biggert? >> aye. >> thank you. spent a house financial services committee later voted 52-4 to block $12 million in bonuses for executives at the government backed mortgage companies, fannie mae and freddie mac. the full house and senate would still have to take up the measure. >> in a few moments white house budget director jack lew says he's optimistic the joint deficit reduction committee will be successful. >> jack lew says he's optimistic that the joint deficit reduction committee will succeed. he spoke for a half-hour yesterday at an event hosted by "the wall street journal." >> thanks. hose ofor making over. llliteraally just walked in the door. so you miss the erskine allen show, but you in the middle of mi, trust me. and that showing that you're a brave man who have agreed tove respond to it. if you did not agree, that is what you are going to have to do. let me start with what the crew just heard from those guys, and you have probably heard a variation of their presentation before. they say things about th

biggert for five minutes. >> will the chairman yield? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would first ask ms. smith, did hud officials physically inspect the projects or on site visits? >> no, ma'am. no, ma'am. they did not. we provide reports for them. >> did they review the paperwork? >> i was not present when they receive the paperwork. [inaudible] >> did they ever come back and say to you, this doesn't seem to be complete? do you have more information? >> never. >> okay. you testified that there was a large hud home project, emerson, that had many cost overruns? >> yes, ma'am. >> how many of the units in the project, how many units was the project supposed to deliver? >> we delivered, as the final application, the first application had about nine more units, but because of the cost we cut nine out. we delivered what we said we're going to deliver. >> so there was no problem with that project? >> there was no problem with the amount of units that we said we would deliver. we did deliver those, but it was an enormous amount of cost overrun. we could not take it out of

we want to get your calls. 202 is the area code -- congress woman do biggert, republican from illinois, had this to say -- judy biggert. >> in some cases individuals and organizations readily took taxpayer dollars but never actually build a unit of housing or they only build a few units where many were pledged. for example, my staff recently took a picture of a chicago property funded by those dollars. if the database report its 65 units of housing were built with the funds. the pictures clearly indicate that there are not even close to 65 units of housing at this location. in fact, they look more like four units. so, it begs it begs the question, who has the money, and has hired demanded -- hud demanded the money be repaid? guest: congress did their own investigation after we published and they found what we found and reported in monday pulled the paper that hud has reported completed projects and when you look for them you can not find them. sometimes the address is wrong. they will have a street corner. finding the completed project was very difficult, even for congress. host: trent

i want to thank chairman biggert for holding this today and i look forward to the testimony from the witnesses and a yield back the balance of my time. >> i thank the gentleman. mr. westmoreland is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. sherman i want to thank you and ms. bigger for having the hearing and i want to compliment you on the witnesses because i don't think that there is any better way to find out the holes in a program than to have people that have found them and know how the system works and give us a better idea of what we can do to prevent this type of fraud. there are instances where hud doesn't even have the complete address for some of the project. you know, even if its new construction projects and haven't even been assigned an address, completed projects should have an address. we should know where these projects are at so we can at least have the ability to ride by and the progress of it rather than having the supervisor give us all the files. i hope the committee will continue this tough oversight into this and all the programs and continue to bring about t

biggert? >> no. [roll call] roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> the ayes are four and the no's are six. the motion is not agreed to. the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you very much. mr. truax, you have been convicted, but you have not been sentenced yet, so are you out on bail? >> yes. >> and what state are you from? >> pennsylvania. >> and in order to come here, you had to have permission from someone? >> yes. >> who gave you permission? >> the u.s. attorney that is prosecuting. >> did the u.s. attorney and you have any conversation about perhaps your cooperation, you would get a lighter sentence or the possibility of it? >> no. >> did you have that conversation with anybody? >> no. >> did you have that conversation with your lawyer, that was is suggested you could get a lighter sentence if you come here? >> i have to object to that, that's attorney-client -- >> you can object if i was asking you, i di

biggert: i thank the gentleman for yielding and, mr. speaker, small businesses are the engine of the american economy and our legislation will help to provide the boost that they need to create jobs. when i talked to small business leaders in my district, they consistently cite burdensome government regulations, restrictions and difficulty accessing capital as the primary barriers to growth. currently outdated federal rules dampen both innovation and investment because the cost of regulatory compliance is just too high for the up-and-coming firms. h.r. 1070, the small company capital formation act, will help change that. the subject of this bill, regulation a, was enacted during the great depression to help small businesses access financing. however, these rules have not been properly adjusted over time to reflect the rising cost associated with taking a small company public. as a result regulation a prohibits smaller companies from taking advantage of a crucial capital raising vehicle. h.r. 1070 will reopen the capital markets for smal

biggert, and i'd yield her four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for four minutes. mrs. biggert: i thank the gentleman for yielding me the time and, mr. speaker, i rise in support of this rule. it is time to act. we cannot afford to wait any longer on regulatory agencies to tweak the rules and regulations, commission further studies or have another agency. employment at regulatory agencies is up 30% while private sector jobs have decreased more than 5%. and despite the increased manpower, regulators have been unable to meet deadlines, issue timely rules or reform unnecessary and outdated regulations. the cost of studying the business murder as a percentage of per capita income has more than doubled -- studying the business as a percentage of per capita income has more than doubled. the u.s. has fallen to number 13 in terms of easing of starting a business. to reverse these troublesome trends, it is critical that congress fore cuss its efforts on -- focus its efforts on eliminating

biggert is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for holding today' hearing on your proposal, a discussion draft entitled "the private mortgage market investment act." in march treasury secretary geithner testified before our committee and said, and i quote, the administration and congress have a responsibility to look forward, reconsider the role government has played in the past and work together to build a stronger and more balanced system of housing finance, end quote. i agree. today's draft is part of this committee's deliberative dialogue about how to stabilize the housing market, reduce taxpayers' liabilities and facilitate a reentry of private sector capital for single-family and multifamily housing. we've learned that for private capital to assume an increased role in housing financial, investors need regulatory certainty, relief and common sense. what they don't need is rushed and unworkable rules like the unfair competition from federal program like fannie may, freddie mac and fha. i look forward t

biggert: thank you, madam speaker. on roll call number 857 i was unavoidably detained and had i been present -- the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. will the members please take your conversations off the floor. the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. biggert: madam speaker, on roll call number 857 i was unavoidably detained. had i been present i would have voted no. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady's statement will appear in the record. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, november 22, 2011, when the house adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet at 1:00 p.m. on friday, november 25, the year, 2011. and when the house adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet at 2:00 p.m. on tuesday, november 29, 2011. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recog

biggert: mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate the illinois bowling brook high school football team on winning the class 8-a championship on november 25. the coach led the team to a record breaking season of 13 wins and one loss. this accomplishment by the raiders marks the first state football championship for bowling brook high school. despite the absence of their star linebacker, the raiders overcame five turnovers and won the championship game by a score of 21-17 against the top-rated loyola academy. each player demonstrated a tremendous level of dedication and hard work, including seniors antonio morrison and robby bain. other stars was junior aaron bailey who scored the game-winning touchdown and senior darryon rhodes who sealed the game with an interception. mr. speaker, our community is very proud of niece accomplished young athletes. once again, i'd like to congratulate the bowling brook high school raiders on their win and wish them continued success in all of their future endeavors.

biggert: the team finished with a phenomenal record of 39 wins and three losses. this accomplishment marks the first state championship for an all girls' team at bennett academy. each team member should be congratulated for their hard work, including senior megan who had three kills and 13 points in the final game. her sister, sophomore maggie, followed her lead with 16 kills and senior jenna who was named m.v.p. rounded out the team with 10. mr. speaker, our community is very proud of these accomplished young women, at least seven of whom already have made plans to play volleyball at division i universities. once again, i'd like to congratulate the bennett academy red wings on their win and wish them continued success in all their future endeavors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, every nine

after that, the future of the " biggert spring." and our series on the military looks at how the marine corps might be affected by budget cuts. lara logan sitting down to discuss the nature of foreign conflicts. this is part of a series produced by george washington university and the national press club. live coverage on c-span. >> from the national press club in washington, d.c.,, this is "the kalb report" with marvin kalb. [applause] >> hello and welcome to the national press club and to another edition of the "kalb report" and our guest is lara logan, cbs news chief foreign affairs correspondent and "60 minutes" correspondent as well. after working for a few newspapers in south africa, where she was born, she joined reuters television and britain tv before freelancing for fox and cnn. and then in 2002, after reporting for cbs radio news, she joined the network itself, cbs news, and her career since then has skyrocketed. first reporting on the war in iraq for the "cbs evening news" and "60 minutes ii"." and four years later, she

biggert freedom works appointed a 12 member tea party debt commission to put together of federal budget plan for reducing the debt. we will talk to matt kibbe about the plan. then, daniel markey. "washington journal," each morning at 7 eastern here on c- span. an update from the british house of commons on the british economy. we will hear from the chancellor of the exchequer, george osborn, live from london at 7:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2. >> next, senator rob portman who served on the deficit reduction committee, on the work of the committee which fell to come to agreement on the deficit reduction package by last week's deadline. calling his remarks, a panel and debates reducing the nation's debt. the american enterprise institute hosted this forum, which is an hour and 45 minutes. >> good afternoon. welcome to the american car enterprise institute. today i have the pleasure of kicking off a two-sport event, consisting of a keynote it reviewed address, falling by a panel discussion -- consisting of a keynote address. let me just make a brief remark and set the stage in the wake of the