>> could i ask the prime minister what plans he has got to reform higher education loans so the system works for students, works for all universities and also works for the country? >> the biggest plan we have in this space is to expand the number of people going to higher education by taking the cap off the numbers who can attendant. there are plans in terms of fees and repayments, are clearly set out. it is encouraging that it has not put off people from going to university. nor has it put off people from low income backgrounds going to university. i would make this point to him. someone said in june of 2010, a graduate tax would replace up front tuition fees. i would consult before publishing detailed plans later this year.

that was the leader of the opposition in june of 2010. now i know we are dealing with a blank page and an empty head, but for heaven sake, get on with it. >> would the prime minister agree that it is the skill enterprise and shared hard work of all the staff of special foods in conjunction with our economic plan that is driving the economy forward. this is a company that created 200 jobs last year, another 75 this year, exported to india, making them the crumpet capital of evening anderson. >> i am delighted it is taking -- of the united kingdom. on that label. >> it is an important week for british families. this week corporation tax is being cut to make our businesses stronger. 10,000 personal allowances are being introduced to make our

families stronger. and we have the 2,000 pound employment allowance. we have three million people who have been taken out of income tax altogether. our economy is getting stronger, and everyone can see labor's arguments are getting weaker all the time. >> order. >> you have been watching "prime minister's questions" from the british house of commons. "question time" airs live on c-span 2 at 7:00 eastern and sunday night. again on watch any time at c-span.org. you can find past video of this program and other british public affairs programs. \[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] \[captioning performed by the national captioning institute] >> next, attorney general eric holder testifying before a subcommittee. then, house committee looks at the implementation for health insurance exchanges at the state level. later, q&a with author matt

tyree be talking about his book, "the divide." talking about his book, "the divide." because this is what people want, this is what is needed to get them back to our station. place that back in without st. clair, without their support. i alone could not support these figures. there's an ice storm. ice chest destroyed our generator. we were off the air for almost 16 hours. waset a generation $400,000. these are the kind of expenses that you cannot calculate.

i don't know what kind of wealth that may have been blessed with, there is no way with my two at three television stations could i survive this without these joint services and shared services agreement. >> this past monday, the fcc rule that owners cannot control more than one station in the same local market using joint sales agreements and shared services agreements. find out more, monday on the communicators. at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. >> attorney general eric holder described the and prescription drug abuse as an epidemic touring a senate appropriations subcommittee hearing. he was testifying before the subcommittee on the president's 2015 budget request for the budget department, totaling 27.4 billion dollars. 2.1 billion for state, local and tribal assistance. this is two hours.

lexus is a committee of making sure we spend the right money in the right way, but also to make sure we have the wonderful advice of an inspector general. everyone theret could be the possibility of votes beginning at 11:30. today is one of 60 hearings in six weeks, where we

are doing to children's -- we are doing due diligence in looking at a request from these agencies and the president's budget. today, we really take testimony from one of the most important agencies and the government consolation, the department of who really has a very key job in making sure they keep , whether it is from federal law enforcement, federal prosecution to terrorism, but also the enforcement of other issues. whether it is antitrust or mortgage fraud, to also civil rights and hate crimes and these things. it is the department of justice. it is not the department of crime, anti-crime or whatever. we are really proud of them. mr. attorney general, we want you to know we really salute the 112,000 employees who work for

the 25,000 federal agents, the roughly 18,000 prison guards and correctional staff, the 13,000 prosecutors and investigators, and the wonderful support staff. and 9's. the fbi has dismantled 421 criminal enterprises, dea 3400 organizations, and charging over 83,000 defendants of criminal -- in criminal court, all that while facing a sequester and impending government shutdown. imagine what you can do with

certainty and funding. under the murray, ryan budget we have canceled sequester for 14 -- for 2014 and 2015. we now want you really should take a look at what your requests are. my goals for the hearing are three priorities. ofmunity security, in terms state and local. of course national security, and then oversight and accountability in terms of spending dollars wisely. to uphold the rule of law, protect civil liberties and communities. there's a request in here for $2.2 billion for state and local government that puts cops on the beat, puts away child abusers, processes rape kits, all those at the local level. we will be getting your views and insights about how those partnerships are working, and once of the funding process we

can actually strengthen them to get better results and better enforcement. we also want to know that that thin blue line and the local community that protects us, like our local police officers, have equipment that they need. we also want to take a look at the issues related to our prisons. we know that you are leading a review on appropriate sentencing and how we can reduce the prison population without increasing risk to our communities. you have looked at everything from compassionate parole for those prisoners that are now under -- in their 70's and 80's, to other creative things. we like to hear about that, but we also want to talk about what it is that we need to fund our prisons, and we need to make sure that we keep our prison guards safe. met with the family and other

correction officers related to eric williams, who was one of our prison guards murdered in if federal penitentiary in pennsylvania. it was wrenching to hear what they do. they have ideas that they need they need to what carry to prisons, how they have to keep themselves safe with andeasing violent criminals increasingly mentally ill prisoners. we would like to hear your thoughts on that. about this time last year we were all gripped with the boston marathon. it really showed us how important national security is. national security is not in the crimea or in the middle east or in iraq and afghanistan, it was in the streets of the boston marathon. we had marylanders and one of our beloved preschool teachers lost her leg there cheering her mother on. they are back in boston and she is back on her feet. we want to make sure that never happens again.

we would like your views on what we can do in terms of national security. the other threat that i have is cyber security. mr. attorney general, i hope you can join with us in drawing the distinction between cyber surveillance. as you know, a lot of people are spooked because of the snowden revelations. 215.lk about i will tell you, my constituents are scooped by cyber security. and youo into a target go into a michaels, the famous craft store, some going to nieman marcus, most americans in places like target, and the loss of cyber security breach has been phenomenal. the cyber security breach now at , my own university of maryland, hopkins, they are now stealing identities, hacking

, so from stealing our trade secrets to the kind of thing that is going on, we need to know what we need to do and what other resources in cyber. every day we counted the justice department to fulfill its mission and to protect our lives and protect our way of life and to protect our constitution. we need to hear from you what is the right funding that we need to make sure that we do justice to the justice department. i now turn to my vice chairman, senator shelby, a very strong securityof a national and also in supporting our local law enforcement. we are particularly appreciative of his efforts on behalf of women and children. >> thank you. again, to the committee, at attorney general holder. today, we will have from attorney general holder about 2015epartment of justice's

budget request. michael horwitz, the department , as ther general chairperson has artie said, will testify about his work and the difficulties he has encountered in executing this oversight is possibility. both. i welcome you the 2015 budget request for the department of justice totals $27.4 billion. i'm concerned that while the departments 2015 budget reports -- purports to recognize the multifaceted nature of the departments were, it fails to buty prioritize anything the administration's pet projects. programs such as smart on crime, now is the time, and nearly 12 new grant programs, i believe take center stage. meanwhile, law enforcement and national security priorities, the main mission, central mission of the department, i believe takes a backseat. this approach is evident in the

indiscriminate cuts required of nearly every component within the department of justice. requires cutst totaling more than $500 million these cuts are characterized as miscellaneous program theyistrative reductions. will be identified once funds are appropriated. in short, it is the department's , of ansion, i believe arbitrary sequester. mr. attorney general, congress made a conscious decision to return to regular order and in part to put a stop, as you know, to indiscriminate cuts that your budget requires. proposal that uses smoke and mirrors does not provide a stable foundation to safeguard national security number reduce violent crime, prosecute criminals, or support our state and local partners. because into question the departments commitment to these requirements. i do not support the approach

this budget has taken, and i look forward to working with you, madam chair, to ensure that the department of justice is a properly funded to carry out essential and important missions. i also want to touch briefly on the topic of concern that the chairperson has artie mentioned. that's rectally impacts inspector general's ability to conduct much-needed oversight of the department of justice. since arriving in 2012, mr. horwitz has worked diligently to investigate a myriad of trouble spots. throughout the course of these investigations, however, the inspector general encountered significant role -- roadblocks, specifically, he has not been provided unfettered access to materials essential to ongoing unless heions attorney general approves it. think about that. as is the inspector general.

you should provide him the material to see what is going on in your department, good and bad. i strongly believe that the work of inspector general is essential to a well functioning government agency. they are independent and should not be encumbered by individuals in positions of power, even the attorney general of the united states. mr. attorney general, yesterday the chair and i sent you a letter on this matter. we expected you will move swiftly to address our questions and resolve this controversy. an independent office of inspector general, they can truly -- that can truly carry out its oversight responsibilities, i'm concerned --t the honesty integrity and integrity of the whole department can be called into question. that none ofing us want. i'm looking forward to the remarks from the inspector general.

>> thank you very much. first of all, i want to welcome the attorney general to the subcommittee today, which has such great leadership on both sides of the aisle. i'm going to be directing my questions to you today on several topics. one has to do with our broken asylum granting system, which the department of justice has jurisdiction with the department of homeland security. another is the testing of the boundaries of the executive power by this administration, in particular the aggressive position the administration has taken with regard to the presidency enforcement third, i hoped that if you don't use in your testimony, i will be asking you

for an update on the department of justice's activities to bring to justice the attackers in the benghazi case. so, thank you madam chair. >> mr. attorney general? >> well, good morning. thank you chairwoman makovsky, ranking member shelby, senator members ofhers as the subcommittee. to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the president's fiscal provide5 budget and to an overview of the departments recent achievements and ongoing ironies. as we convene this morning, i know we are all mindful of yesterday's mass shooting at fort hood. i am being regularly briefed on the situation, and i have directed that the full resources of the department of justice in particular the fbi be made available to ensure the security of everyone on that base.

we will work with local officials and the department of defense to provide assistance to those in need of a to help conduct a full and thorough federal investigation. unfoldsinvestigation and as we were to determine exactly what happened and why, my thoughts and prayers will be with all those whose lives have been impacted by this terrible tragedy and with the entire for the community, which has displayed such extraordinary strength and resilience to see horrific events of nearly five years ago. as president obama said yesterday, it is heartbreaking that something like this has .appened again we owe it to more of our men and women in uniform and also to the families to see that justice is done, to ensure that they're safe here at home, and to do everything in our power to prevent these two common -- , tragedies from happening again.

we are determined to build upon the exceptional work that did justice department employs a performed over the past year. going forward, your support will enable us to build on the result my colleagues have obtained, and to perform the vital mission which we -- with which we are entrusted. many of our compass men's are notable and even historic, but none have been more important than our ongoing work to protect the american people from terrorism and other threats to our national security. just last week, a major milestone was achieved we secured the conviction of the son-in-law of osama bin laden, a senior member of al qaeda, on terrorism charges. this proves that proceeding such as these can safely occur in the city that i am proud to call home. it was appropriate that this defendant, who very publicly rejoiced over the attacks on the face trial center, in the shadow where those buildings once stood. we never doubted the ability of

our article three court system to administer justice with lee in this case as it has in hundreds of other cases involving terrorism defendants. this outcome vindicates the government's approach to securing convictions of senior al qaeda leaders. it would be a good income i believe, for the country, if this case has a result of owning that political debate, that political debate to rest. the president's budget request will will strengthen our national security work by investing a total of $4 billion in the departments cutting edge counterterrorism and national security programs, including $1.5 million to maintain and terrorisme fbi's new explosive device analytic senate facility in alabama. the budget will also invest in other key priorities, providing 270 $3 million to bolster the department's vigorous enforcement of federal civil rights laws, including $8 million in new resources. it would also allocate $1.1 billion to support the administration's work to reduce

gun violence. it would enhance the department's ability to combat heinous crimes like human and sex trafficking, as well. it would provide $173 million to support our efforts to strengthen the federal criminal justice system as a whole to the groundbreaking smart on crime initiative that i announced last august. this initiative comprises a range of targeted commonsense reforms including modification to the departments charging policies with regard to mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent, low-level drug crimes very long with renewed focus on evidence-based diversion, rehabilitation and reentry programs. year 2015 budget with sustained investments in the bureau of prisons reentry programs, including the ,esidential drug abuse program residential reentry centers, and reentry specific education programs. these and other proven programs will help to make a criminal justice system not only more effective, but also, by freeing

up resources for police and prosecutors, as well as other vital law enforcement priorities, make our system significantly more efficient. this, in turn, would enable us to further invest in the outstanding work that is performed every day by dedicated attorneys and support staff in each of the departments litigating divisions and united states attorneys offices, thanks to their efforts, during the fiscal year ending in 2013, the justice department collected a total of more than eight ilion dollars in civil and criminal fines and penalties. this represents more than double the approximately $3 billion in direct appropriations that pay for our 94 u.s. attorneys offices at main litigating divisions. turn fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2013, the department collected a combined total of more than $21 billion, a record amount for a two-year span. series oftained a historic resolutions and taken other actions to make sure we

are serving as sound stewards of taxpayer dollars and protecting american consumers from fraud and other financial crimes. last november the justice department secured a $13 billion settlement with jpmorgan chase, the largest settlement with a single entity in the history of the united states, to resolve federal and state civil claims related to the company's mortgage securitization processes. as part of our ongoing efforts to hold accountable those whose conduct sewed the seeds of the mortgage crisis, the department also followed a lawsuit against a rating firm, s&p. where making good on our determination to protect consumers and to address fraud and all of its forms. i'm very eager to work with the subcommittee and with the entire congress to build on these and other successes, and to secure the timely passage of the president's budget requests,

which provides a total of 27 .4 billion dollars in discretionary resources for the department of justice, including $25.3 billion for vital federal rams, and $2.1 billion for state, local, and tribal assistance programs as well. the port will be essential to ensuring that we can continue to protect the american people and take important actions to strengthen our criminal justice system. i want to thank you once again for this opportunity to discuss this work with you today, and i will be happy to answer any questions that you might have. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. attorney general. we are going to follow a five minute time limit and see if -- we will try to get to his many people as we can. if there is a chance, we will do a second round. limited right to my question.

mr. attorney general, one of the biggest areas in terms of the justice department is the fundin g of federal prisons. is, anduestion to you we are concerned about two things. one, the adequacy of the funding. second, the protection of prison guards. looking back to that terrible death. number three, what is your plan? because there are now 18,000 prison guards doing a great job. we are very proud of our guards in the cumberland facility and the stress they are under everyday. but you've got initiatives here. now the prison guard population is 1/3 of the justice department. so we have got to keep the bad people off the street, but are we just loading up our federal