, we will be there with them every step of the way. to recognize the law enforcement officers that put themselves in grave danger, never quite knowing what might happen, what weapons these two terrible individuals might have on them, that took great risks for the sake of safety for these communities, for the investigators and prosecutors have the long task of bringing these individuals to justice.

30,000 plus belted out the national anthem at fenway park. of vice menino hum president obama, and president obama -- mayor menino, vice president obam biden, and presit obama. $20 million pouring in from citizens around the country to help provide a bit of relief to those who will need it most in this long road to recovery. it is an extraordinary message, a powerful symbol, that gets back to what boston and massachusetts has always been about. from the first people that set foot on our shores, the earliest each other'shave backs. and we always will. patriots' day, the marathon will be run. more crowded, and louder than ever.

with that, i yield back. >> i thank my colleague for his very insightful comments. it is a spirit of community that is still evident. it is embedded in the race itself, the marathon itself. it is something that was so evident, as everybody responded, as the bombs went off, to tragic effect. it has been followed up with the tremendous outpouring of various funds,o as well as the one fund. lowell high school sent prom tickets to sidney corcoran, wanting to make sure she would be able to attend. and also that spirit of help from across the country, to have a young man who lost his leg in tom at attack in hawaii a his own expense, come to visit those who sadly lost their legs, will be verylife

productive and positive. we have seen this over and over again. i thank you for your comment. with that, i would like to recognize my colleague from new hampshire, congresswoman carol shea-porter. >> thank you for having this moment, an opportunity to talk about boston, and also to talk about the country, and to talk about boston's neighbor, new hampshire. on that day, like so many others, i had a family member whose brother-in-law was running in that race. he was running because his father had died of cancer. so many people were running for causes that day. fortunately, the family is fine. but some families were devastated beyond belief. boston is a small city, but it is a great city, and new hampshire is a small state, but a great state. what happens to boston and what

happens to massachusetts is felt deeply in new hampshire. we work together. we played together. we attend events together. we also grieve together. when that call came to new hampshire, when boston reached out and asked our police forces to help, the answer from a national what swat team member was, of coarse we can. the manchester swat, manchester, new hampshire, was yes. the answer from the seacoast emergency response team, which has officers from 11 different seacoast communities, was yes. the newer from hampshire state police swat and explosive disposal unit was, yes, we will be there. they understood the danger. they also understood they were needed, and they did not hesitate. the stories coming from that experience are very moving. one team reported how one elderly woman had hidden behind

her couch for hours. you can imagine the terror the residents felt. and yet, our first responders were there. the police were there. the comfort was there. as we pray for the victims, and we remember those who died, the victims are also from new hampshire and many other states, as we know. and somebody died from a foreign country. but we are all one. we are all boston strong. as we remember all of them, we thank our police officers and first responders for always being there when we need them. when the call came, yes, of course we will do that. i yield back. >> i think the gentlewoman, and appreciate very much her comments, as well as a shared commitment of rhode island -- rhode island, new hampshire, and massachusetts, to respond to the horrific attacks.

patriots' day will continue to be a day when we commemorate the people who refuse to be terrorized, and courageously defend the ideals on which our nation was founded. in the world of our great poet, ralph waldo emerson, our flag will most defiantly remain unfurled. , a house hearing on islamic extremism in chechnya. during a white house photo op 's kingorgian -- jordan abdullah, president obama discussed the civil war and other issues pretty searing government has used chemical weapons in the two-year civil war prepress and obama called the findings game changer. he said the investigation

continues. this is about 10 minutes.