there are more people who are going to hate people. come to the floor next week is very important. and i yield back to the it's important because it tells the american public exactly what gentleman from florida. mr. yoho: i appreciate it and i appreciate your participation in republicans in congress would do to the country if they have the this. thank you for being here and your leadership on being done. power to impose their will on the country. i ask unanimous consent that all this is a roadmap of what they members may have five would do, and so people need to legislative days in which to take it very seriously. revise and extend their remarks we encourage every american to and include extraneous material read this republican budget and on the special order of ms. then read the president's budget. if you look at the republican kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: without budget, it chooses to rig the rules of the game in favor of objection. time has expired. the very wealthy, and privileged the chair lays before the house the following message. special interest at the expense of everyone else and expense of everyone else. the clerk: i hereby report that i have issued an executive officegressional budget indicates their budget would order declaring a national slow down economic activity over emergency with respect to the the next couple of years. that means less jobs. unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the they have tax breaks the would united states posed by the encourage companies to shift situation in and in relation to american jobs overseas.

south sudan. the order does not target the country of south sudan, but breaks ship american rather is aimed at persons who jobs overseas at the same time threaten the peace, stability that they radically cuff or security of south sudan. commit human rights abuses investments in jobs right here against persons in south sudan, in america. or undermine democratic processes or institutions in south sudan. the order provides authority for blocking the property and they dramatically cut research interests and property of any and innovation in our person determined by the infrastructure, which is important to keep the economy moving. secretary of the treasury in it dramatically cut our investments in advanced consultation with the secretary of the state, to be responsible and then they make for or explicit in or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, any of the following in or in relation to very deep cuts in the area of south sudan. education. actions or policies that threaten the peace, security or stability of south sudan, actions or policies that threaten transitional agreements or undermine this republican budget democratic processes or systematically knocks the wrong institutions in south sudan, off that ladder. actions or policies that have the purpose or affect of expanding or extending the conflict in south sudan or obstructing reconciliation or peace talks or processes. beginning with the top of the the commission of human rights budget.

abuses against persons in south and on top of that, a $245 billion cut with our -- to our sudan. the use or recruitment of children by armed groups or armed forces in the context of current policies with respect to higher education. conflict in in -- do you want the kids to be able to afford college echo do you come from a family that can pay to bill? you are fine. but anyone else struggling to get to college, you're out of luck under this republican budget. we should be investing in early south sudan. to be a leader of an entity including any government rebel militia or other group that has or whose members have engaged education. they cut head start in early in any of the activities described above or, two, an entity whose property and/or education in k-12. interests are blocked pursuant to the order. they undermine the whole notion i have delegated to the secretary of the treasury, in that we should be investing in our future to help grow our consultation with the secretary economy and be competitive as a country. of state, the authority to take such actions, including the seniors really get promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the president socked in this budget. by ieepa as may be necessary to . all, they will carry out the purposes of the order. all agencies of the united states government are directed immediate receive their prescription drug prices skyrocket. to take all appropriate measures within their authority reopen thethey they to carry out the provisions of the order. i am enclosing a copy of the executive order i have issued. restriction drug act. signed, barack obama, the white seniors fall through. -- they immediately

house. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair recognizes the gentleman will require seniors to pay from texas, mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. co-pays for diagnostic services. they moved, again, to the voucher plan, this time with in mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. i so much appreciate my the budget window. friends, the honorable mr. all of those things will have a yoho, mr. perry, mr. king, dramatically negative impact on seniors. on top of that, they cut discussing the issue that's very dear to my heart, and over 700 $50 appreciate my very dear friend, mr. king, quoting me accurately billion. do you want to talk about medicaid here? i'm not talking about expanded because you don't have to pay medicaid under the affordable people to hate you. they'll do it for free. care act. just a traditional medicaid, they cut it by one quarter by the end of the budget window am we have spent billions and a 25%. billions of dollars over the that have g people if you're a senior in a nursing home, this will squeeze, put the squeeze on you. contempt for us, they don't of the to my two thirds like us and from anybody that's

ever tried to pay a bully their lunch money, they find they don't buy respect. they buy more contempt and more evil actions coming your way. so, just makes no sense. and especially when money is it is as if dave camp disappeared in his budget, because whatever you think of fungible and we continue to his budget, you could not have achieved the budget goal of send money to the palestinians, cutting the tax rates for millionaires by a full one third we continue to see outrageous without increasing the tax burden on the class families. examples in the palestinian if you drop the tax rate from 39% 25%, that is a full one xtbooks of just raw, third cut in the rate for a millionaire. that in agoing to do unbridled hatred and demeaning deficit neutral way, you have to recover a lot of money. jewish people. as you canamp showed get to the top rate of 35%, which is what was in his budget, which by all accounts did not amongthe burden of taxes and why should the text books among the palestinians, for their children, be any different than what the adults are doing? when you find that palestinian leaders are naming streets and different income groups.

people who have but this republican budget, once again, goes back to this ideological goal of cutting to 25%. and that does result in increasing the class family taxes by an average of $2000. walked in and murdered groups of people with a bomb, children , innocent women, men out with it is simple math. their families. and just to make sure, we want to find they come in and kill them when they've done no harm, no wrong. and we still hear people one of the amendments yesterday said, let's make sure we maintain the productivity of at talking about some area in least the current -- should not udea, written in the bible be a principal as part of this budget? you should not increase the tax burden on middle-class families. hundreds, maybe 1,600 years we had an amendment. , fore the birth of muhammad they voted to protect tax breaks for millionaires. about the areas that were the promised land for the children finally, the safety net. of israel. so it becomes difficult for

in 1 that didn't exist this is a very cruel cut to the safety net. 000 b.c. to claim that someone who lived in that land, cultivated that land, had the prior claim to that land, they devastate the safety net, somehow have a lesser right under this idea that you are than people that came along going to be helping people by taking away food nutrition for hundreds and hundreds of years their kids. makeast point i want to later. but america has a financial has to do with their false claim of balance. problem. entire through this and we shouldn't be just paying ing money, exercise of protecting tax breaks for special interest and wealthy people. it tothat, they sock kids' education and hurt seniors and squeeze the middle class, people that hate us to educate their children to hate us, to all because they want to claim educate the population to hate us, to teach songs that glorify hatred against israel. to have a balanced budget at the end of 10 years. and as our dear friend, prime minister netanyahu, has pointed in the same budget, they claim to get rid of the affordable care act.

out, iran itself is developing intercontinental ballistic totally get rid of the affordable care act. they get rid of all the good missiles and they certainly don't need those to deliver a parts of the affordable care act and the benefits. uclear weapon to israel. that help people afford insurance and the exchanges. those are coming for the great they get rid of the provisions that say you can stay on your satan, that would be us. so people wonder, well, what parents' insurance until 26. are we doing to protect ourselves? you know, back after the fall that is all gone. of the soviet union, the united every penny of medicare savings, and they keep every penny of the revenue from states of america's leaders the affordable care act. pressured ukraine to deliver that is $2 trillion. nuclear weapons in their you take that out, it will come possession to russia. close to balance. now, the ukrainians have never really trusted the russians they have a balanced budget and and, yes, the russians have -- the getting rid of the affordable care act. they put people out of their their budget includes all the homes in some areas, filled revenue. them with russian people. here are areas that today feel

it includes medicare savings, even though they demagogue against that. like they are loyal to russia because they're russians. they sent them there. i hope no one will print that they displaced the ukrainians. they have a balanced budget unless you print at the same time that the republicans have but the ukrainians went ahead changed their mind and they are accepting all the revenues and and turned over possession of all the savings in the affordable care act. nuclear weapons to russians -- they do only way whom they distrusted because not come close without that. they trusted america. and united states leaders made this exercise of hurting everybody except the sure they understood, we've got very wealthy to pretend to you covered. achieve a goal that they don't we will protect you. you don't have to worry. go ahead and give nuclear really achieve in this budget. weapons to russia. we are looking forward to the debate on the floor because as and now the trust that the ukrainian people put in the we have said, this shows the united states leaders is coming country what republicans will do, and we think it is very out back potentially to haunt them. of touch with where the that should never be the case. overwhelming majority of the american people are. >> thank you. if we want to be taken seriously in the world we can't any questions? hearing yesterday be breaking promises to countries who rely on our

at the commerce department integrity. e can't be doing that. [inaudible] >> can we stay with the budget? and so as people ask, when we i want to go back to some other travel around the world in the things. ast six months or so, they ask his years on the budget? >> -- is yours on the budget? , what are you doing to prevent >> the mccutchen rule. >> can't the dnc and democratic more terrorism when you won't even acknowledge the source of party take the same advantage of this ruling that republicans can the terrorism? as one of the egyptian leaders would let you joint asked, why are you not helping fundraising -- why can't us end the war on terror? democrats use this to their advantage just as much as republicans? >> we have had our dare out now you're helping the people that supported the terror. there for a while, and have they don't understand and tried to empower small donors to neither do i. diminish the role of money in politics. i was asked today, madam i think that's what the public wants to see. the military as the dare, disclose, our champion is thomas and van fort hood id another hollen. he has been early on this,

pushing for disclosure. that makes all the difference. incident since 2009? madam speaker, it appears the answer is quite embarrassing. what have we done to protect if they are giving this money to this president big parties that will be disclosed. decisiontanding of the has made our military so much is that we cannot ask anybody for anything more than we have smaller, what are we doing to asked them in the past. protect the country when this president cancels agreements to many more -- giving is unlimited. that have been made, promised, for hiscan ask them relied upon to other countries' detriments for missile defense? 2400 dollars or $5,200 to candidates. what are we doing to protect our country? ais comes at a time where for this policy that this administration has had number of years we have been working at the grassroots level, many groups have been involved internationally, to think that in this common cause. love ateful people will everybody knows this has to change. if we are going to elect more very good to be women, youngn people, new

people, minorities to congress friends if we just downsize our -- let's focus on women for a military, we tie our own hands, we don't let our military moment. decrease the role of money, increase the level of civility, really protect themselves you will have more women running for public office. adequately, that surely they is raisedse the ante will come to appreciate and like us. and they won't consider us for everyone does not make it right. decision, butbad divisive. derisive. totally consistent with their dismissive. backward thinking undermining our democracy. concern the more well, that's not what they're thinking. this nation has lost respect mega donors appear to be conservative -- >> i'm not thinking politically. around the world and it's heartbreaking. so they wonder, what are we doing to protect ourselves? our democracy, is it supposed to be a money war? because if we can't protect stop ves, how can we help nothing is more disillusioning to the public than a vast evil people around the world? display of money spent in campaigns, and largely on the some say, and i think there are part of the exploiters in terms people in this administration that think we need to toll --

of the environment, workers, need to follow the european workers rights, and all of those example where we don't need to things. have much of a military at all and we just show, look, we want to get along and go along. they misrepresent what their the trouble with that idea is purpose is, confuse the public, the europeans have had the decrease turnout, and that's a victory for them. benefit of downsizing their this is a very existential threat to who we are and how we do our campaigning and our military and having smaller militaries because they knew government, and it should be the united states existed and something that should be rejected. there's nothing we can do about that we would not let an evil it, it's the supreme court. ower take over europe, britain we can organize against it, and we can have a message of reform , that we would stop it because that says this is unacceptable, we would not want another and we can pass the democracy hitler to get as far as he did donorsat empowers small last time. we want to stop him before that to give a better way for happens. because assuredly if europe campaigns to be funded based on falls, england falls, they're small donors rather than coming for the united states. and now we know, because of unlimited money from donors. radical islam, they're more concerned about destroying

america than they are even how can they talk about this, the first amendment, and the taking on europe and england. so these are serious issues. voice of the people, when they have snuffed out the voice of the people with these decisions? so what have we done to protect organizingou juggle the men and women in our ilitary who are protecting us? against this one at the same time democrats are using the same tactics republicans are it's heartbreaking. [inaudible] >> you have to raise money to this administration, after 2009's horrendous accident, not win the election. you will not unilaterally accident, incident, where a disarm. dical islamist muslim killed 13 fellow military a members, they were not allowed to have it's difficult because you can't weapons on post, and we start win unless you have the resources to fight and digging and we find out, well, unlimited, constant spigot of gee, when the democrats controlled the house and the undisclosed money into the senate, apparently back in system. 1992, there was a bill passed it is just plain wrong. ck around that time that

prevented military members from carrying weapons on military installations. i would be glad to yield to my there are vips who are volunteers in politics. very dear friend from pennsylvania. >> first i want to say thank you for your service as -- service. as a member of this body who has also served his nation in but this is outrageous. uniform, thank you. and how well you know and what you spoke of. i found it fascinating. especially when you see that the very same people who are putting on my recent deployment to up all this money are the same people who are opposed to raising minimum wage, the same iraq, we were mobilized to oklahoma. people advocating no regulation. i'm sure you know it well. and so you carry your weapon that are ourthings around with you 24 hours a day in your training because you must always be prepared. responsibility to the american people. except, this is the fascinating part, except when you go to the p.x., except when you go to the chow hall. the well-being of the american then you must find a place for people is affected by what your weapon. you must have a soldier out in happens at the ballot box. the parking lot to guard all the weapons or what have you. if there is unlimited money poured into it. i'm thinking to myself, here i am, a commander of this task force, i've got men and women of all ages and all different

brounleds and we are training let's just get rid of all of and -- backgrounds and we are this and offer an alternative to train and refining ourselves to the public instead of go to war, to fight our enemy, to defend our nation in arms. celebrating the fact that more surprise be poured -- wearing your ballistic vest and all your gear, wearing a is not a word even in my life. ballistic helmet so you don't sayshen senator mcconnell get shot. or if you do get shot you're protected from that fire. -- it was a few years ago -- he but yet i'm not trusted to said, not that there's too much money in politics, there's not carry my firearm on a military enough. base. what we have seen during it is stunning. the american people expect and this administration, the deserve to have elections where previous incident with hassan .hey can make a choice and have seen a repeat of it. soldiers, men and women, are left defenseless and can't turn you go down this path we have to their own constitution, which now without a fight and without they take an oath to uphold and a public arena about reform, and defend to protect them. i find it the height of the skepticism the american people have in government will only increase. >> want to ask you about this dereliction of duty of this body

vote in the senate intelligence and of this administration. i just wanted to say that. committee -- >> anybody else on the budget? mr. gohmert: if the gentleman would yield for a question. during the time my friend was in the military, what weapons were you required to qualify using? >> there was an amendment to mr. perry: as an officer i qualified with a 9 millimeter, boost the amount of advance appropriations that the v.a. would be eligible to have. but everyone qualifies with an it was rejected. m-4 now. mr. gohmert: that really is amazing about the military in a significance new to what happened yesterday at fort hood? military installation, because >> it is significant under any like the gentleman said, when i circumstances. was at fort beening, we had to hoodhappened at fort qualify every year and here at weerscores the fact that fort hood, one of the largest have to keep faith with our military and veterans. military installations anywhere, that is what our amendment was adjoinakilene, about, keeping faith. we want to make sure if we have a situation again where there is something like a government

shutdown, our veterans benefits can be completely paid. texas. in october,ecall, there was a terrible shooting in a cafeteria where a man started republicans shut down the government to try to repeal the affordable care act. killing can. a woman had to put her gun in the glove come partment because jeopardy support for a lot of different groups, we had laws that didn't allow you to carry weapons in texas including our veterans. and she could have saved her were disappointed our parents from being murdered if republican colleagues did not she had been able to carry her support this amendment. it included president obama's concealed weapon. she got elected to the state proposal for jobs, a jobs plan for our veterans. legislation legislature. it had a lot of important she got the concealed carry elements for our nation's weapon and signed into law and veterans. they voted it down. that have been used in other it's one more example of where states. so when people say how horrible people's priorities lie. there have been a prior mass shooting before, actually there this is further rigging the rules of the game in favor of have been two right there just right so close together. the very wealthy special

interests and millionaires, which is exactly what the republican budget does. kilene, though, civilians who are not required to qualify on doorss opening up the where people can write a million dollar check. weapons like you and i have how many americans can write a million dollar check to been, and yet as if someone political campaigns? not very many. trained with weapons qualifying every year, you step one foot a lot of them are spending that off that military installation, money to try and stop things like increasing the minimum now you can start carrying a concealed weapon, if you got the and to protect the tax permit. but if you step back on the military installation, where everyone is required to be breaks the millionaires and special interest enjoy. qualified to use weapons, you all it does is tilt the playing can't have one. field further in their favor and and we are working on a bill and t will not just create the add insult to injury. republicans have blocked us from power, it will require that acquiring that when these outside groups spend money in elections. allow installations they tell the american public who they are. people need to know what special people there to go through and interests are trying to spend money to influence elections and apply for and get a permit to carry a concealed weapon just as

try to get the kind of they could at fort hood if they legislation they want out of the congress. put one foot off post into republicans want to keep that secret. they don't want the american kilene and ought to step back on voter to know who is spending the installation. that kind of money. mr. perry: you spent more time that's just wrong. than i have, what was the impet oursparency is important to us that restricts d.o.d. and political process and democracy. they want to keep that secret hair and -- secret. commanders, which i was one the fact is that -- you know myself, from exacting our own authority based on the constitution? mr. gohmert: and actually, that was back around the time i became a judge, a district judge who they are -- they brag about how much money they're going to in texas. spend. it is one thing for people to and i didn't learn until i was here in congress just recently know they are spending. it's another thing for them not to put their name on it. that they had ever passed such a they have fake names they put on ads. law. it was a democratic majority in we want the public to know who the house, democratic majority these people are in real-time when they see the ad. in the senate, i can't imagine i don't say this about the why they were thinking they had fundraising. to protect our military members

from themselves when we give democrats can raise money. them far more lethal weapons -- people care about our values, i mean give somebody an r.p.g. our interest in science and technology and protecting the environment and innovation and -- mr. perry: who is better trained the rest. than the united states military and the different branches they understand the difference between democrats and serving on those bases and posts republicans. it's not fundraising that is about the exploitation of any of all around the country, around those situations. the world dealing with ammunition on a daily basis? whatever it is, we should not have it on either side. most of what you do involves firing, ranges, because we we are working with our veterans -- when they did have the train. readiness is important. and using the tools of the advance funding as part of our agenda, i was proud to be trade, whether you like it or not, weapons. there are bad countries and bad invited by the head of the users. you have to be able to fight american legion to introduce the commander of the american legion back. that is the one place to the joint house-senate last week on the senate side. specifically, the one place on the planet where you would think we talked about how important that was. that people would be able to, as you said are trained, familiar, committee pass in yesterday. knowledgeable, are comfortable with. and yet this united states government does not allow them both of those were

to defend themselves and more active-duty personnel. importantly, the oath and the veteransem goes beyond very constitution, the set of in terms of what we need to do, rules with which we govern this nation. and we look to the military to when you raise your right hand and take that solemn oath, present some solutions. any other questions? unfortunately under this current administration, when you take going back to the mccutchen the oath to join the military, you are giving away the right to defend yourself while on a role -- >> i left him with commerce and military base. mr. gohmert: the gentleman makes domain. so many good points. >> thank you. i would like to yield to the gentleman from pennsylvania to -- ifis concern that the answer a question, having been a the commerce department seized commander, we talked about how control of this portion of the military were qualified, internet, russia or china could required to qualify to use take over, and that could trump weapons, but as a commander, do , in the f anyone internet freedom in some places. to what degree do you think that is a potential? civilian world, who has more training about not misplacing >> i thought the system as it your weapon or setting your

was running was doing a fine weapon down or leaving your job. weapon than somebody in the military? mr. perry: you and i can both attest to this. i think there are some answers it is a sensitive -- it is a you raised that need to be answered, and the justification controlled item. and from day one, you learn the -- jurisdiction needs to be very harsh reality that you do not ever, ever misplace your weapon. made. there are serious penalties for misplacing your weapon. you learn to live with it, sleep i had the same questions you had when i saw that they were doing that. with it, shower with it. from a practical matter as well you are together at all times in as from a political, in terms of all things. and accountability is paramount. the countries you named it, i that's what i mean. think it deserves very thorough there can be no breach of this standard. study and real attention to it, and there is none and the military trains you of that very and to their justification. acutely. there is no place where now the mccutchen is the law individuals, men and women, are more familiar, better trained and more well equipped to deal of the land. how does this change how democrats approach elections? with firearms than in the military, especially, specifically on the military

base. mr. gohmert: i was talking with one of our capitol police how do you still get your message out? yesterday after this shooting at when women succeed, america fort hood again and one of our succeeds. great capitol police, we are so blessed with such great we went all over the country with our agenda for women in the qualified protectors of the workforce, raising minimum wage. capitol area and he was in the equal pay for equal work. paid sick leave. issues that relate to early military for 13 years and left childhood education. the military, became a capitol plam -- policeman. childcare.fordable we don't want them to be political issues, we want them i trust him to have a weapon at to be issues that will be discussed in the campaign and all time. that we will convince enough washington, d.c. has these people that whoever wins the really well intentioned laws, election, these will be on the agenda. let's eliminate weapons in i use campaigns as a debate washington, d.c. have been arena. is, you cansuccess struck down by the supreme court because they have been unconstitutional, but i want win the election, but you have somebody like that and trust him to win the campaign on the whether he was in the military issues you are presenting.

they must be advanced. or capitol policeman. i'm comfortable with him carrying a weapon and feel better knowing there are people around like him carrying weapons. when that question was asked, job creation, good paying jobs here at home. what has the military done since 2009's fort hood's mass shooting again, managing all of that. to prevent this kind of thing happening, i know that the us a little more military cannot do any more than opportunity for some people who might be more inclined to have the commander in chief orders one committee or another? them to do. it remains to be seen. i don't know of anything that the commander in chief has done we have outraised everybody. as the commander, where the buck stops to provide more protection we do have the house republicans. that is an urgency that the from an incident like has now grassroots community happened again. understands, and our donors if the gentleman knows of any understand, and that is why we have outraised all the other -- mr. perry: i do not. but just thinking about it, the congressional committees. process by which a person joins i want to get back to the and maintains the attendance so budget. ,or the good of the country

to speak in the military this debate is essential to how requires investigation of your person, of your background, who we go forward. your your capabilities, some on the contrast could not be and so forth. greater great you see what and for an administration, rightly so, concerned about they're doing at the expense of background checks and making home. sure that only those in our free country to avail themselves of the second amendment right and not those who shouldn't, such as something about innovation and criminals, to be allowed to join the military or stay in the education, innovation springs military, once again, i would from the classroom, and the list goes on. say, no safer or better a place for a long time, all of those on the military base because all issues were bipartisan issues. those folks have been vetted, have been checked to carry a make it in america. weapon. and so i find it interesting don't do tax incentives to send that maybe the military, maybe jobs overseas. d.o.d. has made a recommendation have tax incentives to keep good to the administration and said jobs here, a. b, build america's part of the solution to hassan infrastructure. that has always been bipartisan. and his heinous facts are to make sure people can defend themselves, soldiers, service members in different bases and

have clean, safe environments different branches of services for children to grow and thrive. can protect themselves on base. but that is yet to be found out. but it would be very interesting to know if d.o.d. did make that recommendation and nothing was again, everything in that budget done about it and nothing was done about it. no cry from the administration is central to the decision that to say, hey, congress, this is a the american people have to make. the question that will be called problem, here's part of the solution. get to work. on the congress of the united we have gotten to work on that states is, whose past do they choose? -- path do they choose? here. but i suspect that that bill, well intentioned, the right the path for the american thing to do, will make it out of the house in due course and ?eople, or for special interest under this senate and under this assassination -- administration, will languish, that is what my suspicion would be. we will see what the resources are. mr. gohmert: i would think at this point in time with so many senators of the democrat we never would have as much as the big outside money they have coming in. persuasion are being concerned we will see how much of the big about elections and the disaster outside money wants to be disclosed by giving directly to obamacare has been, if we pass a bill that provides for military

the republican party, which has not been doing very well in the congress in terms of their fundraising. installations to allow permits work thatroud of the to be applied for and obtained house democrats have done. for a concealed firearm on a military installation, that the yesterdaye hearing senate will be in a difficult was just fabulous. the difference was so clear. position if they don't take it up. and the president would hurt his this is like a cone of silence. party dramatically if it passed we have to take it to the out of the senate as well and he public. refused to sign it. lincoln said, public there will be other incidents sentiment is everything. the public has to know. like fort hood again. there are more ways of telling people something than just by it appears we have not been spending money to do it. i thank you all very much. adequately addressing have a good day. >> i have a question about the post-traumatic stress disorder cia. and you never know if someone is going to go off like we see with they are declassifying -- act in 2009 he said the cia misled you. washington, d.c. having such a high murder rate just like the this report gives evidence to old bumper stickers have said in that claim, and there's proof the past, when guns are that there was a

misrepresentation of the outlawed, outlaws have guns. interrogation program. what kind of consequences should it's what happened in fort hood there be for the cia? is made up of many and in texas with the mass very patriotic americans who shooting in the cafeteria and take risks to protect our country. good intelligence prevents the problem isn't with conflicts. law-abiding americans having a gun, it's the outlaws having guns. and i know that there were what was done at the thousands of cases that came cia, in my view, came from a through my court as a district judge, all of them felonies, and came from rate, i couldn't remember any cases higher-ups to direct them to do what they were doing. involving guns where the guns i am not surprised by it at all. were lawfully acquired. meeting, controlled criminals get guns and they don't care that the name the report on it, add facts mythology fact -- and criminal comes from the fact they commit crimes, they don't care what the law is. -- add mythology after the they break the law. so the people disarmed are those facts, and then they do what law-abiding citizens. i really think we cannot stand they did or alleged to have done

another five years of calling to that senate committee. such a terrible disaster, this committee,s out of workplace violence when it is a tragedy that can be prevented, it will go to the cia for classified vetting, is that can be stopped and we, since the commander in chief has not taken correct? action that would impede it or i'm not finished. stop it, we need to do that, and the ghost of the cia for we need to reverse the law that classification vetting, then it goes to the president, and the was passed by the democratic president can declassify. house and democratic-controlled it's a funny thing. senate back in the early 1990's and get a bill to the some declassification took president's desk. place that should not have and if the democrats, at least during the bush years, the vice some of them in the senate, are president was responsible with not willing to pass such a law or harry reid is not willing to the license of the president. it was like, the rest of us are bring it to the floor, the answer is very simple. sworn to all kinds of secrecy, senators republican and not to jeopardize sources and methods. there's another -- >> have you urged the president so they will bring it to the floor. and next january, then we could present it to the president and to declassify?

then if he is not willing to not had a conversation sign it at that point, we will with the president on this have either have enough to particular aspect of the cia. override the veto or we'll have a different president come november, 2016, who will allow you go upstairs where it used to the military to protect be, and you would see the "washington post" with themselves, instead of classified on it. condemning them to helplessly that is an exaggeration. watch while they and their friends are gunned down by an outlaw. i think the more i yield to my friend. declassification, the more transparency, the better. mr. perry: i hope you're right the sooner, the better. there is goingw we could accomplish. it would be debate. if we could do the right thing and people who have agreed to to be declassification, it might affect their performance. serve and take the oath to uphold and defend the thent to pay tribute to all constitution, to then have the same protections of that members of the cia who work so hard and do their job for our constitution availed to country, and not to paint themselves and that would be in everyone there with this blush my opinion, the right thing to do, regardless, regardless of that we are seeing -- brush that your party. i would hope we would see that as a solution set -- look, on we are seeing, a criticism of some in the cia. this current case, it appears if you're going to serve in

that when confronted with a congress and have responsibilities of oversight firearm, this individual who over the cia, you should not carried out this most recent rime and these atrocities at and they have a lot of power to undermine anyone who criticizes fort hood when he was confronted with a firearm, that's when the them. carnage ended. maybe it won't stop it, but it so i congratulate senator feinstein for her courage and to move this along. can mitigate it and maybe if these folks in the future that would ponder such an act, if thank you very much. they knew other members on post would be carrying as well, they might be reluctant to do the same thing and i yield back. . >> a headline in the huffington , arthur delaney is a mr. gohmert: i want to thank my friend from pennsylvania for all his service to our country in the military and here in congress and i hope that we're able to get a bill passed through the house, to the reporter with the huffington senate, to the president's desk post. the chamber has been working on and let me just finish by legislation to extend long-term saying, there was an atrocity unemployment benefits. the senate voted to advance the here on capitol hill yesterday bill toward its final passage. with the testimony of the former acting director of the what are some of the details in

the legislation? c.i.a.. would reauthorize federal our military has become an unemployment insurance for people who have been unemployed tragic onal -- it's long-term. inse benefits lapsed december and more than 2 million -- laughing post people have been missing out on the conversation since then. >> the vote to advance the bill post. they're defending themselves was 61-35. hour can we count on them to six republican senators joining the senate democrats in the vote defend us? by penalty of perjury herein who were they him and how is the senate democratic yesterday, by former acting leadership able to gain their support? director of the c.i.a., it's told that the world that the >> they had their support from been worse here's the get go after several months of just total standoff. intelligence than we have had, particularly during pen gazzy, would have been -- benghazi, the legislation actually comes with some republican pride or -- would have been back at little priorities. it denied benefits to people who had million-dollar incomes in bighorn by general custer. -- weevious year and also we have got to turn this place around so that americans can protect americans and americans serving in our military can have known all along that the protect themselves and our democrats had enough votes to do this, but there has still been a intelligence does start living holdup with republicans up to the name instead of insisting that we go through the

making it such a tragedy. full cloture process. that is why instead of sin -- and with that, madam speaker, i finishing the bill today is yield back. going to take all the way until monday. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman >> about her many unemployed from texas for a motion. mr. gohmert: madam speaker, i individuals will be affected by the legislation if it becomes move that we do now hereby law? adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the about 2.2 million question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. unemployed claimants and probably another 2 million in accordingly their families who would receive retroactive lump-sum payments if this becomes law. representatives a lot of people are following this closely because they are missing rent, car payments, things of that nature. passed legislation changing the definition of full-time work under the affordable care act. them, it stillor seems unlikely this is going to make it to the president's desk, because house speaker jon weiner employers must provide those workers with health insurance or pay a penalty. not all that interested in it. the bill that passed the house >> tell us a little more about that -- house speaker john today would mean companies have to provide insurance only two boehner is not all that interested in it. employees working 40 hours a week. even though it is a bipartisan tomorrow the house is expected bill and even though the to work on a bill that would congressional budget office says unemployment insurance spending require the congressional budget office to develop an economic

impact statement that evaluates the cost of legislation. -- the thinking among democrats earlier today, house speaker is that boehner doesn't like john boehner and nancy pelosi this now, but if we can just get this through the senate, maybe spoke with reporters. he will change his mind because there will be more pressure from some of his senate are public and colleagues. a while ago it thing like not even the senate would do this, >> the house today joins the and i would say there's no chance this is going to happen. nation in mourning the loss of life at fort hood. we join the president in sending so you cannot say there is no our condolences to the loved chance john boehner would change ones for those who were lost. his mind, even though it does not seem likely. i want the families and first responders to know that we stand with you. we stand by you. we are news website and we have noticed we're getting a lot more traffic from people who have and we are praying for you. i want to thank all the veterans google the term unemployment extension. who onerous today with their presence here. then we checked google analyst, these men and women are amongst which is the thing anyone can do. we saw that people are searching the 22 million americans who for the terms unemployment rely on the veterans administration every day.

extension 2014 a lot more than because by any they have been. measure, the v.a. is failing interest spiked starting in them and their families read -- january and has been steadily families. rising since then. our theory is that it really reflects a lot of unemployed people trying to find out claims backlogs, safety incidents, construction delays, through the news what is going on and whether they might ever be able to expect some of the and many deaths that could have been prevented. checks that they have been my district office alone is missing. handling more than 100 veterans cases as we speak. i hear from a lot of people and that's what they tell me. we have an air force that in middletown, ohio who has been waiting for 20 months for them unemployed people are doing to verify that he is married so their job search online so they he can claim his benefits. are basically at their computer for a lot of the day. he has been married for 49 >> arthur delaney, appreciate years. your time. >> thank you for having me. nothe v.a., there's >> attorney general eric accountability, only business as holder's on capitol hill usual. at dayton,cility tomorrow for a second day, testifying on the president's ohio -- hundreds of patients 2015 budget request. were exposed to hepatitis b and about the questions c. the director of the hospital administration's budget proposal collected a five figure bonus, and then promoted. . that starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

i thought i had seen the worst of government. years bringing35 this goes beyond the pale. if you are presiding over a public affairs events from bureaucracy that is failing our washington directly to you. putting you in the room at veterans, you should not be receiving bonuses. congressional hearings, white house event, briefings and messtime to clean up this conferences, and offering complete, gavel-to-gavel and bring real accountability to the veterans administration. coverage of the u.s. house, all as a public service of private soon the house will act to do just that. industry. we are c-span, created by the to act to do more. cable tv industry 35 years ago to talk more about this, jeff and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or miller. satellite provider. thatank you for everybody like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. has come in support of this legislation, and to my senator from florida, marco rubio. >> the general in charge of the ford hood army base in texas sayt of all, we need to that 40 300,000 plus people who said there is a strong possibility that the shooter had a verbal altercation just before work at the every day, they do the violence. their job for the right reasons. at this press briefing from fort hood, we will hear brief comments from texas senator john cornyn. i just left a hearing with the deputy secretary, talking about the delay in providing

information to the committee so that we can do our oversight responsibility. >> good afternoon, everyone. we have requests for information into the department that date glad that we could do this in the middle of the day as opposed to the middle of the night from 660 days that we have received last night. , am colonel christopher garver no response. then we talk about those people public affairs officer. that have been involved in i would like to introduce issues where there have been preventable deaths, and hospitals around the country, and it's easier for those people to receive a bonus that it is lieutenant general mark a. for them to actually be fired. milley and senator john cornyn. legislation,ce of it is to give the secretary the someeneral will make tools that he needs in order to remarks and senator cornyn will make some remarks, and then they make very important decisions. will take questions after that. please raise your hand and wait veterans isf our to be called on, and then we will take remarks and move from paramount. service to our veterans is paramount. there. we cannot continue to promote people who have not done their evennd do them bonuses, without further ado, general when there have been preventable milley and senator cornyn. deaths at their facilities. >> good afternoon. again, condolences to the >> good morning. families of the fallen, and our compassion and condolences for first i want to thank speaker all of those who were injured in

boehner, chairman miller, this affair for all of their families. senator rubio for their hard work and support and reforming we are working closely with all this mismanaged department. of them at this time. right now would like a bright unit of a. i'm happy to be carrying this i won't repeat the information i provided yesterday or last department4031, the night, but and up eight on the of veteran affairs management shooting incident that happened accountability act of 2014. and backlogteran yesterday. first, i want to announce that wewithout further have positived should never be used in the same sentence. these brave men and women and and are able to release, the their families never hesitated next of kin have been out of when they were called upon to serve this country, and there is five, the alleged shooter was no excuse for delay benefits and ivan a lopez, 34 years old, care. originally from order rico. the recent news that at least 31 specialist lopez was assigned to deaths at v.a. medical centers nationwide were completely preventable is only the tip of the iceberg of the complete mismanagement of this department. we must do everything in our power to make sure this never happens again. this is a very straightforward the 49th transportation movement control battalion of the 13th sustainment brigade. measure that provides greater his next of kin notification has accountability by giving the been complete. the 49th transportation movement controlwe will be publishing lan secretary the authority to fire this afternoon and this evening specialist lopez's releasable

those top executives for these service record. you can find that on fort hood historic failures within its department. our veterans and families press center.com. his medical status, deserve nothing but the best. i look forward to working with my colleagues to see this bill passed into law. at of respect for his family and thank you, mr. speaker, and the integrity of the ongoing investigation, i will not say anything further than the everyone for joining us and being part of this effort. comments that i made yesterday. all americans deserve and expect a government that is accountable and effective. as for the investigation, criminal investigation, division i know of no american who of the united states army deserves that more than the men and women who sacrifice and risk continues as the lead investigating agency, and they are right now synchronizing all their lives in service of their of the investigative work of the country. these men and women are away from their families for months and years at a time, who face federal, state, local, and army mortal danger in the face of our agencies throughout fort hood liberties and freedoms and liberties and freedoms of and the surrounding area. others, who undergo tremendous they are interviewing witnesses sacrifices. when they return home, we have and that is an ongoing and promised them a set of services active investigation. i would ask that everyone avoid we provide the men and women who have served us. agency that is speculation about the incident and let the investigation and responsible for delivering those services. as congress miller outlined, the the investigators take their

course. vast majority of the case work soldiers are also we are not getting in our in our -- now getting witnesses. i would ask the media to respect offices is related to veterans affairs, and failure to provide the integrity of the investigation and try to stay clear of soldiers who may have services. been witnesses. as i stated last night, at this what this bill does is point we have not yet ruled out straightforward. it allows the secretary, it anything whatsoever. we are committed to leading the allows the secretary of the investigation run its course, to fire and hold but we have no indications at this time of any links to terrorist organizations of any accountable senior executive officials within the department. type, either national or international. from scott and the exact same thing that exists in the private sector, in white and visited with our wounded soldiers down there, and our congressional offices. it does not exist in a i would like to thank publicly the great professional support government agency of this importance. the vast majority of the 300,000 that we have gotten from the entire medical staff at scott men and women who work in this and white. agency work hard and do a great job. tremendous effort by all of them, the medevac pilots, and like any organization, there's also the great professional going to be breakdowns and when there are, people need to be medical effort that was done here at fort hood.

held accountable, especially at the senior management level. there are our casualty still the people we entrust with running this agency should have the power to fire and discipline being treated at scott and white those who have let down the men and they're getting world-class and women who have served us in medical care, and we appreciate uniform. all of that. currently we have 16 wounded i hope the house act on this soldiers, and as we said measure, that in the senate, my yesterday, four killed, the colleagues across the aisle will see the importance of it and act quickly as well. good morning. shooter and three victims. of the 16 soldiers on the nine of them are at scott and white currently and three are at i'm the ceo of concerned veterans for america. darnell. four of the soldiers have artie to be here, honored been released. we are planning a memorial ceremony for early next week and and we are appreciative of all the representatives standing up we will keep you advised of when here. speaker boehner, your that is, to honor our fallen. leadership. chairman miller, having the i would also like to thank the outpouring of support from the moral clarity to focus like a central texas community and laser beam on this issue. we could not have a better house indeed from the entire state of cosponsor to move this bill texas, and from all of our forward. national leadership within the it inr rubio for carrying military and our civilian the senate. i don't know what it is about florida, but you guys have our leadership at the national backs on this issue. level. everyone is chipping in to try to assist in any way they can.

this beachpreciate i would recommend that any you gave last week that individual wanting to donate support in any manner contact highlights the issues at the department of veterans affairs last weekyou gave pao on theod that highlights the issues at facebook page, and they can the department of veterans affairs. point you in the right ordinate folks that have been stalwarts -- in the right direction. on this issue for a long time, we are honored to stand by them of organizations and demand accountability. are providing assistance right now and we deeply appreciate their support as well. on behalf of this group standing behind is that has been on the hill for the last two days questions after holding meetings, i'm speaking i turn this over to senator on behalf of millions of cornyn. --in i ask that you treat veterans in this country who feel like second class citizens in their own system. keep the families of the fallen your with the wounded in we are here for all those veterans who file a claim and then wait and wait and wait. they call the v.a. hotline and thoughts and prayers. thank you very much. sit on hold for hours. >> general, thank you for your strong and steady leadership they ask for a medical appointment and did not get it for months. during difficult times, both here and assignment of broad, and're supposed to get care where we last met. they do not get it. they die, waiting for care. it is unacceptable. i'm back here at fort hood for it is time for transparency, a the second time in about four and a half years. time for accountability, and what i see is a community that has come together in a time of

time for just results at a crisis and heart rate and is department that is woefully pulling together, but this underperforming. that is why we are putting our community is no stranger to full weight behind it. the status quo at v.a. is hardship and challenges, and completely unacceptable. they have risen and met the test care who attempt to access are met by an impenetrable, each and every time. i know they will do that again. unaccountable, and woefully ineffective bureaucracy. but i'm here today to offer my , andrt to my constituents it would give the folks at the top the simple tool to fire poor performers. certainly the military leadership as they conduct their investigations in a very deliberate and careful sort of this is not about the massive conclusions,ing to bad employees at v.a. but seeing this thing through to most employees are fantastic the very end. employees. as i know they will and we will. it powers the secretary to get rid of those who sent the wrong but i look forward not only to tone, and maintain the status quo that has been failing our the briefing i just had with best for so long. ey, but also having best.ld empower the very a chance to meet with the first responders, the people who the key question before this congress on this issue of v.a. showed up and confronted this crisis and dealt with it as count ability is simple. who will you stand with? professionals. then i look forward to having a chance to visit some of the wounded and perhaps help comfort the veterans being underserved,

or bureaucrats and managers who cannot be fired? some of the families of those this group and this congress, who are fallen. the answer to that is crystal clear. >> with that we would be happy thanks for having us today. to take a few questions. >> good morning. [indiscernible] i'm the national legislative director for the american legion. in 1918, when world war i ended, there was no national veterans hospital system. wasensation authorized >> i will wait until the investigation confirms that to me. i do not have confirmation. inadequate and delayed. [indiscernible] the administration of veterans programs was in the hands of too many agencies and was neglected. that's why the american legion >> he was transferred to fort worked closely with congress hood from fort bliss. over the next 10 years to help establish the department of veterans affairs. forts assigned to unit at the american legion is a partner bliss, texas. he was reclassified while he was with v.a. and has a vested at fort bliss. he was an infantryman and was interest in making sure it operates effectively and efficiently, which is why we vehiclefied to a support chairman miller's bill, and senator rubio's bill, senate operator and came to fort hood under that mos. he was not transferred here to bill.

be assigned to the debbie see you -- to the wcu. -- bill 2014. that is not the reason why he it will give the secretary the was transferred. freedom and authority to manage his or her department as they see fit. [indiscernible] the american legion supports we are looking into that right this bill, just as we support now. v.a. and check carry sin psyche -- secretary shin seki. >> friends of lopez back in we have seen 23 veterans puerto rico said he was upset appointed as secretary. that he was given only 24 hours [indiscernible] behalf of commander dillinger, the two and a half >> i don't have the details on million members of the american that right now. legion, we would like to thank the house veterans affairs committee, chairman miller, >> are you aware of him speaker boehner, senator rubio purchasing that gone [indiscernible] for their leadership and support as we work towards making sure the department of veterans affairs is well supported, say that again, please? well-managed, and well-funded so they can carry out the mission [indiscernible] of caring those who had borne the battle. speak for the rest of the veterans service >> no, the unit mission was complete at four months.

organizations, and all americans here today when i say that the american legion, our hearts and prayers go out to those at fort >> the purchase of the gun, did hood, and the families and that happen at about the same time his mother passed away? victims, and we will continue to be with you and support you >> i do not know. through this ordeal. [indiscernible] thank you. we will take a couple of >> at this time there is no questions. change in the dod policy that i [inaudible] am aware of in terms of carrying weapons on a military installation. >> i think the secretary needs [indiscernible] to have more authority to manage his own department. evidencee very strong that.as simple as that he had a medical history >> the country has been at war that indicates unstable now for over a decade. psychiatric or psychological [inaudible] conditions. i'm going to turn this over going through all the records to ensure that is in fact correct but we believe that to be the to the chairman and a moment, fundamental underlying cause. but the chairman and his committee have worked hard to try to bring transparency and accountability out of this incident that i'm department.

but we continue to get stonewalled, roadblock. aware of, that is correct. there are serious problems over at the v.a. another tool to try [indiscernible] to help the secretary better manage his department. >> not that i'm aware of. has on ourittee >> are you referring to records website trials and transparency, and basically it has all of the outstanding requests for on his career in the military? information we have made to the >> that is correct. department of veterans affairs. almost 100 of them right now. [indiscernible] that is our backlog. >> we are trying to figure out unfortunately, we continue to we try toalled as what the trigger event was. it was mentioned yesterday there may have been a verbal art request information to do our occasion with another soldier or soldiers and there is -- a constitutional duties as members of congress. oversight of the second largest agency in the federal verbal altercation, and there's a strong possibility that that government, with a budget of immediately preceded the over $160 billion on an annual shooting, but we do not have basis. that definitively at this point, what is important is that the although we do have strong indications of that. secretary have the tools that he [indiscernible] needs to do the job. what we have seen time after time, dayton, ohio is a perfect

example, they had serious problems there with sanitation >> am not sure i understood the question. issues in regards to a dental employee. we found out that that employee was transferred to another facility somewhere in the country. that is what v.a. likes to say is disciplinary action. they will allow somebody to as you know, fort hood is a big retire, they will give them a demotion, then move them to another facility. installation. we are finding time after time we got about 70 or 80,000 folks that people who were involved in here that work on a day-to-day basis. things as serious as preventable there is another 40,000 family members. add onto that retirees, deaths have gotten bonuses. bonuses in the tens of thousands of dollars. contractors and others. a are going to keep shining we have a population well over 100,000 here. to dold not be realistic light on the department of veterans affairs until the i think it is -- a pat down search on every soldier or an employee on a people at the mid-level who are daily basis. that would be unrealistic. not providing him the information he needs to make decisions -- we will make sure female mp, and then we will he has all of the tools he needs to do his job. >> [inaudible] come back to your question for the senator. there were several instances here of clear heroism. i would cite that female mp,

were not going to release her name yet. she is germane to the investigation. she clearly performed her duty exceptionally well am a but there are others. there were folks inside some of >> there's no question that these buildings who performed very her role with personal acts and saving others. those with mental health issues there is at least one chaplain i'm aware of that shielded and should be prevented from owning weapons, or being able to purchase weapons. saved other soldiers, broke some there so-called doc fix, windows and got them to safety. i think the performance of the medical staff, the initial staffmance of the medical was funding for a pile of projects dealing with mental health issues and weapons from at darnell was exceptional. i have seen a lot of medical staff perform in combat in the performance that darnell and the senate and house side. scott and white easily rose to two programs being funded in those levels of combat there, the bill that went to the president yesterday. standards. this issue we need to continue there was an awful lot of para to look at to find a way to keep with him out there, and yes, she weapons out of the hands of people who should not have them. did fire a weapon. >> [inaudible] [indiscernible]

got all the command information throughout the day today, but all the reports and my personal observation so far, you have an installation that is strong. >> for our active duty members, we are professional soldiers, a very high percentage of combat veterans here. they ought to have access to we are going about our duties to high-quality care, just like what we are asking for for those who are now veterans. take care of this and move on and take care of the families. [indiscernible] >> no indication at this point d.o.d. has one set of issues. that he was targeting specific the v.a. has another set of issues. people. were trying to focus in on the of the veterans we will await the investigation. administration. we are spending $160 billion a year of taxpayers money. [indiscernible] it ought to be spent wisely and help those who have worn our uniform. thanks, everybody. >> the general's job is to carry out the job of the department of [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] defense now, but i'm confident [captions copyright national there will be a thorough review cable satellite corp. 2014] of that policy and the military

will make the best judgment of what needs to happen in order to protect people on base. 'srespect general milley position and doing that thorough >> today we come together with review to see if there are any great sadness in our hearts, for gaps or anything that need to be the men and women at fort hood, corrected in future policies. for the second time in five years. this community of soldiers, service members, civilians and their families have faced tragedy at their base. >> are you at all concerned that our thoughts and prayers are he may not have gotten psychological help? with the victims, their >> we will do a thorough families, and the entire fort hood community. to ensure there is yesterday, the supreme court we are seeing. we do know that he was under treatment, so he was in the decided to pour even more money into our politics and our system and he was being looked process. really sad. at. our founders sacrificed everything. their lives, liberty, sacred [indiscernible] honor, for a democracy. a government of many. i think that is too early to not a government of the money. tell.

the professional medical investigators will tell me whether there are gaps in that this being the court that had particular system. [indiscernible] >> i do not know that. citizens united. dare, disclose or [indiscernible] special interest money is coming from. that is coming from. that does not just mean at time >> i do not know. of donation. that means at time of advertising, so people know the we will wait until the official source of the message. investigation comes out to determine whether it was premeditated or not. amend the constitution to overturn citizens united. i'm sorry, go ahead. is hard, but it's a great mobilizing tool across the she responded to the scene. country because the public is so spectacle -- skeptical about let me back up. government and their voice in it. the6:16 hours yesterday was reform. .e have our bill first 911 call. that call was made by two wounded soldiers who demonstrated heroism and present of mine to go ahead and make a

the democracy bill, to empower small donors. 911 call. i talked to both of them down at scott and white. throwing upholesale the shooting began just a few minutes prior to that, and they of obstacles to voter participation across the country. were able to get that call. change, tos to she arrived with her vehicle at 16:20 hours. empower people. she arrived four minutes after in aourt talks about voice that 911 call and she began working the scene with other on oarsmen that began to show up. democracy, but all of this money is suffocating the airwaves, her short time later, the suffocating the voices of the shooter showed up, approached many. her at approximately 20 feet, that is why it's really and as i described yesterday, put his hands up, then went down thistant for us to have and underneath his jacket he reform message be part of the pulled out the 45 caliber smith campaigns. whoever wins the election should & wesson weapon. at which time she saw that, know that the american people interpreted that as a threat, demand that their voices be and then engaged him with small arms fire, at which time the amplified, and not the voices of did a self-inflicted those who would exploit the environment and workers. gunshot wound. here.s a terrible agenda it is very, very wrong and disappointing, not surprising, i doubt it based on her rank, from this court. but i don't know the answer to that. [indiscernible]

that was yesterday. the day before, we had great >> yes. cause for celebration this week. the affordable care act's first open enrollment period. i'm sorry? yes. americans7 million enrolled in quality, affordable coverage. close. the affordable care act is working, thanks to this historical law, millions of [indiscernible] americans are enjoying new help security and personal and economic freedom that comes with it. more than 7 million people enrolled on the marketplaces. 3.1million in addition, million young people have been able to stay on their parents' >> at this point i would like policies until 26. not to shed any light on that as it is being fully developed as part of the investigation. millions more secure new coverage for themselves and their families through the let me go on this side. medicaid expansion, and probably this will bring us to round 50 that would be real speculation and i'm not going to engage in that. million people still awaiting confirmation on the medicaid numbers. we are looking at all the factors that you would suspect we are looking at, everything

the affordable care act is to make health care right for the from finance to medical, personal relationships, marital many, not just the privileged issues, family health issues, we .ew are looking at all of that. our founders promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. did she strike him? life,s about a healthier i don't have the full autopsy the liberty to pursue your report at this time so i don't locked, butot job other than the free to be self-employed, start a business, change jobs, reach self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. your fulfillment, follow your passion and not be changed -- [indiscernible] chained buyer policy. this has been a busy week. thoseon't have all of roles defined yet. the republicans unveiled a very different set of values, values [indiscernible] here we privileged -- did, hewhat i said he see that values the privileged shielded some individuals, took control of the situation, broken big oil products at the expense of our seniors, incentives to window and got them out to safety. send jobs overseas at the expense of creating jobs in the

u.s. tax breaks for millionaires at the expense of the middle class. i could not hear the question. our distinguished ranking member say that again. [indiscernible] on the budget midi will speak to these issues in a moment. facts ont know all the -- committee will speak to these the report yet. issues and a moment. on ourttack -- an attack that is being developed by the seniors and our future. investigator so i don't want to comment on that until i get accurate information on it. republicans are planning to end the medicare guarantee for our seniors, open the doughnut hole and force them to pay more for prescriptions. there is no connection to that that we know of. aarp swiftly panned the she was not wounded. republican budget writing, removing the medicare guarantee of affordable health care andrage by asking seniors retirees to pay more is not a right direction. you're going to have to speak up. that is what a budget is. it's a path. [indiscernible] it's a statement of values. we have local law enforcement checking all of that. it's a blueprint for the future. this is not the right direction.

cost oursal will economy 3 million jobs in two no indications of any of that. years. perverse tax incentives ship [indiscernible] the 49ent into jobs overseas. republicans are raising taxes on middle-class families with -- he purchased children by an average of $2000, according to the omb. breakive a $200,000 tax the weapon from guns galore on 1 to millionaires. march. perhaps most regrettable are the costs to our nation. [indiscernible] head start, k-12, and beyond. the ryan republican budget even rejected it. the immigration reform, with its promise of creating jobs, growing the economy, and .hrinking the deficit

>> mental health issues are the chairman said we should not most taxing issues from my be rewriting law in here. perspective in terms of how to we identify people who have genuine problems that need to be to bed, that they need it was countered by your colleagues on the committee who helped with. but i think at the same time, we said, we should not be rewriting have to be very careful and not medicare law here either. paint with too broad a brush and assume that just because someone has been in combat at they well, this budget is in sharp necessarily have those issues. contrast to the budget presented we should not stigmatize healthy by the president and congressional democrats, which people who are resilient and are committed to creating growth able to deal with those dresses. we ought to identify those with good paying jobs, investing people the best we can who do need help and get them the help in our future, responsibly reducing the deficit trade we that they need. this remains one of the most could not be better led in that vexing but also one of the most statement of values for our urgent issues, not just with country as to what is important for us, and led by our regard to the military, but with regard to many of the mass have seen,cidents we distinguished ranking member of the committee working with our democratic colleagues on the committee. not only on military installations but in our country thank you, mr. van hollen. >> thank you. , period.

it's great to be with all of you today. >> two more questions. thisader pelosi said, [indiscernible] quick this debate and discussion republican budget that we voted on in the budget committee about how to appropriately deal yesterday and is expected to with veterans and active-duty military mental health issues is one that has been ongoing for at least the last 13 years with special intensity, because of afghanistan and iraq, but it's not going to abate. my sense is is going to accelerate, and the debate and scrutiny in the investigation will need to heighten to deal more extensively with it. this is a very challenging issue , but one we cannot shrink from, and we won't every >> one more question from over here. indications at this time that he was targeting specific soldiers. last question, go ahead.

[indiscernible] >> we do, and we will develop in the exact sequence step by step, but i'm not prepared to release that at this time. thank you very much. we appreciate that, and we will do this again tomorrow. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> we will put specialist lopez's data up on the fort hood.com website. go there and you can pull down that data now. it is only about specialist time.at thais

>> tonight on c-span, members of congress honor the victims of the fort hood shooting. then army chief of staff ray otey ergo at a senate hearing on the army's budget relator, a house hearing on's date health-care exchanges. state health-care exchanges. a mass shooting at the fort hood army post yesterday people dead and 16 wounded. members of the texas congressional delegation reacted to the killings and observed a moment of silence over the u.s. house. this began with congressman john carter. >> what purpose does the gentleman from texas, mr. carter, seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. iq, mr. speaker. yesterday afternoon, tragedy struck the heart of texas at fort hood, which we know is a

great place. a gunman whose motives we do not understand took lives of three american soldiers and wounded 16 more before taking his own life. , mr. speaker, this is not the time fort hood has had to endure a tragedy like this. our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families him and the fort hood community. we pray for a speedy recovery to the wounded and extend our deepest condolences to the friends and families of those soldiers who lost their lives. we stand ready to provide any and all assistance we can to support for hood -- fort hood and the soldiers serving there and in the surrounding community. i would like to recognize my good friend and colleague in supporting this incredible community which would both have the opportunity to represent, congressman williams. >> thank you. it is said that all give some

and some give their all. once again, we have seen a tragedy at fort hood, a great place, and already we are witnessing the strength and resilience of a community of brave men and women who not only serve our country overseas in enemy territory but right here at home, on military posts around the nation. our prayers are with the fallen troops, those who were injured and are still in recovery, and the families of all those involved. our thoughts are with the entire fort hood community, great ,eadership under general milley as they stand together and push through this tough time. we will continue praying for the excellent medical team that assists the injured. perhaps most importantly, we will not forget the troops whose lives were lost yesterday. the best and the brightest is what we offer at fort hood. their service and sacrifice are an inspiration, reminding us doesn't give

because it's rich, america gives because it is rich. it has given all those we honor today. god bless all the fort hood community at this time, and may god bless america. i yield back. >> the gentleman from texas, mr. carter. >> mr. speaker, this time i like to ask the house to join me in a moment of silence and hopefully prayer for the fort hood community and all those families of the injured and dead at fort hood today. >> all present rise for a moment of silence. >> thank you. >> the senate also honor the victims of yesterday shooting. here are senate majority leader

harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> we have to reflect on what took place in fort hood yesterday. another tragedy. motives, we have just a general understanding, but our hearts are all broken as a result of another tragedy at this great military training silty. thats just a few years ago there were mass murderers on that military base. our nation mourns every casualty that falls, our brave service members. these seems so unnecessary and it's such a sad ain't. fort hood has seen more than its fair share of tragedy in the last few years. and theirs community families are grieving and questioning this latest act of senseless violence. staff, general martin did see, set it as follows. hass is a community that

faced and overcome crisis with resilience and strength." that is true. we stand with the people of fort hood today. we stand with all of our military, wherever they are situated in the world, admiring their strength and resilience. >> i would like to start this morning with the word about yesterday's tragic shooting at fort hood. continues,stigation we will learn more facts. what we already know is that fort hood has faced a great deal of adversity and challenges over the past few years and that the community there has rallied around our uniformed personnel. we also know that the on-base military police appear to have responded quickly, appropriately, and obviously at great personal risk to themselves. so as always in a tragedy like this, we admire the courier jan commitment of those who rushed to help the victims. thinkingurse we are

and praying for the victims, their families, and their fellow soldiers and civilians at fort hood. >> at a news conference, defense secretary chuck hagel commented on the fort hood shooting and defended the military's handling of base security. ofs is from a meeting southeast asian nations in hawaii. it is 20 minutes. >> thanks, folks. will start with a few opening comments and then take some questions, and i will moderate and call on you. when i do, please announce who you are and who you work with ask your question. >> john, thank you, good morning. the 10 aussie on defense ministers and i just completed what i believe is an extremely meeting here in hawaii.

one that affirmed the deepening bonds of friendship between nations and the growing opportunities that exist for us to partner together, continue to partner together to meet new and enduring security challenges across the asia-pacific region. this gathering was an important milestone in america's growing nngagement with the asea nations and another signal of to important role asean has play in promoting regional stability and prosperity. i'm grateful to all the ministers for making the trip. it was not easy. they all have many meeting here in hawaii. responsibilities, so i and forte their time their investment of their efforts and energy to make this happen. i also appreciate the hospitality that has been shown to all of us here by the people of hawaii, the people of pacific

admiral in particular law clear and his men and women , for what locklear they do for the united states every day in this region of the world. hosted by meeting was the defense department, we greatly benefited from the participation of our partners across the u.s. government. particularly yesterday's session on military assistance and disaster relief operations hosted by dr. catherine sullivan . coming only hours after a tsunami warning was lifted for presentationoaa and roundtable underscored that natural disasters will be defining security challenges of the 21st century, not only for

southeast asia, but for the world. the frequencythat and complexity of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance missions will increase. these missions demand cooperation between nations, across their government agencies , ngos and the private sector. the discussions we had yesterday, which focused on lessons learned from recent operations, will help identify ourproposals to improve preparedness and cooperation in the future. as one example, in our discussion just today, singapore proposed using a naval base as a regional humanitarian assistance crisis coreief nation center. this could be an important venue for nations in the region to coordinate oteri responses to and it is an idea we are going to pursue. this was among many ideas that came out of our last couple of

days of discussion. today's discussion addressed a range of other regional security matters, including improving maritime security cooperation and addressing tensions in the china sea.uth i told the ministers that the u.s. is increasingly concerned about the instability arising from the territorial disputes in the south china sea. the rights of all nations must be respected. it's important that all flame its avoid the use or threat of force or intimidation or coercion. we urge all claimants in these disputes to clarify their inims, including the basis international law, and to use internationally accepted rules and standards of behavior. as many of you know, tomorrow i will depart for japan, china, and mongolia, representing my fourth trip to this region. this trip and the form shows america's rebalanced

asia-pacific remains a critical part of our national security strategy. securitymmitted to the and prosperity of the region because of our interest and also our close relationships and alliances and commitments. america has a long-standing engagement and commitment with the asia-pacific region. it is a commitment that we will continue to meet in the 21st century. finally, i know that we are all following events at fort hood, texas. i have been staying in touch with army leaders and our senior dod leaders and will continue to do so. we need to let investigators do their work and help us all understand exactly how this happened. as you all know, the department is in the process of and lamenting recommendations of the review that followed the navy yard shooting last year. as the fort hood investigation

unfolds, we will continue to take a close look to identify any new lessons learned and implement those as well. in the meantime, we will all stay focused on the victims and in the fort hood community, who yet again are experiencing a terrible tragedy and much grief. thank you. >> we have time for some questions. to get the microphone to ask your question. >> thank you. i wanted to ask you a little bit more about fort hood, if i could. gates hallcretary for dozens of changes in defense policy to deal with the insider threat from the first attack. two weeks ago, you issued your

own report which found that many of those recommendations had not been implemented. since that time, there have been two shootings on military facilities that have exposed even new gaps in security procedures. i am wondering why does it take four years and for reports to address these security problems, and isn't that unacceptable? why should people believe that what you are saying now means that the penta gone is going to take this challenge seriously? >> well, first, let me assure people who, the serve, and our armed forces and their families, we do take this seriously. there is nothing we take more seriously than the safety of the people who work for our department. we recognize the imperfections. we recognize the risks, every thesesk in the jobs that men and women do for our

country. but there is no mistaking the fact that the prioritization leaders, ourvice commanders, our leaders, is the safety of those men and women. obviously something went wrong. we have made recommendations based on those reviews and we have implemented those leaders, our commanders,recommendations in ay case. going back to 2009. as you noted, 2010, we will continue to make the adjustments and implement those recommendations. cap.usly we have a anytime we lose an individual, something has gone wrong. noted, and i think it's important that we all keep in mind, let the investigators do their work. we don't know what all the facts are. we know a lot of things 24 hours later, but we don't know everything. it happened? what motivated this person to do this?

why did we have a gap? going backwhy did it happen? it me stop there, because think we're going to find out and we will do everything possible to implement the kinds of reforms and fill those gaps and assure the security of the men and women who work for our armed forces and a sure their families. >> thank you for your hospitality this week. asean,ties with rebalancing to asia, some have suspicions it is all a policy to contain china. how do you respond to that? a visit to not contain china. in my threethat previous trips to the asia-pacific. the rebalanced asia-pacific was .ot a contain china strategy

president obama has made that point very clear. secretary kerry has, i have. as i said in some of my remarks ofe, this was a continuation the relationships, the friendships, the partnerships that we have had for many years with many of these countries in the asia-pacific. the u.s. has been a pacific power for many years. this area represents tremendous opportunities. the three largest economies in the world are here in , china, japan, the united states. we are no strangers to this area. invitation tomy ean ministers came as a result of the continuation of our relationships, enhancement and deepening of the those relationships. we can coordinate and cooperate more fully. certainly much of yesterday's agenda was about that. ,umanitarian assistance

disaster relief. aathought the no administrators recitation was particularly poignant, when she talked about this part of the bigd being visited by more natural disasters than any part of the world, and that's going to continue, according to our science and according to what we can predict. we need that collective capability that we talked about yesterday. security, prosperity, peace. the is not only focused on military and assistance disaster relief, but is open sea lanes, open skies, it so all nations can prosper and be free, so all nations can trade have opportunities to do better. military relationships are important to help that security and stability, to help assure

that prosperity. they are all instruments of power and all instruments that governments have, including government, private sector, ngos, which are represented yesterday, are part of that as well. that's why i'm here. i hope that point is clear. as your question on what i will say to the chinese, i'm looking forward to meeting with chinese leaders to talk about further cooperation in areas that we have cooperated with china will continue to cooperate. we do have differences. we our competitors. certainly the points in the south and east china sea, we have differences there. we will talk about those differences. but i welcome, and i know president obama does, our senior leaders, the integration of global forums, into responsible behavior.

play by the rules of international engagement and codes of conduct. i will encourage that. .ut i also want to listen i will listen to the chinese leaders and will do the same in japan. that is why this trip is important, to be able to have that dialogue, to talk very to our and directly friends. i consider the chinese as friends. we have differences. we our competitors. we aregree in areas, but certainly not enemies. we are doing a lot of things together where we can find some common interest. >> i'd like to return to fort hood him if i may.

why do you think that american military bases have become so dangerous to the servicemen and women who work there? do you think this is an issue with thewhy do you think that an military, or is it an issue or problem -- does it say something about america itself? >> not to minimize what has happened at fort hood or what happened at the navy yard, what happened last week. those specific incidents, because i have already said, anytime you lose an individual, it's a terrible tragedy, and we pay attention to it and will continue to try to resolve and thick and adjust to make these places safer. but i'm not sure -- we have a lot of bases in the world and the united states, and there are a lot of safe places, too. if you have one that is not, that is too many. i'm not sure we can draw any conclusions to answer your question. we just don't know enough, first

of all, about this latest episode in fort hood. we are learning more about what happened last week. i think we have to be careful not to jump to any conclusions or try to frame this up in some kind of social statement. we just don't know enough yet. we will know what we need to know to fix the problem. >> thank you, mr. secretary. 1966, the defense minister byited the united states invitation of president johnson. , the myanmar after defense minister was invited by

you. so my question is, what is the motivation, what is driving you , especially these days while the congress is complaining [indiscernible] to favor the military too much. if i get the essence of your question, first, our congress -- our country has laws about human rights. nation, like other nations, who respect human rights and individual liberties. we base a lot of our policies,

foreign policy, on those kinds of relationships. we have always tried to strengthen and encourage nations to respect human rights and individual liberties. when there are violations of those laws, then that is an issue. i think many nations of the world have come a long way in with theseomply basic standards of human rights. and we encourage that, and we try to work with countries to do that. but at the same time, we are , notweak with all nations only do we comply with our own laws, but this is what the united states foreign-policy is

much about. it is human rights. and we take that seriously. >> just pacific lee out of this meeting, i'm wondering if you got any specific request from forof the asean nations equipment assets or other assistance from the united states, including the minister of malaysia, if you have gotten any additional request from them, and did the u.s. make any specific requests from the other asean nations in terms of furthering this cooperation? >> no additional request from the malaysian defense minister

are acting transportation minister were made of the united states or from any of the other asean members. i think the malaysian minister has been very clear on this in very public, that he complemented all of his asean counterparts and all the nations generousand was very in his complements of our efforts, the united states, in what we have done to assist. where i think we can all point to, and certainly the malaysian minister has, of common interest. a number of nationalities represented on that malaysian flight. china, all the nations of asia pacific who have been asked for any assistance by malaysia have complied fully and completely. this is about people.

after all, isn't that the essence of what we are all about? protecting our own citizens and helping others when they need help. in an interesting way, this has brought countries together, maybe not forever. there are still differences. we understand that there still will be differences. but when you define down to the lowest common denominator, it is about the people. i know the malaysian minister has made this point, and he made it a number of times in the meetings we had, but no new request were made of us. i told him very clearly if he has additional request, to talk with me directly, as he has been. possible, if at all absolutely we would do everything to honor any additional request. i don't think he made request of

any other additional nations. >> thank you all very much. >> a senate armed services committee hearing on the army state, u.s. army chief of ray odierno commented on soldiers mental health problems. senator carl levin chaired the three-hour hearing. >> good morning, everybody. the committee meets today to hear testimony from secretary to the army john mchugh and chief of staff of the army general ray odierno. army general ray odierno. our hearing is on the army's fiscal year 2015 budget request and current posture.

we meet with heavy hearts. once again, our army must recover from an act of unspeakable violence here at home. much remains unknown about the shooting incident yesterday at ft. hood including the question of what prompted this horrible attack. all that is certain is that lives have been lost and that families are grieving, and we all share in their grief. secretary mchugh and general odierno, please convey this committee's condolences to the men and women of ft. hood and the army and please be assured that this committee will fully support your efforts to care for those who are affected. for more than a decade, the men and women of the army have had the burden of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. they've done all that we have asked and more to succeed.

and remain resilient through repeated combat deployments. last year, the sequestration required by the budget control act, along with a higher than expected operating tempo in afghanistan, led to a $12 billion shortfall in army operation and maintenance accounts, resulting in the cancellation of major training exercises and the deferral of requiremented equipment, maintenance and repair. last year's bipartisan budget act has begun to relieve those readiness problems by providing added funding to reduce somewhat the impact of sequestration in fiscal years 2014 and 2015. but the budget gaps and sequestration will apply, again, with full force in 2016 and

beyond. the administration has proposed we increase the -- increase revenues so that we can raise defense budget gaps by $26 billion in fiscal year 2015, the budget before us. whether by additional revenues or other means, raising the budget gaps to reduce their impact is essential and is contingent on bipartisan congressional agreement. i believe we must pursue just that, continuously and with determination in the months ahead. under existing strategic guidance, the active army will cut its end strength by approximately $30,000 with a planned force of 450,000 by the end of fiscal year 2017. if the budget gaps remain

unchanged, however, the army would shrink to an end strength of 420,000. a force size which general odierno publicly said is inadequate to support our national defense strategy. end strength and force structure reductions of this magnitude must be managed carefully to avoid the risk that the army could become a hello force, hollow force. a look forward to the testimony of our witnesses on how the army will reorganization to make the reductions required by the budget gaps now in law. how the army would spend additional money if congress would raise the caps as proposed by the administration. how it will decide which installations would lose combat brigades, whether additional reductions can be born by units based overseas. what the impact of reductions

required by the statutory budget gaps is likely to be on military and civilian personnel, families, readiness, modernization and our defense posture around the world. in developing a plan to address the statutory budget gaps, the army has also had to make difficult decisions about distribution of proposed cuts between the active force and the reserve force. the department's planned end strength reductions would, at the end of fiscal year 2017, provide an active army of 450,000 or 20% less from its wartime high of 569,000, an army national guard of 335,000 or 6% less its war time high of 354,000, and the u.s. army reserve at 180,000, or 10% less

than its high of 205,000. the army's decisions on aviation assets between active and reserve units have been particularly controversial and we'll hold a hearing next tuesday focusing on the army's plans for change in active and reserve component force mix due to the end strength reductions over the next several years. the army has repeatedly canceled equipment modernization programs due to problems with costs or performance or with budget. this year's budget request proposes to cancel the army's ground combat vehicle, the gcv. the army has three remaining new vehicle programs, the joint light tactical vehicle, the self-propelled howizter and the armored multipurpose vehicle.

upgrades for the m-1 tank and m-2 bradley are scheduled but remain a year or two down the road. the cancellation of the gcv, the gap in the abrams and bradley programs, and the slowing of other vehicle programs combine to raise serious questions about risks to the army's ground vehicle industrial base. and i look forward to hearing from our witnesses how they plan to manage those risks. finally, the army has been devoted to addressing the physical and emotional toll, the 12 years of war have taken on our soldiers and their families. while there are programs now and significant resources dedicated to support our soldiers and their families before, during and after their deployment and service, there is more to do. we remain concerned with the

incidents of suicides and sexual assaults and the continuing problems faced by many of our soldiers as they return from deployment to war zones, leave the military, seek new jobs and transition to civilian life. committee's interested to hear updates from secretary mchugh and general odierno and their assessment of the steps that have already been taken to address these problems and the steps that remain to be taken. i invite them, i invite you both, to begin your testimony by updating us on yesterday's events at ft. hood. again, the committee's grateful for your great contribution, to ourinhofe. >> thank you, mr. chairman. coincidentally, i was with secretary mchugh when the news came and we both got it at the same time, the tragedy at ft. hood.

i can pretty much identify too, given the deterioration of the military readiness and capabilities over the last five years and the significant end strength cuts planned for the army. we're all concerned that we can't meet the missions outlined in the strategic guidance without unacceptable risk to the force in our country. we have to remind ourselves and others that when risk goes up -- you were talking about lives. we've been wrong before in the past when it comes to assumptions recordiassumptio assumptions regarding the size of our ground forces. sat income next to each other o house armed services committee when we heard testimony in 1993 by some expert in ten years we would no longer need ground forbeses. so we've been wrong before on where we are. today, the greatest risk our

military faces, a hollow force. that has been accruing. we're digging ourselves a readiness hole out of which it will take several years to climb. not only does the budget underfund current readiness, it the mo mortgages future readiness. the chairman's already covered the effects it would have in 1415 and of course the devastating effects that, i'm sure, general, you're going to want to talk about, should things happen this way and continue to 2016. yesterday, i don't see her here now, but it was kind of prophetic because -- and i used this morning on a show. senator ayotte asked the question. i'm going to go ahead and repeat what she asked yesterday at the hearing. what steps are you taking to prepare for, prevent and respond

to threats to personnel and facilities in light of the 2009 ft. hood shooting? that was yesterday morning before the readiness committee hearing. we'll have some questions concerning that, where we go from here, what the future's going to look like and the security we'll have to offer. >> thank you very much, senator inhofe. secretary mchugh. >> let me express my appreciation to you, the ranking member, and individual discussions before the hearing, to the other members of the committee for their heartfelt expresses of sorrow and support. it's deeply appreciated. obviously, as you noted, mr. chairman, this long-standing posture hearing is being held now under a shadow of the tragic events that happened just yesterday afternoon at ft. hood. as i know you all understand, any time the army loses a

soldier, we all mourn. when that loss comes at the hands of another soldier, and, indeed, when that event occurs at the very place that suffered so much pain, so much anguish, just 4 1/2 years ago, it only adds to the sorrow and the all-consuming sense of loss the army is feeling this day. our first responsibility, as i know you share, is to the families of the fallen. also, to those of course who have been wounded and those close to them, their family, their loved ones, as they make their way hopefully on a road to full recovery. our thoughts and prayers, but most importantly, our actions and our every effort will be with those families, will be with those survivors, whatever the struggle we have ordered all possible means of both medical and investigatory support, as

well as added behavioral health counselors. i want to give a tip of the hat to va secretary rich senseki who immediately reach out and offered support to needed personnel. in speaking, as both the chief and i did late last evening, to lieutenant general mark milley, for the moment, the immediate needs seem to be met, but we're going to monitor that very, very carefully. as i know all of you recognize, this is an ongoing investigation and one that encourages 15 or so hours ago. even at this point, the circumstances remain very fluid. we recognize we owe this committee, particularly, but also this congress, the facts, what we know, when we know it. i want to promise all of the members here this morning that we will work with you as we go

forward together so that we can effectively -- you can effectively discharge your oversight responsibilities. if i may, mr. chairman, i'd also like to take a brief opportunity to say to the ft. hood community and to the army family worldwide, this is a time once again to come together, to stand as one, as they have so many times before, drawing strength from each other, as this committee knows so well, the past 13 years have been fraught with much loss, with much pain, much suffering. but through it all, men and women of the united states army, their families, the civilians who support them, have come through the storm together. and i know, as we have in the past, will come out the other side of this tempest poor for the losses but stronger for our resolve. mr. chairman, i can take a moment now to give you the

updates that you've requested and then defer to the chief for the purpose of the posture statement if you'd like. >> that would be fine, thank you. >> based on our discussions last evening with lieutenant general mark milley, subsequent conversation i had about 10:45 with the secretary of defense, these are the facts as we understand them that, again, things are changing even at this moment. the specialist, the alleged shooter involved, joined the united states army in june of 2008. when he first enlisted in the army, he was in 11 bravo as an infantry soldier, as most of you know. he later upon reupping transferred his m.o.s. to an 88 mic truck driver. we are tracking at the moment that he did have two deployments, including one four-month, approximately four-month deployment to iraq as

a truck driver. his records show no wounds, no involvement, direct involvement in combat, as general milley said, no record of purple heart or any injury that might lead us to further investigate a battle-related tbi or such. he was variety of treatment and diagnoses for mental health conditions ranging from depression to anxiety to some sleep disturbance. he was prescribed a number of drugs to address those, including ambien. he was seen just last month by psychiatrists. he was fully examined, and as of this morning, we had no indication on the record of that examination that there was any sign of likely violence, either to him or to others. no suicidal ideation, so the

plan forward was to just continue to monitor and to treat him as deemed appropriate. the alleged weapon was a 45 caliber that the soldier had recently purchased. he lived off post. we try to do everything we can to encourage soldiers to register their personal weapons, even when they live off post. we are not legally able to compel them to register weapons when they reside off post, but the minute that soldier brought that weapon onto the post, it was not registered and it was under our rules and regs, being utilized obviously illegally. and with not proper clearance or foreknowledge by the command. he is married. his wife was being questioned last i was informed last evening. they are natives to puerto rico.

again, the background checks we have done thus far show no involvement with extremist organizations of any kind, but as the general said to me last evening and i know the chief and i fully support, we're not making any assumptions by that. we're going to keep an open mind and an open investigation, and we will go where the facts lead us. and possible extremist involvement is still being looked at very, very carefully. he had a clean record in terms of his behavioral, no outstanding bad marks for any kinds of major misbehaviors that we are yet aware of. so you know the conditions of those who were involved in the incident. there were three victims who have tragically lost their lives. the other killed in action in that moment was the shooter, who took his own life when

confronted by military police officer, a female. 16 others wounded. three that were considered critical. the others varying severity, but considered by and large stable. but we obviously are going to continue to make sure they get the best of care because we want to insure absolutely that no bad thing comes out of this more than already has. so that is pretty much what we know at this moment. >> thank you very much, secretary. >> and if it's appropriate, i'll yield to the chief for the posture comments. >> general. >> chairman, if i could just add a few comments. first, once again, we talk a lot in the army that we have an army family, and we've lost young people who are part of our army family, we take that incredibly

serious. for me, this hits close to home. i've spent a lot of time at ft. hood personally. i was a brigade commander, division commander, and corps commander at ft. hood. i understand the resilience of that community. the resilience of the people there, how proud the soldiers are of what they do, and we will do everything we can to insure they continue to move forward. i would just say that i believe that some of the procedures that have been put in place following the incident four and a half years ago did help us yesterday. the alert procedures that were in place, the response, the training that has gone into the response forces that responded, i think, contributed to making this something that could have been much, much worse. so we will continue to monitor the force of the army and the resources of the army will be behind ft. hood. we are very confident in the leadership of mark mille, who

is, i think as many of you know, just returned from afghanistan as the commander of the corps over there, and is a very experienced commander. and we will continue to support them. the only thing i would add to the facts that secretary provided is this was an experienced soldier. he spent actually nine years in the puerto rico national guard before coming on active duty, so he's a very experienced soldier. had a one-year deployment to the sinai with the national guard. and then had a four-month deployment in iraq. it was the last four months at the end of 2011, from august through december 2011. we will continue to work and work through this issue, continue to investigate and as we do that, we will provide information to all. the only other thing i'll say,

the great interagency cooperation, has provided great assistance, as well as the veterans affairs, as the secretary pointed out. so we will continue to work this. we have an incredibly talented, resilience army, who will continue to be incredibly resilient and move forward, but we also reach out to our family, the victims and the families of our victims of this tragic incident. and that's all i have. if you want me to continue, i will continue with my statement. >> thank you. i think that would be appropriate to give us now your posture statement. >> chairman levin, ranking member inhofe, other members, thank you so much for allowing me to speak with you this morning. i first want to thank you, chairman, for your 36 years of service. and all you have done for us as the chairman of this committee. and your leadership, your bipartisan leadership and always supporting our soldiers and families, and also holding us accountable for doing what's

right for our soldiers and for our national security. i want to thank you, sir, for that. >> i very much appreciate that. thank you. >> despite declining resources, the demand for army forces actually continues to increase. more than 70,000 soldiers are deployed today on contingency operations, and about 85,000 soldiers are stationed in nearly 150 countries including nearly 20,000 on the korean peninsula. our soldier civilians of family members continue to serve with confidence, commitment, and character that our great nation deserves. a typical day for our soldiers includes patrolling alongside our afghan national army partners, standing watch on the demilitarized zone in brea, continuing security for them to see, manning missile batteries in guam, and assisting in the devastating mudslide in the state of washington. as we consider the future roles

and missions of our army, comparative, we consider the world as it exists not as one we wish it to be. the recent headlines of russia's annexation of crimea, the intractable syrian civil war, artillery exchanges between north korea and south korea, adjust to name a few, remind us of the complexity and uncertainty inherent in the national security environment. it demands we make prudent decisions about the future capability and capacity that we need within our army. therefore, we must insure our army has the ability to rapidly respond to conduct the entire range of military operations from humanitarian assistance and stability operation to general war. we certainly appreciate the short-term predictability and fy '14 and fy '15 afforded by budget levels in the bipartisan budget agreement. the bipartisan budget agreement in fy '15 army level of $120.5

billion, in reality, it's still $12.7 billion short of our request. the budget agreement will allow us to begun to buy back some short-term readiness by funding additional combat maneuver rotations increasing the amount of forces trained and ready for decisive combat operations, however we still are required to make tough choices and had to reduce our modernization efforts by ending four programs, restructuring 30 and delaying 50 programs. we continue to take significant risks in our facility sustainment and training. the 2014 quadrennial defense review builds on the defense priorities outlined in the 2012 defense strategic guidance. last year, i testified that we can implement the defense guidelines at moderate risk with an end strength of 490,000 in the active arty, 350,000 in the national guard and 202,000 in

the national reserve, and i stand by that assessment. however, sequestration is the law of the land. and it will return in fiscal year '16 without immediate congressional action. the readiness gains achieved in fy '15 will quickly atrophy as we are forced to reduce planned rotations and planned activities in order to fund immediate operational requirements. sustained readiness requires sustained training dollars and investment. our modernization accounts will receive a 25% reduction with no program unaffected. major weapon programs will be delayed, severely impacting the industrial base both in and near and long term. under sequestration, the next three or four years, we'll continue to reduce end strength as quickly as possible while still meeting operational commitments. as we continue to draw down and restructure into a smaller force, the army will continue to

have significantly degraded readiness and expensive modernization shortfalls. at the end of fy'19, we'll begin to establish the appropriate balance of end strength readiness and modernization but for an army that is much smaller. from fy '20 to '23, we'll begin to achieve our goals and reinvest in our maodernization programs. we will have no choice but to crash end strength levels in order to attain that proper balance. as i said earlier, we'll be required to further reduce the active army to 420,000. the national guard to 315,000, the u.s. army reserve to 185,000. at these end strength funding levels, we will not be able to execute the defense strategy. in my opinion, this will call into question our ability to execute even one prolonged multi-phased major contingency operation. i also have deep concerns that

an army at these end strength levels will not have sufficient capacity to meet commitment and simultaneously train to sustain appropriate readiness levels. the president's budget mission supports end strength levels at 440,000 to 450,000 in the national arm and 195,000 in the army reserve. i believe this should be the absolute floor for end strength reduction. to execute the defense strategy it's important to note that as we continue to lose end strength, our flexibility deteriorates as does our ability to react to strategic surprise. my experience tells me that our assumptions about the duration and size of future conflicts outlie contributions and the need to conduct post stability operations are optimistic. if these assumptions are proven wrong, our risk will grow

significantly. under the president's budget, we'll achieve a balance between end strength readiness and modernization three to five years earlier than under sequestration, and that would occur around fy '18. in order to meet ongoing and future budget reductions we have developed a policy with close cooperation within the army and department of defense. the secretary of defense directed that the army not retain structure at its expensive readiness. additionally, the secretary of the army and i suggested cuts should come disproportionately from the active force before reducing the active guard and army reserve. our total force policy was informed by the lessons learned in the last 13 years of war. we considered operational commitment, readiness levels frk future requirements as well as cost. the result is a plan that recognized the unique attributes, responsibilities, and complementary nature of each component while insuring our

guard and reserves are maintained as operational and not a strategic reserve. ongoing reductions coupled with sequestration level cuts over the next seven years will result in a total reduction of 150,000 soldiers and 687 aircraft and up to 46% of our brigade combat teams from the active army. the national guard will be reduced by 43,000 soldiers, 111 aircraft, and up to 22% of the brigade combat teams it currently has. and the u.s. army reserve will be reduced by 20,000 soldiers. the end strength cuts to the active army will represent 70% of the total end strength reductions, prepared with 20% from the national guard and 10% from the u.s. army reserve. this will result in the guard and reserves comprising 54% of the total army end strength while the active component will comprise 46%.

the army will be the only component where the reserve outnumbers the active component. under sequestration, we can't afford to maintain our current aviation structure and sustain modernization and provide trained and ready aviation units across all three komponants so we have developed an innovative concept to address these issues. overall, we believe this plan will generate a total savings of $12.7 billion over the following. of the 798 total aircraft reduced under this plan, 687 or 86% will come out of the active component. and 111 aircraft or 14% from the national guard. we will also transfer about 100 uh-60s to the national guard. as with end strength, we are disproportionately taking cuts from the active component aviation. and in fact, we will eliminate three full combat aviation

brigades out of the active component while the national guard sustains all its component structure. this plan allows the army to eliminate the obsolete air frames and sustain pilot efficiency across the total force. the result is enforcements who are more capable in formation that are able to respond to contingencies at home and abroad. let me be very clear. these are not cuts we want to take but we must take based on sequestration. i believe our recommendation delivers the best total army for the budget we have been allocated. the secretary and i also understand that the american people hold us to a higher standard of character and behavior. combatting sexual assault and harassment remains our top priority. over the past year, the army has established more stringent screening criteria and background checks for those serving in positions of trust.

army commanders continue to prosecute the most serious sexual assault offenses at a rate more than double our civilian jurisdictions, including many cases that civilian authorities refuse to pursue. we appreciate the continued focus of congress as we implement legislative reforms to enhance the rights of survivors and improve our military justice system. we continue to take this issue very seriously. i also know how much work remains to be done in this area. we are also aggressively and comprehensively attacking the issue of leadership. individually, organizationally, and through systematic reviews. we have initiated 360 assessments on all officers and especially commanders. we've implemented a new