the speaker pro tempore: on this ote --

the speaker pro tempore: the mendment is not adopted. the question is in the amendment on the nature of the substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. accordingly under the rules, the committee rise es. the speaker pro tempore: mr.

chairman. the chair: the committee of the whole of the state of the union has had under consideration h.r. house nd pursuant to the resolution, reports to the bill back to the house in the amendment adopted. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h.r. 5931 and pursuant to house resolution 879 reports the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule, the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded? if not, the question is ordered. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. > mr. speaker, i ask for a

recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: cash payments to the government of iran and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. >> mr. speaker, no. the speaker pro tempore: is this it? the ayes have it. >> mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this five-minute vote of passage

of the bill will be followed by five-minute votes on motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5037 and the motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5798. this is a five-minute vote. ? [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 254. he nays are -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 254. the nays are 163. the question is on the vote of

the gentleman from georgia, mr. carter, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5037, as amended. on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 597. h.r. 5037, a bill to authorize the establishment of a program of voluntary separation incentive payments for nonjudicial employees at the district of columbia courts and employees of the district of columbia public defender service. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 413. the nays are one. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from georgia, mr. hice, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5798, on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5798, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 1101 davis street in

anston, illinois, as the abner j. mikva post office building. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 39 , the nays are 22, one recorded as present. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask that the clerk be

authorized to make technical corrections in the engrossment of h.r. 3951. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. wosmede. >> i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet on mopped september 26, 2016 when it shall convene at noon for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. o ordered.

the speaker pro tempore: the

ouse will be in order. the house will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. who seeks recognition for one-minute speeches? for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. paulsen: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. the gentleman will proceed. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, last weekend an act of terror took place at a st. cloud, minnesota mall and the attacker was shot by an off-duty officer.

thankfully none of the victims were killed and all expected to make full recoveries. americans do face threats and unarmed ction of the officer stopped it. he is a hero for his bravery and selflessness. our law enforcement officers put themselves in harm's way and deserve our respect for the decisions they make each and every day. mr. speaker, the safety of our citizens must remain a top priority and i will work to ensure that our law enforcement agencies do have the resources to protect american lives. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? mr. coffman: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for

one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. coffman: i rise to recognize the service of an extraordinary high school world history teacher, mr. john y emp e that i had 44 years ago when i was a stupid at central high school in aurora, colorado. mr. john y emp e inspired his udents by making his history alive in the classroom and intellectual curiosity about the world around us. his personal story of having grown up in china during the imperial japanese army invasion of his homeland and his squept service as a translator with the flying tigers gave him a depth of understanding when it came to describing the dynamics of

global events. a great nation cannot exist without great teachers. nd mr. john yee is among the best. will thank him for the public education. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are instructed to take their conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from wyoming seek recognition? mrs. lummis: address the house for one minute and revise and stepped. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. lummis: thank you, mr. speaker. it is a tough week for wyoming. yoming is the land of high mutitude, we have the smallest population and we are one of the largest states in

the nation. everyone matters. this week we lost two of our favorite sons, some of our most impressive people. brian scott was killed in a motorcycle accident coming back from a shriner's celebration. he was the voice of wyoming. he gave his time, talents and energy to raise hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. his heart was as big as his gigantic frame and his deep voice on the radio in casper, wyoming, he was a dear friend and i will miss wim with my whole heart. on the same day, we lost our anahy who served

as a chief of staff here in washington for over 20 years. flip came out of municipal government in wyoming as did our senior senior. they loved the communities in wyoming and they worked hard so many years. i thank them and we will miss them with all of our hearts. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? >> seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and resize and stepped. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i stand in support of national read with a child week, which is organized by the children's reading foundation to promote early literacy development. the first few years are critical to the acquisition of skills

which are cornerstones of social and academic development. i firmly believe that all children deserve an education. mr. newhouse: unform many children face significant barriers to achievement. as recent research shows that three-quarters of fourth graders from low-income families are not proficient in reading. we are leading the way in supporting the early childhood literacy ap preparing all children for success in school and throughout their life. read with a child life which takes place september 18 hive 24 is highlighting the importance of early literacy and join me in supporting this initiative and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection recognized for one minute. mr. lamalfa: the obama administration is advancing something under the council of environmental quality on the social cost ever carbon. this will be undertaken while doing impact studies. the administration claims it is trying to advance more oil and gas using those reserves to further help the energy economy in this country. they are advancing this which they claim has not been adopted but some federal agencies are using this to block this and other important infrastructures. this is another tool to stop needed energy policy or infrastructure projects that need to be done. we cannot afford to have these

regulators use this policy that hasn't been adopted to olympic projects that are needed in ural areas for energy economy, nonreliance on foreign energy and the jobs that are desperately needed. . is is a wrongheaded approach mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. carter of georgia for today after 3:00 p.m. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the request is granted. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i move that the house be adjourned. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. the house is adjourned until monday until morning hour debate. >> today in the house, passing the iran cash payments bill and also the employee stock ownership measure. in the senate today, they worked on a number of issues, including the continued resolution to fund the federal government through -- past the end of this month and also through december 9. let's take a look here at the details about that continuing resolution. tweeted about this.

the first public text was released only eight days ago. let's focus on two things first, the length of it, which would focus the government through december 9, and also the zika funding. >> basically, the continuing resolution keeps funding levels at 2016 enacted levels, last year's levels, but because of some changes in mandatory otherng programs and types of rescissions in past years, they basically had to reduce funding in order to meet current budget law, which requires that spending be kept under certain caps, so in addition to the cr language, aide's also $1.1 billion in to combat the mosquito borne zika virus, which has raised a lot of concern in the public and among lawmakers since it has been linked to serious birth defects in infants whose mothers were infected with the virus while pregnant, and now there is land born transmission in

florida, which is creating even more worries. >> what do you know about how they are dealing with planned parenthood and zika funding? >> lawmakers have been saying for days that that issue is resolved and the details are a little bit, located, but the large contours of the deal essentially changed the zika funding so that they reimburse providers. instead of naming the types of providers that would get the funding. the mechanics of how that works is pretty complicated, but it kind of provides for both parties if they move forward the language by not specifically identifying funding for planned parenthood but giving the government the option to reimburse providers for services. hyde amendment, which is a block on abortion services using federal funds, is put in place, and i believe the legislation also specifically calls out the hyde amendment

just to specifically emphasize that no funding will go to a portion, which is a key issue in funding planned parenthood. >> what about other initiatives -- opiates, flood relief for certain states? in thiswe see continuing resolution? >> there is heightened funding for agencies that are supposed to recently passed opioid legislation authorization. a big victory for senator rob portman, who has been pushing for some type of opioid funding. million in funding that would include funding for louisiana, but there has also yearserious flooding this in texas, west virginia, maryland. one of the victories in this cr text, even though it is not considered a final deal, is that there was a mosquito spraying

position that environmental groups were just completely upset about because it would have waived a clean water permit requirement for spraying for mosquitoes, and they see that is just one chip off of a larger kind of attempt to just get rid permit entirely. that language is kind of off the table, but other problems do remain. for example, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell of kentucky has been adamant that there should eat a continued block on rulemaking by the securities and exchange commission to require publicly traded companies to disclose political spending. the continued resolution that mcconnell introduced in the senate today does not make any changes related to that provision. democrats have already cried foul about that. mikulski also was upset

that there was no aid for flint. flint, michigan, is of course dealing with this lead caused byion issue the switchover in their water supply, and democrats have been emphasizing that if there is going to be money for louisiana letting and if there is going to be money or flooding in general, there should be money or flint, and clearly, that battle was not won. >> you just touched on two not financed. what are they planning on doing about things and other issues that did not get into this continuing resolution? >> earlier this afternoon, majority leader mcconnell in the senate set of a procedural whirlwind that a lot of viewers probably do not understand the mechanics of, but the broad take you need to understand is that he set procedure in motion so that there is less ability for individual senators to slow down movement on this continuing resolution. andtors and house members

the white house are going to engage in negotiations over the the senate has set up a possibility of a vote to move forward on some type of deal as early as monday. there has also been what is known as martial law put in place. that was put in place last night, and it is basically a rule rarely used that allows a bill to be considered by the all house immediately after the rules committee, which controls all legislation that comes to the floor. essentially, what could happen is the senate could -- let say they have a deal on monday -- tacit immediately, send it to the house, it immediately goes to the rules committee and house members could right after that the continuing resolution, send it to the president, because everybody wants to get home and campaign

or the election. >> possibly a vote on monday. you helped out in an article with an interesting image. one of the highest ranking democrat on the appropriations committee, barbara mikulski, was busy putting on her lipstick while senator mcconnell was doing the island. what is the view of senate democrats, and is her take on it they weree approach taking? >> that was a classic moment for barbara mikulski. it's one of the things she does before she is about to the publicly, but it was kind of an interesting moment because the procedure mcconnell was engaging in takes a very long time to lay out verbally, but everybody is just kind of going through the motions, and mikulski was armed and ready to stand for her ella democrats and talk about the things that are not included in the text that has been laid down, but this is a significant move, and there is a degree of

cooperation you can and between republicans and democrats because the stakes are extremely high. if there was to be a government shutdown, which would occur -- a partial government shutdown would occur after midnight on september 30. that could just have a ripple effect with constituents who are trying to decide who they want elect to congress in november. nobody wants government to shut down, but as usual, congress is down to the wire deciding how they want to fund the government, and a lot of it comes down to these political .attles about other provisions continuing the government funding has not really been the biggest issue. zika, other add-ons -- policy writers that are kind of slowing things down. >> we will keep our eye on this. thanks so much. dentaltor mcconnell has that procedural vote on the 2:15nuing resolution for

p.m. eastern time on tuesday. you can watch that live on our companion, c-span2. c-span's "washington journal" live with policy issues that impact you. north carolina republican congressman mark walker talks about the upcoming government his support of, donald trump in the presidential campaign and north carolina's role for the key battleground in november, and centers for american progress legal progress vice president on the recent police involved shootings in north carolina and oklahoma. the debate over police tactics and efforts to overhaul the criminal justice system. c-span "washington journal" live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern right a morning. join the discussion. protest inolence and charlotte, north carolina, attorney general a rhetoric lynch took questions from

protesters on the shooting that sparked the protest. she also talked about the shootings -- the bombings in new york and new jersey. this is about 40 five minutes. -- 45 minutes. attorney general lynch: good afternoon, everyone. i hope everyone's day is going as well as mine. turn tot, before we today's announcement, let me address the recent events in charlotte, north carolina. keith lamontath of is under localte investigation. we are aware of the tragic events that resulted in his death and the department of justice and fbi are currently

monitoring that matter. row,he second day in a protests in response to mr. scott's death took place in charlotte last night and for the second day in a row, those protest were marred by violence, this time leaving one person on life support and never will individuals injured and also a reminder that violence often only begets violence. the details of what happened last night are still under review by local authorities, but today, the department of justice is sending or members of our community relations service to charlotte. our office of community oriented policing services has also offered technical assistance and support for crowd mediation to local police. office standsi ready to assist local law enforcement as well. but let me also speak to the state of north carolina. a beautiful state, a great state, and my home state. i know that these are difficult times, and i know the events of recent days are painfully

unclear, and they call out for answers, but i also know that the answer will not be wound in the violence of recent days. let us all seek a peaceful way forward. most of the demonstrators gathered last night were exercising their constitutional and protected right to peaceful protest in order to raise issues and to create change. we need your voice. we need your passion. we need your commitment. but i urge those responsible for bringing violence to these demonstrations to stop. theuse you are drowning out voices of commitment and change, and you are ushering in more tragedy and grief in our communities. the tragic events in charlotte and a tulsa, oklahoma, earlier this week once again have underscored the divisions that persist between law enforcement officers and the communities that we serve, particularly communities of color. one of my top priorities as attorney general has been to do everything in my power to help deal those divides, and the

department of justice will continue working tirelessly to protect the rights of all americans to give law enforcement the resources they and to do their jobs safely they really, to open dialogue, to promote reconciliation, and to reduce violence of all kinds in this country. but as we have seen in recent months, despite these efforts and despite the efforts of many others across the country, we have come together with thoughts and prayers far too many times for victims of violence, civilians and law enforcement officers alike, and too many times, we have allowed ourselves to be pulled down the easy path of blame and accusation, rather of empathyer path and understanding. let us choose that path. let us work together to ensure all americans have both a voice and value in this great country of ours. and let me reaffirm my full commitment and the full commitment of this department of justice to advancing that effort.

and to those who are exercising that most fundamental of our freedoms, we hear your voices, and your pain. law enforcement officers who continue to risk their lives in and day out to keep us safe and to protect those essential freedoms, i extend my deepest thanks and support, but while he, i urge all americans to ask themselves what they can do to contribute to the more peaceful, the more perfect, and the more just union that is our shared heritage, that is our mutual responsibility, and that is our common goal. you, and moving on to the announcement of this afternoon, i am joined here today by principal deputy assistant attorney general then mizer, the head of the justice department's civil division. i am also joined by u.s. attorney for the eastern district of new york rub capers as well as the acting director of the treasury department office of war and assets control, john's.

chief -- the chief postal inspector, and the associate director of the division of marketing practices at the federal trade commission. we are here today to announce a series of major law enforcement actions against companies and individuals who are involved in mass mailing schemes that have defrauded literally millions of americans. the actions taken by the department and our agency partners include bringing criminal charges, filing civil injunction complaints, imposing economic sanctions, seizing criminal proceeds, and executing search warrants. these actions represent significant steps in the federal government's ongoing efforts to protect the american people, especially the most vulnerable among us, from fraud and exploitation. now, every year, americans receive tens of millions of fraudulent solicitation letters. many of these letters, for example, falsely claim that the recipient has won cash or

valuable prizes. and in order to collect these benefit the letters say, the recipient need only send in a small amount of money for a processing fee or taxes. but the perpetrators of these mass mailing schemes are targeting elderly individuals and those in vulnerable situations and their activity the activities we're here to talk about today have cheated americans out of hundreds of millions of dollars. this fraud is massive in scale, it is global in scope, and it can be devastating on an individual level. the schemes involve a complicated web of actors located across the world. the actions announced today include criminal charges in a civil injunction action against a turkish resident whose direct mail schemes defrauded u.s. victims out of more than $29 million. they include a seizure warrant against a bank account of a canadian payment processor that laundered money for more than

100 mass mailing fraud campaigns and an order dez egg nating the payment processor as a significant transnational criminal organization. they also include a consent decree that would impose a permanent injunction against two so-called caging services in the netherlands which received and processed the victim payments. and also tracked victims' personal information. the companies and the individuals named in these actions operated different parts of mass mailing fraud scream schemes in different parts of the world but they all acted with the same malicious intent. to take advantage of elderly individuals and other vulnerable citizens. the actions announced today are the result of the tireless efforts of the men and women they have civil division's consume brother text branch. also from the u.s. attorney's office for the eastern district of new york, the treasury department, the u.s. postal inspection service and the federal trade commission.

together, we are deploying the full range of tools at our disposal, including administrative, civil, and criminal actions against those who commit fraud. and in the days ahead, we will continue working together to protect the american people from exploitation. but we cannot succeed alone. in this area, we need the public's help also. indeed, the best defense against these types of scams is public awareness. and that is why the department is also collaborating with seven federal agencies and numerous nonprofit groups on a public education campaign to combat this fraud and protect our nation's seniors from financial exploitation. if our sit -- because our senior citizens should be enjoying their retirement not financing some fraudster's lifestyle. we've developed material to educate consumers an care givers about how to identify these mass mailing scams. we need your help.

in looking out for our friends, our neighbors, an our family members who might be at risk. if you do suspect a scam, we are counting on you to file a complaint with law enforcement. you can file this complaint, literal i -- literally online at ftccomplaintassistant.gov. together, we can stop mail fraud. once again, let me thank and commend all of our partners in this effort. i'm now going to turn the podium over to mr. john smith. john? mr. smith: good afternoon. i'd like to thank the attorney general and the department of justice for the opportunity to discuss in greater detail the u.s. department of the treasury's role in today's multiagency action to combat attempts to victimize u.s. citizens through mail fraud schemes. let me begin with some context

for today's action. in 2011, the white house announced president obama's strategy to combat transnational organized crime. which aims to protect americans from transnational criminal organizations and activities. as well as to safeguard the u.s. financial system. as a result, the president signed executive order 13581, authorizing treasury's office of financial control or ofacs, assisting transnational ornyizations and those who support them. today we took action under this executive order to protect america's most vulnerable. the group as a significant transnational criminal organization. with operations in canada, ireland and the united kingdom, and subsidiaries or affiliates in 15 other jurisdictions, pacnet is the third party payment processor of choice for

perpetrate yrs of a wide range of mail fraud schemes. they have a nearly 20-year history of knowingly processing payments related to these fraudulent solicitation schemes, which result in the loss of millions of dollars for u.s. consumers. it's international -- its international corporate and financial infrastructure allows it to launder and move money while obscuring the ownership of funds belonging to its clients. despite many notifications it has received as part of the legal proceedings against fraudsters over the years, pacnet nonetheless has continued to knowingly process pames for numerous companies that are actively involved in widespread mail fraud campaigns. in order to hold key individuals and entities of pacnet's global network responsible, ofac is also designating a global network today of 12 individuals and 24 entities across 18

countries. the 12th -- the 12 individuals designated by ofac serve as executives or directors in several linked companies simultaneously and in some cases provide specific guidance as to how to hide the ill list nature of the operations or deceive financial institutions with which they interact. the 24 companies designated today comprise a group or are ebtities under control of pacnet executives or other companies. as a result of today's action, all property and interest in property subject to u.s. jurisdiction such as bank accounts and financial transactions of those designated individuals and entities are blocked or frozen, meaning the title to the blocked property remains with the designate person and authorization from ofac is required to access or

transact in that property. u.s. persons are also generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the individuals and entities designated today. as the terning mentioned, ofac carried out this designation in conjunction with u.s. and foreign partners. in particular they coordinated this action with the consume r branch of the u.s. department of justice and the u.s. postal inspection service. ofac also received substantial assistance in this investigation from the united kingdom's national crime agency. in order to disrupt, dismantle and defeat the significant transnational criminal organizations that threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the united states, treasury will continue to collaborate with our domestic and international partners and use its authorities to respond to the evolving nature of transnational organized crime. with that, i thank you and turn it over to mr. cottrell of the u.s. enforcement service.

mr. cottrell: as you just heard the attorney general talk about the results of the investigation, it's not a victimless crime. fraud not only victimizes people by robbing them of their money and shattering their sense of financial well being, it hurt theirs dignity and sense of self-worth. postal service receive complaints about these scams from kir gave -- care givers, victims and diligent postal workers. we try to stop the schemes an we have an act i interdiction program to identify these mailings and stop them at our borders before they ever get into the united states mail. in this mass mailing fraud operation we find three different, yet simple, scams. sweep stakes, lottery, and psychic. here's how they work.

skeep stakes and foreign lottery scams are similar. victims receive a solicitation in the mail claiming they won a prize, such as a large sum of money, cash, luxury car. or they've won a lottery prize, maybe not the top prize but a hefty second place prize. these winnings are actually depicted in large, bold type, or by a colored picture of a luxury automobile. all the winner has to do to claim this prize is pay a nominal processing fee or a small amount for taxes. but they're not winners. the letters come in very attention grabbing envelopes designed to lead you to believe that you actually have won something. however, no prize is ever delivered, no prize ever existed to begin with. the winning letter was just like millions of other letters that when out in solicitations and mass mailings to hundreds of thousands of victims around the world at the same time. for most individuals, once they've mailed in the small fee

and received nothing in returning they soon realize they've been scammed, but some, especially vulnerable older americans, keep believing they've won and they keep sending in more money. in some cases, the scammer takes -- then takes the relationship to the next level, increasing his or her grip on the victim while emotionally isolating them from friends and family. often, victims are told not to share news about their win wgs their families, at least not until they receive their big check. once the scammer start he doesn't stop. scammers demands -- the scammer's demands are relentless. they get -- victims get bombarded with more and more solicitations as their demographic information is rened or sold to more scammers. the psychic scam gives a different twist. scam start whence victims receive a highly personalized letter purportedly from a sigh tick or clairvoyant who claims to have had a specific vision about that victim. and is either predicting impending good fortune or warning of immeant -- imminent

doom. the fortune teller claims to be able to ensure the good fortune will arrive or ward off bad omens but only if their instructions are carefully followed. these instructions typically include some ritualistic task such as holding a specific piece of paper in their hands and then returning it to the psychic for a reading. of course the victim is also asked to pay some symbolic sum of money for the psychic to perform their work. but there is no specific or individual premonition about the subject. no matter how personalized these solicitations are produced in bulk and mailed to hundreds of thousands of victims around the world at the same time. as the scam moves forward,villes typically pay an amount of money for a special good luck item. specifically tailored to bring them good fortune. when postal inspectors conducted a search in connecticut, they found a warehouse full of these special good luck tokens, medals and trinkets. they were typically purchased

for less than a dollar from a company overseas and sold to victims for up to $45. millions of victims around the world fall for these scams. in the u.s. we see hundreds of thousands of victims every month. what's more tragic is the same victims are lured into buying these schemes repeatedly. sometimes mailing pames on a daily basis. and the losses are staggering. in the u.s., these schemes result in the loss of more than $100 million per year. globally, the loss is considerably more. some victims have lost everything. some have sent money to these schemers instead of paying their living expenses, such as rent, utilities or even for medicine. victims have become estranged from family member who was tried to intervene to stop the victims from can'ting to send money. so what are we doing to stop this victimization? these civil enforcement actions are intended to stop the schemes of these operators and service providers.

we will continue to investigate and pursue additional charges against these operators and service providers. also, our efforts to stop mail from going to these foreign operators is having a dramatic impact, saving thousands of american citizens millions of dollars. the law enforce. and civil injunction efforts are just a part of our initiative. we believe that consumer education is the best defense against these scammers. we can't arrest all these con artists, preventing the crime is critical to our mission. our outreach includes media campaigns, television news segments through our consumer alert news network, designed to make viewers aware of the various fraud scams that can victimize them. so how can people protect themselves from fraudulent solicitations in the mail. don't send the payment. you never have to pay to enter a legitimate sweep stakes. pay attention to your loved ones. early detection is key. take note of the mail they receive. if you notice stacks of mail

from isicks or solicitations for prizes, sweep stakes or lotteries, that's a red flag. take action. thank you. ms. lynch: thank you so much to our partners. questions? >> seems clear from some of the events in charlotte that a lot of police -- a lot of resident there is don't trust the local police account of what happened and what is happening. i wonder, what would it take for the justice department to take over that investigation and does that sort of lack of trust about the local investigation play into that calculus? ms. lynch: we're monitoring the situation now. it is being investigated locally. we are very aware of it. every case is different. i'm not going to be able to outline for you what would make us open a full investigation in charlotte or when that might occur. but what i can say is we are monitoring the situation and we're very aware of the issues, including the issue that you raised of trust between law enforcement and the charlotte

community as well. >> top law enforcement official, a lot of people are asking why is it police in new jersey were able to neutralize a terror suspect that kept him alye, preserved him for trial and questioning, but this week in columbus, charlotte and tulsa, black citizens were shot and killed in routine police interactions. do you have any insight into the differences? ms. lynch: i think that's a question i've certainly heard from citizens on the ground, from residents of those communities who have compared the situations and i think that while we always say of course every case is different, when you are in that community where you feel that someone a member of your community, was not given that same consideration, that's going to ring rather hollow. that's not going to be a satisfactory answer. but we're not able to compare all of the different situations, you know, line by line, action by action, item by item, except to say that this is a matter of

great concern to the department of justice. obviously the terrorism investigation is proceeding apace as well and that defendant will be brought to court and hopefully we'll learn more about his motivations. with respect to the recent police shootings, we are looking very carefully at all of them. we're more involved in tulsa, for example. we're still monitoring the situation in charlotte as other jurisdictions across the country as well. when we talk about the issues of, at least when i've talked about the issues of law enforcement's relationships with the communities we serve, one of the most important aspects of that relationship is, of course, trust. we see it frayed, we see it broken in many communities. one of the ways we've been trying to rebuild that trust is by trying to break down barriers or silos between law enforcement and the community and get them to rebuild the relationship in areas that may not be connected to those shootings. for communities, for example, to be involved in police procedures. to be involved in police training.

when my community -- on my community policing touring i've been highlighting jurisdictions that have been doing that. for example, fayetteville, north carolina, has a program where community residents as a group are actively involved in suggesting policies to the police department about body cameras. other jurisdictions bring members of the community in and show them how they train law enforcement. both so the community members can learn how police officers are trained, but they can also offer input and tell police officers how their perception of those actions. because we find the lack of understanding on both sides of that equation. so this area obviously, the specific cases we have to deal with what happened with the loss of life of these individuals and determine how to best proceed and bring answers to those families. on a larger issue, one of the ways, as i've said, is to get communities more involved in police activities, in police training, also in terms of

opening up police departments to communities. we've seen successful situations where police departments will in fact open themselves to the community, come in and lock at our officers. we're going to post online who everyone is. their demographics. so that you know us. we're urging that type of accountability and transparency as well. and finally, we're also supporting police departments as they themselves take action in these cases. i think it's very, very important for people in the community to see law enforcement be accountable to the community. >> do you support the policies being so different across the country, will is there a role for the department of justice to come in and try to make it more uniform? ms. lynch: the role we have been trying to play and have been playing in a number of ways has been through, for example, through our civil rights division. if we are working directly with a police department, either collaborative reform or an investigation, often we're focusing on use of force policies.

we also through the cops office have established a procedure where many law enforcement agencies come to the department and ask for assistance. they ask for review of their procedures. often use of force but sometimes others. and what we will try and do as well is to look at police departments of a certain size and demographic and match them with other police departments that navigated those waters before so they can have that peer relationship and mentoring relationship and see what has been found to be effective and accepted by both the police department and those community members. and so we've been working very, very hard on that. both providing that support, where asked, when requested, and through our constitutional policing practice. let me turn to pierre, then i'll come back. >> madam attorney general, having grown up in north carolina, give us a sense of your personal reaction when you see some of those images unfolding from your home state. how do you feel?

ms. lynch: i can tell you, i did grow up in north carolina and i also know charlotte rather well. so i, like most people, watching it, i was tremendously saddened at the loss of life. i'm awaiting information so we can make fuller evaluation of the specific incident and when we see protests, when we see individuals coming out, i feel that in charlotte, as in so many cities so many jurisdictions, people are protesting the specific situation but also protesting the more general and often larger sense of a lack of connection to law enforcement or to the community overall. so it's with a great sense of sadness and pain that i watch that. but also with a great sense of hope that by expressing those views, particularly the peaceful protests that we saw before violence broke out over the last

two nights, that their voices can be heard and that they in fact can have those -- can have their views factored into local government, state government, the issues writ large. working with north carolina on a number of issues, and so i think overall it's important that all the residents of that state feel they have a way to express themselves and that they also have recourse when they have concerns. >> it's clear that there's a lack of trust there between some members of community and the police department. thus far the police department is refusing to release body cam video. should that video be released to at least calm the situation and let people know what exactly happened? ms. lynch: i'm not going to give specific guidance to the police department right now since we're monitoring the situation. i think what we have seen, however is that in situations where information is released, even when that information is painful to watch or difficult to see, certainly from a personal perspective or for the family member of someone, that the act of providing greater transparency is more helpful than not. but i can't speak to the

process. that the charlotte police department is undergoing. for example, i don't know if they set up a procedure to in fact release the tape. i don't have that information right now. and so we again are monitoring that situation and where we have seen more information being provided that usually helps the situation. again, we're watching -- again, watching anyone lose their life is always going ton painful. they may have set up a protocol for that -- protocol for that, may have a procedure for that. certainly that's something we're willing to provide insight into. right now we're monitoring the situation but it is a local investigation. >> in charlotte three year ago, there was a police-involved shooting under sort of similar circumstances and it attracted a degree of local attention but we saw zero community unrest like what we're seeing right now. i'm wondering, if your perspective as attorney general, is it your sense that the anger is probably rising in this nation, or is it more that

there's a template that's now been developed in the last two years in which protests and occasional violence actually tend to follow these shootings in a way that when you were in brooklyn you might not have seen in years past. ms. lynch: people in brooklyn do protest as well, they'll definitely tell you what they think. i think the people raising their voices in charlotte should speak for themselves an they've been doing. so we welcome what they have to say because that's an important part of this national dialogue. so i won't try and speak for them and explain why they took an action this year as opposed to a few year ago. i do think that we have seen in the national debate over these issues attention not just to the specific shootings that have occurred or the officer involved shootings that have occur bud a discussion within the community about the larger issues. more and more questions about the significance of a particular shooting and what you heard people, at least with the media

reports people asking last night about what does this mean for how our police view us. what does it mean for how people think about us. those larger questions seem to be at the heart of the actions over the last two nights. but again as i said, i think that you know, the protest movement in this country is one of our most protected freedoms. it is in fact our first amendment. and it is one in which people express their views and hold up a mirror to society, to those of us who are entrusted with ensuring that we're living up to the greatst ideal of society. and so the peaceful protest movement is apparent one in this country and it's an important one for bringing about change and raising issues. and i think you've also seen throughout the country, however, people expressing their views and concerns on similar issues. and it has in fact spurred a dialogue. it has helped this debate. this is a painful debate.

these are painful times. difficult things to talk about. whether you are a community member, whether you are a community member who is also a member of law enforcement. but we are having those discussions across the country. i've been involved in them. literally sitting at the table with law enforcement and community members, latching how they have found ways to come together and hoping to share those ways with other communities so they too can come together an work on these issues. ultimately at the end they have day people do realize that the support and health of a city depends on everyone. residents and law enforcement alike. >> are you an advocate of proactive stop and frisk policies? do you think they have a role in reducing gun violence? are they part of the policies that have led to unrest? and did you have experience in your time in brooklyn in how that was sorted out.

ms. lynch: i'm not an advocate or not an advocate of a policy on that, particularly one that's now become part of the political debate and dialogue. i don't comment on things that have become part of that issue but i can tell you in new york, i think people know the history with the review of stop and frisk policies and how that practice was implemented. in a way that was not help to feel community trust and to frankly, public safety and enhancing the relationship between law enforcement and community members and so a number of modifications were made to the policy within new york. obviously police officers are able to stop individuals if they in fact have arctic labble, reasonable suspicion that they're involved in suspicious activity. the issue with stop and frisk in the new york area was the widespread, indiscriminate use of that practice, particularly when it was not generating

success from a law enforcement perspective in either leads or tips or firearms and the resulting lack of trust that it generated. as with every police procedure, we want to empower law enforcement to be responsive to community needs. we want to empower them to protect the community and we want to give the information and training that they need in order to do it in a way that is constitutional, safe, and in fact promotes trust. that's not really a yes or no answer, sorry for that >> in the new york bombing case, the suspect bought, allegedly, many of his parts for the bombs online from ebay. is the government engaged in any sort of review of its tripwire programs to see if they need to alter or tighten anything as far as tripwires go for online purchases? ms. lynch: with respect to that case because that individual has been charged and will be presented in court soon, it's an active, ongoing investigation

i'm not able to give you a response on the specifics of that except to say that of course as with any case where we are looking at a methods and means of obtaining either explosives, firearm, whatever was used in something, we'll be reviewing the ways in which suspects gained access to that. >> we're seven week away from an election. there's been a lot of stuff in the news about russian actors and other actors trying to influence the election. i wonder what the justice department is doing to prevent fraud, prevent hacking of the election system are they doing things different this year that maybe they didn't do four years ago or eight years ago? ms. lynch: with respect to cybercrime in general, it's a priority of mine, something we're always focused on. with the hacks recently disclosed this past summer, those investigations are on going as well.

we take it very seriously. we're always working with individuals who find themselves involved in this to both gain information about any kind of disruption, give them the tools they need to stop a disruption or stop information from being taken, and we also look at all types of infrastructure. most recently as has been reported the department of homeland security has reached out to all 50 states and offered assistance in reviewing their electoral systems to determine if there are vulnerabilities to offer assistance essentially because that's an important part of our process. we have confidence in the electoral system in the states. i know that the f.b.i. director has noted it's because it's primary very old now a dated system. sometimes planned obsolescence can work for one. in this regard it's something we're taking very seriously and we're pursuing all avenues there as well. i think the difference in recent

years is that the hacks we are seeing now are coming close to an election. they are targeting political entities or people, you know, again, and so that's something that we at least was not seen, was not publicized in recent years but it's something we take very, very seriously. >> striking with the cybercrimes theme. it was reported today that emails belonging to a white house hacker were purportedly leaked on the internet and that there was apparent copies of mrs. obama's passport and other internal documents. is that something the justice department is looking into and has d.o.j. been able to authenticate any of the information? ms. lynch: we're aware of those media reports, it is something we're looking into. i don't have any specific information for you at this time.

we are aware of those media reports. there was one in the back who didn't get to ask something. >> he came to the united states back in 1995 as an asylum seeker. should there be, should something break in the system when someone sought asylum in a country returns to that country, going back to afghanistan, that didn't seem to happen in this case. ms. lynch: the asylum process runs through a series of -- series of vetting and review and ultimately someone comes in. foreign travel is recorded. when people are aware, we're able to go back and look at travel records for people as part of a normal course of travel records. it would depend upon again how close it was, if someone was, for example, in the middle of seenging asylum. it's hard so say with regard to this specific case what different that would have made. what i will say with regards to the defendant, rahemi, is we're still engaged in actively

reviewing everything that we can find out about this individual, his connections here, his kecks overseas, that would include travel that would include any contacts he may have made durk travel to see how they would also factor into the events he stands charged with. thank you all. >> bookkeeping on c-span2, 48 hours of nonfiction books, authors, every weekend. on saturday, but tv will be live from the 16th annual laboratory's national book festival held at the washington

convention center in the nation's capital. it includes author interviews and we are taking your calls live. notable authors include bob woodward in his book, the last of the president's men. congressman tom was in his book, march. and ken burns, author of grover cleveland again. a treasury of american presidents. interviews with featured offers -- authors. candace miller, author of the hero of the empire. a daring escape in the making of winston turtle. john meacham with destiny and power. the american odyssey of george herbert walker bush. on black flags, rise of isis. and the witches. salem, 1692. join us live this weekend from the 16th annual libra congress national book festival on c-span2, but tv. get the complete schedule on book tv.org.

>> state medicaid directors from across the country will talk about health care costs. a discussion hosted by the group medicaid health plans of america. we will have that live at 10:00 -- 10:45 a.m. eastern time. after delivering a letter to attorney general loretta lynch, demanding action, congressional black caucus leaders held a news conference outside of the justice department. they spoke for about 40 minutes. >> let me say good afternoon to all of you and thank you so very much for responding very quickly because this is an urgent matter that we want to discuss with the nation today. the congressional black caucus is outraged with the dozens of unlawful police shootings taking place all across america involving unarmed, innocent

african-american citizens. if we were to identify each of these, it would consume this entire press conference. there are dozens of unlawful shootings of unarmed african-americans. enough is enough. one is too many. tensions are very high in communities of color. state and federal authorities must intervene to guarantee a solution. the federal government including the executive branch and the legislative branch must place the full weight of the federal government behind the elimination of unlawful police shootings. there must be a national standard regarding the use of lethal force, body cameras, and other technology must be required to depict the events surrounding a police encounter. we must have better training for police officers and identify and remove those officers with a propensity to overreact in

situations. and the department of justice must aggressively pursue investigations, indictments, and, yes, prosecutions against any and all law enforcement officers who harm or kill innocent, unarmed african-american citizens. in a few moments, ms. waters and myself will deliver a letter from the congressional black caucus to attorney general loretta lynch demanding federal action now. thank you. at this time i will yield to congresswoman waters for her comments. ms. waters: thank you very much. members of the press, you may be wondering why the black caucus made the decision to come here today given that these killings and these shootings have been going on for so long.

i want to give you a little bit of the background. of course today again our hearts are burdened as we mourn the loss of several unarmed black folks who have died at the hands of the police. the list ranges from in recent times michael brown, eric gardner, tameer rice. joe crawford. walter scott, freddie gray, sandra bland, la kwan mcdonald, alton sterling,er if lando castillo, and now to tyree king . 13-year-old boy shot dead last week in ohio for carrying a bb gun. terence crutcher who was killed in tulsa, oklahoma, with his arms raised standing outside of his vehicle. lastly, just the day before yesterday, kenneth scott, who was killed in charlotte, mecklenburg police killed a disabled man. and so mr. king is the third high profile shooting of a black

man who was killed by having a weapon while residing in an open carry state. mr. crutcher's car had broken down on the side of the road. he should have been able to call police for assistance. instead a police officer took his life. lastly, the family of mr. scott has said that he was reading a book while waiting for his son when he was shot by the police. now, each of these names have been added to a long list that continues to grow while our policing remains the same. the killing of unarmed black men and women by police is a crisis. it is an emergency. and it is not just affecting those victims and families of those who were killed, it is affecting every black man and woman who wonders when they or someone they know will be killed next. it is affecting every resident of the city that erupts in protests after each killing. it is affecting the police

officers who must continue to protect and serve without the trust of the community. it is affecting each of us who have born witness to these killings for years and fight against the feelings of despair and hopelessness as history continues to repeat itself. lastly, it is affecting our entire nation as the divide between the lines for people of color widens in this country. so we must do something to end this assault on our community, on black men and women and children, the conversations, the studies, and the investigations are now just not enough. so, black citizens must be in the leadership and must be afforded the right to equal protection by law enforcement. and we must commit as a nation once and for all to end these killings. so, yesterday at our regularly scheduled luncheon for the black caucus, as we sat there trying

to do business, we decided we just couldn't keep going on business as usual. we couldn't just have our lunch and talk about an agenda that really does have to do with a lot of our work while our minds and our hearts are so heavy about the killings of all of these men, women, and children. so we decided at that moment that we were going to take an extraordinary step. that we were going to leave the house of representatives and we were going to come here to the department of justice and we're going to deliver a letter. we're delivering that letter to the attorney general. and basically that letter is one that asks her for something very specific. and i will share that with you. dear attorney general lynch, on behalf of the members of the congressional black caucus we come to you today to urge you to

aggressively pursue investigations, indictments, and prosecutions through the office of civil rights against any and all law enforcement officers who harm or kill innocent unarmed black men, women, and children. in 2016, 173 black people have died at the hands of the very law enforcement officers who have been sworn to protect and serve. our citizens have prayed, they have rallied, they have held press conferences, insisted on better training by police departments, and demanding the use of body cameras to record the actions of law enforcement officers. meanwhile, many of the victims have held their hands high and cooperated. yet law enforcement officers have not been deterred from targeting, profiling, and killing black people. even when body cameras are worn,

the technology utility is thwarted when officers lose, drop, or fail to turn on their cameras and the incidents are still not recorded. without these video recordings, we hear the same excuses from police officers justifying the killing of black men and women such as he, and i quote, oh, he appeared to be reaching for a weapon. he appeared to fit the description of someone that just committed a crime in the area. oh, i feared for my life. law enforcement officers only seem to offer these excuses after killing black people. it is time for the department of justice to take aggressive action and put an end to what appears to be the targeting and profiling of black people that result in their deaths. offensers enjoy the presumption of credibility whereas victims endure the presumption of guilt.

for too long this dynamic has helped to protect law enforcement officers from being brought to justice. we demand through investigation within a reasonable time that something is done. we will not continue to ask our constituents to be patient without any hope for change. madam attorney general, you have the unique opportunity and constitutional responsibility to change this narrative. we believe that every person whose civil rights may have been violated is entitled to a full and complete investigation by the department of justice. we demand an expansion of pattern and practice investigations into rogue police departments and greater transparency in the process by which the determinations on these investigations are made. we also demand that victims have the right to request independent

investigations, autopsies, and prosecutions. the recording of police confrontations and killings by citizens who document these incidents with their cameras and cell phones and share them through social media have provided you with more evidence than ever before to prosecute these cases and ensure these -- those who were responsible are brought to justice. the members of the congressal -- congressional black caucus will not rest until we have determined that you are using the full power of your office and performing the fullness of your duty to bring about fairness and justice to victims, families, and communities who have suffered for far too long at the hands of law enforcement. americans of all backgrounds have mobilized to express their outrage and fear that our country has lost its way. the world is watching.

and these killings cannot continue to go unaddressed or ignored by our government. madam attorney general, you have the authority and the resources to address these matters. we urge you to aggressively utilize all that is available to you and your office to ensure these killings do not continue. this letter has been signed first by myself and g.k. butterfield, chairman of the caucus, but all members of the caucus are signing this letter that mr. butterfield and i will deliver to the attorney general as soon as this press conference is finished. we're serious about what we do. we will not be deterred from our actions, and we look forward to a good response from the attorney general. i will turn it back over to g.k. butterfield. mr. butterfield: recognize mr. meeks of new york.

mr. meeks: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm actually both saddened and frustrated that we have to stand out here today. we feel the frustration of all of the people in charlotte and in tulsa, oklahoma, and all over america. no american should have to fear the people who are sworn to protect them. anyone who has ever lived under that fear understands, as i do, how deeply disruptive that is. and how truly frightening that is. and what it does to the soul of a community in the conscious of our nation. let me just say this, a couple times i have been talking to some reporters. and i have heard some of my colleagues who are not here, they have asked the question,

where's dr. king? my response to them, dr. king's soul and essence is in every peaceful demonstrator that's on the streets. because that's the king will be demonstrating. today we see the kind of attack that apparently happens to unarmed black men and women with no transparency. dr. king marched on washington, d.c., to get those answers from -- to get the protection from the government. we're here today because when you look at the lack of transparency that is taking place in many cities in our nation, we believe the answer to end that is in the hands of the attorney general of the united states. and so we're here today to try

and to tell the attorney general that within her power we can send a message to all of the municipalities and police departments where overwhelmingly we agree 98% of them are doing great jobs. but we want to make sure the transparency where someone has committed an act of violence against someone who had their hands up as we clearly saw in tulsa, because in this case everything that one teaches one to do, put their hands up. i tell everybody in my neighborhood, you stop, put your hands up so everybody can see where they are. and yet and still we have somebody that's dead. we need the attorney general to act. we need her to act now and the members of the congressional black caucus are not going to

sit back and do nothing. we're going to make sure we push for legislation. we'll be calling on paul ryan to come up with legislation that we can work on and put forward to change this. in the meanwhile we want the attorney general to utilize her powers as the attorney general. mr. butterfield: the ranking member of the committee on judiciary in the house and the dean of the house of representatives, mr. conyers of michigan. mr. conyers: thank you, mr. chairman. brothers and sisters, there have been so many incidents that the root causes that are tied together with social racism that brand too many black citizens as predators and police practices that treat them as potential perpetrators breeding disrupt

between law enforcement and community they are bound to protect. so responding to this destructive cycle requires a broad approach. as we stand at the doors of the department of justice, i must commend attorney general loretta lynch and her team from the civil rights division for so far being on the job, but we need more action now. using the pattern and practice enforcement authority under the law, 42 united states code 14141, the department has got to investigate and soon more departments to address the dangerous and discriminatory practices that result in

excessive force or racial profiling. now, this statute has been used successfully across the nation. from ferguson in baltimore to reduce the number of police involved shootings in targeted cities. and it's illustrative of the positive effect of legislative reforms. last year in the midst of a record wave of officer-involved killings, the judiciary committee held a hearing on 21st century policing strategies to begin addressing the issue of law enforcement accountability at the federal level. since that time, we have also formed a bipartisan working group with the chairman, republican chairman bob

goodlatte of the judiciary committee, and we'll be meeting this afternoon to develop a plan to get police reform legislation through the congress. i commend all of my colleagues for being here. the struggle continues. i came to the judiciary a number of years ago because of the fact of police brutality and excessive use of force. so i'm pleased that we're standing so strongly together at this point. thank you. mr. butterfield: thank you, mr. conyers. congressman cedric richmond from the state of louisiana. mr. richmond: it was just around three months when we all

gathered to talk about the death of if i lando castillo and alton sterg in baton rouge, louisiana, and minnesota. and now we're gathered here again to talk about the death of two african-american males that people so easily dismiss. from two football fields in the air, a guy in a police helicopter so easy to describe a person as a bad dude. from two football fields in the air there is probably describing this black caucus as a group of bad people. but we stand here today sad, frustrated, and angry but we stand here today as a caucus of people who have the right to

introduce legislation and the right to vote on the floor of the united states house of representatives. and we will use our resources to do everything we can. often we're called the conscious of the congress. today i wear that badge. this is wrong. and the nation needs to stand up. the nation needs to feel the anger of those young people on the streets. because when you truly believe you have nothing to lose, you are willing to lose it. so we're calling upon our attorney general to use the force of her office to make sure that we expand the use of pattern and practice investigations to make sure we look at the issue of police brutality everywhere. and i will close with a very simple phrase that everybody questions, do black lives matter. every, every black life matters.

and we will do everything we can to make sure that justice is transparent and that justice is served. i want to thank our chairman, g.k. butterfield, our dean, john conyers, and maxine waters from california for putting us here on this corner at this time so that we can tell the country to wake up and join with us to stop this atrocity. thank you. mr. butterfield: thank you, mr. richmond. next is congressman hakim jefferies, state of new york, city of new york, the borrow -- borrough of brooklyn. mr. jefferies: let me thank congressman g.k. butterfield, and maxine waters for their tremendous leadership on this extremely important issue. we have come a long way in america, but we still have a long way to go.

exhibit a is the police violence epidemic that continues to engulf the land. all throughout the united states of america, in the north, south, east, and the west innocent law-abiding african-american men continue to be killed by police officers using excessive force without justification. what more does america need to see to understand that we have a problem? this is not a black issue or white issue, a democratic issue or republican issue. a police issue or a civilian issue. it's an american issue. this country has promised liberty and justice for all. but far too many people in our community are left asking the question where is the liberty and where is the justice? because often police officers who take the lives of

african-american men and others without justification escape accountability. far too often the police department closed ranks around these officers and protect them rather than expose the wrongdoing. that is why we're here today to ask the department of justice to step in as an independent arbiter to do its job in making sure that officers are held accountable whenever they take the life of someone without justification. local police departments are unable to do it. local prosecutors are unable to do it. the department of justice must step in and do its job so we can turn the situation around once and for all. mr. butterfield: thank you, mr. jefferies.

our next speaker is congresswoman adams, alma adams, from charlotte, north carolina, which was the location of the most recent tragedy a few days ago. congresswoman alma adams. following that the last speaker will be congressman ellison, from the state of minnesota. ms. waters: g.k. butterfield and i are going to have to depart and go meet with the attorney general. she has a time problem here and we have to honor that. but g.k. is going to ask, i guess, mr. meeks, to come -- first vice chair. to to come and engage you in a question and answer period and maybe we'll be able to rejoin you. thank you.

ms. adams: good afternoon. i heard it last night if there is no justice there is no peace. martin luther king said a long time ago there comes a time when silence is betrayal. i returned to my district in charlotte, north carolina, on yesterday afternoon and i met with local clergy there. and i also met with members of our city council and our mayor, and had some brief text conversations with our police chief. and i come today wanting to ask the attorney general along with my colleagues to step in. when i ask the citizens in charlotte last night what did they want me to take back to my colleagues here, they said to tell them that we need the attorney general to step in and

to use her power to help make change that we need. we lost chief lamont scott on -- two days ago when he was shot and killed waiting to pick up a child, waiting in an apartment complex that was close to the university. and we have had a lot of violence in our community and i'm saddened about that. because people should have an opportunity to protest and to protest peacefully. that's what many of the residents were trying to do last night. there is a controversy about what's on the tape and whether or not that video is going to be released. i want to call on our chief and our -- all of our public officials in local government there to really make sure that

we have a clear process, to make sure that we're transparent with the people. the national guard has been called in to charlotte and we regret that. we regret that. don't think it should have gotten this far, but i come today pleading for not overwhelm peace for my community but communities all across this country and to say that as a mother of a son, as the grandmother of two young men, i believe that we need to act and we need to act on this quickly. there's been too much, and now the black caucus has come and i'm just proud to stand here with my colleagues today after only three hours of sleep last night, but i'll be going back to my district on this evening. thank you very much for being here. i want to thank my colleagues and all -- the leadership here, those who have not only led this effort today, but enabled all of us to come together in a way we know we need to because clearly

if there is no justice there won't be very much peace. mr. ellison: let me just point out that all of us here, each one of us have sat with families who have lost loved ones to violence, including police violence. in my own district. filando castillo killed. his mother's grieving. his girlfriend's grieving. this young man was a lunchroom supervisor and all the children at the school he worked at are still grieving. i'm sure terence crutcher's family and everybody who loved him is grieving and keith lamont, scott's family will be grieving as well. when we come to the community and we say, look, we're going to fight for a change in law, we're going to make sure the law is enforced, we're going to pass the law, we're here to put pressure on the attorney general to make sure that the law's

enforced, you know what? the community says to us, what if the law is not obeying the law? that's what they tell us. they tell us at community meetings across this country why don't the believe have to respect us if you're demanding we respect them? we tell people, comply, obey the law, do what you're supposed to do, we'll fix this thing the right way. i want to know will the system, will the criminal justice system from top to bottom, will they help us make law enforcement obey the law? as you're asking us to restrain community at the end of the day no justice, no peace is not a threat, no justice, no peace is a simple forecast of what's going to happen if there is no justice. so communities erupt, everybody wants to judge and point a finger, but who is willing to do something now to protect the next person from police violence and protect the next community from when they just erupt they

cannot take it any more? so it was the current commission of the 1960's that said every one of these riots are sparked by an ugly interaction between police and community. we have had it. we want community to know that we're responsive. we hear your voices. we're going to do everything we can do. thank you very much. ms. clarke: i'm congresswoman yvette clark, first vice chair of the congressional black caucus. we want to open up at this time to the press for any questions you may have. our colleagues have already entered the building to meet with attorney general loretta lynch, but we're here united as a caucus to answer any questions that you may have at this time. >> what do you say to people that -- ms. clarke: what we would say

history has already shown us in 2016, 173 unarmed black people in the united states of america have lost their lives at the hands of law enforcement. >> have congressional republicans made any commitment -- ms. clarke: i'm going to have congressman bobby scott. mr. scott: the frustrating thing about this issue is unlike others, we have a problem in there are specific things we can do. we talked about introducing legislation that we have introduced legislation and we have actually passed legislation. the death in custody reporting act which requires the department of justice to collect all data on deaths in custody, deaths in jail, and prisons so

it can be analyzed. so we know what to do. that passed with the support of the republicans. passed on a voice vote in the house. and unanimous consent in the senate. that passed two years ago. it hadn't been implemented. we need to start that. that's one thing we can do. the other thing is legislation pending, ift introduced legislation with significant republican support, the safe justice act, which includes training for police officers in bias, deescalation, how to avoid profiling. there's also legislation that's pending and sheila jackson lee can talk about that, how we can upgrade the police forces. there are specific things that we can do, a lot of it has bipartisan support, where we just have to take action. ms. jackson lee: thank you so very much. i am likewise proud, sheila jackson lee, ranking member on the criminal justice committee, but on the police working group that is established by democrats

and republicans as john conyers indicated, with his leadership and that of the chairman goodlatte, and other members which includes hakim jefferies and as well robin kelly and as well considered as read rick -- cedric richmond among others. we'll meet this afternoon again to discuss the reality of police community relations. here is the answer to have republicans done something. we have the ability to do something by passing the legislation on the floor of the house. right now i would call it an immediate crisis of large proportion, catastrophic proportion, man-made disaster proportion, that a law enforcement integrity and honesty bill must be passed now. we're doing a number of things as mr. scott said, productive things, going into communities and trying to address the cancer of violence. but at the same time we must

have a meeting of the minds of the distinguished law enforcement of this nation whose lives' lost we mourn juxtaposed against mothers who mourn, the numbers of black sons continuously and to answer the question, the numbers are not small. they are large. because they continue. and i don't know if i go to sleep tonight whether will i wake up tomorrow and there will be another shooting. the only way we bring peace and justice is that they listen to the congressional black caucus. the working group pushes to the floor of the house, that is voted on with the help of the u.s. department of justice and there work and to the senate and signed by the president of the united states. that is what will be an answer of republican and democratic working together on solving at least the idea of solutions on the constant innocent deaths of those unarmed by the hands of law enforcement or in essence under the authority or under

cover of law. that is what we must cure. that is what i call a response of republicans and democrats. mr. richmond: a lot of what we need has already been drafted. mostly by members of this caucus. whether it's criminal justice reform or the police accountability and integrity act, which is authored by john conyers. but the additional factor in this in the working group will work on will be the resources we

need to institute true community policing and to train officers better and to focus on deescalation tactics. most of the legislation that we need has been authored by members of this congress and the list is very long on the pieces of legislation that we have. >> trump said he would implement stop and frisking because it worked well in new york. what are your responses to this? ms. clarke: i am a new yorker. the federal government felt otherwise. the federal courts have ruled it inconstitutional to stop and frisk americans. we would ask donald trump to bone up on his knowledge what is constitutional and what is unconstitutional. >> donnell trump is a national

embarrassment and i'm looking forward to november 8 when this national nightmare will end. he constantly rolls out things that have no basis in reality. for years stop, question, and frisk was implemented in new york and it had nothing to do with the decline in crime. hundreds of thousands of innocent law-abiding individuals, most of whom were african-american, were stopped, questioned, and frisked, embarrassed, detained, humiliated in some cases brutalized, often without justification. according to the nypd own statistics, 90% of the individuals who were subjected to stop, question, and frisk encountered did nothing wrong. no gun, no drugs, no weapon, no contraband, no crime, nothing at all. so the notion that stop and frisk had anything to do with the improving public safety numbers in new york is ludicrous.

and donald trump needs to check his facts. >> on donald trump, this is supposed to be his alleged roll out to get closer and more african-american votes. for donald trump he's doing, he's done it throughout, he's tried to present a stereotype of african-americans that fits the description of some of the individuals who support him or deplorable so that they can turn out in this vote. so he's not going after them because he knows that coming from new york that one of the most divisive things that took place in new york was the stop and frisk tactic. so he is doing this, needs to take our country back from who and where? make our country great again? it's great now. when was it greater before? what period are you talking about? so you listen to everything that he's done. and you look he brought up his friends, don king, who he knows

how don king think he knows, because he said he's been his friend for years, he's a care kaczur, just like trump is . they're two peas in a pod. and we are going to make sure that donald trump does not implement the kind of unconstitutional law enforcement that the judge rules in new york city. >> thank you, everybody. >> the c-span radio app makes it easy to continue to follow the 2016 election wherever you are. it is free to download from the apple app store or google play. get on their coverage and up to the minute schedule information for c-span radio, and c-span colleges and -- television and broadcast time for our popular

programs. stay up-to-date on all of the election coverage. c-span's radio app means you always have c-span on the go. keli major joint is. she is a reporter with roll call. details about the funding of big government past september and the status of the continuing resolution. you tweeted about this. it would focus the government through december 9 and zika funding. >> with the continuing resolution, a funding levels at 2016 enacted levels. last year's levels. because of some changes in mandatory spending programs and some other types of decisions past years, they had to reduce funding by little bit under half a percent. that is in order to meet current budget law which requires that spending be kept under certain cap. language,n to the cr

there is $1.1 billion to combat the mosquito virus which has raised a loss of concern because it has been linked to serious birth defects by mothers infected. and now there is land for transition in florida -- lamborn transmission and corridor. land-borne transmission in florida. lawmakers have been saying that the issue has been resolved and the details are a little bit complicated. the large contours of the deal change the zika funding so that they reimburse providers instead of naming the types of providers that would get the funding. the actual mechanics are complicated. it kind of provides a solid for both parties if they move forward with the language by not

specifically identifying funding for planned parenthood by giving local government the option to reimburse the provider for servicers. which is aendment block on abortion services using federal funds to my believed legislation specifically calls out the hyde amendment just to emphasize that no funding go for a key issue in giving money to planned parenthood. >> some of the other provisions? opiates, flood relief, what do we see here? a heightened funding for the agencies that are supposed to implement oh. authorization -- opiate authorization legislation. senator rob portman has been pushing for some type of opioid solution. you saw a blast amount from his office about this. it also contains funding. $500 million for flood affected

and disaster aid for flood affected states. that includes funding for louisiana. there has also been serious flooding this year in texas, west virginia, maryland. one of the victories in this cr, even though it is not considered final, is that there was a mosquito spraying british in that environment the groups were completely -- provision that environmental groups were clearly upset about because it would have wage clean water requirements. they see that as one chip off of a larger attempt to just get rid of the issue entirely. that is off the table. other problems remain. senate majority mitch mcconnell has been adamant that there should be a continued block on a roll making by the securities and exchange commission to require publicly traded

companies to disclose political spending. the continuing resolution that mcconnell introduced to -- does not make changes related to the provision. democrats have cried foul about that. senate appropriations committee's top democrats also are upset that there was no a for point. t.flin they deal with the lead contamination issue. democrats have been emphasizing, including harry reid, that if there's going to be money for louisiana flooding and flooding in general, they should be money for flint, michigan. that battle was not one. -- won. flint, whatfinance, are they planning on doing about these issues? >> majority leader mcconnell set

up a procedural whirlwind that a lot of viewers probably don't understand the mechanics of. the broad take is that heats the procedure in motion so that there is less ability for individual senators to slow down movement on this continuing resolution. andtors and house members the white house are going to engage in negotiations over the weekend and procedural clock in the senate has set up the possibility of a vote moving forward on some type of deal as early as monday. in the house, there has also place.rtial law put in that was put in place last night. it is equally is a rule change rarely used that allows a bill to be considered by the full house immediately after the rules committee which controls all legislation that comes to the floor produces a role for the legislation. what could happen if the senate,

let's have a have a deal on monday, passive immediately and sent to the house and it immediately goes into those committee and house members could right after that vote on the continuing resolution and send it to the president and get out of town because everybody wants to get home to campaign in advance of the november elections. >> possibly about some of the. you helped him out -- helped out on article with an interesting image. , she was busyki putting lipstick while senator mcconnell was doing all of filing. what is the view of democrats and is her take on it the approach they are taking? >> that was a classic moment for barbara mikulski. she takes out her lipstick sometimes before press just onees and it is of the think she does before she comes up to speed quickly -- speak publicly. the procedure that mcconnell was

engaged in takes a very long time to lay out verbally but everybody just is going through the motions. toulski was armed and ready stand for her fellow democrats and talk about the things that are not included. it is a significant move. cooperationegree of that you can sense between republicans and democrats. the stakes are truly high. that there was to be a government shutdown, it would occur after midnight on september 30, that is -- would have a ripple effect with constituents trying to decide who they will elect in november. nobody wants the government to as usual, congress is done to be wired on deciding how they want to fund the government and a lot of it comes down to these political battles .bout other provisions

continuing the government funding has not really been the biggest issue. the other add-ons, zika, policy riders that are slowing things down. >> we will keep our eye on this. thank you so much for the information. budget reporter for cq roll call. >> thank you. >> senator mcconnell has 2:15uled the boat for eastern time on tuesday. to watch that live on our companion network, c-span2. state medicaid directors from across the country will talk about health care cost. a discussion hosted by medicaid health programs of america in washington dc. we will have that life at 10:45 a.m. eastern. one of the headlines and politico, house panel votes to hold clinton tech a brine poly on no in contempt after he was

called before the house oversight committee and opted not to testify. he was responsible for setting up the private server during hillary clinton's tenure as secretary of state. the hearing and debate over holding him in contempt runs just over an hour. >> this is a continuation of our september 13 hearing on th preservation of state department records. pagre scheduled to have mr.

liano attend. due to his absence in violation of a subpoena that the committee of oversight and reform, we intend to adjourn this hearing intimately convene a business meeting to reconsider a resolution and report holding him in contempt of congress. mr. cummings, to have a statement? ay, this is no surprise to anyone. his attorney told us last week he would not be here. they told us it would be an abuse to force them to appear for a second timbefore congress just to assert his fifth amendment rights. he sent us anoer letter last night saying exactly the me thing. let me read from one portion of the letter. there is no question about what is going on here. have a correspondent -- corresponded extensively with

you over the past two weeks on the subject. e attacks have not changed. -- the facts have not changed. you and the committee have been told from the beginning that mr. pagliano will continue to assert his this intimate rights and what the client to answer any questions to him by the committee. the letter explains that he arty search of the fifth amendment right before the benghazi select committee and she -- he should not be forced to do so a second time letter continues, a subpoena issued by the congressional committee is required by law to serve a valid legislative purses purpose. there is none here. circumstances,nt ain, asserts his constitutional rights in front of the camera six weeks before

the presidential election the trays a naked political agenda motion.hers no valid nightfull letter sent last , suggesting be entered into the record. i've nothing else. >> without objection. the hearg is adjourn. the committee on oversight and government reform will come to order pursuant to committee role five the. itay postpone further proceedings on any question of approving any measure othat or adopting amendment on which a recording vote negates2 -- authorized to declare a recess at anytime. the resolution and report recommending to the house of representatives to find brian in contempt.

the first and only item for consideration today is a resolution to report -- recommending the house of representatives find him in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with subpoena duly issued by the committee oversight and governnt rm. the clerk will designate the report. find him in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with the subpoena duly issued by the committee oversight and government reform. >> intend to offer an amendment in the nature to the substitute to the reported thout objection, we willall it the amendment in the nature of the substitute. i will recognize mysf to give one statement. the clerk will designate the amendment. >> and the nature of a substitute offered by mr. jacobs of utah sure it's of utah -- theschiff it's -- congressman from utah.

today, the committee will consider a resolution recommending he be held in contempt of the house of representatives. subpoenas are not optional. is a crucial witness in the use of hillary clinton's private e-mail server to conduct is this. the release of the federal record is of deep concern to the committee. we have the jurisdiction over federal records and jurisdiction over national archives. we have three section over several places. over the course of the investigation, wlearned some of the information about mr. pagliaro's involvement. the originally worked for secretary clinton and the 2008 presidential campaign as an i.t. specialist. as he was closing out her campaign, he received a call fromustin cooper who testified before this committee last week. he requested that mr. pedley on

clintonrver for ms. in early 2009 at she started her new job as secretary of state. several months later in march of 2009, the two men met in the basement of clinton's residce to install a new server. andontied to monitor maintain the server while secretary clinton was at the state department. server, het up the joined secretary clint at the ate department as a appointee in the beer of information management. of information management. he was required to report to a presidentially reported position but there was no appointee to the bureau of information resource management making his employment arrangement unusual. other employed in the view -- employees question his buddy to come -- full-time government employee. he left the state department in

february of 2013, the same month as secretary clinton. even though he worked at the state department for almost four years, the agency has been only able to add a handful of e-mails. we have questions about that. his e-mails are federal records. just like secretary clinton's. subject to production and response of the freedom of information act request. committee has prediction about the federal records act. we have a long record of oversight and investigative legislative work. subpoenaed him to a hearing on september 13. he did not show up to the hearing. qualified toly provide testimony to help the coittee better understand secretary inton's use of a private e-mail server. this is derstandle. i also make clear that the committee would consider all options regarding his failure to considerationng commended he be held in

contempt. the committee heard several hours of testimony from mr. cooper was also involved in setting up secretary clinton's e-mails. mr. cooper explained a lot. we appreciate his participation. throughout the ttimony, mr. cooper routinely refer to him as the individual more appropriate to answer questions who knew more about the server. it was clear from his testimony that his words, no ours, that we need to hear fromr. p. the attorney asserts because his client to the fifth, he should not be required to provide testony to this committee. that is not a good faith argument. it makes no sense for a number of rsons. first, the select committee jurisdiction is limited. it only relates to september 11, 2012 in benghazi. is brought andon includes both legislative and oversight of the federal records and freedom information act.

questions about these topics alone are well outside the purview of the select committee investigation. secretary clinton's e-mails and were subject to both of the laws. he could expand what he knew or told.e was he could tell us whether they were considered by him or others in setting up secretary clinton's private e-mail server. the testimony could ovide importantnformation inforng legislative reforms but the committee may want to concern -- consider ensuring that this disaster never happens again. reforms may on how was able to bring the state department from marketing e-mails. another key difference, the committee had the benefit of reviewing tesmony he did provider and the interview wit the fbi. the select committee never saw that. nor was the second committee -- select committee aware of annual traveled over sector clinton server wey shen thke with him.

this committee's questions are broader and more informed than any question posed by the select committee making a comparison unnecessary. further, answering a number of these questions could never subject him to criminal liability. the department of justice has confirmed he was granted immunity before he spoke to the fbi. ey confirmed he was recommending of charges. -- no charges. he has no peer of criminal liability prevented him from answering questions for the committee. the committee recessed at september 13 hearing to give him another chance to testify. to clear up ambiguity created by his six lawyers about whether they would confirm service of the prior subpoenas which they refuse to do, we have u.s. marshal personally serve him.

once again, he failed to show the committee cannot operate, perform nor can any committee of congress is subpoenas are ignored. we'reeft with no choice but to consider this resolution report recommended a household him in contempt of congress. recognize the ranking member, mr. cummings. >> thank you very much. committee held a very important hearing on a very critical iss that matters to me and the american people. prices ofng prescription drugs. members on both sides of the island joined together to examine these abuses in a truly bipartisan way. exactly theally --

kind of investigation are committee should be conducting and that is the kind of investigation the american people would want us to conduct. today's spectacle is just the opposite. this is nothing but a blatantly ontisan republican attack the democratic candidate for president of the united states of america. it undermines the integrity of our committee. it makes our constituents disgusted. today is our fifth day of emergency hearings. hillary e-mails -- clinton females in the past three weeks. past threein the weeks. fifth day of emergency hearings.

on hillary clinton females in the past three weeks. -- e-mails in the past three weeks. the chairman has issued an astonishing 12 subpoenas. if we don't count weekends, that is more than one a day. it is also more than a third of the total number of subpoenas issued in all of 2016. an emergency hearing. he issued every single one unilaterally with no debate. question, artillery clinton's e-mails worth a third of the committee's attention? of course not. what is the emergency? as far as i can tell, the only emergency is the election approaching in a few weeks. i suppose the republicans could argue that since the clinton is

running for president, the american people should know everything they can before entering the voting booth. if so, i asked a simple question, where is our investigation of donald trump? his potentially fraudulent business practices, his campaigns potential connections to russian hackers, what about that emergency? foundation's illegal campaign donations? pay to play schemes? paying to settle corporate debts. the answer is obvious, the he is focused exclusively and on secretary clinton and that is for political reasons. i do believe that this is an abuse of authority and taxpayer dollars to inappropriately affect the presidential election.

there is one key fact that everyone needs to understand about today's vote, mr. probably paglionaartly on a -- has are deserted his fifth amendment right on this topic. he did it in person in front of on thechairman gowdy benghazi select committee. this critical fact is not mentioned anywhere in this contempt resolution. you can search all you want, you will not find it. why is that fact so crucial? it demonstrates there is no legitimate legislative purpose and forcing mr. buckley on a -- liono to assert his fifth minute rights a second time. there's no legitimate purpose to

enforce them to do it again in public. to do so could open the floodgates for every republican on capitol hill. committee members may not know this, but unless friday, u.s. marshals, yes, u.s. marshals into his workplace to personally serve a second subpoena for his appearance before the committee. the committee could have sent a staffer in a cousin tie but they sent federal marshals with guns. the served no purpose but to harass and intimidate mr. pag liono. the chairman awarded this action in secret without even notify the democratic committee members of his plan. an emergency going on here. it is secret. no consultation. secret.

no debate, secret. secret,-- vote, emergency. these actions are the definition of abuse. they are harassment. i believe that they are unethical. i've said it before and i will passiongain, i echo the of mr. lynch the spoken on the subject extensively. the committee's actions in trying to force him to come back to congress and and focused that fifthendment rights -- amendment rights raises serious legal, ethical and constitutional concerns. members should not be placed in a position of voting for a resolution that could subject staffs toeir

potential disciplinary action. the market bar association, the d.c. bar and maryland bar which i have been a member of its 1976 all have ethics rules that prohibit attorneys from taking harass or embarrass, burden private citizens. is professional misconduct. the d.c. bar's legal ethics committee warns that no attorney should compel any witness to appear in a congressional it is known in advance that no information will be obtained and the sole effect of the summons will be to pillory the witness. that is exactly what we have here. republicans may try to argue liono received

immunity from the justice department. that immunity was limited. we all had the opportunity to confirm that. that is why the court has already ruled that he can continue to assert his constitutional privileges in separate proceedings which he has done. close, what exposes the abuses for what they are, if the chairman really wanted to obtain this this amendment assertion for the record, he could have just aslosed deposition chairman gowdy did on the benghazi committee. that is not the goal here. op.blicans want a photo they want a ready-made campaign commercial. the matter what anyone says,

that is not a legitimate legislative purpose. as i've said before, i believe it to be unethical. although i strong support the committee's authority and prerogatives of the house of representatives, possibly cannot vote for resolution that is potentially so unethical that they could subject members of this committee or our staff to disciplinary action for all these reasons. either to members to vote no on this resolution. ask him hisike to consent to enter into the records of the correspondence we had with the attorney. without objection. any member which to speak on the amendment? >> i do. mr. mike of florida. difficult when you

have to hold summit and contempt for a vote. again, i have to refer to my years on the panel and the senior member, what we do here in this committee, ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues, one of the most important things that anyone has to do in our government. hundreds ofsent thousands of incredible people that are working, struggling to make a living, pay the taxes, raise their families and retire someday. they sent us here to make certain that the constitution laws of the land are upheld. we have one of the most important responsibilities in this committee to see that just that is done.

ability and authority under the constitution gives us the right to demand the individual,f any particularly those involved in government activity and legitimately ask questions of them. requested inn was a proper request to appear before us. we had others who came at that same hearing and came and they had the same opportunity to exercise their fifth amendment right. they took the fifth amendment. five and wasn the in contempt of this committee. we can't make this government work. we cannot function if people will not adhere to the

constitution and the rules and the basic ability of the congress to talk to these people. ,e could have come here immunity or not, it doesn't make any difference. he would not be denied his fifth amendment rights. he could have expressed that here. option, youave an will destroy this committee. you will destroy the congressional oversight process. when it is a republican or democrat, was into this. it does not matter whether it is chairman tickets or chairman cummings, we cannot have people come here and deny the right under the constitution for us to question. they may not want to answer. they have that right under the constitution, just like we have the right to question them.

again, this is very fundamental to the process. content -- contempt. he ported the laws and procedures. if you continue that, you destroy the whole basis of our government. that is the difference between our government and other governments. it is the principal responsibility of this committee . atell you, this is not partisan issue or political issue, this is an issue that goes to the very core of the integrity of our democratic and constitutional process. i yield back the balance of my time. >> any other member which to speak? the judgment for messages of. -- gentleman from massachusetts. >> it is my opinion from the course of this investigation liono has complied

from subpoena with the same information they asked today. he has been given limited use immunity. only in the previous interviews which would expose him to possible prosecution if he were to -- come i think it's reasonably predictable that he would be subject to criminal prosecution because of the onerral by this committee this matter. in essence, what is going on here is that we are engaging in decision bythe director comey not to

prosecute. that is what we are doing here. that is why the prosecutorial notes were requested by this committee and surrendered. why all of this is ongoing because this committee beyond theo legislative function we have and to have a noble review of what the attorney general has whatssed and closed and the director of the fbi has refused to prosecute. this is a violation of the separation of powers clause of the constitution. i think what we are doing here today is something that is denied to the judiciary when a prosecutor looks at the facts

and this is an extensive interview process, a review whenss investigation -- they decide that there are not sufficient back to prosecute, -- ts to prosecute, that if the decision. they can decide whether to prosecute. that decision has been made. because of the newness of the election, this committee is going where no committee has gone before to basically review the decision of the fbi not to prosecute in this matter. particular hearing to hold him in contempt really boils down to this, the chairman is ule that thehis r

witness have to come before the committee to be subjected to what the witnesses were subjected to left week. hadas total investment, we quotes of e-mails read and other evidence and forcing them to their fiftheclare amendment rights. been publicly embarrassed on tv. that is the chairman's role but that is not the law. hearings, mr. gowdy and i give him credit, in compliance with the law, he brought that witness in a closed hearing and that witness exercises that amendment right. that was the decent and fair and legal thing to do. that is not what we are doing here. we're continuing to try to embarrass this particular as other witnesses were

embarrassed last week. that is not necessary. i think it is beneath the andity of this committee piloted of the constitutional rights of the witness. that is what this boils down to. i think this contempt proceeding will have short threats in the district court. i do not think it is going anywhere. i take comfort in that fact. we are so far appealed from the constitution again in this committee. not only the fifth amendment, but also the separation of powers that we try to take up a new with this matter that has been settled by the fbi director and attorney general.

the gentleman from south carolina. >> thank you. committee,s of this they know how they're going to vote. they probably knew earlier this morning. i don't think this will change any minds. i do want to talk to the folks who may be following this back on. trying to figure out what these lawyers are arguing about. there are two separate issues. number one, whether or not you have to come when you have been issued a summons or subpoena. sitting injurye rooms right now all across this country who received a summons even though they lobby called for jury service, they may be excused or disqualified. but they still have to come. there are subpoenas being issued all across this country, firefighters and ems and police officers and doctors and

everyone else who may have witnessed anything from a crime to a traffic accident. they may not get called as a witness but they have to come. issue number one is whether or not you have to come when you are issued legal process. the answer is yes. herselfess himself or does not get to pick and choose which legal process they will follow and which one you will not. or no one would go to jury service. she number one is do you have to come. issue number two is whether you have to talk. unless your name is jack bauer, you cannot force anyone to talk. we can have a robust debate about whether or not this witness has been immunized. i read the immunity agreement, what i find interesting is the doublespeak that i hear from some of my colleagues. you cannot say doj has refused

to prosecute and this is a nothing case and then the next sentence say you are worried they are going to prosecute. congress cannot prosecute anyone for anything. nothing. the only entity in this country that can level criminal charges is the executive branch. they have artie said they are not going to do so. exposure?is criminal where is it? unless they're going to say, mr. chairman, we are worried that he's going to make a false statement before congress? that would be interesting if that is the argument. we are worried that this witness who cooperate with the fbi might tell congress something different. what, the agreement he has with the department of justice for our sin to be truthful -- requires him to be truthful. you would want him to say the same thing.

this is what i find most interesting. the department of justice has artie said they will not prosecute anybody for anything. this matter is closed. nobody is good to be prosecuted. i will bet you that agreement allows for this witness to cooperate with other entities of government. in the old days, it required that witness to cooperate with other entities of government. i will tell you why, i have sat while some of the very members to do this room right now ,rovided oversight over the fbi over national security letters. they did not give one second thought about second-guessing the fbi and the issuing of national security letters. who else would provide oversight over the fbi if not for congress ?

another's onme this committee provide oversight over the department of justice. over the prosecution of ted stevens. they have no problem providing oversight over the department of justice. that is when they don't like the outcome. when they do like the outcome, we cannot second-guess, that is the one entity that can never be second-guessed, the fbi. i find that fascinated -- thus making coin from as many criminal defense attorneys on the other side and made a living questioning the fbi. that is how they made their living, second-guessing the fbi. what you take the oath of office for congress, whatever they do, you don't want to prosecute the big banks are fbi, we are fine with that. you don't to do anything about the people who did fraud during the housing crisis, we are fine with that. upper been we ask the fbi something.

did you give immunity to the person who destroyed federal records after subpoena in place, that is a fair question. i think every member of congress would want to know the answer. >> judgments time expired. -- gentleman's time expired. the man from virginia. >> to clarify for the folks back home what this is all about, i don't know if you did that. the rising tenor of his voice of outrage was something that has gone awry. let me take my crack about talking to the folks back home what has gone awry. the tripling of your rights,: is. election not going well, presidential level, maybe we can clintonout of hillary and he might be the key to doing that.

or at least a key. marshals to to send someone's office to degrade into million him and -- and humiliate him. we will do without consultation with this half of the committee. which tells you they are up to something they don't quite want us to know about. my friend from south carolina says there's a double standard. i supported their critique of the prosecutors that they overreached and it was wrong. in my home state of virginia, i don't applaud the acts -- actions but i support the supreme court ruling that it was prosecutorial overreach and there was too much ambiguity of what constitutes