communities after last night's terrible shootings, i yield back the remainder of my time. i encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. it's time for north korea move on. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: -- it's time for america to move on. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker mr. ranking member, mr. chairman. if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. that seems to be the approach on trade. despite the fact that t.p.a. passed the house last week by eight votes, only eight votes at no point did the light bulb go off for the leadership that perhaps they could work with the majority of the democratic caucus to find agreementen how to move forward. i don't know why that didn't occur to you. instead of cooperation, they've opted to use procedural tricks

to pass the t.p.a. now, the leadership has chosen to take a bipartisan bill, passed by both chambers of congress that would aid our law enforcement officers and public safety workers and inject the unrelated controversial trade debate into it. i can say that because i'm one of the sponsors of the bill. this bill, the defending public safety employees' retirement act, i worked with my friend, congressman reichert, on, on behalf of the men and women who serve the public in physically demanding work each and every day. it would ensure that they could assess and access their full retirement benefits at the time they retire without incurring a tax penalty. it's a good bill. i'm not only one of the sponsors, i voted for it. but today this bill to provide tax fairness for our law enforcement officers, has been

twisted, diminished, to a convenience vehicle to ram through fast track for deep -- far deeply flawed trade bill. this is not the same bill, mr. ranking member through the speaker, through the chairman this is not the same bill we voted on friday. please reed this bill. -- read this bill. it's not. i urge a no vote. in fact, the president of the international association of firefighters, has written a letter urging members oo-- to oppose attaching t.p.a. to this bill. the transpacific partnership would establish the biggest trade agreement we've seen in years, encompassing 40% of the world's economy. we need to take our time and do it right. in its current form, t.p.p. is woefully inadequate and fails to ensure a fair deal for american workers. issues that have been neglected

in t.p.p. such as prohibiting currency manipulation ensuring food safety, as an example, only 1% of imported fish into this country seafood, is inspected. i hope you ask the next time you go into a restaurant, you ask the proprietor is this -- has this fish been inspected? he'll look at you like you have three heads. sthant interesting? creating strong rules of origin. you saw how this country mr. speaker -- mr. levin: i yield 30 seconds. mr. pascrell: this country got shafted with our deal with korea on country of origin automobiles. you don't see any more cars traveling thru korea or certainly china that are made in the united states of america. we are taking a back seat. instead of protecting the interests of u.s. workers, not protectionism, we're not advocating that, this trade deal

gives protections and sweetheart deals to multinational corporations. pure and simple. and the american people look at every poll from the left from the right, from north south, east, west, do not accept this bill and we shouldn't either. thank you mr. speaker i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to another member of our committee, mr. davis of illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. davis: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i was thinking what a difference a week does not make. the vast majority of the people in my congressional district were opposed to fast track last week, and they're even more opposed to fast track this week. we've seen fast track before.

we've seen the jobs leave our community, our district, our state, and our nation. fast enough. they don't need our help. they don't need anybody else's help. we need to create jobs here in america, not have them flee. i agree with my colleagues who have said vote no. i agree with the people of my congressional district. and i shall vote no. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cuellar: thank you mr. speaker. i thank you for yielding, ranking member. i support t.p.a. to give the president the authority to negotiate this agreement. it's strr simple.

a lot of those countries already are able to send their goods into our countries duty-free system of what we want to do is allow our exporting companies to be able to export to those countries duty-free also so we can send our goods over there. look at what is happening in texas. texas exports more than $289 million last year, up 146% from 2004. let's look at the number of couldn't companies that export. they're not the big companies. 93% of those exporting companies 40,737 that export, 93% of them are small and medium-sized businesses. i ask you to please support t.p.a. it's good for texas, it's good for the united states and it's a no brainer to allow taos export to those countries. thank you so much. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlen from wisconsin continues to reserve. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from

georgia, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. scott: thank you very much. the people of this gat nation are watching us todayand they are begging and pleading with us to please vote down this bill. this bill, allyou have to do, whonows better than the american people who live in the towns and the cties where they've seen their manufacturing plants close andhey've seen their jobs shipped overseaed, every trade deal has done it. let's look at the china deal. as a result of the china deal, two million manufacturing jobs have been shipped from america over to china. look at nafta. yeah, they created jobs, but where they created -- but where did they create jobs?

in mexico. where did the manufacturing plants go? they went to mexico. that's why the american people are ringing everybody's office and urging them, please let us not lose any more jobs. and those of you who are concerned about income equality the reason we have that as a burning issue in the heart and soul, particularly of middle class america is because we're seing the middle class vanish. these are the jobs. these manufacturing jobs, ladies and gentlemen. not these big, polluting, what the big corporate presidents make millions of dollar. yeah, they're going to make plenty of millions of dollars but these jobs go into the middle section of our economic stream and the lower income. look at akron, ohio, look at atlanta, georgia, look at chicago, look at detroit once vibrant cities and the backbone of america is manufacturing.

we're shipping it out to the world and you know what else we're shipping out there? we're shipping these jobs. not only that, the profits of these companies, last year $2 trillion of profits. held in these overseas accounts away from our taxing structure. can't you see america is getting weaker because of these trade policies? i urge you to vote no and stand up for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: it is now my pleasure to yield one minute to the gentlelady from california, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. first, let me thank our ranking member for yielding and once again for your tremendous leadership. i rise in strong opposition to this bill and to once again say no to fast track. this legislation cynically uses a bill that would exempt retired

federal police officers and firefighters from paying a penalty on withdrawals from their retirement accounts if they retire after the age of 50. now what does that have to do with fast track? absolutely nothing. this is just plain wrong. what's more, we know now that the senate is consider attaching the trade adjustment assistance, t.a.a., to the recently passed african growth and accountability act, better known as agoa, as a means to get this trade package passed. that's why yesterday my colleagues our congressional black caucus chair congressman butterfield, congresswoman bass, congressman ellison and myself, we sent a letter to the senate leadership expressing our optician -- opposition to what they're trying to do, to use agoa to promote trade. the african trade act has promoted the growth of

democratic institutions throughout africa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. lee: in no way should that be used as a bargaining chip on this bill. it's outrageous. members should not have to choose between programs that they support, like t.a.a. and agoa and supporting fast track. these procedural gimmicks are outrageous and they're fundamentally dishonest. if members fall for this maneuver, we not only risk imperiling the t.a.a., a program that many of our constituents relie on, but also agoa. we've got to vote no on this bill, no to attaching t.a.a. to agoa. let's get back to the drawing board and come up with a real fair free, transparent trade bill. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin continues to reserve. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. sherman, who i

think is ranking on the asia subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. sherman: if you vote for this bill, you get fast track without trade adjustment assistance. there is no assurance trade adjustment assistance will come to this floor or it will come to this floor in a form the republicans or democrats will support. the supporters of this deal can't make their case without repeating demonstrably false statistics. the fact is we won a $177 billion -- run a $177 billion trade deficit in goods with the countries we have free trade agreements. $75 billion in services brings the net to over $100 billion deficit. so how have so many members been misled by charlatan lobbyists in

coming to this floor and giving stalls statistics? they are given this slippery phrase. go down to the floor and talk about what has happened since nafta. now, since nafta, usually sounds like since the early 1990's. what they mean is excluding nafta. excluding nafta when we review free trade agreements is like excluding lebron james when you evaluate the cavaliers. this bill is catastrophic for our national security. it hollows out our manufacturing base. and it is the greatest gift to china that we could possibly make. because it enshrines the sang row santh nature of curn -- sack row sang nature of surncy shall -- currency man national park plays. in addition, the rules of origin provisions allow goods that are admitted to be 50% or 60% made in china. that are actually 70% or 80%

made in china to get fast tracked into the united states. so china gets 80% of the benefit of this agreement without having to admit a single american export. as to vietnam, our workers are going to have to compete against 40 cent an hour labor, but we are told we get free access -- the speaker pro tempore: is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mr. sherman: we are told we get free access to the vietnamese markets. vietnam doesn't have freedom, vietnam doesn't have markets. they are not going to buy our exports anymore than their communist party decides to do so. the chairman points out that with trade comes influence. that's right. there will be nike lobbyists here financed by this bill and its effects, lobbying against going after vietnam for its oppression of religion and its oppression of unions. so they will have -- they will have influence here in washington. they will continue not to have

freedom. and we will continue to lose jobs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: how much time? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin has 22 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has 10 1/2 minutes. mr. ryan: we are only two speakers left on our side with deference to our members trying to get home to south carolina. i yield to mr. tiberi. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from ohio, the chairman of the trade subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. tiberi: thank you, mr. speaker. read the bill. i got it right here. the only difference is the number at the top changed. the content is the same. t.p.a. is not a trade deal. it's a process that holds this president accountable. sets in motion congress inserting itself -- by the way nafta?

i just continue to get blown away by the misinformation. no wonder the american people get confused. i take this personally. as the gentleman from new jersey knows, my dad lost his job way before nafta. we have a trade surplus in manufacturing with nafta. we have a trade surplus in services with nafta. we have a trade surplus in agriculture food, and beverages with nafta. in fact, we have a trade surplus with nafta if you take out oil and energy products. we had a trade surplus in manufacturing with nafta. i do get fired up about this. 95% of the world's population is outside the united states. a multinational corporation can move anywhere they want to. a fortune 500 company could move anywhere they want to, and they do. lakeshore in my district, a family owned business, they cannot. this is about breaking down barriers for lakeshore. for screen machines. because they can't move a plant

overseas and they are at a competitive disadvantage. a large corporation can move. they can't. ladies and gentlemen, this is about jobs. this is about the american worker. this is about the fact that we have the ability today to compete anywhere in the world if those trade barriers are broken down. we have to break them down, mr. speaker. one out of ever every five jobs, they are good jobs. vote yes on t.p.a. and yes for the american workers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i'm trying to limit our speakers to one minute. so now i will give one minute to a very distinguished member from california, karen bass. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. ms. bass: thank you, mr. speaker. last week i spoke in favor of h.r. 1891, the agoa extension and enhancement act of 2015. in the middle of tremendous controversy and tension over t.p.a., it was encouraging to have legislation that wasn't

controversial. in fact had overwhelming support with 397 votes. the bill was sent to the senate and we were hopeful that h.r. 1891 would have already made it to the president's desk. unfortunately, the bill is a victim of its own success. so many rumors are floating around that because agoa is popular, supported by both democrats, republicans senators and house members, that now senators are considering adding more controversial bills into agoa. we are hearing t.a.a. might be added. the press is even reporting consideration is being given to using agoa as a vehicle to extend the ex-im bank. we hear the thinking since agoa failed in the house last week that if it's -- if t.a.a. failed in the house last week, if it's added into agoa, we will all vote for it. agoa can and should stand on its own. the senate should pass agoa and send it to the president. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan.

mr. levin: i yield now one minute to the gentlelady from new york who is ranking on small business ms. velazquez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. ms. velazquez: i want to take this opportunity to thank the ranking member for yielding. mr. speaker, once again we are being asked to vote for an agreement that will cost jobs, undermine environmental protections, and erode workers' rights. all in the name of so-called free trade. this agreement is being negotiateded in the dark behind closed doors. that secretive process may benefit large multinational companies and their lobbyists, but it does not help small manufacturers in brooklyn. it does nothing for new yorkers struggling to raise a family while keeping their jobs from being exported. when vareous -- we end up with bad deals for american workers and we have seen this in the past. new york lost 374,000

manufacturing jobs since nafta and the world trade organization agreement. this vote, mr. speaker, comes down to a simple question. are you going to side with wall street, large corporations, and their lobbyists? or will you stand with working families in your district? i will take the latter. vote no. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now yield, two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. doggett: in washington, we never seem to lack for self-certified smart people. they are the folks that know what's best for you and your family. and while they, today, are insisting on railroading through this fast track trade deal is it -- and i say it so sweet for

working families, is it so unreasonable to ask what do the workers think about this bill? and while the environmental provisions have been secreted away from the public, we do know that ustr does not believe in environmental law enforcement. is it unreasonable to stop and say, what did those who advocate for clean water and clean air and conservation of our resources, what did they think about this trade deal? i believe they support fair trade. they recognize that it raises all votes but unfair trade sinks too many of them. they are capsized by competing with those who paid an average minimum wage of 60 cents an hour and whose only worker organization is the communist party in vietnam. i believe our workers deserve respect. this bill asks american

businesses to go out and compete with countries that mistreat their workers, that pollute the air and water and destroy their natural resources. and those that inflate -- adjust their currency, manipulate in ways that are unfair. railroading this bill through today will deny any opportunity which we have struggled so long for so many months to try to achieve to make this a better right track bill. the fast trackers have rejected every constructive improvement that we have offered to this measure. and all of us here in congress have to concede we know less about what is in this trade bill than the vietnamese politte burrow than the malaysian government that has sex trafficking. we need an open fair process to advance real trade opportunities for all families. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. doggett: reject this fast track. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: we had one additional speaker. i don't see her. lrts. -- all right. mr. ryan, the chairman, and i have agreed we'll each speak briefly. you know, i started off by saying it's said we should write the rules, not china. and that's true. we have been striving to try to help write the rules. we did so for years. we introduced a substitute bill that outlined where we were coming from and where we thought these negotiations should go. that wasn't even given time for discussion. so here's what we are left with. when you vote for t.p.a. under these circumstances essentially what we are saying to this administration it's essentially

a blank check. and they take, they may let us see some of the documents, but often in ways we can't discuss in public. this is likely to add up to a t.p.p.. it will be even more controversial than this t.p.a. for that reason, i strongly urge that as was said earlier, we slow down this process in order to try to find a root -- route to a t.p.p. that would have broad bipartisan support. that has always been my aim rather this kind of a vote with only a small handful, few handfuls of democratic votes making this far, far, far from a bipartisan vote. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, for those who are coming to the floor protesting this particular process, for the minority, it's the stunt pulled last week that brought about this process. we talked a lot about what t.p.a. is. it's a process. not a trade agreement. i want every member in this body to think about what this vote represents. it's one that will speak loudly about our political system. can it still work? it's a vote about what kind of congress we want to be. will we empower ourselves in trade agreements or just let the administration do whatever it wants? it's a vote about what kind of country we want to have. are we still committed to leading? are we still the symbol of freedom and free enterprise? so mr. speaker, this is a vote

for accountability and for transparency. this is a vote for a stronger economy and higher wages. this is a vote for our system of free enterprise. this is a vote for american leadership. this is a vote to declare that america still has it. this is a vote to re-establish america's credibility. laidoff workers was part of the

senate version of the bill. the new version must be approved before the president can sign it. the house approved excise tax that was signed into law as part of the affordable care act in 2010. president obama has issued a veto threat against the medical device tax repeal. new congressional dreblingt tower is a guide to the congress with every senator and house member and bio and twitter handles. district maps, a foldout map of capitol hill and congressional committees, federal agencies and state governors. order your copy today, it's $13. 5 at c-span.org.

we have all kinds of barbaric actions being taken by this new enemy. it's important that we do this wisely and i think it's prudent we take on this rising evil in the world and we need to have a

strategy for it. host: autsdzization use of military force, when does that need to happen? when does that debate need to take place and when does a vote need to happen? >> any time we could and should probably do. that but at this time the president is continuing to work under the 2001 amf and we have like i said military committed in harm's way trying to address this concern. this is something that should be done very thoughtfully and not just suddenly by one vote immediately withdraw all our troops. host: would you put any time frame on it? we're coming up in an office since military action first took place the bombings against kai sys isis. does a vote need to happen within a year? >> i support doing that but i mainly need to focus on what we need to do to address this

rising threat. it's been a year since mosul fell and we have seen a level that we haven't seen. the killing of christians and destruction of religious heritage sites and taking over of huge amounts of territory. this is a very huge threat to our world right now. we need to see a strategy and kheutment from him and conviction this is something that will be addressed and we'll not let stand and we need to work with our allies to develop a winning strategy to stop it. host: as you said military action against isis going on for over ten months now. is the u.s. military ready for another long term commitment? >> we hope we don't have to. obviously it would be nice if our allies in the area step up. jordan is involved.

i think saudi arabia and many others need to take on this fight because it is first and foremost a threat to their region of the world. but we also support our allies in this and we support israel and we don't support the barbaric actions of this group and we need to be strong and have a plan. the president said he hasn't had a strategy. host: as we said that resolution voted down yesterday that would withdraw u.s. troops unless a new amuf was put forward. >> what is it going to take to get the leadership of that house to say we are going to schedule an amf and debate and vote on it? we've been involved in this latest war for over ten months. our resolution would give them another six months to come up

with an amuf and if they didn't then we bring our troops home. the resolution before us i admit is a bit of a blunt instrument. but if congress lived up to its responsibilities we wouldn't need to be so blunt. congress needs a clear deadline for iraq and syria. that deadline is the withdrawal of our troops by the end of this year. it gives this house and this republican leadership six entire months to get an aumf and this he'dership six more months in which simply to do their job. a vote for this resolution is an vote to pullout as some asserted. it's a vote to give leadership a deadline that they cannot ignore. to force them to do their duty as leaders of this house by finally bringing an aumf to the floor for a vote.

host: congressman jim mcgovren his resolution voting down. >> what i would like to see is the president call for one. representative mcgovern is a democrat and president obama has not asked for a new aumf yet. host: there are some restrictions put in place. >> well, i need to talk to the republican leadership to see what the plan is. i commend him to bringing forth a discussion but i think we need to have a strategy from the president on what he needs to do to defeat isil and we have did not see it. he does not have a strategy he admit it and that starts at the top. we need to hear from him and members from congress will feel more comfortable passing an aumf

once we see the plan. host: vicki hartzler is our guest. we'll start with bruce waiting in florida on our line or democrats. bruce good morning. caller: the first thing i would like to say is about the isis. if they want to fight isis, they need to declare war. and on the trade deal, the republicans have the minority in the house. they do not need one democrat to vote for this trade deal. they want the democrats to pass it because they know the american people will turn against the democrats. this is a political trap for democrats. so for all the democrats in the house, do not vote for this trade deal.

it is a political trap. thank you. host: congresswoman? >> we have voted for the trade promotion authority in the house and passed that back to the senate. but there's parts of the bill the t. a. a. that has not passed yet so there will be some changes and i think we'll vote very soon on just a clean trade promotion authority bill and the senate will vote on a version of the trade adjustment assistance bill and we'll see if we can get this across the finish line. i think trade is good for americans. we hope to increase jobs and high paying jobs here and make sure that america is on a level playing field because right now we are competing with people from all over the world and we need to make sure we lay it down

stkpropbg fair rules for trade in this region of the world which is huge part of the economy. and has a lot of potential for growth. so we'll get this worked out, but i think overall it's going to be very positive for our country and for all americans. host: don, good morning. you're on with congresswoman hartzler. caller: good morning ms. hartzler. i have a few questions to ask you here. first of all, isis al-qaida, khorasan muslims. however, they are not islamic terrorists. get that straight. the only person labeling them as terrorists are rush limbaugh and all republicans. they are the only ones. they are not following the law of islam. they are killers, they are rate

this. if you rape, -- [indiscernible] if you are kidnapped they punish you tremendously. they have their own agenda. they are bandits rapists, that is all they are. guest: they are bad people, i would concur with that. that is why we need to stop them. host: and if you want to talk about the importance of the language used to talk -- describe these groups. guest: well, i think they are islamic extremists, but we could have difference of opinions. but the main thing is we need to stop them, no matter what the motivation is. i think we could all concur their actions are unacceptable in a civil world. we cannot allow this to spread. and, unfortunately, it is. we have to have a plan to address it and that is why i am

hoping the commander in chief will come forth and deal with it so that we can meet this head on and stop the threat across the world. host: you talk about military preparedness. can you talk about how you would address that in the budget debate? you are a member of the finance committee, as well. guest: no, i am a member of the armed services committee, budget, and agriculture committees. we have been cutting our defense disproportionately. it makes up only 18% of the budget, yet it has incurred 50% of the cost. we are now at a state where our readiness is below what we need to keep our nation safe. and so that is why we work to get more money put in the defense budget this year, just to get it to the level where the chairman of joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey said it is the lower ragged edge of readiness. and it is imperative that we get

this bill passed. this week, the senate is debating the national defense authorization act. and then they are going to take up the defense appropriation act. and i call on them to not filibuster this or use our military as a political pawn, but to pass this bill to make sure that our men and women in uniform have what they need and to make sure that we will be able to address the threats in the world, whether it is from isis or china or russia or north korea or iran. so it is imperative that we find our national -- fund our national defense. host: you are chair of the oversight investigation subcommittee at the armed services committee, the committee charged with accountability at the dod. other places within the pentagon budget where you see waste and abuse, where programs could be ended and money used for what you are talking about?

guest: specifically, our committee so far has been looking into the investigation of the five caliban terrace for sergeant bergdahl -- five caliban terrace -- five caliban -- five taliban terrorists for sergeant bergdahl. we have a section of that bill that has acquisition reform and also we call for a reduction in some of the personal at the top of the pentagon. so we are taking steps to try and push the department of defense to spend money that they do have more wisely, more effectively, and at the same time we are advocating for more money overall for a defensive that we can just have the bare minimums that we need to have the readiness to give our country safe. host: valley grove, west virginia is next. jim is on our line for independents. caller: i was just wondering

how do you feel about an amendment being put in -- or the requirement for people to be in any kind of public office that they have to serve honorably in the military in some shape or form to be able to take office? because with these nonmilitary people that are in there, they keep putting deadlines when we got a pull -- gotta pull troops out. that just shows weakness on behalf of the united states and the military personnel and it is kind of discouraging. being of that myself, i don't appreciate this. i just lost another program that said they gave us six months to collect troops out. -- two pull our troops out. guest: first of all, thank you for your service jim.

thank you to all the vets watching today. i think it is all important that we serve our country in different ways. i'm not sure about putting in the oath that they have to serve military service because there are lots of people who serve in other ways that make good elected officials. but my colleagues here who have served, i have the utmost respect for them and they bring a very, very wide perspective to our discussion. i think you are right, it is not wise to convey to our enemies are plans and that we are going to with draw troops at a certain date. that has happened and i would agree with your comments that it hasn't turned out well. points well taken. host: colorado springs, colorado. julie is on a line for republicans. caller: hi, how are you this morning? guest: i'm good. caller: listen, i wanted to ask the congress lady -- i want to ask her one thing, why is it

that you guys keep sending our jobs overseas? guest: well, we certainly aren't sending jobs overseas purposely but i would agree with you, julie, that some of the things that have been passed in the last two years have incentivized our companies to move overseas. and that is why i and many of my colleagues ran for office and why we are here fighting to reverse those trends. we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, so that is, first of all, a disincentive. we have this new health-care law, which is increasing costs tremendously for our health care, our businesses. we have high regulations here that i discouraging businesses to do business here. -- that are discouraging businesses to do business is here. we need to check a lot of our laws. that is certainly what i am fighting for. it is something we want to see

keep our jobs here. and that is one reason we are voting on this trade bill and why i supported because we want to increase our exports around the world, increase the amount of trade and jobs that are created due to that. host: we have had a lot of callers in recent weeks as the straight discussion has happened, fearful that the transpacific partnership, when it is eventually settled on, if it is, will send a lot of u.s. jobs overseas. what is your reading of the bill? guest: well, we will have to see exactly when that trade deal is finalized what it says, what it entails, and we will make a judgment at that point. but from everything that i have heard so far, i think it will be positive for us because i believe american workers can compete with anybody around the world, but they need a level playing field. what we are going to do is try to break down those barriers so we can sell our goods in other countries without that trade

barrier. and that will increase the amount of goods and services sold from our country, the amount of jobs, and i think it will be good overall. host: georgia is up next. carol is on a line for democrats. caller: good morning. good morning, john. good morning, representative. guest: hi, carol. caller: john, the caller that called in and said that when you are all on the air, you don't hold a person accountable because the representative -- a lot of times she didn't answer the question. really, she went over, you know, she talked over what you asked her and you didn't hold her accountable when you ask her why they haven't authorized -- haven't signed the law to authorize the war to take place. they haven't even voted on it and she knows it. host: carol, this is your time. what is your question? caller: the question is is that

everything that the president sense to this house, you all drag your legs, but you blame everything on him. even though -- the economy. when everybody can see that it is doing ok, the caller said that when you let people speak hate and everything the representative has said has been downplaying president obama. everything. it is showing in your face. i'm telling you. all the hate. and that is why it is like it is today because when the announcer, john, don't hold your accountable, what you are really doing in-house and what you say you are doing. host: i will give you a chance to respond. guest: there is a disagreement on policies and how we should move ford, but certainly i think we all have here the same goal, and that is to help grow the

american economy. and we just disagree about the way to do it. host: pennsylvania is up next on online for republicans, bill is waiting. caller: good morning, john. good morning, representative. guest: hi. caller: i have been a republican my whole life, and the reason i'm calling in this morning is you are on the armed services committee. i know we have no audit capabilities for our whole military. they never do any type of audit to see where our money is going. you know, my question is, why don't we do that? and my follow-up is, since we spend so much money on the military compared to every other country, what are you so afraid of? you have to be ready. you have to be ready this. -- readiness. guest: well bill, first of all

we are working very hard to make sure our nation is -- is safe. and you raise a good point about the audit. it is something we have been very concerned about as republicans and democrats pushing the pentagon to get that to a place where it is auditable. the marine corps budget is able to be audited at this time, and the goal is by next year, the rest of the dod will be. we have been pushing them very hard on this and they say they will be ready by next year. but that is a very valid concern and we are working on that. as far as -- host: what are they hang ups that keep an audit from happening today? guest: i am not sure of all the details, but you have to realize the size and scope of the budget. there is just a lot of -- of paperwork and details, i guess. i'm not sure. but it needs to be fixed. but his other point about the threats in the world, you know,

i sit in on briefings that i cannot go into details on, but i can tell you -- as henry kissinger said a few months ago -- that we are now facing, in this country, more threats than we ever have since world war ii. we have seen a rise in china their technology improvements are tremendous. that is -- we have cyber concerns from many can choose -- many countries, as we have seen recently, the hacking into and the stealing of not only our intellectual secret from various countries, but even into the federal government. we have russia and putin who are moving forward it to ukraine , unchallenged. more or less. who knows what his aspirations

are. we have north korea, who has nuclear capability. we have iran marching towards nuclear capability and who have said they want to threaten both israel and america. and then, of course, we have the various terrorists groups. lone wolves, you name it, we have many many threats facing us now in this country. and that is why we have to keep our military at a level where they can respond to threats and they can meet them and beats them if called on. -- beat them if called on. i think it is the most important thing that we are supposed to do here, provide for the common defense. host: a few minutes left with congresswoman vicki hartzler in her third term in congress representing the fourth district of missouri. on the armed services committee, agriculture committee, and budget committee. david is in florida. the line for independents.

good morning. caller: good morning. yes, congresswoman -- guest: hi, david. caller: why do you republicans think that you can use our military as cannon fodder? you send them to war, no one has been ever held accountable. 4500 men were murdered in iraq, and nobody is held accountable. you deliberately wrote this so that 90% of us would have to drive -- who have to drive more than 40 miles to have to drive because when you crossed it out of the bill, it was $50 billion if we all applied for it. you said no. we were only worth $5 billion. you waste $24 billion on a shutdown and we are not even with that much. shame on you, madam.

and shame and all you republicans on the senate and in the house. you all knew what you are doing and you wrote the bill deliberately to exclude us from being able to get local care. host: congresswoman. guest: that is very concerning and i'm sorry that you feel that way because everyone here, republicans and democrats, is trying as hard as we can to make sure the veterans have the services and the care that they need and that you deserve. we passed the bill closer to home, and i'm sorry if it is not working for you. if we need to go back and fix it, then we will address that. but it's very important that our veterans get the care that they need, and i have a veterans hospital in my district. i go there regularly to make sure that -- that the patients, the veterans, can get in and get an appointment when they need it and that they are getting the highest level care. and the veterans that i talked to at home overall are very

pleased with the service that they are receiving. but that is a high-priority and we will continue to make sure it is a priority. host: cincinnati, ohio. walter is on our line for independents. caller: yes, representative i have just about three questions i would like to address with you. you have the authorization to pass a deal for the president on the war situation. and you -- i remember that the department -- and you guys keep insisting that the president hasn't passed a bill down to authorize permission to, you know, a plan. he doesn't have to do that. we know that for a fact. you've got control of the house and the senate. my second thing is -- how do you feel about the minimum wage? do you authorize an increase on minimum wage? and my third one, you know the

health care bill is working. you can see the results, you can see the statistics on how it is brought down the cost of health insurance. and you just sit there and insist on saying that that is the burden to the deals around the congress. this stuff is not true. be honest about your representations and congress and speak straight. host: congresswoman, a lot of questions there. guest: sure. well, health care is increasing. and certainly, the people in my district tell me so almost every, come home. i hear stories from them how their premiums have increased so they cannot even afford it. many have had their deductibles raised to $6,000 or more. i had a friend from high school tell me the other day, what are we going to do?

we don't have $6,000 for a to dr. both. so there is some problems there. there may be some positive things, but for most people i talk to, it has made it unaffordable and that is why we need to go back and repeal and replace it. to make sure that americans have access to affordable health care. i think people need to have opportunities in this country to get as much as he as they can, based on their experience, their education and performance. and the minimum wage jobs are wonderful entry level opportunity -- my concern is if we raise that arbitrarily as a government and force and mandate businesses to pay a certain wage, it is going to hurt the people that it was intended help.

it is going to hurt and prevent jobs for those beginning workers. i have many parents and teenagers at home say their teenagers cannot find a job anymore. they are going away because of this. we want to make sure that people get as high a wages possible, and on the aumf, i think it is something that we should bring up and talk about. so we will continue that discussion as we move forward. host: a topic we have not touched on yet, some callers have brought this up recently. mandatory country of origin's label. you support efforts to pull back that mandatory labeling. can you explain why jack of -- why? guest: because it is not helping. i think it is a good idea. i shop for my family at the grocery store and the idea was to put on the label where the meat came from, where was raised. to promote american grown livestock and meat. the problem is a lot of

consumers don't use it. it hasn't been helpful to them. and now, it is -- has been rolled to create an artificial trade barrier such that our number one and never to trading partners, canada and mexico, can retaliate against us now. if they do that, that is going to end up being billions of dollars of costs to american consumers. it will hurt our exports. so there is no reason to continue this program that really isn't providing any benefits. host: let's try to get in zach who has been waiting in philadelphia, pennsylvania. caller: good morning, john. i good morning, representative hartzler. man, i'm a veteran -- ma'am, i am a veteran. i thought in iraq. i may major in the rangers. don't think the -- thank me for my service because i don't want to hear those kind of platitudes.

i want to hear specifically from you why is it that we should send more troops into iraq or even send advisers when the sunnis and the she has can't get their act together to join in a civil war against isis and so on? i want specifics from you, not platitudes because you gave will the -- bill the veteran from florida, platitudes. we deserve the $50 billion. veterans are not have to travel 40 miles. normal people don't travel 40 miles. and you and your colleagues cut us off at the knees well you think is for your service -- our service. first, let me know why specifically americans should go back to iraq when the iraqis cannot get their acts together. host: just a minute or two left.

guest: first of all, i didn't say we should send more people to iraq. i think we need a plan on how to deal with it, and whether that is to bring in our allies, i don't know. but i would like to see that plan. it is a very serious situation and you are right. we need to have a commitment from the iraqi government themselves. there is a problem between the sunnis and the shiaa -- shias. and when we pulled out of iraq, the government did not fill its responsibility. that has led to part of the problem we have here today. you are right, first and foremost, the people of iraq need to have a plan. they need to come together and they need to oppose this evil rise of isis. but also, we, as a freedom loving country that has very important interests there and who had in -- an american

beheaded there it also have a plan on how we are going to address this. that is what we really haven't seen yet. the president says he hasn't seen a >> today the house passed a fast track trade measure and a close vote 218-208. politico reports president obama's trade agenda was jolted back to life. to finalize an accord with 11 pacific rim nations he still must convince a handful of senate democrats to support it as well. several are holding back. read more at politico.com. coming up on c-span remarks by president obama on the shootings yesterday at a church in south carolina. then members of congress holding a prayer vigil for the victims. the justice department has opened a hate crimes division investigation. we'll show remarks by attorney

general loretta lynch. later, republican presidential candidates marco rubio, rand paul and ted cruz speaking at the faith and freedom coalition conference. we begin with the president's remarks about the shooting at emanuel ame church in charleston. >> good afternoon, everybody. this morning i spoke with and vice president biden spoke with mayor joe riley and other leaders of charleston to express our deep sorrow over the senseless murders that took place last night. michelle and i know several members of emanuel ame church. we knew their pastor. reverend clemente pinkney who along with eight others gathered if prayer and fellowship and was murdered last night. to say our thoughts and prayers

are with them and their families and their community doesn't say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel. any death of this sort is a tragedy. any shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy. there is something particularly heart breaking about a death happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace. , in a place of worship. mother emanuel is in fact more than a church. this is a place of worship that

was founded by african-americans seeking liberty. this is a church that was burned to the ground because its worshipers worked to end slavery. when there were laws banning all black church gatherings, they conducted services in secret. when there was a nonviolent movement to bring our country closer in line with our highest ideals some of our brightest leaders spoke and led marches from this church's steps. this is a sacred place in the history of charleston and in the history of america. the f.b.i. is now on the scene with local pleas -- police and more of the bure -- bureau's best are on the way to join them. the f.b.i. has announced plans to open a hate crime investigation. we understand the suspect is in

custody and i'll let the best of law enforcement do its work to make sure that justice is served. until the investigation is complete i'm necessarily constrained in terms of talking about the details of the case. but i don't need to be constrained about the emotions that tragedies lake this raise. i've had to make statements like this too many times. communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. we don't have all the facts but we do know that once again innocent people were killed, in part, because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. now is the time for mourning and for healing, but let's be clear. at some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

it doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency. and it is in our power to do something about it. recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of those avenues right now. but it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. and at some point it's going to be important for the american people to come to grips with it. and for us to be able to shift how we think about the issue of gun violence collectively. the fact that this took place in a black church obviously also raises questions about a

dark part of our history. this is not the first time that black churches have been attacked and we know that hatred across races and faiths pose a particular threat to our democracy and our ideals. the good news is i am confident that the outpouring of unity and strength and fellowship and love across charleston today from all races, from all faiths , from all places of worship indicates the degree to which those old vestiges of hatred can be overcome. that certainly -- just over 50 years ago after four little girls were killed in a bombing in a black church in birmingham alabama, he said they lived meaningful lives and they died nobly.

they say to each of us, dr. king said, black and white alike, we must substitute courage for caution. they say to us that we must be concerned not merely with who murdered them but about the system, the way of life the philosophy, which produces the murders. their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the american dream and if one will hold on, he will discover that god walks with him and that god is able to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the bouncy of boy ouncey of hope and transform dark and desolate valleys into sun lit paths of inner peace. reverend pinkney and his congregation understood that spirit. their christian faith compelled them to reach out not just to members of their congregation,

or to members of their own communities, but to all in need . they opened their doors to strangers. who might enter a church in search of healing or redemption. mother emanuel church and its congregation have risen before from flames, from an earthquake , from other dark times, to give hope to generations of charlestonians and with our plars and our love and the bou oncy of hope it will rise again now as a place of peace. thank you.

>> there is a hymn that states, come ye disconsolate where ye languish. come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel. here bring your wounded hearts. here tell your anguish. earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. a church should be one of the safest places on the planet.

and people assembled to lift their hearts in prayer and to hear the word of god, they were brutally murdered in the house of god. our hearts ache for the families of the victims. our hearts ache for the citizens of charleston, south carolina. our hearts ache for our nation. we pray and ask that god would somehow use us to end the insanity of violence that we see. our hearts ache because the alleged murderer killed without mercy.

it didn't matter regarding gender. it didn't matter regarding season of life. our hearts ache because in the future people will feel fear in the house of god when they should feel peace and serenity. our hearts ache because we must acknowledge that we all to some extent, play a part in the pathology that we see in our land. john dunn said, every person's death diminishes us. for we are a part of human kind. therefore ask not for whom the bell tolls. it tolls for us. our hearts ache before -- our

hearts ache because we seem to have forgotten that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. and our hearts ache because we have neglected the promise of second chronicles 7:14 -- if my people called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from evil then, god says, i will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land. we need healing in this great land. i think our coming together in

such a united and passionate way today can be the beginning of that healing. god bless and keep you is my prayer. >> it is amazing today. even more amazing yesterday. it's amazing that senator tim scott would launch a seventh annual prayer breakfast concerning prayer about our nation our families, our communities. and truly today it's about our churches.

as a pastor from charleston back home i hear of such a tragedy to the families and the bereeving ones at this time. and so today is my desire as i stand here and i plead to our nation especially back home in charleston today, that we would come together as a family that's filled with compassion and unity and strength. so on behalf of senator pastor pinkney and emanuel ame, our hearts throb, and it's heart

felt today, to see and to hear the tragedy. and so we desire to do a short prayer. but i would like to say this. this is not the time to back off to slack up concerning our convictions as the body of christ but to move and to push thoroughly, relentlessly forward with grace with compassion, tenacity, and unity. may we just bow our heads in a moment of prayer? today, father, we stand as your people -- your called, your children and your elect. and, father, we thank you and we ask you that you would grace

, bring peace to the families and to charleston and that your love would usher in a flood of hope of joy again. and restoration. and, father, we thank you today that as we stand together as we pray together, we shall see your tpwhroryouse hands together. and -- we ask that we would see your glorious hands together and we pray, father, that charleston will never be the same because the love and commitment of the communities may now come together and stand in our convictions. in jesus' name, amen. >> amen.

>> thank you all so much for coming. i think i know almost everyone here so thank you so much. the senator is really humbled by how many of you guys came out today. and so many of his good friends are here and so i thank you so much. the south carolina delegation is awed by how many of you are here today, and we thank you for that. since i can't possibly go after two amazing pastors, i would really really love if somebody else would come up and offer their thoughts and prayers. again, i see so many of the amazing people that can do a much better job than i can, so senator lankford, you're actually probably one of the best to come here. >> not in this circle. there are multiple others. let me just say this. just one word and then let's pray together. the scripture says god is near to the broken hearted. and that would match south

carolina and all of us today. and so there's a uniqueness to be able to stop for just a moment and say, god is near. let's acknowledge that he's near but ask him to be able to do a work that only he can do across our nation and across what's happened in charleston right now. let's pray together. father, our nation is needy of you. our families are broken and people are just angry. god, i pray that you would allow us as believers in you to be able to speak peace to places that need peace. that you would sweep righteousness into places that desperately need it. god, our hearts cannot believe a man would be so angry and venomous that he would sit in a church prayer circle and murder people. i can't even process that, father. god, i pray that you'd bring

righteousness and justice where it's needed. but i pray that you would help us as a community to reach out to people that are that angry. and be able to speak your love to people that desperately need it. god i pray that you would wrap your arms around families who don't understand this day, don't want to understand this day, and that you would raise up leaders that would be your hands and feet. we look to that. tell us what is our part in that role. god, i pray for the south carolina delegation, for leaders in their state house their state senate, governor, leaders within the community and city that you would give them instinctive wisdom. and for the churches especially and the pastors that will have a unique responsibility in the days ahead to lead well. give them words to say and discernment and the knowledge that they're going to need and i pray they would be overcome with the love that you can provide. and that you'd roll that off their lips and out of their hearts. god, heal us as a nation.

we need your help. we pray for wisdom for this day in your joy and in the name of jesus i ask. amen. >> amen. >> our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come. thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. amen. >> hallelujah. thank you, lord. thank you, lord. we thank you, lord. thank you, lord.

>> thank you so much. >> there you go. >> members of house and senate leadership also spoke about the church shooting in charleston, south carolina. house speaker john boehner, democratic leader nancy pelosi, and senate leaders mitch mcconnell and harry reid.

>> let me say how shocked and heart broken i am by the murder of innocent church goers in charleston. at times like this the depth of our grief reveals the depth of our love and our resolve and our prayers go out to all the victims' families. our thoughts go to the law enforcement officers working to bring this perpetrator to justice. anyone who would do something so unspeakable is pure evil. >> such a shocking attack that was made in charleston. my colleague has already returned home. our colleague mr. sanford will have, my understanding is, a moment of silence on the floor. i must say when the news came forth about this, i thought maybe they were reporting on an anniversary of something that happened a long, long time ago. i said, what is this that's in

the news? why is this in the news today? unless this is the anniversary day. and it wasn't that, of course. it was a new fresh reality of a challenge in our country in terms of respect for one another and the use of violence to express that or lack thereof. so it's really -- words are totally inadequate as we say over and over again and they become less and less adequate the more this happens. so i'm so -- i don't want to use the word pleased but i'm pleased that the justice department will be treating it as what it is, a hate crime. >> madame president, i want to say something about the terrible news out of charleston. this is a true tragedy. that something like this could occur at a house of worship

makes it even worse. it's always awful when one of these things happens, but to happen at a house of worship makes it even worse. churches should be a place of refuge, a place where people feel safe and secure. a place of mercy, place of compassion. the depth of loss these families must be feeling is simply awful. so i want the american people to know the senate is thinking of them today and the victims that they loved. we're also thinking of the entire congregation at this historic church who continue to do so -- we'll continue to do so as more about this tragedy is learned in the hours and days to come.

our hearts go out to the families who have been affected by this awful tragedy. >> i don't know another way to describe what i heard this morning in my morning briefing. and in the news accounts of this sickening revelation of what took place in south carolina last night. think about this. the sanctity of a house of worship was violated as a gunman opened fire at historically black emanuel ame church in charleston, south carolina. we know now, at least 10 -- i'm sorry -- at least nine people are dead. others of course, hurt. i don't know how to describe

it. this individual was like a sheep in wolf's clothing. he sat among the congregation for a substantial amount of time before he pulled out a weapon and started firing at people. the thought of people who are in a house of worship being gunned down as they gathered to pray is heart wrenching devastating, and is the ultimate act of cowardice and hatred. as our chaplain said, our hearts go out to the families and friends of the people who were gunned down in that church. it's hard for me to comprehend anything so awful.

so on behalf of the family we send our support our sympathy to the charleston law enforcement as they try to capture this murderer, i hope the perpetrator will be swiftly apprehended and brought to justice. i have more remarks i was going to give but they could be deemed as partisan in nature and i can give them some other time. i don't think it would be appropriate for me now to talk about things that i feel kind of inappropriate today with. with this pall hanging over our country. so based upon that, i would ask that the choir announce the business for the day. >> attorney general loretta lynch confirmed there is a suspect in custody in the church shooting that happened wednesday in charleston, south carolina. she explained why the justice

department opened a hate crimes investigation. she made the remarks during a briefing on medicare fraud. the attorney general is joined by f.b.i. director james comey and the director of health and human services, sylvia burwell. >> all right. well good morning all. thank you for assembling here today. now, before we begin today's announcement, i'll take a moment to address the heart breaking and deeply tragic events that occurred at emanuel ame church in charleston, south carolina last evening. this is a crime that has reached into the heart of that

community. the department of justice has opened a hate crime investigation into the shooting incident. the f.b.i., a.t.f., u.s. marshal's service, civil rights division, and the u.s. attorney's office are working closely with our state and local partners and we stand ready to offer every resource, every means and every tool that we possess in order to locate and apprehend the perpetrator of this barbaric crime. acts like this one have no place in our country and no place in a civilized society. i want to be clear. the individual who committed these acts will be found and will face justice. now, as we move forward in this matter, my thoughts and prayers and those of our entire law enforcement community here at the department of justice and around the country are with the families and loved ones of the victims in charleston. even as we struggle to comprehend this heart breaking event, i want everyone in charleston and everyone who has

been affected by this tragedy to know that we will do everything in our power to help heal this community and make it whole again. i encourage the people of charleston, south carolina, and the wider area to continue circulating the photos of the alleged perpetrator and report any tip no matter how small, no matter how minor to the tip line, which can be reached at 1-800-call-f.b.i. thank you. and now, today's announcement. today i am joined by secretary sylvia burwell from the department of health and human services director jim comey of the f.b.i., assistant attorney general leslie caldwell of the justice department's criminal division inspector general dan levinson of the h.h.s. office of inspector general, and deputy administrator and director dr. iberwald of the centers for medicare and medicaid services. we are here today to announce a major advance in the federal government's fight against fraud in our nation's

healthcare system. over the last three days, as part of a coordinated nationwide takedown, the medicare fraud strike force, a joint initiative of the departments of justice and health and human services comprising federal state, and local investigators and law enforcement officials from across the country joined with seven additional u.s. attorneys' offices in charging or unveiling charges against 243 defendants in 17 federal districts for their alleged participation in medicare fraud schemes involving approximately 712 million dollars. this is the largest takedown in the strike force's eight-year history. it is the largest criminal healthcare fraud takedown in the history of the department of justice. and it adds to an already remarkable record of enforcement. the defendants charged over these last few days include doctors, patient recruiters, home healthcare providers,

pharmacy owners, and others. they are accused of an array of serious crimes ranging from conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud to wire fraud to money laundering. they billed for equipment that wasn't provided, for care that wasn't needed, and for services that were not rendered. in one of the more egregious allegations of exploitation of both the medicare system and vulnerable patients, the owners of a mental health facility in miami billed for intensive psycho therapy sessions that resulted in tens of millions of dollars in reimbursements for the doctors based on treatment that was nothing more than moving patients to different locations. several of these patients suffer from illnesses like alzheimer's and dementia and were unable even to communicate with their supposed care givers or therapists. further, nearly 50 of the defendants in this takedown are charged with fraud relating to the medicare prescription drug

benefits program known as part d, which is the fastest growing component of the medicare program overall. one owner of healthcare provider in the southern district of florida received $1.6 million from medicare part d for prescription drugs the provider never purchased and certainly never dispensed. another defendant, a doctor in the eastern district of michigan, is alleged to have prescribed unnecessary narcotic pain medications to patients in exchange for the use of their identification information to generate false billings. patients who attempted to withdraw from the scheme were threatened with a loss of access to their prescription narcotics. having deepened these patients' addiction, the doctors then used that addiction to keep patients bound to their scheme. now, taken in total, today's action represents the first, large scale effort to focus on medcare part d fraud.

it demonstrates an expanded federal focus on this important issue. the charges we are announcing today are the culmination of a truly national effort involving approximately 900 law enforcement personnel acting in concert to execute a set of highly complex and highly coordinated law enforcement activities stretching across the country from florida to alaska. this takedown, like those before it, would not have been possible without the key partnerships forged by the strike force over the last eight years among federal, state, and local officials and the cooperation spurred by the joint initiative known as the healthcare fraud prevention and enforcement action team or h.e.a.t. that was launched by d.o.j. and h.h.s. in 2009. as a result of strike force operations since 2007, we have filed charges against more than 2300 individuals accounting for over $7 billion in medicare

losses. this is a crucial part of the department of justice healthcare fraud enforcement efforts, which include the recovery of a total of $15.3 billion through false claims act cases, in cases involving fraud against federal healthcare programs since 2009. these are truly extraordinary figures and they reflect our nationwide commitment to safeguard precious public resources, to rid our healthcare systems of fraud and abuse and to sustain the integrity of programs that are essential to the public welfare. in the days ahead we will continue our focus on preventing wrongdoing and prosecuting those whose criminal activity drives up medical costs and jeopardizes the system that our citizens trust with their lives. the department of justice is prepared and i am personally determined to continue working with our federal state, and local partners to bring about the vital progress that all

americans deserve. i want to thank all of the law enforcement officials who are part of the team that made this sweeping takedown possible. their tireless efforts enabled us to move quickly and aggressively and their inspiring collaboration will be a model for us going forward. now, at this time i'd like to turn the podium over to secretary sylvia burwell, who's been a dedicated leader and a truly indispensable partner in this important work and who will provide additional details on today's announcement. thank you so much and now secretary burwell. secretary burwell: thank you, attorney general lynch. thanks to everyone for being here today. medicare is the cornerstone of the social compact that we have with our citizens. there is no greater responsibility than ensuring its integrity. that is why eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse is a top priority for the administration and the department of health and human services. we are deeply committed to

protecting the medicare and medicaid programs and will not tolerate theft from taxpayers. today's development is a victory for those taxpayers and each of us who will depend on the stability of medicare in the years to come. as attorney general lynch mentioned, this is the largest arrest in the strike force's history both in terms of the number of individuals as well as the dollar amounts. the investigation stretched across the nation. in fact, this is the first action we've taken to pursue cases in nonstrike force districts. this followed the data. we followed it where it led. it exposed more than 240 suspects and specifically, we targeted medicare part d. as we identified allegations of fraud like these today, the affordable care act increased medicare's flexibility to suspend payments to providers pending investigations. and we are using that authority today, stopping payments to

certain individuals and entities that are associated with these cases. through excellent investigative work, which included data analytics combined with real time field intelligence, as well as meticulous planning and strategic execution, this team has made real gains in our ongoing fight against fraud. these arrests add to the approximately 2300 people charged as a result of these operations and the strike force has a conviction rate of 95%. these efforts enhanced by the affordable care act add to the hundreds of millions we have saved through fraud prevention since the law was passed. with new tools like enhanced screening and enrollment requirements, tough new rules and sentences for criminals, an advanced predictive modeling, we have managed to better find and fight fraud as well as stop it before it starts. this administration is committed to working across

agencies to better serve our taxpayers. and fighting fraud is a key part of our efforts to build a healthcare system that delivers better care, spends our dollars more wisely, and puts empowered, educated, and engaged consumers at its centers. i applaud the work of the strikeforce. with their help we will continue to be diligent in our fight against waste fraud, and abuse and in protecting the integrity of these programs. let today's events be a message to others across the nation. we will not stop here. we will work tirelessly to prevent these programs from becoming targets and fight fraud wherever we find it. that is how we will keep medicare accountable reliable, and strong. and now i'm happy to introduce my colleague f.b.i. director jim coen. f.b.i. director coen: good

morning. i want to join the attorney general and secretary burwell in thanking the folks who did the hard work to make these cases possible. i especially want to thank the men and women of the f.b.i. it is their toil and their tenacity that makes possible the work that i get to stand here and talk about in washington. that work every day across this country makes an enormous difference for incredibly vulnerable populations. as both the attorney general and secretary burwell noted, healthcare fraud is an enormous problem in this country. healthcare spending is 1/6 of our economy. those of you who follow criminal work know that if you want to find criminals you follow the money. there is a lot of money there and so we find a lot of crime there. we have over 2,700 open healthcare fraud cases across the country because that's where the money is. in these cases, we followed the money and found criminals who were attracted to doctors' offices, to clinics, to hospitals, to nursing homes in

search of what they viewed as an a.t.m. an a.t.m. that was a freebie to them but was actually filled with taxpayers' money. we see these cases running the gamut from corporate fraud type cases to enterprise type cases to one off rip offs. these crimes take money directly away from vulnerable populations, people who need this care, old folks poor folks, people with disabilities. there are no victimless crimes when it comes to healthcare fraud. these offenses harm every single person who pays for their health carry premiums. it harms every business that supports healthcare for their employees. it harms every single taxpayer in the united states. one dollar stolen from our healthcare programs is one dollar too many. how do we make these cases? using the tools we use in our most sophisticated endeavors. we use intelligence to try and understand what are the trends,

where are the bad guys going next so we can get there before they get there. we use technology to analyze and check huge amounts of electronic information. we use forensic accounting and analysts, extraordinarily smart and talented people to plow through this information to decipher it. we use rapid response teams to surge to where the bad guys are going and we use our bread and butter investigative techniques wiretaps, under cover, sources interviews, surveillance. all of the stuff we do to make our most difficult cases. and, last, we rely upon effective partnerships. we do nothing alone especially when it comes to battling healthcare fraud. the partnerships we have forged especially with the h.h.s., inspector general, are vital to this effort. we need help, though in a different way. we need help from the public. we are doing lots of hard work every day, but there are things that the good folks of this country can do for us and actually i'll name three. the first thing is if you see something that seems weird to you, or too good to be true freebies or benefits or prizes

or gifts, in connection with healthcare, tell us. if it feels too good to be true it is almost always too good to be true. please let us know when you see such a thing. second, read those forms that come in the mail your explanation of benefits. i know they seem boring. and i hope they're boring. but they may contain indications that something is going on that we ought to check out. and, last, protect your benefit cards. protect your i.d. numbers as you would protect the vital parts of your identity. if you see something that makes you feel strange, that makes you think something might be going on call the f.b.i. or call the h.h.s. inspector general. you're not going to get somebody in trouble unless there is trouble. we investigate things all day every day and some of them turn out not to be something and nobody is harmed. but if you don't tell us about it, we can't check it out. so working together we are going to continue to try to find where the bad guys are going and send a very powerful message that there are significant costs in jail time

to this kind of conduct so we can change behavior. with that i'd like to introduce my colleague leslie caldwell assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division. >> thank you, director comey. today's takedown is really a prime example of 21st century, data driven policing. every day the criminal division grows more strategic in our approach to healthcare fraud, to prosecuting medicare fraud. we're analyzing billing data in real time, working with our colleagues at h.h.s., we're targeting hot spots around the country where the data shows that medicare fraud is pervasive, and we are focusing on the types of healthcare services where the data is showing there is a high potential for abuse. we're also using the data and other techniques we've learned over the years to speed up our investigations. and by doing this, we're increasingly able to stop these schemes at the developmental stage before they grow, before they spread, and before they move to other parts of the

country. and we're focusing in particular on medical professionals, specifically doctors. but also other medical professionals. and so far in today's takedown, 19 doctors have been arrested and a total of 44 medical professionals. this approach that we're taking has led to great results like the ones we're seeing today. i also want to just note that our approach to healthcare fraud, working with our colleagues at h.h.s. and our colleagues in the civil division, is really more than paying for itself. during the period from 2012 to 2014 the average return on investment for the healthcare fraud abuse and control act program was nearly $8 for every dollar that we spent. so in other words, the american public is getting an almost 800% return on its investment in our efforts against medicare fraud. and that includes only the money that we've actually recovered. it doesn't include the decrease in payments that's very significant as a result of the deterrent effect of our efforts. so i want to thank the criminal

division lawyers and other employees. i want to thank the u.s. attorneys offices around the country who assisted in the effort. the f.b.i. h.h.s., and many state and local partners on this very successful takedown. i'd like to turn things over to my colleague dan levinson the inspector general of h.h.s./o.i.g. >> thank you, leslie, and good morning. as you've heard, today's action marked the nation's largest criminal healthcare fraud takedown effort in history. this week the office of inspector general deplayed more than 300 special agents and forensic specialists alongside hundreds of other law enforcement personnel to execute arrests and search warrants across the country. i want to extend my deepest gratitude to these individuals, particularly our nation's law enforcement personnel, who worked over many months to achieve in unprecedented action. the medicare and medicaid programs are critical to the health of millions of

americans. those arrested today are suspected of defrauding these programs of more than $700 million, thereby placing greed above patient care. while this operation is almost twice the size of previous takedowns, it does not solve the problem of healthcare fraud. we all have more work to do. for its part in this effort o.i.g. has focused on and will continue to focus on fraud and medicare prescription drugs, medicare home health services, and medicaid personal care services. fraud in these three areas is especially damaging and undermines our healthcare system. of particular note is fraud and medicare part d in which costs have risen 136% since 2006 to $121 billion last year. our focus on medicare part d continues because more than 41 million americans depend upon that program and its integrity

must be protected. investigating and arresting those who threaten the health of our most vulnerable citizens is a top priority for o.i.g. today's efforts represent our commitment to protecting beneficiaries and the vital healthcare programs upon which they rely. thank you. i'd now like to turn the conference over to the centers for medicare and medicaid services. >> thank you. the collaboration between the strike force and the centers for medicare and medicaid services is having a real impact on protecting medicare and medicaid beneficiaries and preserving these programs. since 2009 there has been a dramatic decline in both durable medical equipment and holt health spending by medicare. areas of significant service for c.m.s. and its law enforcement partners. and a national decline in spending on community mental health centers. the strike force has charged thousands of defendants for

millions in fraudulent billings and c.m.f. has changed its policies to limit incentives for gaming in this area. the cases and charges announced today are significant. such inappropriate treatment can inflict real harm on patients including those that have endured the risks and trauma of unnecessary treatment and services. this makes our shift to prevention a critical task strengthened by the affordable care act and c.m.s. is working to keep bad actors out of the program. c.m.s. has paused provider enrollment in high risk areas of the country including five of the strike force cities. this pause allows c.m.s. to work with law enforcement on actions such as these to clean up the base of existing providers. we are also working to suspend medicare payments to providers pending investigations today by stopping payments to certain individuals associated with the cases announced here. finally, c.m.s. is using risk based screening advanced analytic technology and data sharing with state and private

partners to root out ineligible providers in federal programs. these efforts have resulted in the removal of nearly 575,000 enrollments since passage of the affordable care act. c.m.s. is developing additional safeguards such as expanding provider oversight to the part d program to continue to strengthen the medicare program in the future. c.m.s. will continue to work with our law enforcement colleagues, states, and other plans to safeguard patients and the integrity of our programs. thank you. >> thank you all. any questions? >> attorney general, has there been a change in the status of the search? you were both notified of something while on the stage. just curious if there is any change in the status. >> i can confirm there is a suspect in custody in relation to the shootings in charleston from last evening and of course this moves us into a different phase of the investigation, which will be pursued as

vigorously and with as complete cooperation as the apprehension of this individual. >> what is it about the facts of this case that prompted you to open a hate crime investigation? >> with respect to the hate crime investigation i'm not going to go into the specifics of it particularly because we do have someone in custody. we want to make sure to preserve the integrity of the investigation. but, certainly, some of the elements that came out, that were reported to us, led us to conclude that was a possibility. so we opened it as a hates crimes investigation. now that we have someone in custody we will be exploring all of the motives that might have been in play there. >> will this be prosecuted by the state? >> you know, when we have a case like this we look at where the facts take us. certainly this is an egregious crime. certainly this is a homicide investigation. and we understand that there are families who are grieving incredibly for the loss of their loved ones. but again, we will now be looking at all of the facts,

all of the motivations, all of the things that led this individual if he is in fact the shooter to commit this crime and we will determine which are the best ways in which to prosecute the case. >> since the state can pursue the death penalty, what would be the better -- what would be the factors that would lead you to have it be a federal prosecution? >> at this point it's really premature to determine which is the best venue either state or federal to pursue this matter. first we must confirm this individual is involved in it. we must confirm the nature of his involvement. we must confirm his motivation, his intentions. it is really premature at this point to say what would determine that. we do look at a number of factors. >> next question to director comey please. first of all, great graduation speech that you gave the other day. it was very inspiring. and so this is not really an example of effective communication but i have a multi part question on the same topic. is there anything that you can

tell us that you've learned about the motivation of this individual where he obtained a firearm, whether there was any threat to the church ahead of time and whether there have been any threats to any other churches? anything at all you can tell us on those points? >> i'll not walk all the way over there to give you a nonanswer. i'll let the boss give you the same answer. [laughter] >> no. we're not going to be discussing details of the investigation at this time. certainly and as i mentioned before now that we do have someone in custody we will be conducting as full and thorough an investigation rising out of that circumstance, building on the cooperative work that we have with our state and local partners in south carolina. >> director comey, on the related topic is there any guidance you're giving field offices in terms of outreach to faith communities after this? >> as a result of the shooting last night? >> yeah. >> the answer is not yet.

the attorney general can answer this better than i can as well. it is something we think about and do quite often. >> well, i can say that with respect to this particular case as with all cases that involve a faith based institution be they a church or a mosque we do have outreach efforts. we do coordinate at the local level to reach out to members of the faith based community who may be either directly affected by this or certainly would have concerns about a matter like this. the type and nature of that outreach would depend upon the nature of the case or the crime and also the -- you know, where people are located. but, certainly, there is outreach going on that will continue. i can also let you know that the department of justice, the civil rights division is on the ground in charleston and the community relations service or c.r.s. division is also on the ground in charleston. they work with all aspects of the community when there's been an event like this. >> do you have any plan -- attorney general, could you provide an update on your

investigation -- >> you know, at this point that is still a matter also under active investigation so i am not able to provide any specifics about that. i'm sorry. >> director comey, as long as we're off the topic here may i ask you about a different concern these days and that is the increasing number of arrests we're seeing in isis cases. it does appear a lot of these cases are isis inspired by social media. do you feel that you have the capability to monitor all the communications you need to, or is a lot of this happening in a space you can't go? >> i want to stay away from this mike. i'm too tall for it. we do not have the capability that we need in this respect. isil has spent about a year investing in trying to reach troubled minds in the united states through social media to either recruit them to come to their so-called caliphate to

fight or to kill where they stand. increasingly over the last year they have moved those troubled minds to apps that are encrypted and so are dark to us. our job is to find needles in a nationwide hay stack, needles that are increasingly invisible because of end-to-end encryption. this is the going dark problem in high definition. this is what we've been talking about that increasingly there is significant public safety aspects to the universal strong encryption that we encounter in criminal cases and in national security cases. there are lots of important issues at stake here. privacy is something we all care a lot about. but this is in living high def the going dark problem merging with our counterterrorism problem and so we work every single day to try and find other ways to find those invisible needles but i do not have all the tools i need because of that encryption. >> what's the solution? >> i think the solution is

complicated. and i can't stand here and tell you clearly what it is. there is a lot of work going on that the president has directed to try and develop solutions that will surely involve consideration of legislation regulation cooperation. the companies that are providing communication services don't want folks killed by people using their platforms. so we're having good conversations with them. i'm sure a big part of it is going to be international cooperation. it is a really, really hard problem. but the collision that's going on between important privacy concerns and public safety is significant enough that we have to figure out a way to solve it. >> there are a number of racialy motivated cases being looked at by your division. is there something larger going on in this country in terms of race relations? >> well, you know, i can't speculate as to the motivations behind every single case and certainly we would want to take a look at that and see whether or not we're seeing any patterns or trends. we do take every issue very seriously. we take every incident very

seriously. we investigate it to the fullest extent of the law. we also do that in great cooperation and collaboration with our local counterparts as has been pointed out. sometimes state or local charges might fit a case more appropriately than federal civil rights charges. sometimes the federal civil rights charges are in fact the appropriate ones to bring. so we are finding every case is really unique so we're moving along those lines. >> will you be going to south carolina yourself to look at the community there? >> you know, i don't know at this point. we certainly will be reaching out to that community. as i indicated earlier, there's already a strong connection there. we have our local u.s. attorney's office and very much involved in this matter as well as state local, and our civil rights division and our community relations services will be there on the ground. but this certainly is just an unspeakable tragedy. it is a tremendous loss of life. it is a tremendous loss to the community. it's a tremendous loss to the faith community.

i believe the pastor was one of the individuals whose life was taken in this event and so we will be looking to provide every support that we can. >> secretary burwell -- i have a healthcare question here. are you satisfied that you've done all you can the government has done all it can to make this crime more difficult to carry out? is it too easy to commit healthcare fraud? >> i would start with, we engaged and are using more and more tools. we talked a little bit about those tools. we were given authority as part of the affordable care act to help us with some of those tools. some of the tools we have now that we didn't have before that are very helpful are things like the fact that today we are starting to use the tools that for a broader group we stop payment. another one of those tools that i think is very important is we now do checking at the front end. for anyone who reaches a certain threshold before you can come in and be a registered person to be or provider to get medicare payments you may have to pass through certain other

tests in terms of making sure you're able to provide. the other thing we're doing, other data and analytics that have been mentioned, to explain what that means is, and that's moving from a pay-and-chase model to a prevention model where what we're able to do is take those data and analytics and when we can go at them. the final thing we are doing is the information sharing. that is across the parties here and also the state. when providers have committed medicare fraud, we are giving that information to the state to prevent them from serving in medicaid. the states run those programs. with all that said, we will always try to do better. we have new tools that we are using aggressively. >> are you confident you have all the tools you need to respond to a supreme court decision on the affordable care act?