of bank of america. throughout his career with bank of america, he secured millions of new customers and paved the way for future expansion. he was named in 2007 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by time magazine, has been twice named banker of the year by the american bankers association. he has been the former chairman of the national urban league, and has been involved in every possible community cause in charlotte. large and small. and for that we do thank you for your leadership for our community. bank of america's presence is certainly felt in western north carolina in my district and across north carolina generally. the tenth district has become particularly hard hit in this chick recession and bank of america employs about 17,000 north carolinaance many of whom are my constituents and are proud to work for a strong institution and we look for stronger days ahead. thank you for your testimony and your presence. >> it's a long standing pradigs that we swear all of our witnesses

policy toward colombia and central america in general. and a 5-4 decision by the supreme court and many other decisions by this court as it wraps up for the summer recess this last day of june. "washington journal" continues in just a minute. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> how is c-span funded? >> publicly funded? >> donations, maybe? >> government? >> c-span gets its funding through taxes. >> federal funding? >> a public funding think? >> may be, i don't know. >> 30 years ago america's cable companies greeted c-span as a public service, a private business initiatives. no government mandate, no government money. >> this holiday weekend on open. >> tv." and unfamiliar side of the nation's first president as we are who live from george washington's estate with a stirring and author john ferling on the essence of george washington. join our three-hour conversation sunday on "in depth. coast -- on c-span2's "book tv." host: robert white is president of center

this is a global problem, but america is the leader. america must lead. america must set the example. this bill does exactly that. at the same time, action on global warming will spend a powerful job-creating signal to the private sector, creating jobs, jobs, jobs. a business coalition has argued that the way we produce and use energy must fundamentally change both nationally and globally and that this coming change represents an excellent opportunity for growth. that is why and other coalition of 19 businesses wrote to president barack obama that this would drive investment into cost-saving, energy-saving technologies. it would create the next wave of jobs in the new energy economy and would provide predictability that we need to plan for future business success. those are not my words. those are the words of leaders in the corporate community in america who know something about innovation, enterprise and free markets. it has long been understood that acting on global warming is a moral necessity as well as an intellectual necessity. more and more of us

despite the costs involved, america is commitment -- america pose a commitment will not weaken. none of us should tolerate these extremists. they have killed in many countries. they have killed people of different faiths. more than any other, and they have killed muslims. their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations. the holy koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent it is as if he has killed all mankind. [applause] the holy koran also says, " whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind." [applause] the enduring faith of over 1 billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few. islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism. is an important part of promoting peace. we also know that military power alone is not going to solve the problems in afghanistan by itself. that is why we plan to invest $1.5 billion each year over the next five years to partner with pakistanis to build schools and hospitals, roads and businesses , and hundreds of millions to help those lead in this place. that

the founding fathers debated what america was to become. the possibilities of america.rica was founded as an act of separation from the misdemeanors and errors of the miserable old world, it would be a new thing in the world, a place in which you could become an american irrespective of fraud or origin port nation or class, simply by virtue of subscribing to the great democratic ideal of freedom, unless you were black, something that is now at last, that disingenuous hypocrisy has been exercised. there's a sense in which history matters in america. out of the crushing tyranny, the social studies curriculum text book. part ii of our campaign, there are subscription envelops, we all just abolished social studies, we are moving on to abolish a textbook, i hope no one from mcgraw-hill is here, you are out of a job. this sense, past and present, i said, rashly, when obama was beginning campaign, and not doing very well, long before the iowa caucus which you had just seen. the person who would win the election. commanded the best story, the narrative tells the american people

pursuant to its stated purpose, the newly founded boy scouts of america sought to educate america's youth in, quote, patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kin drid values to a variety of educational, civic, and recreational programs and activities. by the year 1912, every state in america could claim a troop of scouts. in 1916 the organization received a federal charter from the 62nd congress. since its incorporation in 1910, the boy scouts of america has now witnessed the enrollment of over 111 million scouts. with scouting currently found in 185 countries around the world. former scouts and scout volunteers include a number of prominent americans. including president's john f. kennedy, george w. bush, jimmy carter, bill clinton, and gerald ford. president ford often described the impact of scouting on his career stating that, quote, without hesitation because of scouting principles, i know i was a better athlete, i was a better naval officer, i was a better congressman, and i was a better prepared president, end quote. in 2008 alone, the boy scouts of america provided educational comm

four months after that waiver was provided to bank of america, bank of america bought countrywide. which has proven to be the worst subprime lender in our nation and i would like to place in the record a report that documents that. and the question that i have is, who headed bank of america at the time the request was made of the fed to waiver that, to allow bank of america to enter into that brokerage activity? >> i was the chairman of -- and ceo of the company. >> you were chairman and ceo. >> you made the request? >> i really -- i don't know of this particular request. >> but you are aware that bank of america then bought countrywide four months later? >> yes, ma'am. i am very aware of that. >> okay. what kind of due diligence was done on their portfolio? >> we did a great deal of due diligence on their portfolio. i'm proud to tell you that we bought them and changed all of their lending practices e they are now a prime lender. they are not doing subprimes. bank of america had gotten out of subprime in 2001. we were not doing it at all. we've turned that company around to a very

chairman, the fed knew what bank of america knew? you were saying earlier with respect to bank of america, as a matter of fact, you were -- you really put it on them the responsibility to notify the s.e.c. but yet you knew, you knew before the merger was approved? >> in september -- in november? i don't -- we didn't know about the 14 billion, i'm sure we didn't know that. >> but you knew about merrill lynch's condition before you approved the merger. you -- did you not? did you not know about their financial condition of failing before you approved the merger? if you are saying no again, that flies in the face of this e-mail that came from somebody at the new york fed who is tracking merrill lynch on a daily basis. >> well, they're tracking it but it's difficult to know what the valuations are. they have to be done by professional asset managers. i was not aware and i don't think anyone else in the fed was aware of the $14 billion. >> there's another e-mail saying the fed has followed up with a request for daily p & l, profit and los

it is agonizing for america to lose our young men and women. it is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. we would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in afghanistan and pakistan determined to kill as many americans as they possibly can. that is not yet the case. that is why we are pertinent with a coalition of 46 countries. despite the cost involved, america's commitment will not weaken. none of us should tolerate these extremists. they have killed in many countries. they had killed people of different faiths and more than any other, they had killed muslims. their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and nations islam. the holy koran says whoever has killed the innocent has essentially killed all of mankind. [applause] whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind. [applause] a the enduring faith of over 1 billion people is so much bigger than the nearest -- narrow hatred of a few. isl

losses orng orng naturing at bank of america itself were larger. mr. lewis, please look at the following e-mail dated december 18th, 2008, between officials at the new york fed. one report finding on the basis on the total of 13 basis points detee yoration of the combined bank of america, merrill lynch entity, 16 basis points is due to bank of america. 14 basis points due to merrill lynch. the other officials described this as a smoking gun. isn't it true, more than half of the decline in your all important was not caused by merrill lynch? >> your apples and oranges. the securities -- >> maybe rotten apples and rotten apples. isn't it true you were told if you went through with the mac and later needed financial assistance from the government you wouldn't get it, isn't it true? >> repeat that, please. >> inthat if you went through t mac and later needed financial assistance from the government, wrnlts you told you wouldn't get it? >> i think i seen it in. an e-mail. >> give the precarious amount of your balance sheet you believed at the time you could

. >> are any of the former countrywide staff on your staff of bank of america? >> there's some stuff but nobody in executive management. >> i beg your pardon? >> we sent our ceo to run the company. >> mr. chairman it wouldn't be bad to hold a hearing on the relationship, black rock the countrywide and fannie mae and freddie mac and explore the interlocking relationships that you claim have no bearing on activities within your institution which sound very unusual as you state them before the committee today. i wanted to just in my second question here, relating to superior banks, which had the largest settlement in american history at the fdic in 2001, over $450 million as a result of their subprime activities in chicago and beyond including services by merrill lynch, which is how you would acquire the superior loans, troubled loans. let me ask you when bank of america acquired those loans, did you audit them prior to reselling them to investors? >> i'm not sure of that transaction. i would have to get you somebody who was more familiar with the transaction. >> e

this is a global problem, but america is the leader. america must lead. america must set the example. this bill does exactly that. at the same time, action on global warming will send a powerful job-creating price signal to the private sector, spurring innovation in every part of the renewable energy economy. jobs, jobs, jobs. that is one of the reasons why the u.s. climate action partnership a business coalition, dedicated to fighting climate change has argued that, and i quote, the way we produce and use emergency -- energy must fundamentally change both nationally and globally and this coming change represents an excellent opportunity for economic growth. that is why another coalition of 19 businesses, including the pacific gas and electric company, duke energy, national grid, h.p., starbucks, and nike wrote to president obama that this bill, and i quote, will drive investment into cost-saving, energy-saving technologies. and job creating innovation. create the next wave of jobs in the new energy economy. and will provide the predictability we need to

nearly enough to bring bank of america down. taxpayers now own $45 billion in preferred shares and warrants in bank of america. that money was committed by the treasury department and the federal reserve. mr. lewis is here today as ceo of bank of america thanks to the commitment of those funds through the end of december 2008 and into early january, 2009. due to the secretive conduct with the fed addressing its current financial crisis, many questions about the bank of america merrill lynch deal and bailout have until today remained unanswered. some of the key questions have been were the merrill lynch losses that precipitated bank of america's distress call to the treasury on december 17th the first such accelerating losses bank of america observed at merrill lynch since agreeing to purchase the company? did they believe bank of a america had a credible case for abandoning the deal? did the federal reserve compel bank of america to complete the deal against its will. or did bank of america's mistakes and miscalculations, more t

it's militarizes our relations with central america. what we need in central america is demilitarization. i did not mean necessarily the abolition of the military in places where it exists, but at least taking away any role they have the with internal policy and reducing their numbers. what we need now, as i mentioned before, it is some kind of institute presumably under the oas and with the united states support to train people in public administration from economic, and social development. this is what central america needs, not more militarization. host: this photograph from the associated press and siad "the washington post" as the riot police scatter -- it is not blood, but spray-painted stopped the protesters outside the presidential palace in the capital city of honduras. john is on the phone from frederick, maryland. caller: i wondering if the guest might explain what happened in honduras and how the president actually broke the constitution. and then the congress of honduras and the supreme court said he was gone. and what i wo

america -- america respects the right of all peaceful and law abiding place is to be heard around the world even if we disagree with them. and we will welcome all selected peaceful government provided they governor with respect for all their people. this last plight is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they are out of power. once in power they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. [applause] so no matter where it takes hold, government of people and by the people sets a single standard for all who would hold power. you must maintain your power through consent, not conversion. you must respect the rights of minorities and participate with the spirit of tolerance and compromise. you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. with all these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy. >> we love you! >> thank you. [applause] the fifth issue that we must address to get there is religious freedom. islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. we see it in the history

lewis is the chief executive officer of bank of america. he's responsible for more than $55 million consumer and small business relationships and $1.7 trillion in total client assets with various business and institutional clients in more than 150 countries and business relationships with 98% of u.s. fortune 500 companies. mr. lewis oversees one of the the largest financial services corporations in the world and one of the largest institutions headquartered in north carolina. born in 1947 he earned a bachelor' degree in finance from georgia state university and a grut of the executive program at stanford university. arising in 1969, which is bank of america's predecessor. he served more than 30 years within in the bank and 2001 obtained his current position of ceo. he secured millions of new customers an paved the way for future expansion. he's been named 100 most influential people by "time" magazine. he's been former chairman of the national urban league and has been involved in every possible community cause in charlotte. large and small

we must focus on solving america's problems and creating solutions for america.can people will take care of the republican party if we will work with them and focus on helping them. consider california. last november then senator obama got 61% of the vote. clearly a blue state by the current method of coloring things. but in may, stopping taxes and spending in sacramento got 64% of the vote and gave us an example of the great challenge facing the republican party. think about this. 64% of the people in california said, "sacramento is such a mess, they rejected raising taxes and raising spending." they wanted fundamental change in sacramento. 64% would be a massive majority in our largest state for a party which only a year ago got -- less than a year ago got 39%. but notice the challenge to many republicans. the referendum failed in every county. that is a majority of the voters of san francisco voted no. now, one of the challenges the republican party is are we prepared to be inclusive and not exclusive? let me be clear. [applause] >> and i say this having been

it is all about latin america. >> guest: about america including north america. the americas, because we are americans in the south. >> host: absolutely. >> guest: we are american also and yes, i was trying in to rescue the collective memory of the americas in three volumes. this was something like 1,000 short stories and this is a mad project because it is the entire world. >> host: the entire world and the entire history. i thought of kafka as i was reading this because i have been a fan but i think people associate you more with the great latin american writers and i know this is to be in the same sentence with gabrielle garcia marquez is daunting, and those are authors who are household words in the united states. in latin america you are certainly as well known as they are. and what is interesting is all three of you are journalists, and you have this kind of immediacy even though we started out with a peace and we are going to read many more pieces that was at the beginning of everything when man meets woman will you talk about all of the war, to the limit

say that they heard the bank of america was negotiating a deal with the u.s. government and to ask bank of america to explain the unexpectedly high losses at merrill lynch. you didn't direct any of those? >> i did not. >> does mr. elder is work for you? >> he does. >> he did this on his own? >> again, i would emphasize the issues at hand didn't directly involve the sec. the involved -- >> are you his boss? >> i'm sorry? >> are you his boss, mr. alvarez? >> ibm. >> what he do something like this, make this kind of statement that could cause these kind of problems without your authority? >> i didn't have any knowledge of this particular exchange, and again, the rationale as understand now having discussed with him is the agencies that were relevant to our transaction were the fdic, occ and treasury. that's the ones we kept closest and communication. [inaudible] >> the gentleman's time is expired. mr. foster from illinois? >> thank you for empirical letcher and bernanke. i appreciate -- the microphone, is this working? >> see if your microphone is on. >> is this

america is fundamentally a conservative nation. we know that our great is has been founded on strong national offense, limited government, lower taxes, the genius and ingenuity of the private sector, and a strong belief in individual freedom and responsibility. we know that government is more often the problem than the solution. we know that freedom is not free, that america's armed forces are the best fighting force the world has ever known, and finally, and most importantly, we believe strongly in american exception lissome. we know that america is the best nation on earth, the best that has ever existed. we believe in her business, her strength, her hope, and her example. for all who seek freedom in every corner of the world. those are conservative values, and those are american values. so thank you very much forhe

of america, and the accomplishments of america. and eats one of you -- he's one of you. joe began his career as an american history teacher and was in the classroom and he had the itch to have a bigger class, i think, and had this photography hobby, and turned that into a career. and he bought -- joe is a bit of a corn ball and i'm sorry for saying that, and it's true, and with the same sohm, used to call the original business chromosome. it gets worse. the mobile home he traveled around america he called the chromeo home. he didn't know when to stop. he covered every 50 states. every iconic figure of america and then some has been seen throughs hi viewfinder, initially recorded on film, now the entire sohm library has been reshot in digital panoramaics and without knowing it, you have seen hundreds of joe sohm images. i can say this with confidence, although there are no official statistics to support this, joe is the most accomplished photographer of american photography in america and his catalog is distributed worldwide. his im

but why do you say bank of america? did you believe that they really believed this was a good deal for bank of america, even know you were seeing a change which would have affected your arm's length negotiation of a price? >> well, their concern obviously was from the top and that is for the financial system. but we're so intertwooined with the financial system, they base that off all of this happening and the uncertainty coming back into the financial system, that if fact that would hurt the system and us. >> when you say and bank of america. you mean the financial system and as a member of financial system you would be affected? >> yes. >> if they went and sold it to somebody else or lowered the price and packaged it up or if merrill lunynch had gone througa bankruptcy, all of those alternatives would have been either better or at least no worse? >> yes, i can't speak to that but those would be options. but i can't speak to whether it would be better or worse. >> my last question and i'll yield to one of other members

which now owns the near majority share of bank of america. recently, the -- that had to do with the interrelationship between black rock and merrill lynch as you know. recently the fed just hired black rock to execute at least four contracts and maybe five to analyze and handle the troubled assets of freddie mac and fann fannie mae, making black rock the dominant player in pricing these distressed assets. i am concerned that black rock and its chief executive officer mr. fink may not be fair and impartial in conducting these responsibilities because they in fact have been heavily involved in inventing, creating and trafficking in those instruments for most of the last two decades. indeed, doing the risk analysis associated with them and selling billions of them to the government of the united states. so one of my questions, mr. bernanke, is do you know in what year mr. fink sold his first trench of mother-backed securities? the first was a girlon dollar. do you know what year that occurred in. >> i do not. >> do you think that's important for

america must lead, america must set the example. this bill does exact lie that. at the same time, action on global warming will send a powerful job created signal, spurring every part of the renewable energy economy. jobs, jobs, jobs. that is one of the reasons why the u.s. climate action partnership, a business coalition has argued that, and i quote, the way we produce and use energy must fundamentally change nationally and globally, and that this coming change represents an excellent opportunity for economic growth. that is why another coalition of 19 businesses including the pacific gas and electric cossak, duke energy, national grid, hmple p., starbucks and nike, wrote to president obama and said this will dreyfuss into cost saving and energy-saving technologies and job creating innovation, creating the next wave of jobs in the new economy and provide the predictability we need to play for future business success. those are not my words. those are words of leaders in the corporate community who know something about innovation, enterprise and pre-markets. -- i

bank of america was a potential partner. they decided against it and we didn't try to coerce them to do it. we didn't have the powers to save lehman and that's why they failed, very much -- we were very concerned about it and our concerns proved to be justified. with respect to the other cases, we did everything we could to avoid a systemic failure because of the risks to the system, a.i.g. was possible to address because the large insurance company provided collateral for a loan which allowed us to provide liquidity to the financial products division which was the source of the problem. after the congress passed the t.a.r.p. legislation, it was easier to address these probingdz. if we had t.a.r.m. in september we might have been able to address lehman problem. >> was it really necessary to salvage a.i.g.? i heard your explanation but -- >> i do believe so. >> they failed, they failed themselves. >> i had no sympathy for a.i.g. and particularly for the f financial products division but my concern was if they failed the conse

michael jackson loved america. he was truly a story that came from the very dreams that americans have. starting in the very bowels of the city called gary, indiana, living in a two-bedroom house, but having risen to the highest ped stalls of entertainment after. he was the king of pop and a quiet man, a man who loved to give back and a humanitarian. for those of us who remember the words of "we are the world," one of the first songs of bringing people together to be able to emphasize that we have the responsibility to others. and then the song of "man in the mirror," we can make a difference. born in 1958 in gary, indiana, he was one of the jackson 5. but he was a father, someone who would bring a face to america. i intend to introduce a resolution in honor of michael jackson, because we believe in the good and he was good. he saw our soldiers and foult against hiv-aids. he wanted to show that he cared and he did. it is my pleasure to have hosted michael jackson on capitol hill in 2004 when he came to stand agains

this is not simply about america's interests. it is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the middle east that could lead this region and the world down a dangerous path. i understand those who protest that some countries that others do not. no single nation should pick and choose who has nuclear weapons. that is why i reaffirmed america's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons. [applause] any nation including iran should have the right to access peaceful nuclear powell -- power if it complies with the possibilities under the treaty. possibilities under the treaty. that commitment is at the the fourth issue that i will address is democracy. [applause] i know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years and much of this controversy is connected to the war in iraq. but maybe clear. no system of government can or should be imposed by one nation on any other. that does not lessen my commitment, however, to government that reflects the will of the people. each nation gives

bank of america shareholders. we did have a series of rather unusual late developing facts or factors to come to light in the process of the negotiations for this agreement. i'm wondering if it would not be true that -- let me lay the predicate for this by saying that apparently the legal division apparently had an opinion that no delaware court had been found i am quoting him now that it found a material adverse affect to have occurred in the context of a merger agreement. well, one would have to know the facts surrounding those circumstances and to suppose that they could not possibly have been at the same level of intensity because we are in the middle of a national economic crisis. that aside i can understand from that that without knowing what the case law was that there was that conclusion. but couldn't a bank of america have negotiated a reduction in price with merrill had invoked the mac calls, what you think that would be the logical thing to try to do? given the obligation to the shareholders? >> first,

this is america. let's not selling down the river." >> if he is now standing advocate of prevention of global warming. it is my honor to yield a minute to him. >> i appreciated the courtesy. the last 2.5 years i the privilege of working with the select committee on global warming, driving home the reality of global change. we have a major opportunity to rebuild and renew america wall protecting the planet. i want to think the committees for working with me to harnessed billions of dollars are the life of this bill to develop transportation that reduces carbon footprints for transit and development patterns, things that will make a difference for a country that in its more carbon with its transportation then china, india, and europe combined. we of an opportunity to protect the planet. unless you are prepared to lead, china and india will continue to believe -- pollute more and more. i urge the courage to vote yes on this legislation today. thank you. >> gentlemen yields that his time. >> i yield

america cannot afford any more of this change. the cap and trade bill will cost jobs, raise taxes, raise the cost of energy, and according to the congressional budget office won't even significantly help the climate. the bill is bad for everybody except the enviro elites to get more government control over the rest of of us. what we need to do is cap the taxocrats and trade them for offshore riggs in the -- rigs in the gulf of mexico. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman fruse for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. teague: thank you, madam speaker. i want to congrat late tullah rosa high school for receiving a bronze medal in "u.s. news and world reports" annual report of the best high schools in america. this award shows that tullah rosa high school is serving all its students well regardless of their backgrounds. also this means that the school is performing well on a broad range of indicators not just one or two. and that the students l

the on guantanamo, there are enormous dangers facing america. our enemies seek weapons of horrifying danger. biological weapon systems must become dramatically morrow bust to cope with these threats and protect america and americans. after 9/11 people asked "why didn't we think of that attack?" in fact many of us had. just nobody wanted to pay attention. there is no excuse for not thinking today about the potentially catastrophic attacks that are threatening us. our current defense in homeland security budgets are simply too small and the bureaucracies are too small and too cumbersome. we have to meet short-term threats and we have to meet long-term threats. the current budget cannot possibly meet both challenges. focussen on the short-term small war threat while starving recap stallization of the navy and air force, underfunding science and contingency to pay for afghanistan and iraq is a formula for a future collapse in our ability to cope with china and russia. i appreciate what secretary gates is trying to do. it is impossible to defend this

since 2003 we have called it take back america and this year the name has been changed to america's futurenow and the reason for that change is you. finally in last year's historic election and, we to gather did take back america just-in-time. we took it back from the edge of disaster. so the people in this room deserve a lot of credit. i would like you all to give yourselves and president barack obama a big round of applause [applause] for progress is taking back america from the radical right wingers were taking the country in the wrong direction, that was just a first up. during our years in the wilderness, a progressive scanning our eyes on the prize. rebuilding our country. we worked creatively to build strong new coalitions to advance bold economic agendas for prosperity and opportunity and democracy. and in the process, in the process we build a strong progressive movement. in 2006 and again in 2007 candidate barack obama came here and spoke at take back america and after putting his own stamp on what we were talking about here, candidate obama took our progressive change agenda int

[applause] islam has also been a part of america's story. the first country to recognize our story is morocco. they signed a treaty in 1796. our second president john adams wrote the united states has in itself no character against the loss, religion, tranquility of the muslims. american muslims have enriched the united states. they have a thought in our wars, served in our government, stood for civil-rights, started businesses, taught in our universities, excelled in our sports arenas, won nobel prizes, build our tallest building, and lit the olympic torch. when the first moslem america was elected to congress he took an oath to defend the constitution is in the same hole in dhahran that one of our founding fallers, thomas jefferson -- the same holy koran that one of our founding fathers, thomas jefferson, had in his library. [applause] i have known isislam on three continents. that experience? my conviction that a partnership between america and islam must be based on what it is not what it is not. i consider part of my responsibility as p

lewis, you said that you had added that bank of america are reviewed. you could be in breach of security laws. the government did not believe you that merrill lynch was the primary cause of the problems and thought merrill lynch's losses were more significant than bankamerica was experiencing. the government even thought that you are making the threat to move mac as a bargaining chip. the government had already given you $25 billion before you approached it about merrill lynch. if the government believed all of that about you and your management team, were you surprised that the fed arranged for you to receive an additional financial support in january? it did that surprise you? financial support in january, does that surprise you? >> we received 15 billion, not 25 billion from the original t.a.r.p. package. it did not surprise me they were willing to give us more. we talked about coming to a solution to get the merrill lynch deal done. >> there was a financial crisis and they thought it was necessary -- unanimous consent for twoore minutes. >> without

god bless the united states of america. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., june 25, 2009. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable kirsten gillibrand, a senator from the state of new york, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: robert c. byrd, presidet pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: madam president, with the senate chaplain, admiral black, standing by, we all listened to the prayer of one of our jewish brethren from las vegas, rabbi harlig. the chaplain, i'm sure, was pleased with the prayer. those of us here were pleased with the prayer. it was a w

america but central america and south america, and this is an expansive vision. can you give any examples of anybody -- i would like to look into this later. >> i was thinking of joseph galloway, the pennsylvania politician, speaker of the house at the pennsylvania assembly, 20 years before the revolution. benjamin franklin's political partner, they cobbled together the quaker party, dominated pennsylvania politics during the 20 years or so before the revolution. galloway was the head of pennsylvania's delegation to the first continental congress, but the war broke out before the second continental congress, he was elected to that congress, refuse to serve. he wrote a pamphlet in the fall of 1774 col they can examination and the really long name after that. another pamphlet came out in spring of 1775, he makes that argument in both of those pamphlets, that we would be better off remaining tied to great britain. then we would if we become independent. in the introduction, something that came out in 2003, a meet in the park, that was not galloway's phrase but it wa

at the wind quote it is about america including north america, it is the america is because we are americans in the south. >> host: of some of the. >> guest: the languages suppress but we are american and also. i am using the collective memory of the americas in the three volumes. this is much more ambitious. because it is the entire world 87 the entire world and the entire history. i have been a fan but i think people associate you with the great latin american writers and i know that to be in the same sentence as others is daunting but others that are household words in the united states but in latin america you are certainly as well known as the they are. and what is interesting is that all three if you are journalist. and you have this immediacy even though we start off with the piece and we will read many more, at the beginning of everything when man meets woman, you talk about all of the wars, all of the cultures, the development of humankind and a the scope is amazing and daunting. i thought we would do and the autobiography before we go on with the book. of course, your name has been

above all, america is a nation of inclusion. a country nourished by its rich tradition of diversity and its tradition of immigration. this is a nation unapologetic of its deep faith in god. like you, i treasure my face. -- i treasure my face. it has sustained my grandparents when they entered this country as poor immigrants. it sustains me as i go about my duties as a member of congress, as it has been, and a father, and an american. i grew up in a jewish community in richmond -- in richmond va.. we valued charity, justice, and acts of loving kindness. i have seen how much good a religious community can achieve when it extends a welcoming hand and resolves to lift people up. for those who still doubt the faith based communities that ability to lift our society to a higher plane than would exist without these groups, just ask the students at asper runs the academy charter high-school. at a school district with a 43% latino dropout rate, the high- school graduated 628 of its six honored 30 students. [applause] -- 630 students. mak

government to the bank of america.importantly there was no commitment on the part of the government regarding the size and structure of the transaction until very late in the process. hall do it indicated to bank of america in december that the government would provide assistance to keep the company from being to stabilize as it did then in cases during this time of extraordinary stress in the financial markets this december discussions were followed in january by significant in intense negotiations involving bank of america, the federal reserve, the treasury, federal deposit insurance corporation and the office of the comptroller of the cancer and-- currency regarding key transactions including the type of assistance to be provided, the size the protection of the assets to be covered, the terms for payments, the fees and length of the facility. the agreement in principle on these items was reflected in the term sheet that was not finalized until just before its public release on january 16, 2009. the federal reserve b

this is america. let's don't sell it down the river. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: i'd like to yield one minute to mr. blumenauer, an outstanding advocate of prevention of global warming, it's my honor to yield a minute to him. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: for the last 2 1/2 years, i have had the privilege of working with the speaker's select committee on global warming driving home climate change. now we have an opportunity to rebuild and renew america while are protecting the planet. i want to thank the ways and means committee and the commerce committee for working with me to harness billions of dollars over the life of the bill to have transportation that reduces carbon foot painting and things that will make a difference for a country that emits more carbon with its transportation than china, india, and europe combined. we have an opportunity to protect the planet, but unless you're prepared to lead, china and indi

coming to america isn't easy." the guardian. "america: more hassle than it's worth?" the sunday times in london be, "travel to america? no thanks." look, the fact is, we want to change that. this is legislation is bipartisan. a group of us, republicans and democrats, who want to great jobs in this country and want to attract international tourism to this country, want to change this perception that somehow international travelers aren't welcome here. so, here's what we believe. we believe that to have people come to this country is to see the wonders of this great country. it's the only one like it on the face of this planet. it is an extraordinarily place. therthere is so much to see ando much to do. we've done polling and so on. when international travel terse leave this country, they have an unbelievably positive impression of the united states of america. that's very important. at a time when there's been so much discussion about our country going it alone and doing this or that, we've suffered some in international areas, but the fact is, inviting international t

he's one of america's foremost experts on international law. he actually is qualified to be the legal advisor to the secretary of state. he has a distinguished record of service in our government, having worked in both democratic and republican administrations, consistently won the highest regard from people across the political spectrum. harold koh will bring to this position a deep devotion to our country and the appreciation of the fundamental values for which we stand based on his status, personal status as the child of immigrants who came to this country, escaping dictatorship and seeking freedom and contributing mightily to america. harold has been a prolific scholar in the course of his long academic career, has fully exercised his right of free speech. to tell the truth, mr. president, there have been occasions when harold has said or written things that i personally don't agree with. although he's too gracious to say so, i'm sure there have been occasions on which i've centered on some things that harold has not agreed with. but that h

that's the standard in america. if you think someone's not telling you the truth, you don't call them a liar until you have the facts. we have worse than that here in the congress, because there is a statute that has been passed that prohibits anyone lying to congress, especially about domestic or international terrorism. and that's what these briefings were about, about enhanced interrogation that most of america thinks took place down in gitmo, waterboarding among them. no waterboarding took place in gitmo or in this hemisphere. and i can't verify that there was any enhanced interrogation techniques that took place even in this hemisphere, lit alone at gitmo, by united states forces. so that's a long subject, and i won't go into that, madam speaker, except to the extent that when that declaration was made by the speaker of the house, the declaration that the c.i.a. was lying, that was an allegations of willfully committing felonies against the united states. this is an untenable position. we cannot have a situatio

den ken lewis as bank of america's chairman. [applause] that effort is part of a growing pam campaign for regulation of the banking industry. at the same time she serves on president obama's economic recovery advisory board. anna knows a lot about inside-outside strategy to win changes, and how we have to change to win. so please welcome anna berger. [applause] >> thank you. it is great to be here. this is an incredible panel. it is a long-time coming. we worked hard. we have stratjiesed about how to have america's future now, not some day, not after some next election, but actually changing america's future now. i'm very excite excited to have all these kfings with you. it was just a year ago we had this conference for take mac -- back america, and we did it. that was even before the economic collapse. that was about greed, corruption, and a bush administration that cared about the top 1% and not anybody else. i want to officially welcome you to washington. i know there have been lots of welcomes already. i want to welcome you