what happened in healthcare.gov, a couple of things that we've examined and looked at, there are a number of things thinking about i.t. procurement. one is you do not connect the business owner and the i.t. that connection does not occur. it's a problem i've experienced in the private sector. seem say to the i.t. team, here, fix it. versus an integrated approach of the business owner and the i.t. director working together. the problems i'm articulating on ones we need to think about as the federal government specifically. generally in procurement we've traditional done a waterfall approach, a building approach. one tests in small pieces and moves and learns is a better approach to doing procurement, not set up to do that in terms of how we set standards and do expectations. the third thing that is an important part is ownership and accountability in terms of a single individual being the personal that does that

integrating of the individual on the i.t. side and the business side. those are all three things that even right now at gsa three weeks ago implemented some of the things that we think will improve availability of providers to get access and work in that way. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you were senator hagen. senator white house. >> thank you, chairman. welcome, ms. burwell. in your summary of your very impressive career you describe yourself as having had the opportunity to lead large and complex organizations and work across a range of issues in each odds my role i worked on forming strong teams, forging relationships and delivering results. has it been your experience that having solid clear performance metrics is an advantage. >> it is a an advantage to know where you're headed. >> that's part of the accountability that you just described to senator hagen,

correct? >> yes. knowing where you're headed and how you're going to measure whether you get there or not is important. >> under the affordable care act we've made significant progress in cleaning up that. that's been good. the access issue i think has been moved in a very good direction with 8 million people signed. that leaves a third very, very big issue, which is the cost of the system. a very well regarded report came out recently that predicted that spending on health care which already consumes nearly 18% of the nation's gross domestic product will continue to grow 1.2 percentage points faster than the economy over the next two years. an expert said this, if we cannot get health care spending under control, there's no hope for the federal budget. the main hope if we don't get health spending under control is global warming gets us all first

before health care spending gets us all. so we can work on climate change separately, but there's a win-win opportunity to address the cost of health care by improving the quality of care. it's been identify by the president's council of economy adviser, the institutes of medicines and an array of private thing tanks and we proceed in that area i believe without adequate performance metrics. i would like to ask you your commitment, if you're confirmed, once you're confirmed, to work with me and work with a considerable number of other senators who share this concern to set some definable metrics for our progress at lowering the cost of health care by improving the quality and delivery of health care. would you be willing to do that? >> senator, if i am confirmed, i look forward to working with you and a number of your other

colleagues, actually on both sides have brought up this issue. i look forward to working with you on it. >> to get it done. >> senator, i think the core objective is to improve the way we deliver health care, to improve quality and reduce costs and that's what the objective would be. >> and you agree that clear performance metrics would advance that objective? >> i agree that metrics are an important part of that. i think one of this things that one wants to do is understand what are the right metrics. in my experience in terms of when you're trying to scale and do change, you need to think about what is the metric that you need to measure against. >> exactly. >> and so determining that you can do that is the other thing that i think is important. one, is it measurable, it is the right measure and then can you scale against what you're trying to do. those are the types of questions that i have historically considered when i think about the issue of metrics. >> good. well i look forward to working with you on these metrics. i this just to give you a

preview of coming attractions, i think there should be a cost savings metrics, an actual dollar and a date that can be attributed to this process. and i think it might be helpful in getting to that goal and articulating it for regular consumers better to have a seethe of subordinate metrics like we're going to knock down hospital acquire infections 80% by this date, we're going to have this many doctors moved off of fee for service and moved on to more outcome baseds payment services by this date. i think we can successfully build a good suite of performance metrics that will address this. i appreciate the attention of the committee to this. it's been something we've looked at repeatedly. we're looking at it very closely from a budget committee perspective. i confer with the senior fellow, if we cannot get health spending

under control there's no hope for the federal budget. and there's a good way to get it under control without hacking away aut fees and eligibility and you know, what people are entitled to under their policy, the coverage. thank you. >> i just have to adds, 75% of spending under medicare are for preventable diseases most of which are preventable. now or own budget person, senator murray. >> thank you were mr. chairman. i am really pleased that the president chose such a qualified competent and experienced nominee, someone obviously i know very well. i've had the opportunity now to work very closely with director burwell for many years during her time as part of president clinton's economic budget team, her distinguished service at the gates foundation and her current position now at the director of

the office of management and budget. this is an impressive record and i really applaud you. you've excelled at every step. back in the clinton administration she played a central role in crafting policies that led to broad economic growth and budget surplus that we all remembered by the end of the '90s. in her foundation work she took on an sbirly different challenge and managed a successful organization with a global reach and for the past year director boar wel worked very successfully here in congress to bring much needed bipartisan back to the budget process. at the same time she was over seeing programs from the medicare to the affordable care act. i really believe she has the necessary qualify sayings and i'm delighted to have just a few minutes here. i don't want to take much time. but i did want to say, take this opportunity and give us the chance to hear from you how your

professional experience has really prepared you to meet the challenge of mapping a very large agency with a lot of different critical functions. >> i think that my time at the number of different agencies that i've been at have really helped with a couple of things. one is clarity of focus on impact. i think that comes back to the conversation we were just having with senator white house and how one needs to get in quickly and make sure that you define very clearly what your goals are and then build the institution, build the team, empower the teams and part of that empowering of the teams is making sure that they know what their roles are and what their responsibilities and accountabilities are. the other thing that i think is a particularly important part that i've learned in working in the foundation space and all of the jobs that aye had, when i think about the problem solving, you think about what is the problem you're working on, what is the solution space and when then the third circle is for whatever entity you are, whether it's at walmart or the bill and

melinda gates foundation or in the federal government, what is your institution best at? so you're applying the skills and what your part of the organization, the piece that you're working on or where you are best at. i've had the chance to work in a lot of private public partnerships both inside and outside the government. and seen a number of different things. but i think really framing core goals, setting out building good teams and then empowering them to do the work are the most important things i've learned. >> i'm looking forward to seeing you do that at this sergeancy. i did want to mention you know i'm a strong champion forearly childhood education. there are several key early learning programs that will be within your purview at hhs if you're confirmed. i wanted to ask you how you're going to continue your agency's work to expand and strengthen those key federal investments. >> i think those are very

important investments. and i think we have a start and the process that started with murray ryan and led to rogers ma cull ski, we have proposals in the budget right now that are important parts of continuing on that that try and build on existing distribution mechanisms so you're not creating new systems. they build through head start and use other things but make sure that the programs in place have quality measures. i'm hopeful we can work with, if i'm confirmed, in my omb slot or hhs can work with the congress of moving those issue of early childhood education forward, as you know, because vi a six and a half and four and a half-year-old -- >> you live it. >> i live it every day and i live that my children are so advantaged in everything they get and how can we make that a reality for all of the children in the country so they have the

tools to succeed. >> my time is up. we have a vote coming. it was reported that the uninsured level is at its lowest point since january of 2008 when gallup first started tracking that. in states like my home state of washington that you know so well where we built our own exchange and expanded medicaid, the rate of uninsured is decreasing even faster where we've enrolled nearly a million people for coverage. so i am delighted by that and i hope that you use my state and your state to really help replicate some of those good experiences across the country and i look forward to working with you. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, senator murray. and senator sanders. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. welcome, ms. burwell. unlike senator roberts, i believe in a medicare for all sing payer system. i think there is something wrong

when in our great country we are the only nation who does not guarantee health care for all of its people and yet we spend up spending more than other countries without particularly good health care outcomes. in that regard in the aca legislation i put language in supported strongly by senator harkin that would give flexibility to states to move in different directions, including a single pair. as you know the state of vermont intends to do that. right now we can't do that until 2017. we have applied for a waiver. the president supports that waiver. will you help the state of vermont work with hhs to make sure that we can facilitate that process and give vermont the opportunity to lead the nation in that direction? >> senator, if i am confirmed i look forward to working on that issue with you and the state.

>> okay. another issue that is dear to my heart and i know to senator harkin's heart, we've worked together on it and to many people, the crisis in primary health care and the need to go forward with community health centers. one of the reasons i voted for the affordable care act is that the majority leader and others worked very hard to substantially expand community health centers. in fact in the last four or five years i think we've added 4 million more people to gain access through community health centers, in my state about one quarter of the people will get their primary health care through community health centers. we are in a difficult problem right now because we're facing a cliff, as you know. and that is as a result of the aca funding we were able to expand community health centers. if that cliff goes into effect it will be an absolute disaster. you and i have chatted on this on a number of occasions. you working with the president have provided a strong budget

for community health centers and for the national health service core. will you fight to make sure that we continue to strongly fund community health centers throughout america? >> senator, as you and i have had the opportunity to discuss being from a rural place in the u.s., i actually understand the role of community health centers in communities like the one i grew up in. i believe it's an important part of our system in terms of prevention, a topic we've talked about in terms of treatment, as well as and i believe it is an important part of efficient and effective health care in terms of costs. >> but here's my question. stay with me. we are looking -- and in fairness, the president and you have helped make his budget strong. but will you help us fight to make sure that we continue to have that funding and not see that cliff which would be a disaster for community health

centers across the country? do i have your support on that? >> nart you do. the budget we put together is the first step in that process to the that. >> good. okay. in a related issue, we're not going to have strong community health centers unless we have the phen-ffe physicians and the and the other staff we need. we tripled funding. that's a whole lot of money but i's still not enough. i think as you understanding, and correct me if i'm wrong, we face a crisis in terms of the number of physicians and other health care providers that we have to getting out to underserved areas in america. will you work with some of us, with myself, senator harkin and others, to make sure that we adequately fund the national health service core to do debt forgiveness or scholarships for medical school students who want to practice in underserved areas

>> this is an issue that throughout the budget you see support for. and whether that's in the issue that you just raised in terms of the national health core, it's also in how we think about not just positions but there are also provisions that are about nurses and other people that are part of the primary care system. >> that's exactly correct. >> i think that's another important piece that we need to work on. >> what i worry about -- thank you. i agree with you. we're looking at the expiration of a very important program called the teaching health center graduate medical education program. and that is a program which allows people to get their graduate -- doctors to get their training in community health centers et cetera. are you familiar with that program? >> the graduate medical education program, yes. >> yeah. it is looking to -- it may expire. will you work with me to see that it does not expire. >> the graduate medical education program there are a number of provisions that are

attempting to improve and focus on primary care. that's something that's a prt of the budget and a series of bringing pieces together that include how we think about the national health service core as well. yes, that is something that is part of the budget process and would look forward to working, if confirmed, in a new role. >> thank you very much. >> senator scott, have you voted already? >> no, sir. >> we're down to about maybe three or four minutes left now. i'll recognize you but we're close to be out. we have four or five votes, right? >> four votes, yes, sir. >> senator scott go ahead but we're going to have to be very short. >> i won't take more than five minutes. i promise. the senator time allows for 15 minutes to vote but i also takes 30 minutes to count 15 minute in washington. it's part of the fuzzy math that happens here in washington which

really is one of the questions i'll be asking you about. one of the questions will be the fuzzy math about obamacare and the other one about programs made and promises not kept and whether you'll be the ambassador of health care. certainly you come before us with a great reputation. i voted for you for omb, my good friends have great respect for your intellect and integrity. i'll take that into serious consideration. my questions will focus on obamacare and the dismal rollout and the challenges i've had with the numbers. hopefully you can get us some clarity as we rush to make sure we make the last vote here. in numbers, fuzzdy washington matt, $1.4 trillion price tag, the fact that after spending nearly $1.5 trillion we'll still

have 31 million americans uninsured by 2024. the fact that the as b ca as siphoned $716 billion from medicare and somehow that's supposed to improve the outcome of our seniors. perhaps one of the more frustratings number that i've seen in obamacare is 8 million people have signed up for obamacare. one of my questions will be at the end, how pray tell do we account for 8 million people signing up for a program but they don't pay the premium, yet we count that number as a part of a true number that reflects the number of americans that are actually eligible for health insurance if they don't pay their premium. it seems to me that if mum before 8 million people signed up for obamacare, which when you multiply that by 80% that have paid, it brings the number down significantly. you recognize that about 20% of the people who are paid the premium represent those under the page of 3w5 and that brings

into question the whole notion of the sound premise that we need about 2.8 million young folks buying into a program that that hopefully will not have to use. having spent a couple of years in the insurance industry myself, i find that those who sign up but don't pay premiums don't have coverage. so that doesn't seem to be taken into consideration as we talk about the success of obamacare. i'd love to hear your perspective on that. as i think about that, i'll simply ask the first question. if confirmed as our healthary human services secretary, will you be willing to be clear and honest with the american people, the congress and this committee about the implementation of obamacare regardless of what the administration's policy is? you mentioned during our time that you have a lot of experience, served on metlife gord and others. it would be helpful for the american people to have a clear picture of what is in fact happening with obamacare since

we now are relegated to getting our accurate information from the "the new york times" and the "walking post" and not from hhs. >> senator you have my commitment that in i am confirmed the two pieces of prince ls that will guide me are transparency and accuracy. those are the two things. i will work to do that in due course in terms of speed as well. >> thank you, ma'am. on the issue of promises made, promises not kept. i think about the fact that many americans were promised this notion if you like your insurance you can keep it. that promise has been broken. if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. that promise has been broken. if you're looking for affordable health care, the aca is the way to go. that promise seems to be challenged when you think of the actual cost and the price of health insurance, the cost being higher deductibles, higher out of pocket expenses, and a more

limited number of doctors to choose from, fewer hospitals in the system and even fewer specialists. so the actual cost of health care i think we'll see it rise as we see the price tag not affordable to more than 50% of the folks who are eligible for obamacare are not signing up simply because they say they cannot afford it. then having a functioning website, we know how that's worked out. the most challenging part i see from a backdoor perspective from the website is the insureds themselves are complaining that the backdoor operations are simply not set up yet. while we celebrate the success of the health care exchange and healthcare.gov, obviously if you can't get the inner workings pinned down, it's hard to pay claims and do those things that are necessary for the insurers. i'd ask you simply as secretary

of hhs, will you in fact be the health and human services secretary for the american people or will you be, as your pred says sore has been, the ambassador of obamacare. >> senator in my current role and if i am confirmed in this other role it is my objective and as i talked about in my opening statement, i'm here to serve the american people. i am part of the president's administration. i'm honored to be appointed. first an foremost i serve the american people. i believe that the president and his policies are aligned with that and will work. but i am here to serve the american people. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator scott. i would just say that i must say that it is my opinion, based upon the years of work with kathleen sebelius, that she performed her job ad merably and

carried out the law as we wrote it. i request that the -- i have a statement of support from president of the international union and vi a letter from the american public health association, i'd like to include in the record. i request that the record be kept open for ten days for senator statements and that the record stay open until close of business on monday for questions for the record. ms. burwell, again, thank you very much for you outstanding public service through all of your adult life. thank you for your willingness to take on this very important task. we look forward to your very speedy vote and approval and look forward to working with you as the new secretary of health and human services. >> mr. chairman, thank you. >> thank you.

>> next, the house foreign affairs committee finalizing legislation concerning nigeria, venezuela. then, house minority leader nancy pelosi talking about the select committee investigating benghazi. and live at 7 a.m., your calls and comments on "washington journal." >> let me be clear, i'm not defending ms. lerner. i wanted to hear what she had to say. i have questions about why she was unaware of the inappropriate criteria for more than a year. i want to know why she did not mention the inappropriate criteria in her letters to congress. i could not go to violate an individual's fifth amendment right just because i want to year what she has to say. a much greater principle is at stake here today. the sanctity of the fifth amendment rights for all citizens of the united states of america.

>> i've never alleged that it goes to the president. i have said that tea party would clearly and fairly be described adverse to the president's policies. i think that his party comfortable to understand. they were targeted by somebody who quite frankly was trying to courtrn the supreme decision in citizens united. with that, yield back. >> house debate on the holding former irs official lois lerner in contempt of congress for refusing to answer questions about targeting conservative groups. -- at 10ng, at tenant a.m. eastern. sunday at 7:30 p.m. on c-span

2. >> you cannot now take c-span with you wherever you go with our free c-span radio app for your smartphone or tablet. tvs and to all three c-span channels or c-span radio, anytime. there is a schedule of each network since he can tune in any time you want. play broadcast from signature shows. take c-span with you wherever you go, download your free up online for your iphone, android, and blackberry. over 35 years, c-span brings public affairs offense from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings and conferences. offering complete gavel to gavel coverage of the u.s. house, all

at the service of private industry. we are c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by her local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> the house foreign affairs committee held a markup on a series of bills. one sanctioning human rights abuses in venezuela. this is about an hour. >> this committee will come to order. i'm glad to ask all the members if they could take their seats at this time. pursuant to notice, we meet today to mark up three strongly

bipartisan measures dealing with pressing humanitarian issues. enjoye these measures broad support and because we're looking at a short legislative day, the ranking member and i intend to consider are to be considered read and they are to be considered unblocked. international megan's law. this is authored by mr. smith and the smith amendment, number 53, the bipartisan amendment and he nature of a substitute to hr-73 provided to your offices last night. the venezuelaan human rights and democracy promotion act authored congresswoman. the same amendment and the third bill, house resolution 573

condemning the abduction of emale students by boko harum. the amendment to house resolution 573. without objection, all members have five days to submit statements for the record and material on today's items and after opening remarks by myself and the ranking member, i'll be glad to recognize anyone seeking recognition to speak on the unblocked items. this morning we are considering subcommittee chairman smith's hr-4573. it is the international megan's law to prevent demand for child sex trafficking. this bill deals with an issue i know all of us want desperately to address, the horrendous exploitation of children overseas by adults traveling for

purposes of engaging in so-called sex tourism. unfortunately this has become a growing industry in a number of countries which are ill-equipped to deal with an influx of child predators, including from the united states. this bill codifies existing law enforcement efforts to combat child sex tourism by establishing the angel watch center. within the department of homeland security's child exploitation investigation center. the angel watch center currently operates by combing through massive amounts of data from multiple agency sources to analyze foreign travel by convicted child sex offenders, and determine whether notification to u.s. officials or foreign governments is warranted. this bill improves vastly the speed of the information that the center receives and the staffing at the center. right now there's one lady doing

this and it's often after the fact. this rectifies this and will allow the center to better detect and report the travel of child predators so that that is prevented. it also requires the center to maintain records of its work so that we have more information about how other countries are combatting child sex tourism. listen, i think all of us here who have worked with congressman smith over the years know we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his heartfelt commitment to this issue and i want to thank him for his leadership, and a long-standing dedication that i think has surpassed what anybody else has ever put in to trying to track and do something about this issue. and i'd note that there was very close collaboration with the judiciary's majority and minority on this bill, and ranking member engel and i look forward to working with our colleagues on this committee and

the judiciary committee as we move forward to ensure that the bill's notification provisions are effective, and satisfactory. now we also consider house resolution 573 on the recent boko haram abductions. this sunday is mother's day. but for hundreds of mothers in nigeria, this will be another day of horrendous grief. their daughters are missing. kidnapped from school by an islamist terrorist group. this resolution puts the committee firmly on record in condemning this atrocious abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls. many around the world are just learning of the evil of boko haram. unfortunately for the communities in northern nigeria, the terror there has existed for years. sadly, boko haram lives up to its name. that name translated loosely is western education is a sin.

they have killed more than 600 students and teachers. they have destroyed some 500 schools. they have denied more than 15,000 young nigerians an education. they've killed many other people, as well. but their focus has been on killing teachers, and going after students and killing students or abducting them. despite knowing the dangers, these young women were committed, they were all committed to their education. and they took that risk of trying to go to school. boko haram has been a focus of this committee for which subcommittee chairman smith and ranking member bass deserve credit. members will recall that it was pressure from this committee that was critical in convincing the state department, forcing the state department, to des ignite boko haram as a terrorist organization, a foreign terrorist organization as the designation today. indeed the administration made

that announcement in this room under pressure from the members of this committee, and it should not have taken so long. commanders at the pentagon have stated that boko haram is, quote, a threat to western interests, and one of the highest counterterrorism priorities in africa. that's especially the case given nigeria's position as a continent's most populous country and the largest economy in africa. this resolution reaffirms our support for the assistance that the administration's offered to help the nigerian's find these girls, but more needs to be done. i'm pleased that we are considering an amendment i've authored and the ranking member supports to encourage more aggressive assistance. it's clear the nigerian forces are struggling in this fight. direct u.s. security assistance, intelligence, and advisers in the field can make a big difference in rescuing these girls, and combatting this

threat. years ago a key military assist from the british was key in ridding sierra leone of a rebel insurrection. if you remember the revolutionary united front, and the amputations of children that they used to conduct. more recently, french efforts in mali have been key to combatting that al qaeda threat there. historically the nigerians have been reluctant to receive such outside aid. luckily, that seems to be changing. we should be pushing on the nigerian government to accept as much help as they can, to save these young women now, and to e eliminate the boko haram threat soon. this resolution is part of that push. and lastly we are also advancing hr-4787 to impose targeted sanctions on venezuela's human rights abusers. since february, thousands of student activists have taken to venezuela's streets to highlight rampant crime and lawlessness.

these peaceful protests have grown in size and frequency, and the response from their government, president maduro, who was hugo chavez's hand-picked successor, has unleashed a heavy-handed, and violent response that has resulted in many senseless deaths, countless casualties, and the jailings of thousands, including many senior opposition leaders. in fact, a new human rights report released this week found a, quote, pattern of serious abuse carried out repeatedly by multiple security forces in multiple locations, unquote. just yesterday we learned of fresh reports of hundreds of more students being rounded up and tossed in jail. this legislation opposes targeted sanctions on those individuals who've carried out human rights abuses or who ordered the violence against those peaceful protesters. while the obama administration has been supporting political talks in caracas, there

unfortunately has been little progress there. if the maduro government is to agree to true reforms, to reverse the dissent, its leaders must feel the pressure. targeting those officials who have directed this repression is a good place to start. chairman emeritus ros-lehtinen should be recognized for her efforts on this legislation, and i appreciate her and chairman salmon working in a bipartisan way with the democratic members, mr. sires and other members on the committee. i will recognize our ranking member mr. engel of new york for his remarks. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much. for holding today's markup on these important pieces of legislation, and as usual, for working with us in such a bipartisan manner. firstly i'd like to commend our colleague mr. chris smith of new jersey for his leadership on anti-trafficking issues, and for his hard work on hr-4573.

there were a lot of negotiations going on with this bill, and mr. smith was of one purpose, wanting to have an effective law to combat child trafficking. and was willing to make the necessary compromises to truly receive bipartisan support for this bill. so i commend him for his tenacity, his sincerity, and for his hard work. this legislation, called international megan's law, aims to prevent child sex offenders and traffickers from exploiting vulnerable children when they cross an international border. in reality is that some sex offenders are traveling overseas to exploit children in a practice known as sex tourism. in some of these countries extreme poverty and inadequate law enforcement protocols enable sex offenders to continue their

victimization of children, often unbeknownst to the local government or with local law enforcement turning a blind eye. international megan's law establishes an angel watch center within immigration and customs enforcement that would provide advance notice to foreign countries when a convicted child sex offenders travels to that country. the bill also calls on the president to negotiate memoranda of understanding, or other bilateral agreements with foreign governments that would encourage information sharing on known child sex offenders. worldwide, it is reported that over 2 million children are sexually exploited each year through trafficking, prostitution and child sex tourism. 2 million children. that's just staggering. we need to do all we can to encourage the international community to address this scourge. mr. chairman, i'd like to thank you for working with us to move this important legislation forward. i also want to thank the judiciary committee for working with us in a bipartisan manner.

to come up with a practical and effective mechanism which will serve the twin goals of deterrence and prevention. i understand that there is one outstanding provision in the judiciary committee's jurisdiction regarding actual notice that will be worked out in good faith prior to floor consideration. next i'd like to thank my good friend miss ros-lehtinen for authoring the venezuela human rights and democracy protection act. i've been privileged to work with her on this important legislation. it's very important in the eyes of the world are on venezuela. as president nicolas maduro and his security forces crack down on peaceful protesters, it's an absolute tragedy that 41 people have been killed and over 100 injured at protests throughout the country. you know, i just came back from ukraine with the chairman, and what's going on in venezuela reminds me a lot of what was going on in ukraine with the protests. i am grateful for president

obama and secretary kerry's strong statements condemning the maduro government's represe reprehensible actions. at the same time i'm disappointed by the silence of oas member states many of which suffered repression at the hands of their own governments in the not so distant past. while i'm pleased that negotiations are under way between the maduro government, and segments of the opposition, i'm concerned that not enough progress has been made. this bill has been crafted to impose targeted sanctions on human rights violators in venezuela, while not harming average venezuelans who are already suffering as a result of terrible economic mismanagement by first by hugo chavez and now maduro. i hope that this committee and the house leadership will work closely with state department in determining when it is appropriate for this bill to be considered by the house of representatives. when we return to washington the week of may 19th, i believe we should assess the state of

negotiations between the venezuelan government and opposition, and the situation on the ground in venezuela, before deciding whether to bring this bill before the full house. again i thank miss ros-lehtinen, chairman royce for their leadership on this important legislation. and urge my colleagues to support its approval by the committee. finally i strongly support hrs-573, a resolution offered by my former committee colleague miss frederica wilson of florida. this important resolution condemns the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in northern nigeria by the terrorist group boko haram, an act so heinous that it's even been criticized by some supporters of al qaeda. this is only the latest in a long string of grisly and heartless attacks that boko haram, which has burned schools and killed students, attacked churches and mosques, murdered christian and muslim religious leaders, and set off bombs in the capital city of abuja,

hrs-573 strongly condemns the abduction of the girls and supports u.s. and international efforts to assist in their recovery. while i hope these efforts are successful, we must also recognize that nigeria's approach to countering terrorism has not been very effective. there is extensive reporting on human rights abuses, committed by the nigerian military, which compound the fear experienced by citizens of the north, and alienate the very community that could be providing valuable intelligence on boko harem. i hope the nigerian government will see this kidnapping as a wake-up call to re-evaluate their counterterrorism strategy, and that we can work with them to share expertise on civil and military relations, and development for the long neglected northern region of the country. in closing i'd like to again thank chairman royce and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working in a bipartisan way on these important pieces of legislation.

>> thank you mr. ingle. do any members seek recognition to speak on any of the en bloc items? congresswoman ros-lehtinen? >> thank you so much, mr. chairman. and thank you to our ranking member eliot engel for working with my office and mr. salmon's office, and mr. sires, to bring up this bill on the venezuela situation to mark up this morning. i'd like to recognize the many venezuelan americans who have made a long trip from new york, michigan, ohio, florida, to be here and to witness this day, and like to point out in the audience maria conchito alonzo who is a wonderful actress. i loved her role in moscow on the hudson with robin williams. it's good to see her. thank you all for being here. for three months now as both of the gentlemen have explained the maduro regime in venezuela has committed human rights violations as it seeks to muzzle the students who are peaceful,

and they have been marching with a clear call. they're calling for the respect for human rights, and democracy to really take hold in their nation. so far they have been over 40 people killed, nearly 60 reported cases of torture, more than 2,000 people unjustly detained. hundreds more injured, and let's look at what has happened just this week, mr. chairman, and members, just this week, 250 teenage protesters who had camped out in public squares to protest were rounded up at 3:00 in the morning yesterday. also just this week the venezuelan intelligence agency picked up and has put in detention rodrigo diemante, the leader of a world without muzzle. censorship continues. this week another prominent independent radio program was pulled off the airwaves. this week, newspapers are saying

that they have about two weeks left of newsprint. maduro has restricted newsprint coming into the country. the government has put many challenges in their way to provide information to the people of venezuela. and lastly, opposition leader leopoldo lopez was supposed to have his day in court yesterday, and all of a sudden his hearing was simply postponed without reason, without discussion, without explanation, simply canceled. all of this happened just this week. but even with all of this repression, mr. chairman, the students and the student unions on several campuses in venezuela continue to show bravery and courage in standing up for democracy, and for freedom of expression. that is all they're asking. now mr. chairman, ranking member, and members, some opponents of this legislation have claimed that we must give peace a chance regarding the talks, and just two notes about that. first of all, the violence is only on the government side. the students are not the violent

ones. why create the violence and then say we have to have a dialogue for peace. here's a solution for peace, stop shooting the students. also, the uno team members are in the pockets of maduro, they're followers of maduro so how can you have any real discussion taking place there. and after several rounds of so-called negotiations, the talks have yielded no results, and it's not the u.s. that is derailing the process, venezuelan leader maduro and his goons are the ones that are derailing the process because they have the weapons, and their allies are using them against the people, the unarmed peaceful protesters. other opponents believe that we should wait and see what the peace process can resolve. well, i ask, when is it a good time. how many more people have to be

innocently killed for the time to be right? it will dmefr be right. maduro is the one whose perpetrating the violence. it's simple. another topic i would like to clear up is the authorization funds in the bill. this is not new money. we already direct $5 million to civil society programs in venezuela. so the bill just ensures that we do not fall below that number, and that we do not preclude assistance for democracy, and human rights issues. which is what it should do. and again, i commend our committee, thank you mr. royce, our chairman, for your leadership. thank you mr. engel, and mr. salmon, and mr. sires, and for shining a light on the atrossies committed in venezuela, i urge my colleagues to support the bill, the venezuelan people are counting on your support. thank you, mr. chairman. >> other members seeking -- mr. meeks? >> thank you, mr. chairman. first let me give a word on, and

thank miss frederica wilson for her resolution on boko haram. you know, being the father of three daughters, this is just unbearable. and it is time for the world to unite, to make sure that those young girls are returned home, and that also those that committed this heinous act is brought to justice. and this bill, this resolution, joins with the rest of the world the focus that should be on this horrendous group that now has killed, and has these three -- almost 300 young girls and a number of others that they have killed as the chairman indicated in his opening statement, i know of young boys that have been murdered. it is -- this resolution is kindly and i highly support it. i also thank mr. smith, because we do have to, you know, one of

the most heinous acts is these sex crimes that's going across borders and all over the our place that we all earth. it's timely, and it's a resolution that i strongly support. moving on to hr-4587, the venezuelan human rights and democracy protection act. let me first say that i am deeply troubled by the violence that erupted in venezuela at the onset of protests months ago. and that i joined the people of venezuela in mourning the loss of so many lives. i remain committed to doing everything in my power to supporting a positive outcome in that nation for its people. however, i strongly oppose hr-4587, and i believe vehemently that unilateral action is not the answer.

this bill does not advance u.s. interests. it will not help the people of venezuela. and it sends the message to our regional allies that we don't care much about what they think. moreover, the obama administration has the authority to do what this bill calls for, and has shown its willingness to use its authority. so, then, what is our objective? is this intended to push venezuela to the brink? what would that do for the venezuelan people? i've had the opportunity to speak with most of our major allies in the region, and all of venezuela's neighbors. who are our allies. and i have yet to hear any support for sanctions. but there is strong support for multilateral engagement. our allies do not want to see the situation in venezuela worsen. the unilateral sanctions bill we are considering this morning is misguided. it is, in fact, an unfortunate reminder of the history of the united states' arrogance in the western hemisphere.

we have a legacy in the americas that is riddled with the long-lasting consequences. that legacy left us with a trust deficit. today, we are considering a bill that does nothing to help build trust. our standing in our own hemisphere will never improve unless or until we build that trust. while we pursue these sanctions our allies are actively supporting dialogue. members of this very committee have made it a point to denounce and even condemn regional organizations. yet one of those organizations has managed to be the facilitator of engagement between some and the opposition and the government of venezuela. we don't know yet if the mediation will lead to the effective dialogue. but the effort does deserve a chance to succeed. it is my sincere open that those talks are successful, but at moments like this, i wonder if

we prefer that dialogue fails. unilateral sanctions would be another policy mistake. i believe a very costly policy mistake. we mursz learn to work with our aol lies and individuals in the region and work collectively on this hemisphere and not be unilateral actors which further isolates us and causes us to have problems with our allies. and i yield back the balance of my time. >> we go now to mr. chris smith. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i want to thank you, chairman royce, for not only scheduling this but being so supportive. our staff here, we had 12 staffers working on this. both sides of the aisle. three committees, homend security and judiciary and of course our own foreign affairs staff. so i want to thank you and the best council on the hill mark ines did multiple rewrites. this truly is a bipartisan bill

and to remind some members who may not have been here years ago, we did pass the international megan's law back in 2010. and like so many of our initiatives, died in the senate and never even got a vote. hopefully this one will speed to passage over in the other body. you know the idea actually came from a meeting that i had with members of the tip trafficking persons from thailand back in 2007. as i often do i meet with people as they're traveling in, particularly countries that are on watch lists or tier three, and i ask them, if you knew that a convicted pedophile, a felon, was coming to bangkok or anyone else or phuket or anywhere else in thailand, what would you do? they said they wouldn't get a visa. and if they got in, we would watch them like a hawk. that afternoon we began putting a framework together for an international megan's law. note parenthetically that megan kanka, the precious little 7-year-old who was brutally

killed by a pedophile who lived across the street from her, nobody knew this man had been convicted and spent time in prison for sexually abusing children, he houred this little 7-year-old megan kanka into his home, brutally raped her and then killed her, and that led to the explosion now all 50 states and all territories, have a megan's law. a registry that has made a serious difference in preventing the impunity and the secrecy with which these people operate. international megan's law would notice countries of destination, stand up to angel watch program. we have worked with i.c.e. and others who have done a great job, but with extraordinarily limited resources. there was a case out in california where they had actionable information of several pedophiles heading to south korea. they noticed south korea, and they didn't let them in. so these men were unable to abuse little children in korea. the legislation also seeks to

establish a reciprocity. not unlike we did -- unlike what we did with the trafficking victim's protection act back in 2000. we want megan's law everywhere. there are some places like the uk that has a megan's law. but we don't want pedophiles coming here again convicted, not the allegation, these are convicted individuals, to abuse our children. there needs to be a watch attitude globally and that plays in to one of the major three ps of all efforts that we do on trafficking, prevention, prosecution, and protection. this will prevent, this could have a serious chilling effect on all this. finally, you know, and thank my two distinguished colleagues for explaining what is in the bill. in 2010 chlt gao found that in 2008 some 4500 u.s. passports were issued to registered sex offenders. and these men travel. and they travel under secrecy and they abuse little boys and

little girls, then come back and go back to their jobs, whatever else they do. so this hopefully will at least at as a deterrent. let me shea mr. chairman very briefly on the issue of boko haram, we've had several hearings on boko haram, and have raised repeatedly with the administration, and finally in november they actually did it, that is to designate boko haram as a foreign terrorist organization. greg simpkins our staff director and i traveled there in september of last year. we went to a place called joss, a place where boko haram had firebombed churches, several churches, killed people, we met with the people who had been the survivors, and we learned, frankly after meeting with the imam and others that it's not just christians that they target, they target muslims, as well. i had heard that but we heard it in great detail while we were there. these people are pathological. they are killers.

they're like joseph kone and mr. chairman you have done so much in trying to combat that man who has killed so many and allowed his people to rape so many girls, particularly young girls. so this legislation i think helps put us all on record to express our outrage, it is good, i think the administration has deployed a number of people, including the head of africom, fbi, justice, u.s.aid, human rights bureau, they're en route as we talk, and as we made and hopefully there will be an all-out global effort, the french have stepped up, many european countries, the uk, china has even signaled their concern about this so i think hopefully those girls will be rescued and brought back to their grieving parents. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. smith. we go now to albio sires of new jersey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me stirs start by recognizing the hard work of frederica wilson from florida and my colleague from new jersey, chris smith. i've known chris smith many

years, this is a passion of his, and i'm very proud of the fact that he represents new jersey, and especially his hard work on sex trafficking. and of course, i'd be remiss if i didn't mention my colleague from florida ileana ros-lehtinen and her hard work that she has always, always put forward in efforts like this. and mr. chairman, i thank you for holding this markup. for holding this markup and authorizing the administration to impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for ordering and carrying out the warranted violence against empty government demonstrators in venezuela that began three months ago. since the anti-government process began in february, at least 41 people have died. hundreds have been jailed. beaten, and injured at the hands of venezuela's government forces. and armed supporters as they express their frustration to the deteriorating conditions in

their country. just this week human rights watch released a scathing report detailing the oppressive tactics by security forces and pro-government armed groups against demonstrators while noting the implicit nature of government prosecutors and judges in tolerating abuses while prosecuting. while mr. maduro has engaged in mediation talks with the opposition, such talks have thus far been of little substance. more importantly, however, promising these talks are they do not exonerate the ruthless acts of violence and human rights abuses that have been carried out against the demonstrators. this bill which i proudly support is a testament that the united states would not condone acts over aggression limiting the freedom of assembly in our hemisphere and it equips the administration with the appropriate tools necessary to act accordingly. i thank chairman royce, ranking

member engel, and ileana ros-lehtinen for their leadership and their efforts in advancing this bill, which i urge my colleagues to support. thank you. >> mr. rohrabacher are you seeking recognition? >> yes, i am. >> mr. rohrabacher of california. >> i would yield one minute of my time to mr. smith. >> i'll only take about 30 seconds. i just want to make clear, too, some of our friends on the democratic side on the judiciary committee, again, they have worked very closely with us, but i would commit to working with them toward an additional amendment before the bill gets to the floor that would alert the child sex offenders when they arrive at the airport of an angel watch's notification action. so they're fully apprised about what has happened, regarding them. so that will be something we will do. >> thank you. yes, i would like to rise in support of this amendment, all three of them are fine examples

of legislation based on those moral values that guide all of us here, and that we are so proud of that america officially stands behind. especially i'd like to thank miss ros-lehtinen for her leadership, and in providing us a vision of what goes on in venezuela and cuba and other countries, where we have such repression. president maduro is obviously synonymous with repression, corruption, the impoverishment of his people, cronyism, brutality and yes, even murder. and we join today, we join the people of venezuela, in demanding a respect for human rights, and yes, demanding --

demanding with them free and fair elections to try to make sure that this malady that they suffer will be removed from them. i commend -- commend you very much, and commend my colleagues for supporting this legislation, which will hold accountable people who are committing crimes against their own people, and in this case, in venezuela. i would hope that we all are committed to those principles, but we use this as a vehicle, number one, holding those who are committing the crimes accountable, but also reaffirming that human rights and the democratic the democrat unite the people of the world. and how this issue should be involved eventually will be a

democratic election in which we join the people venezuela to help them ensure that as we did in various election s elections sure that there is an honest process to choose their own government. thank you very much. . we foe now to mr. ted deutsche of florida. >> thanks to you and the ranking member for holding today's markup. i'd like to commend mr. smith for his important legislation involving sex trafficking. i'd like to commend ms. wilson for her resolution that aims to take on the tough issue of the abduction of these female students by boko haram. anytime we have an opportunity to stand up against terror and in support of children's rights, we should do it.

but i really want to thank my friend and colleague chafor her work in moving the act forward and for doing it swiftly. i'm proud to be an original co-sponsor. this bill will empower the administration are w. tools to crack down on human rights abuses taking place against those seeking basic freedoms in venezuela. people in venezuela have the democratic right to supreme of speech, to freedom of assembly, on do process and the democratic right to a responsive government. tragically the madura regime has trampled over each of these rights. this government has continued its repressive policies. journalists are imprisoned, protesters are subjected to serious abuses, torture and even death. and for what?

simple li becauy because of ven demanding greater security where 2500 people were murdered for the first two months of 2014. or is it because people are suffering from serious food scarcity and lack of access to basic supplies. these are simple basic demands from the citizens of a democratic state. the unlandfall and unjust use of force can the not be tolerated. there is no justification for the abusive tactics used by the security forces against mostly n nonvie lolent protesters. gangs use aggressive crackdown tactics. with a judiciary clearly in the pocket of president maduro, these gangs and security forces have been free to repeatedly commit human rights abuses with impu impunity. this this behavior exposes the

true colors of the madura geem. regime. i strongly support the bill before us today. it would impose sanctions on individuals that have contributed in anyway to the violent crackdown. i thank the administration's strong stance on this issue and i believe that this bill will provide more diplomatic tools to convince madura to reach a peaceful resolution. the voices of the people must be heard. and their fundamental freedoms must be protected. we must make clear to president madura and his cronies that he has to respect the democratic rights of all venezuelans and proet them fr protect them from undue suppression. there are a lot of issues that we grapple with around the world. but human rights matter. they matter to us and they matter to us wherever those

rights are trampled anywhere in the world. this is not an issue that the venezuelan people alone care about, that venezuelan americans alone care about. this is an issue that if we care about those democratic ideals that we like to talk about time and time again in this congress, then we should all care about it. that is what this bill does. i commend my good friend. it is not that long ago that we first learned of the s.o.s. venezuela signed. the people of venezuela have sent us an s.o.s. signal and today is the first step in a serious way that this congress will respond. thank you and i yield back. >> mr. sams salmon of arizona. >> thank you. i want to thank the gentle woman

for always standing on the right of freedom and liberty. thank you for holding this markup, a truly bipartisan effort. and for those watching this hearing out in america and across the world, this is the most bipartisan committee i think that exists in the entire congress aand it's such a tribute to all the members and realize that we try tone act theed a damage that partisanship ends at the water's edge. and we're fighting for the principles we believe in. i hear some say that maybe we could just accomplish what we need to with dialogue. dialogue doesn't get it done.

and that is why when it comes to causes of human suffering and basic human freedom and human rights, this committee has tried to be very, very clear time and time again anywhere on the globe that we stand for freedom and we stand for basic human dignity. and think that a good thing. i'd like to thank the members on the committee that helped me with the technical amendments. thank you for your commitment to this effort. and i'm pleased to be an original co-sponsor of this piece of legislation which seeings to send an important message that the united states will always stand with those that seek freedom. for months we've seen the government venezuela use violent tactics to silence opposition killing up to 41 citizens and improperly detaining protesters. and according to human rights

watch, there are at least ten reported cases of protester detention that could be classified even as torture. . even children have ba been pick up and subjected to humiliating body searches. the report released this week found compelling evidence of serious human rights violations. citizens shot with rubber bullets, some at point blank. i believe due process rights have been denied and the judiciary is knowingly c compliscent. this violence and repression has gone on way too long. and it's happening right here in

our own hemisphere. and while we see a lot of folks talking about all the different things happening in our globe, shouldn't we be more coming any santa of what is happening in our own neighborhood? if we don't standany santa of what is happening in our own neighborhood? if we don't stand against these atrocities in a big way, what do we stand for. i yield back my time. . >> before i go to the next speaker, i've heard the last votes on the floor have been moved up to about 11:10. so we'll need to move to a final vote before that. so let's see how many speakers we can fit into the next ten minutes or so. but remember all members have leave to put statements in the record if you so wish. i think we go now to mr. sacili.

>> thank you for having this hearing. i'd like to recognize the work of congresswoman ros-lehtinen and thank her for her strong leadership throughout this this crisis. today's markup show this is committee is committed to protecting human rights in all regions of the world. and doing so in a swift targeted and effective way. made gur radiculopathy geem has engaged in hideous human rights violations and we must add our voices loudly in condemning this and do all that we can to impose costs for those responsible as the best way really to end these practices. and i really just want to thank my colleague for her great work and leadership. as a member of the african subcommittee, i'd also like to thank the committee for scheduling a vote in a timely manner.

abducting innocent young girls and foorcing children into marriage or slavery is unconscionable and no child in any part of the world should live in fear of that kind of treatment. we have to send a strong message that these agents are unacceptable and we must be united and strongly condemning them in the strong he is terms. in addition, i want to end by thanking my colleague congressman smith for legislation before us today. as we all agree, subjecting children to the kind of inhumane un up con shenkable acts is of grave concern. mr. smith has led on it for many years and i applaud him for this legislation today which will help protect presumably thousands and maybe millions of children all over the world.

i look forward to supporting all three bills. >> we'll go first to congressman sto stockman and then congresswoman karen bass. >> venezuela is a nation that has abundance of oil. and also had an abundance of middle class. and under this socialist policy, they have destroyed the middle class and destroyed a nation. they can't even get toilet paper now. they have a shortage of toilet paper. and we're getting blamed up here in the united states for making it happen. that is nonsense. think we need to take action. we don't need anymore talk. they have had enough talk. the people are suffering. we need to take action. and i'm sorry for my colleagues' view point and disappointed in that view point, but i feel the pain in venezuela. s wrong what is happening to those people and we need to be vocal about it and i'm glad this

committee is doing this and i appreciate the chairman's action. also on our friends in nigeria, people forget they locked before the kidnapping, they locked young children in a building and burned them to death. this is something we need to take action. if anybody has a heart, look around the world. united states is a leader. i'm tired of leading from behind. i yield back. >> we'll go to karen bass of california. >> thank you very much, mr. chair. thank you always just as my colleague just mentioned for such a bipartisan way that you conduct this committee. i do want to say that i have a lot of concern about what is going on in venezuela, but i am concerned that we might be acting a bit prematurely especially since the administration has said that this might be a little premature as well as other countries in latin america. but i want to acknowledge the continued and tireless work of

chairman royce and smith in combatting human trafficking around the world. i've had the great privilege to work with both of them and the bill before us today is just one example of the work that can be done to protect people around the world from trafficking and sexual assault. i look forward to continuing to work with all of my colleagues on this important issue. secondly, i want to thank the chairman and ranking member as well as chairman smith and for all their good work protecting the students from bow come thko. and we know the kidnapping has been heinous, however we also know that boko haram has been slaughtering male students an conducting suicide bombings in the nigeria capital as well as many other parts of northern nigeria.

it's imperative that the u.s. congress condemns boko haram and its violent acts in the strongest terms an assumsupport people of nigeria and the parents of the an ducted girls with calls for their immediate return. it is my hope that this legislation will lay the ground work to the not only bring back the kidnapped girls, but also if anything can come out of tragedy, it is my hope that this begins to mark the end of boko haram now that the rest of the world is aware of their terror. i yield back the balance of my time. >> we're going now to randy webber of texas followed by c. e >> sometimes when you want to lead the orchestra, you have to turn your back on the crowd. we should take the lead on this and step out and do the right thing and denounce this and make sure that this this is condemned

everywhere we see it and i commend the chair and i commend you all for bringing this up and i fu fully support it. thank you. p. >> mr. castro. >> thank you to all my colleagues who worked on these three resolutions. with respect to the venezuela resolution, thank you congresswoman ross for your work. our job is as to stand up for democracy and human rights without regard to what kind of political leaders are perpetrating human rights abuses. too often we've not attended enough to issues in latin america. there are things that happen in latin america that if they had happened in another part of the world, we would jump on them more quickly. so i think this is quite frankly long overdue. and i do think that there is merit to the concern that mr.

meeks raised that there is a process, in other words, this is a more aggressive step that usually we've done -- in other parts of the world, we would have done other things first. but now this has gone on for months so we must act swiftly at this point. and i want to say particularly with respect to latin america, first, we'll l rk, we realize e is unique and different. but we can't overlook the history of the region and the fact that in the '70s and '80s, you had leaders who disappeared thousands of people throughout latin america. and we can never let that happen again. so we have to be swift in condemning it and making sure that they know that the united states will take real action. with respect to the resolution that mr. smith put forward on sex trafficking and sexual tourism, thank you mr. splmith r your work on that. the one i guess thing that i would suggest is that on the

angel watch center on the leadership, that we include somebody from the justice department if we could. right now i think it's otherwise and border control. f i'm in agree with all the support for venezuela. as some of the members have mentioned that we're acting too fast, i want to remind them that this is not something that happened overnight, this has been a 15 year process. hr 4573 protect children from exploitation, strong support of that. hr 573, this is a time to stand up to the boko haram and renouncing what they have done. and i think these are all important bills and they can be summed up best by what martin luther king said.

in justice anywhere is injustice everywhere. and i'd like to add to that that tolerance of injustice anywhere would be tolerance of injustice anywhere. or everywhere. i'm proud to be on this committee. i yield back. >> any other members seeking to be recognized? if not, hearing no other speakers, or no requests, the question occurs on the items considered on block. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. and the measures considered on block hr 4573, hr 4587, and house resolution 573 are agreed to as amended. and without objection, each of the measures as amended is ordered favorably reported as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute. staff is directed to make any

technical and conforming changes. and that concludes our business for today. i want to thank ranking member engel and all our committee members for their assistance in this markup. the committee is adjourned. so ordered. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, americans have watched in horror this week the atrocious

news reports coming out of nigeria. hundreds of young girls have been kidnapped with the intent to be sold into slavery or marriage simply because they had the courage to seek an education and better life. just this past weekend i watched my daughter, not much older than these girls, graduate from college. as a parent i cannot imagine the suffering of the moms and dads who merely wanted a good education for their daughters. the obama administration has taken initial steps to help assist efforts to return these girls to freedom and to their families. i thank them for their efforts and i know all of us stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary. members should be aware that

upon our return we will consider a bipartisan resolution being considered by the foreign affairs committee regarding boko haram and these kidnappings. additionally, when we come ack, we will also consider five bipartisan bills to take steps toward our ultimate goal of ending human trafficking. together these bills provide resources and authorities to fight domestic human trafficking, provide services to the victims and take steps to deal with international human trafficking. the atrocities in nigeria have awakened the global conscience and have reminded us all of the evil of human trafficking. it is also important to note that the underlying threat posed by extremist groups in

nigeria and throughout the region is growing. hether it is boko haram, hezbollah, hamas or al qaeda, it is critical that we in the house work with the administration to confront the growing threat these violent extremists pose to international peace, security and the protection of innocent lives. in the coming days, as we focus on finding and returning these girls to their homes, m.i.a. may god watch over them -- may got watch over them and those seeking their return. and with that, mr. speaker, i will yield to the gentlelady from california, the democratic leader. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. leader, for yielding. thank you, mr. speaker, for giving the house this opportunity to speak this

afternoon about this despicable crime. in starting i will thank the distinguished majority leader for his remarks and i associate myself with his remarks and their entirety -- in their entirety. that's how important all of this is. i want to commend congresswoman wilson for her resolution, h.r. 73, which says, condemning the abduction of female students by armed militants from the terrorist group known as boko haram in the federal republic of nye screeria -- nigeria. mr. speaker, it is clear that what happened in nigeria is outside the circle of civilized human behavior. it is unconscionable and these demissble acts must be condemned -- despicable acts must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. the capture and captivity of

these girls challenges the conscience of the world in a very specific, in a very different way. and perhaps that difference can make a difference. i wholeheartedly support the decision by president obama, secretary kerry and the dministration to deploy aid, personnel, law enforcement and military experts to nigeria to partner with local authorities to find these girls and return them home. i commend the women members of , in a bipartisan way, 100% of the women, have signed a letter condemning these actions. i absolute the first lady for her -- salute the first lady for her bring back our girls tweet and hope that members will also be doing that. because the most horrible form

of torture for someone who is held by terrorists is when their captors tell them, nobody knows you're here, who you are and is even worried about you. we want to remove all doubt, every minute of every day. , d as we go into mother's day think of those mothers. think of those fathers, think of the siblings of these girls. our thoughts and prayers rest with mothers and fathers and siblings, of each girl kidnapped and separated from her family and all the victims of human trafficking around the world. as horrible as it is, unthinkable as it is, it's happening all the time, this trafficking issue. so maybe this horrible, heinous rime will give the attention

that human trafficking needs in order for us to end it. and so let us all subscribe to #bringbackourgirls. mr. speaker, i thank you again for giving us the opportunity to focus on this despicable action, but to do so prayerfully, hopefully and determined to bring back our girls. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back to the distinguished leader and yield back -- yield back? i yield back our time. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker: the house will observe a moment of silence for these young women. the members will rise.

>> good morning. some of the subjects i wanted to talk to you about usually happened weekly yesterday but d tax vote on the r and credit postponed until -- neffstate a change. first i want to talk about what happened on the floor. republicans brought a bill to the floor that takes us $166 billion in debt under the guise of making permanent rd tax credit. that's been part of our innovation for a long time. eeng every district in the country now has that entrepreneurial spirit of rd and it's no longer just silicon valley, massachusetts, and

that. it's the whole country. so yes it's very appealing but it's very wrong the way the republicans brought it to the floor. and i am so proud that the president issued a subpoena -- that there would be a recommendation of veto should veto for that. and i know we will be able to sustain the president's veto should the fact it still come back to the floor. but the fact is, is that there is an opportunity in the senate is handling it so much better in terms of a two-year bill. our budget, our members have already voted on rd tax credit made permanent by closing special interest loopholes in the law not increasing the deficit but including not only the tax credit that had this

morning but wind and solar for renewables, low income tax credit, child tax credit, tax credits that inject demabbed into the economy creating jobs. so in any event, again, a political move to bring that to the floor. the hip crassy of it all to talk about deficit reduction and to bring a bill to the floor that takes us $156 billion in debt unpaid for while they say we have to pay for unemployment insurance benefits extension of unemployment insurance and in fact as many of you know but none of you wrote about or printed they threw us out of the room the other day. we had a room to listen to people who had been unemployed through no fault of their own and telling their stories about how this extension has hurt their families and their prospects. we had the room.

we got here to do it and they said you no longer have the room because we didn't know the subject of your meeting. we don't allow you to have a room to talk about the unemployed and the extension of the benefits. so we took to the steps of the capitol. thought that might invoke some interest. can you just imagine if i had done that to them? can you just imagine what they would be doing if we said you can't have a room because we don't like the subject matter that you're talking about, a matter that is before the congress that has passed the senate? in any event, that's what that is. so obviously you're interested in the newly important committee that the speaker up until last friday was rejecting and in his own words saying that there was -- there are four committees investigating benghazi. i see no reason to break up

that work and create months to create some select committee. well, something happened in this caucus and low and behold the rumor was starting to spread last friday. we didn't get any information about it until the rule was filed on tuesday night and now the question is whether the terms which democrats could participate. we made it clear that our caucus is clearly among those to say don't have anything to do with it. it's a kangaroo court, has been identified as such. don't dignify what they are doing. others who say just send one person so we can see what they are doing to the witnesses. and have access to that testimony. and the third option is let's see what they come back with in terms of the terms of engagement. but we've asked for is that as much bipartisanship as possible. rejected and even divided committee as the ethics

committee is they already rejected that. we would have liked to have that but we must have standards for democrats a democrat needs to concur and issuance of subpoena decisions to depose witnesses and the decision to interview witnesses and with the decision to release any report document or information by the committee on by the staff of the committee. these are places where in the regular order of the standard committee where we had been led so magnificently by elijah cummings where these are places where we did not get the proper respect of the minority. so hoping that now where we are on that is the speaker called me the other day and said i'm serious about this. he said so we should sit down and come to terms on it. fine i said i can be there in a minute. why doesn't the staff go and

and forth ond this first so when we sit down we'll see what that is. and then we'll make a decision as to how we proceed with that. it's very sad. the families have called us and said please don't take us down this path again. it's really hard for them. it's very sad. so that's what that is. here we come up upon mother's day and when women succeed america succeeds agenda the same as on valley tine's day and we had -- valtype's day and women want equal pay for equal work raising the minimum wage paid sick leave affordable quality child care, children learning, parents earning. that's what we want for moms. we certainly want flowers and

roses and brunch or whatever and mom not having to do the dishes. but we also want to have to unleash the power of women, whether they want to be entrepreneurial and start their own business and create jobs, whether they want to have a job and be treated fairly, to be able to do so in a way that has a proper balance between family and work. all hard to go into mother's day without thinking about the little girls in nigeria and can you just imagine how it must be for those moms? how wonderful, if that's the right word it is, that the whole world has taken up the cause of these little girls to bring back our girls and we will do something on the floor on a bipartisan way. i'm pleased to say, today to take up the resolution passed

in the committee this morning submitted by fred rico wilson. that will come to the floor. but what a horrible thing. it's diabolical and that we all have to do whatever we can to make sure that those little girls are returned home. but the idea that these terrorists could go out and say we're going to sell them into marriage or whatever else is a stunning thing outside the behavior -- outside the circle of civilized human behavior challenging the conscience of the world. again, happening on mother's day intensifies the concern and love for these girls that we all have. [inaudible] >> you have to know that i favor our regulars, the ones that are here all the time. >> can you walk through in your mind in this debate what it

looks like? in other words, if you have full participation how you expect the members to comport themselves. or if you don't participate? they call hillary clinton, susan rice, and no democrats to ask questions or defend them, what -- can you walk through the machine nations? >> i it was a stunt. the fact is this is a stunt, this is a political stunt and the fact that -- i mean, issa just -- damaged goods. they had to move from him to another venue to another chairman. that's what this is. we've been there, done this, over and over again. so the question is, is there -- at least a level of decency in terms of respect even in the regular order of the standing committee where the minority has a right to call witnesses that the majority said we don't have to call your witness when

we're having this discussion on this subject with our witnesses? we can call yours any time we want if we ever do. they tried to use the climate and energy select committee which is a completely different thing. it's a four-year committee. it was only established so that we could get a couple of bills done, the energy bill which we did and president bush signed, and the climate bill which we passed but the senate did not. the record there is that it was only one subpoena in four years issued and it was unanimous. and it was unanimous. one subpoena. so this is a completely different setup. i think the chairman has already called it an investigation. i don't think it was supposed to be an investigation. or a trial. i think he called it a trial. he called it a trial. does that tell you everything you need to know? then the objective chairman, the speaker says i don't want

this to be a circus. i think your chairman is saying some things that are looking circus like. for example, well, i have evidence he says, i have evidence that not only are they hiding it. there's an intent to hide it. i can't disclose that evidence yet but i have evidence there was a systemic decision to withhold documents from the congress. is that the statement of a fair trial? by the chairman of the committee? if he is calling it a trial. so we will see. we'll just see. and i have a great respect for the speaker. to the extent that he is able i think he will try to have -- because frankly it serves them better than for them to let them be themselves. that's why a lot of people say just let them show who they are with all of this. any of our witnesses can hold

their own. they don't need us there to protect them. and then there's another school of thought that says we've seen how they operate. we think we should be there. >> if republicans don't -- if they stick with what the resolution was that was passed in the house yesterday would democrats not participate in the committee? >> when i speak with the speaker i'll give you an answer as to what that will be. inaudible] >> when i spoke to the speaker they already had those rules out there. inference to be drawn from our conversation is that we would go to a different place with more clarity about the -- what the rights might be or more specificity. but fs -- we'll see. because our members are on a spectrum of don't go there,

send one person, go if they respect our rights. it doesn't matter what they do. just go in the room. so there's a full range. and when we see what they have said -- and as i said to everyone, this is all interesting. we have our history. we understand what we're dealing with. but we really don't know yet what the speaker is going to say. o let's find that out. >> you talk about the spectrum in your caucus. you are somebody who has rather good judgment politically and otherwise. what do you think should be done? >> it depends on what the speaker tells us back, what the speaker tells us back. i have confidence that we have extraordinary talent to go into the room to get the job done. i worry that this -- let me read you another quote. i think i've pretty well been satisfy that given where the

troops were the thing all happen, we probably couldn't have dobe more than we did. we have been working on this for a long time. we have issued a preliminary report. at some point when we run out of people to talk to two or three times, at some point we think we will all have as much of this story as we're going to get and move on. what is the purpose of this? what is the manner in which they will proceed? how is that manifested in respecting the rights of the minority? and then we'll make a decision about where we should go. again this is brand new. this is one week old. you would think we have been talking about this for a very long time. [inaudible] >> if they dared about the presidential they would be passing an immigration bill. this is all about them. i think it's pretty clear. their focus on the affordable

care act has run its course. now they have to find something else to talk about that isn't bout how we create jobs, how build infrastructure, simple as a, b, c. simple as abc. stop having tax cuts to send job jovers seas and invest in america. build the infrastructure of america. sense of community of how we educate our children, protect our neighborhoods, secure our nation, all of that. it's all part of what we honor -- how we honor our responsibilities to the american people. and they don't want to talk about that because they don't believe in governance. they don't believe in science, and they want to stop barack obama at every step. so i don't think this is about that at all. i think this is about the republicans november in 2014.

they care about presidential, we would have long ago passed an immigration bill just as the senate did. we have the votes to pass the immigration bill, we have the votes to pass enda which passed the senate as well, we had the votes to pass gun safety, the brady background check legislation. we had the votes to pass -- we had bipartisan votes for voting rights act. what are we doing instead? spending a week getting attention on this subject which by the way the american people care about jobs they care about their families and their education of their children and the health of their families and that. as somebody said to me yesterday, either people have gotten tired of benghazi or they never knew about it in the first place. let's not be accomplices to this diversionry tactic. they don't want to talk about what our responsibilities are

here. and we have to make a judgment as to how dangerous we think they can be with their misrepresentation of the facts of the committee. the speaker says he doesn't want it to go that place. i hope that he -- that's how it will go. and when i speak with him, we will see. but again, we've been there, done that. why are we doing this again? i will have to go to the floor nd vote. >> we talked with a capitol

hill reporter about what's head for congress next week. scheduled to vote on monday. what's mainly holding things up right now and really what what might hold up the bill as a whole is that the republicans really want to get some amendments into that, that really are energy related amendments but the democrats including senate majority leader harry reid have been -- have essentially blocked those amendments and they don't want to allow those in there. one of the amendments of course

would be to force the approval of the keystone exl pipeline. reid is open to having a vote on a separate bill just for the key stone xl pipeline but he doesn't want these other five energy-related amendments to be considered for this bill so last week sor this week he used a procedure called filling the tree to prevent any amendments from being considered. >> so again, senators on both sides of the aisle calling for a vote on the pipeline. what seems to be the mood of the country on building the pipeline? >> a lot of recrept polls have does that the country support this pipeline. the polls have shown that the possible jobs that are going to come from the construction and the operation of the pipeline really are outweighs some of

it's vironmental concerns something that the american people support. >> are senators on both side of the aisle support the separate vote on that? >> all of the republicans do in the senate and i believe it's -- at last count, about 11 democrats also support that. senator mary land rue from louisiana sort of leading this fight for the democrats said most recently that she had 58 votes to approve the pipeline, which of course you need 60 votes to get a filibuster proof majority. she believes that she will have that many votes within the next week essentially to pass that. of course she only has 58 now so we'll see if that actually happens. >> now, tax extenders legislation is also on the

senate's agenda next week. what's in that bill and what senators are leading this effort? >> as far as we were expecting to see a floor vote on that next week, so really what that would do is extend basically around 50 tax breaks for almost all for two years. for might be for energy there are a number of very popular tax credits on there that encourage alternative fuels, encourage energy efficiency, and things of that nature. as i said, they're pretty popular. so those expired at the end of last year and those would extend those for two years. the senate finance committee approved that bill at the -- in the beginning of april, i believe it was, and there's a lot of bipartisan support for a

lot of these tax extenders. so we'll see where that goes. >> how does the senate's bill on extending tax credit's compare with the house's current efforts on the issue? >> they're really taking a different approach. what they're doing sort of a few tax breaks at a time. the most recent one i believe was at the end of april and at was -- that was around -- largely, six tax breaks. excuse me. including some research and development ones that the business community really likes and they have bipartisan support. however, the house republicans and the majority haven't really shown to be receptive to the enate's strategy of this big

tax extender thing. so obviously if the senate passes it it will go to the house for their conversation but really at this point the house's tactic has really been smaller bills at any particular given time. >> you can tweet tim cama and read his work at the hill.com. hanks for your time today. >> let me be clore that i am not defending ms. learner. i wanteded the hear what she had to say. i had questions about why she was unaware of the inappropriate criteria for more than a year after they were

created. i want to know why she did not mention the inappropriate criteria in her letters to congress. but i could not vote to violate an individual's fifth amendment rights just because i want to hear what she had to say. a much greater principle is at stake here today. the sampingety of the fifth amendment rights for all citizens of the united states of america. i have never alleged that it goes to the president. i have said that the tea party would clearly and fairly be described as enemies or adverse to the president's policies and i think that's pretty comfortable to understand. and they were targeted by somebody whose politics is with the president and was trying to overturn the supreme court decision in citizens united in support of the president's position using her power. and with that i yield back and urge supported. >> this weekend on c-span house

debate on holding former i.r.s. official lois lerner in contempt of congress for refusing to answer questions about targeting conservative groups this morning at 10:00 eastern and on book tv. in point of attack john yeu argues the foreign policy it will harm international and regional safety. and on american history tv, a look at the newly unveiled rest ration of george washington's mount vernon dining room sunday night at 9:30 on c-span 3. >> this morning on worl, conservative hq chair richard viguerie discusses the tea party influence. sara jane glynn examines federal policies that affect working mothers and high school students can ask questions about the advanced placement u.s. government exam reparation with our guests

teachers from illinois. and we'll take your calls and you can join the conversation at facebook and twitter. orl is next. journl is washington is next. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2014] in an interview this week, former presidential candidate mitt romney says he believes there should be an increase for the minimum wage. it's cur