mr. chairman. colin payne, project manager, transportation demand manager is here to walk through what we are proposing to you. i guess i'll just preface it by saying we recognize that there is a lot of controversy and public discussion surrounding affordability issues, cost of living issues, housing issues, and that these buses have fallen in the place of a lot of those discussions. we also recognize that there are real problems and real challenges that san franciscans are facing. i think the mayor acknowledged this in his state of the city speech as well as offering a number of potential solutions as have the board of supervisors in recent months. what we're proposing to you today is really very narrowly tailored to try to address the transportation issue that we see. these buses have become somewhat the physical manifestation of a lot of larger issues. we're not purporting to solve all the issues with what we presented and move these forward as these other many important discussions continue. [speaker not u

mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. and let me begin by thanking the dynamic duo of the c.b.c.'s freshman class, mr. horsford and mr. jeffries, for their tireless leadership in the 113th congress and now the second session of the 113th congress. they have demonstrated that they have hit the ground running and understand the issues that are important to the people of the united states . so, mr. speaker, in the gap between the rich and poor in this country has really become staggering. and that gap is increasing every single day. nowhere is that more true than in my home state of new jersey. the number of wealthy families has doubled. meanwhile the poorest income brackets have increased sharply. in my district alone, more than a quarter of the people live in poverty. and this is likely really underestimated. due to the high cost of living in new jersey. not only is there a growing gap , but unemployment is high, the minimum wage is stagnant and there's a lack of opportunity throughout this nation for people to find the jobs that they need to have their families live in the manner

the chair will now recognize the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne, for five minutes. mr. speaker, last week we marked the 50th anniversary of president lyndon johnson's war on poverty which began to pave the way for many of the programs that provide basic human dignity that every american deserves. 50 years ago, this congress began to work together on the war against poverty. unfortunately today, some of my republican colleagues had led a different kind of war. instead of a war on poverty, to eliminate the war on poverty, it has grown into a shameful war against those living in poverty. these attacks are numerous. from slashing nutrition assistance to cutting unemployment insurance, to attacking social security, medicare and attempting to dismantle health care. fighting the war on poverty should not be a democratic or a republican idea. not only are we all in this together, but poverty does not discriminate between political parties. according to the brookings institute, there are more than 21 million people living in poverty who live in republican congressional districts

i'd like to recognize the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. and before i start, let me thank the gentleman from nevada, mr. horsford, for his leadership through the first session of the 113th congress and into the second session of the 113th congress. i am honored to be one of the freshmen, actually, the ranking freshman in the c.b.c., if i can take that liberty, but the gentleman from nevada and the gentleman from new york have distinguished theirselves in the leadership of the congressional black caucus in the first 1egs -- in the first session of the 113th congress and i'm honored to serve with them. mr. speaker, i rise today for the 90,000 new jerseyans who lost their unemployment insurance on december 28, and the 89,000 more new jerseyans set to lose unemployment benefits in the first half of the new year. the people back in my district can't understand how out of touch some of my republican colleagues are and have become -- and have come to think that cutting off this assistance will force the unemployed to get a job. well, i have news f

mr. charles payne. addressing the minimum wage. connell: charles is here with a strike of sorts.president should be focusing on. charles: by the way, you can cherry pick where you want to pick it from. after you go through the first time, it was about a quarter. here is the reality. 1.6 million people are on minimum wage. about 2 million make less. less than 5% of the working population. the companies that pay out this -- i did a study with burger king, for instance. burger king on the september quarter for company-owned stores , 27% on payroll and benefits, 90% on brand occupancy and another 5% on depreciation. that does not leave a lot. then there is another even greater reality through all of this. we look at these corporations and they are making so much money. you want to see what they did around the world. same-store sales were down. the company closed 13 stores. the middle east and africa are up. asia-pacific open 39 stores. sales were up 3.7%. connell: i know the social part of it, are you here to sell these stocks? charles: i think it would have a negative impact. it is

mr. payne: he eventually found the black arts movement of the 1960's and 1970's in newark and around the country and received countless awards for his contributions to the arts. my father and he atended the same high school and i'll never forget, as a youngster, hearing his poetry and recognizing the power of his written words he had over a person, regardless of race, age or gender. he was not only a poet, he was an activist. in 1969 he organized the black and puerto rican convention which brought those communities together at a time when it looked bleak. he also was one of the main organizers and the keynote speaker of the 1972 convention in gary, indiana. his profound words were influential, as many searched for meaning in some of the most troubling struggles of our times. like civil rights, war, oppression and poverty. my heartfelt condolences goes out to the entire family, including my former colleague, newark city councilman, and his brother, who i've come very close to over the course of

payne. >> directors? let's begin the public hearing. please call -- >> mr. chairman, directors, there are a number of people who are in room 408 and, so, i will read five speaker cards ahead to allow people to enter the room and speak. if people far away could be listening for their name. we'll start with andrea long. edward mason. crystal schultz. dinetra r tanko. and izumi torre. >> good afternoon. >>> good afternoon. i've lived in the mission since 2006 and [speaker not understood]. i've been fortunate to work in san francisco. i don't need to spend hours on a bus to get to work. many people, including myself, find the best opportunities outside the city. the regional transportation have failed these workers. some who don't need cars and some who wish they didn't need to. do you know who else it isn't people who are taking up space [speaker not understood]. i encourage the city to not only experiment with the program to address the issue with commuter buses, but to work with other municipalities to find a regional solution to a regional problem. thank you

while charles payne suggests he better pull it back. your race isn't the problem, mr. president.color red is the problem, mr. president. works for me. turn to the camera. ah, actually i think my eyes might ha... next! digital insurance id cards. just a tap away on the geico app. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, it does make a sound? ohhh...ugh. geico. little help here. [ male announcer ] wt kind of energy is so abundant, it can help provide the power for all th natural gas. ♪ more than ever before, america's electricity is generated by it. exnmobil uses advanced visualization and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our lives... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here ♪ >>> president of the united states. barack obama and michelle obama, the first african-american president and that's part of the allure. his youth is part of the allure. >> but they're always young mavericks that come along, john kennedy, and maybe this pre

mr. mcguire and his victim, joyce stewart. they brought him in to the separateroom behind a payne of glass. he told the family of joyce stewart, thank you for a letter he apparently received, told his children that he loved them. he said i am going to heaven. i will see you there when you come as he administered the drugs, he yelled i love you several times to his son and daughter. and quickly afterwards, his eyes rolled back in his head and he appeared to fall asleep for several minutes, about five minutes, he laid motionless there it was crying from his family and no sounds from the victim's family. five minutes later, he began to con vuls slightly. there were gasps, snorts like a violent snore. they would be intermittent, every 30 seconds or so. >> went on for about 10 minutes, at which point he ceased to move throughout the entire time the family of the victim didn't say a thing. they were motion less and quite the entire time, his family was sobbing quite loudly as you can imagine. they declared him dead at 10:53 a.m. yesterday. >> what did you think when you were listening to the snor

mr. kuzan and 60 years later here's alexander payne coming along and asking me to be in one of his moviest lucky. the guy can make a movie. >> he can. i love his movies. >> bruce dern, congratulations. well deserved. we are thrilled for you. it's great seeing you at the red carpet. look forward to seeing you at the oscars coming up. thank you, sir. >> i appreciate this so much, more than you'll ever know. >> thank you. that is lovely. >> also on the phone we have with us actor nominee matthew mcconaughey from "the dallas buyers club." >> good morning. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> we saw each other at the golden globes. you were talking about this was a film so close to your heart because you really worked for a long time to get this movie made. >> yeah, myself and a whole bunch of other people. the producers tried to get this made for 20 years. it got turned down 137 times, i've recently found out. the right people came on and i said we got to -- we didn't flinch. somebody came up financing it, putting scraps of money together. as soon as we started, we don't have enough money, we