mr. lahood about this issue? >> no, sir. >> okay. now yield to the chairman of full committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome. >> thank you. >> i'll be brief. the question here is not whether or not gm is making good cars and whether or not it's coming back. i think it is, and we take great pride this that, and i think the president did last night. is this, in your history, recognition and as far as you know a typical response to a typical catastrophic event? is this less aggressive or more aggressive in their response to a brand new automobile? >> as we speak, there's about 8,000. >> there were about 4,000 when this occurred. you may be making 400 a day, but you're selling far less than that. 4,000 or less in june or july, 8,000 or so now. the question is when this occurred -- >> yes. >> the director said, administrator said that it takes six months to do it, but in your experience, would you consider this to be an aggressive response, an average response, or a little slower than average when it comes to when it lights up your p

mr. lahood will be here as many hours, days and weeks as mr. michael needs him and i hope you would agree with that. ray lahood is a republican but a bipartisan american who wants to get things done for our country and create those jobs of which you speak which all of us want to do. we have a jobs bill by the way that you have not brought to the floor. what is one aspect of it? infrastructu infrastructure, investing in infrastructure. that has languished for five mont months, not brought to the floor by the majority leader who has the authority to do so and i have been urging him to do so. if he wants to comment on what i said, i will yield. >> absolutely, mr. speaker. i join the gentleman in thinking secretary lahood is a feign gentleman. but all i can say is actions speak louder than words and whether we're bringing the whole bill up for a vote i would ask how many members on his side have sponsored 2tha bill? i think there is certainly many elements of that bill that we can all agree on. in fact, we have voted on four separate elements, beg e

mr. lahood was founded in 2005 in egypt. yet never before it happened.ven the year after the collapse of the regime nobody attacked. what process, the ministry capital the security forces to raise those ages agencies a couple weeks ago. now to ban travel for these americans and to prosecute them. this is happening after the election. after the muslim brotherhood took over. they would push the ngo's outside of the country so the next would be formed so the muslim government doesn't have to do it. >> i want to ask you more about these new people who have taken over in a moment. for us the urgency is bringing the americans home. what can the u.s. do to make that happen? >> we have been funding the armed forces of egypt for the last decade. the minimum would be the president of the united states and congressional leaders and state departments would fund the leaders and tell them what are you doing? we are allies and these agencies basically are not spy agencies they are democracy helping own people get rid of the dictator that you are replacing. also there s

mr. chairman. secretary lahood. >> good morning. >> also i want to express my concern for your son. sounds like you got a pretty capable individuals going over there to resolve the situation. >> thank you. >> until that time, certainly your son and your family are in our thoughts. >> thank you very much. >> congratulations on your bridge, by the way. >> well, i was just going to thank you for that. thank you for your help in kind of breaking the logjam. hopefully we can get that done in the house. >> absolutely. i'll start out with the example of infrastructure. i certainly understand government is the only entity that really can provide certain types of infrastructure. the question is who should pay for the infrastructure? should itting the federal government? should it be the state and local gofl governments? that is largely funded by the state of minnesota and wisconsin. so they have skin in the game. and when we talk about subsidizing whether it's high speed rail versus highways, what the senator just said is if we do it right. i think that's the main question. first of all in,

mr. lahood was founded in 2005 in egypt and never before it happened and even during the the year after the the regime, the past regime, mubarak regime, nobody attacked them. the question is what prompted the security force toss raid those agencies a couple of weeks ago and now to ban travel for these americans and to prosecute them, well, the idea is that this is happening after the electionings, after the muslim brotherhood took over the parliament so the military council seemed to be executing, to push the ngo's outside of the country so the muslim brotherhood doesn't have to do it. >> harris: i want to ask you more about the new people who have taken over, but for us the urgency is bringing the americans home. what can the u.s. do to make that happen? >> well, you know, we have been funding the armed forces of egypt for the last decade. and he so, minimum would be that the president of the united states and congressional leaders and the state department, would fund them. fund those leaders and tell them what are you doing? we are allies and the agencies are basically not spy agencies th

mr. lahood isn't feared for his safety. he fears for his future. >> reporter: yes. in fact, sam lahood who runs the international republican institute is one of several americans who have taken refuge in the u.s. embassy here in cairo, ashleigh. i got off the phone with one of those americans involved in the case, and he says their lawyers are flabbergasted, that they've been shown no documents. all their attempts to meet with justice ministry officials here in cairo have come to not, that they haven't been, for instance, served any legal documents in this case. one of the lawyers apparently saying that it's not lawyers they need in this case, it's diplomats. nothing seems to make sense. these americans are flabbergasted with the way the egyptian justice system is dealing with their case. it's widely believed that this is something of a ploy by the military rulers who run this country at the moment trying to deflect public criticism away from them given the clashes in the streets of cairo that have been going on now for their fifth day. that they're trying to shift p

micah wants to work with ray lahood on a bipartisan bill, ray lahood will be here as many hours, days and weeks that mr. micah needs him here and i think you would hopefully agree with that proposition. ray lahood is a republican but he is a bipartisan american who wants to get things done for our country and create those jobs of which you speak, which all of us want to do. we have a jobs bill, by the way, that you have not brought to the floor. what's one of the aspects of that jobs bill? infrastructure. investing in infrastructure. that bill has languished for five months now not brought to the floor by the majority leader who has the authority to bring it to the floor and i of course have been urging him to do so. i'll yield. mr. cantor: absolutely, mr. speaker. i join the gentleman in thinking secretary lahood is a fine gentleman but i have to say is actions speak louder than words. what i have to say about the request of the president's jobs bill and whether we are bringing the whole bill up for a vote, i ask the gentleman, how many on his side of the aisle actually sponsored that bill. and i thin

this is secretary lahood's third appearance before the budget committee. before we begin, mr. secretary, i want to note my thoughts are with your son sam lahood. most of us, i think, know that sam is one of the 16 american nongovernmental organizational workers currently banned from leaving egypt. sam is with the international republican institute. one of my constituents, stacy hog from fargo is also among those barred from leaving. stacy is with the national democratic institute. they were created to foster democratic institution arnz the world. the fact that egypt has taken this action is beyond the pale. it is completely unacceptable. these young people are doing important work, work that is supported directly by the congress of the united states to support constitutional governments, to support democracy. there could be no higher calling. and for the egyptian government, egyptian authorities to trump up these really farcicable charges, i was on the phone with stacy the day before yesterday just after they received the formal charges. they are farcical. i urge the egyptian l

mr. chairman and thank you secretary lahood for being here. i join chairman and ranking member extending our best wishes to sam and your family. we're delighted he's safe in the embassy and hope he comes home safe and sound and soon. i appreciate very much your energetic supp

the man behind the push is transportation secretary ray lahood. mr.you for joining us. >> good morning. >> is this becoming a sensitive marquis issue of what you want to communicate. >> well, safety is our number one priority in all forms of transportation. we know that, because everybody has a blackberry, everybody has a cell phone and we think we can use them everywhere we're at, that many, many people when they get behind the wheel of a car have a cell phone up to their ear or think they can text and drive, it's very dangerous. the statistics prove that with over 3,000 deaths. that's 10% of the deaths on our highways in america. and that's way too many. people have to change their very dangerous behavior and take personal responsibility to put these devices away while they're driving. >> personal responsibility means this is voluntary? >> it is voluntary because we want to really put out there the idea that even though a number of states have passed laws against distracted driving, that it's up to people to really decide if they want to be safe dri

mr. chairman. >> the comments of transportation secretary ray lahood as he testified before the senate budget committee, taking questions from senator jeff sessions on an ongoing debate here in washington and around the country, high-speed rail. we've seen it in great britain, elsewhere in europe, japan. the question is, will we have it here in the united states? by the way, there is an association focused on high-speed rail if you're interested. the web web side is ushsr.com. this is "washington today" on c-span radio. >>> on march 20th the u.s. supreme court hears the oral argument in miller v. alabama. a case about whether a life sentence without parole for someone convicted of murder when he was 14 violates the constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. you'll hear a case cited in miller v. alabama saturday on c-span radio's historic supreme court oral argument from 2005. donald roper, superintendent of the patosie correctional superintendent, versus christopher simmons. >> legislatures can evaluate the series of studies and then kick what is essentially an arbitrary age. there is

mr. chairman. >> the comments of transportation secretary ray lahood as he testified before the senate budget committee taking questions from senator jeff sessions on an ongoing debate here in washington and around the country, high-speed rail. we've soon it in great britain, elsewhere in europe and japan, the question is will we have it here in the united states? by the way, there is an association focused on high-speed rail if you're interested. the website is ushsr.com. this is "washington today" on c-span radio. >> on march 20th, the u.s. supreme court hears the oral argument in miller v alabama, someone convicted of murder when he was 14, whether it violates the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. you'll hear it cited on c-span's radio historic supreme court argument from 2005. donald roper, superintendent of the pitocy correctional institution versus christopher simmons, respond depth. >> they can evaluate the series of studies and pick what is an arab theirry age. there is no study in anything mr. simons cites that justifies that particular day, 18, they talked about adolescence. they t

mr. baca: ray lahood has called this bill the worst transportation bill he has ever seen. the republican transportation bill would eliminate, i say would eliminate, 550,000 american jobs, that's american jobs, cut highway investment in 45 states, and bankrupt the highway trust fund by $98 billion. congressional -- congress must get serious to work together to solve the problems our nation is facing. it just can't be my way or the highway. let's do a jobs bill that will create jobs for the american people. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, i proudly rise today to congratulate archbishop timothy don who will be elevated to cardinal in the roman catholic church. his holiness pope benedict could not have picked a better man of faith for this role. mr. grimm: just three years ago, new yorkers were blessed when the pope appointed him the 10th archbishop of new york

micah wants to work with ray lahood on a bipartisan bill, ray lahood will be here as many hours, days and weeks that mr. micah needs him here and i think you would hopully agree with that proposition. ray lahood is a republican but he is a bipartisan american who wants to get things done for our country and create those jobs of which you speak, which all of us want to do we have a jobs bill, by the way, that you have not brought to the floor. what's one of the aspects of that jobs bill? infrastructure. investing in infrastructure. that bill has languished for five months now not brought to the floor by the majority leader who has the authority to bring it to the floor and i of course have been urging him to do so. i'll yield. mr. cantor: absolutely, mr. speaker. i join the gentleman in thinking secretary lahood is a fine gentleman but i have to say is actions speak louder than words. what i have to say about the request of the president's jobs bill and whether we are bringing the whole bill up for a vote, i ask the gentleman, how many on his side of the aisle actually sponsored that bill. and i think t

micah wants to work with ray lahood on a bipartisan bill, ray lahood will be here as many hours, days and weeks that mr. micah needs him here and i think you would hopefully agree with that proposition. ray lahood is a republican but he is a bipartisan american who wants to get things done for our country and create those jobs of which you speak, which all of us want to do. we have a jobs bill, by the way, that you have not brought to the floor. what's one of the aspects of that jobs bill? infrastructure. investing in infrastructure. that bill has languished for five months now not brought to the floor by the majority leader who has the authority to bring it to the floor and i of course have been urging him to do so. i'll yield. mr. cantor: absolutely, mr. speaker. i join the gentleman in thinking secretary lahood is a fine gentleman but i have to say is actions speak louder than words. what i have to say about the request of the president's jobs bill and whether we are bringing the whole bill up for a vote, i ask the gentleman, how many on his side of the aisle actually sponsored that bill. and i thin

mr. president, that issue has a beard that's turned white. that's so outdated. drilling in anwar. transportation secretary ray lahood -- by the way, mr. president, he is a member of president obama's cabinet, but he is a republican, a long-time republican congressman from illinois, said the house legislation is the worst transportation bill he's seen in the 35 years he's been in public service. that's our secretary of transportation, a republican. there are lots of reasons, but here's a few. the house legislation would gut public health and environmental protections, and that is a gross understatement. it would ax funding for pedestrian safety even though the pedestrian is injured or killed by a car in this country every seven minutes. it would starve our nation's public transportation system. the house bill reverses 30 years of good policy, of dedicating funding each year for mass transit. the policy was enacted in 1982 by that ultraliberal ronald reagan. mr. president, there are ads on radio and on television where you see president reagan speaking as he did so well as one of his signature issues was doing something about the transp

administration, ray lahood, he said, quote, this is the most partisan transportation bill that i have ever seen, and he's seen a lot of them. he's your home boy from illinois right? ms. schakowsky: he is. mr. ellison: and it is the most anti-safety bill i have ever seen hollows out the number one priority, which is safety and hollows out the guts of the bill we was seen the last three years. it is the worst transportation bill i have seen in 35 years of public service. that's saying a lot. ms. schakowsky: that is saying a lot. as i said before, and as ray lahood was alluding to, as many differences as may have existed across the aisle, recognizing the importance of transportation for commerce, for business, for everyday americans getting to work, for linking our country together, for transportationing our goods, democrats and republicans have always been able to sit down and together, craft a piece of legislation on transportation. and to come up with an equitable way to fund it. everyone has been able to agree. this time, not only the way the bill is funded, talking about putting the burden on public employees to help fund it but the elements of the bill itself. the fact that it's going