. >> thank you brown mr. brown. >> we can hear from the permit holder now then they'll be parties and all that stuff. >> hello i'm a family member of the public member of the owners of the 1950 property and here to support their stands in defense to the complaint p there are a few power points number one there are a permit for the construction of the deck the deck did more than 4 feet within the property line on both sides and it is on this 8 feet in depth within the city limits and the neighbors on both sides have given one hundred percent of the continuation of this deck i believe that the i think neighbors an 1947 have a letter of their stating their support which i believe you guys have received and in terms of blocking any view i do have two pictures oh okay here's the 1950 property and this is his property and as you can see the deck is win city limits 8 feet in depth and another. >> can i interrupt you sir not your turn. >> go back to your first picture. >> yes, sir. >> this is your building the one in green

mrs. brown one for you and one for me share alike for victory get the points, mrs. brownt's what i rationing plan is for, mrs. brown, mrs. jones the rosary man or the butcher store equal service in stores she gets hers and you get yours ♪ >> and so mrs. brown and most people want to make rationing work. but there are still a few who get what they want anyway they can. who will pay any price in the black market. wait a minute, what's going on here? >> give me a nice small sirloin. about that thick. >> that thick? >> you heard me. that thick. >> madam, we are here to serve you, but that would run about three pounds. you haven't enough russian stance for that. but i could give you what happened size. >> half that size? what do you think i am? a peasant? >> holdup ma'am. maybe i can fix you up after all. but it will cost you eight he sense a pound. -- $0.80 a pound. >> all this talk about price ceilings. while the government do anything about it? i guess you have to pay for what you want these days. >> i have to go downstairs. ♪ >> do you know who i am? i'm your conscience. t

mrs. brown one for you, one for me. it's clear as a-b-c. that's what a rationing plan is for mrs. brown, mrs. the grocery man, the butcher store people service in the stores she gets hers, you get yours get the point, mrs. brown ♪ >> and so mrs. brown and most people want to make rationing work. there are still a few who get what they want anyway they can who will pay any price on the black market. wait a minute? what's going on here? >> give me a nice, small sirloin. about that thick. >> that thick? >> you heard me. that thick. >> we are here to serve you. that would run three pounds. you don't have enough ration stamps for that. i could let you have a stake for half that size. >> what do you think i am, pigeon? >> maybe i can fix you up after all. it will cost you $.80 a pound. >> $.80? that's ridiculous. >> that's what i keep saying. do we take it or leave it? >> we take it. i guess you have to pay to get which you want these days. i have to go downstairs to get it. ♪ >> you know who i am. i'm your conscience. you can get away from me. there is no use running. that's right, margaret. come b

mr. miller. >> next speaker >> good evening ms. brown. >> hello, i'm paulette brown and i'd like to use the overhead i'm here again concerning my son excuse me. i just ran up here to catch. my son aubry that was murdered august 2006 to thirty round of bullets my 17 year-old boy to this day, no justice cold case and i'm still a grieving mother and i'm looking for some information concerning my son to this die there's still no information concerning my son i am concerned about that i've been doing this for the last 9 years august 14th of this year is 9 years since my son is begun i come here to keep my sons memory alive i don't want none to forget about him, i want his case closed so i can have closer i go around everyday thinking of him everyday and bring my pictures? all i have left of my son him laying age a journey lifeless full of bullets my son in the casket and as i say all the time i'm not only fighting for any son there are several unsolved cases if i'm standing here imagine how those mothers are feeling also, they don't want to come out i'm not saying they're

mrs. brown, feel free. >> my name is paulette brown and here concerning my son wloo was murdered august 13, 2006 to a semy automatic gun. all because he saved someone elses life. it is going on 9 years and as a mother i'm still grieving and where i can talk about my son and bring up so his case is not solved and it is a cold case. my son was-just turned 17 years old. he was murdered saving someones life and no justice and i'm speaking justice for my son. people go who did this to by son. no one wants to point the finger. that is why the case isn't solved. i have to walk around and this is all i have left of my son, his body. this is all i have left. his birthday is coming up and this is all i have left. where i can go and bring thup information about my son, i need to. this is my therapy and i bring this up all the time. if i-went to the police commission at city hall and you were not there, i had to look for you and it isn't i'm chasing you brut i need to bring this up at the police commission. all the time i am fighting for my son and other union men and people dying on the streets and i want to give my

brown's mother and father to do the installation. and unfortunately i got michael brown's mother's permission and thought everybody was on board but found out after the opening of the exhibit that mr. brownbeen advised. and i have great regrets about that. >> so, andre, you know, michael brown's father, as i said, said that it was disturbing and disgusting. are you going to honor his wishes here and have the exhibit removed, or are you going to stand by the exhibit and have people come in and see it? >> well, as ti-rock mentioned, we did do our due diligence. we reached out to the family, and we requested permission, and we were able to reach the mother, lesley mcspadden, the great aunt and his cousin, eric davis, and they were all excited about the exhibition. we followed up with a detailed letter explaining the exhibit and what was involved, and we sent that letter addressed to both parents. after the exhibit opened, i received a call that mike brown sr. did not know about the exhibit. i personally called mike, and i told him, i apologize for our assumption as a team that there was communication and at that time he told me that he had a separate family and a separate foundation. i then

brown, and freddie fray, for example mr. obama was quick to speak out, speaking out two days after brown's date, he addressing fridy gray's death, and sending officials of hid government to funerals of gray and brown, their cases it seems suited the president's narrative, and his interest. steinle's tragic death does not. president silence on young woman's murder, speaks loudly and clearly. because the president's policies are wide open border, and the sanctuary stay of san francisco, all bear responsible for her murder at the hands of an illegal immigrant at large in a sanctuary city. >> our quotation of the evening tonight. on fall choice that president insist he faced in the deal. this from irish play write george bernard shaw. beware of false knowledge it is more dangerous than ignorance. we're coming right back. >> the donald trumps jeb in the latest polls as they make it personal. >> that story coming up. >> and this would be a big catch if only it were a catch. ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2%

mrs. brown, feel free. >> my name is paulette brown and here concerning my son wloo was murdered august 13, 2006 to a semy automatic gun. all because he saved someone elses life. it is going on 9 years and as a mother i'm still grieving and where i can talk about my son and bring up so his case is not solved and it is a cold case. my son was-just turned 17 years old. he was murdered saving someones life and no justice and i'm speaking justice for my son. people go who did this to by son. no one wants to point the finger. that is why the case isn't solved. i have to walk around and this is all i have left of my son, his body. this is all i have left. his birthday is coming up and this is all i have left. where i can go and bring thup information about my son, i need to. this is my therapy and i bring this up all the time. if i-went to the police commission at city hall and you were not there, i had to look for you and it isn't i'm chasing you brut i need to bring this up at the police commission. all the time i am fighting for my son and other union men and people dying on the streets and i want to give my

brown. senator brown: thank you, mr. chairman. madam chair, i continue to be concerned, as i know you are, that the economic recovery has not taken hold for all americans. notably, large numbers of women and in communities of color. i know that confirmation bias can be a problem in investing and some might think it's a bit of -- it might exist on capitol hill, too, but i see lots of evidence of underemployment, unemployment, virtually no evidence of inflation and lots of sources of head winds for our economy. what are the risks of tightening monetary policy too soon and once rates are increased, what would be the impact of the gradual rate increase on working americans? chair yellen: so, of course, there are risks to the recovery of tightening too soon and we have been ohio valley focused on those risks that's an important reason why we have left rates as low as they are for as long as they have been over six years, they have been at -- they have been at effectively zero. we have had a recovery that has been slow to take hold. growth has been slower than in most u.s. recoveries following a severe financial crisis. we have clearly made progress. i agree with you that there remain groups that are struggling in the labor market and as we try to show in the monetary policy report arguably the standard unemployment rate that we look at 5.3% may somewhat understate the real degree of slack that exists in the labor market. so we clearly want to see continued improvement in the labor market, and we want to do nothing that would threaten that. on the other hand, the labor market is getting demonstrably closer in my view, in my metric, to a more normal state. and the degree of monetary accommodation has been sufficient over a long period of time to generate pretty significant improvement in the labor market. and as the head winds that are holding the economy diminish -- and i believe they are diminishing -- i think it does become appropriate to begin -- we're not talking about tightening monetary policy. i think we're talking about slightly diminishing the very high degree of accommodation that we have in place. and of course, we won't want to do so in a way or at a pace that would threaten continued progress in the labor market. at the same time, inflation is very low, and while we've indicated that a good share of that is for reasons we believe will be transtory and we expect inflation, headline inflation to rise to much closer to core levels, that's another reason why we can be patient in removing accommodation. but i think it's also important -- there are risks on both sides. just as we don't want to tighten too soon to threaten the recovery or to jeopardize the return of inflation back to our 2% target, we also want to be careful not to tighten too late because if we do that arguably we could overshoot both of our goals and be faced with a situation where we would then need to tighten monetary policy in a very sharp way that could be disruptive. my own preference would be to be able to proceed in a -- to tighten in a prudent and gradual manner, and there are many, you know reasons why we would like to be able to do that. i agree there are risks to the labor market to tightening too soon but there are risks on the other side as well. we are trying to balance those. senator brown: thank you. some have recently -- some people have suggested recently that american workers need to be willing to work longer hours. i don't think many americans work fewer hours by choice. obviously -- unless, of course, there are health issues or childcare limitations or other responsibilities. i think most or at least many americans working part time would like to work full time. this slack in the labor market seems to indicate we have a ways to go. discuss with us your concern about the number of workers who are only working part time but would like to be more in the labor force, if you would. chair yellen: yes. well we have an unusually large share of the labor force -- i believe it's around 4.5%, that report themselves working part time for economic reasons. that means they would like to be working more hours than they are able to work. and broader measures -- the measure of the unemployment rate that we normally look at, it's referred to as the youth three measure. that's 5.3%,

mr. chairman, i wish to yield two minutes to my colleague, the ranking member of the veterans' affairs committee, ms. brown of florida. the chair: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. . ms. brown: thank you, mr. chairman. let me just be clear. i am just amazed that on the last day of this session we're spending the entire afternoon discussing 1994, a bill that the senate will not pick up, and if by some miracle it passed, the president would veto it. when there are so many other things we could be discussing, how about addressing h.r. 3266, which would give the secretary the authority to run the v.a. like a business which is what we keep saying? but i support the substitute amendment. the accountability substitute is offered today because it brings real accountability to the v.a. while maintaining constitutionality due process protection for civil service employees. at the veterans' committee over the past two years, we have learned of widespread mismanagement and, let me emphasize, lack of training at the v.a. the problems that the v.a. -- at the v.a. has gone back many years, maybe 30. if we adequately funded the v.a. maybe they would have fewer problems. the majority has in

brown. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ranking member brown, members of the committee. thank you all for the opportunity to testify today about our latest semiannual report to congress. we appreciate your continued oversight and leadership as we work together to strengthen our financial system. and ensure that it serves consumers, responsible businesses in the long-term foundation to the american economy. i would reiterate, mr. chairman, that we take very seriously the oversight that we get from congress. these hearings are from the senate banking committee which are required by law. it's important oversight for us. we listen carefully for what is said and take it to heart as we go about our work. next week marks five years since the passage of the dodd/frank wall street reform and consumer protection act as has been noted. and it's four years since the consumer bureau actually opened its doors. as you know, congress created this agency in response to the financial crisis, with the purpose and sole focus of protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. we understand our responsibility to stand on the side of consumers, and ensure that they are treated fairly. through fair rules, consistent oversight, appropriate enforcement of the law, and broad-based consumer engagement, the consumer bureau's working to restore people's trust and confidence in the markets they use for everyday financial products and services. to date the bureau's enforcement activity has resulted in more than $10.1 billion in relief for over 17 million consumers. our supervisory actions have resulted in financial institutions correcting many subpar and illegal practices. and providing almost $200 million in redress to over 1.6 million consumers. we've now handled as was mentioned more than 650,000 complaints. a matter that is particularly important to us. from consumers that address all manners of financial products and services. these consumers are your constituents in each of your states. for example, one excerpt of a complaint from a service member in alabama reads, we opened an account. we paid as agreed until we were unable to pay the full amount. we agreed to pay a lesser amount and paid by allotment. the company got a judgment against us while i was training. i was informed of it when my wages began to be garnished. we've asked repeatedly to have this be fixed. we have paid the company nearly $25,000 over the past 11 years for furniture. the furniture is not lasted. however, the payments and ruin continue. we need assistance as we have tried every other step possible to fix this without aid. another excerpt from a consumer in my home state of ohio and ranking member's home state reads, i elected and agreed to a reduced rate payment plan with a student loan servicer. my monthly payment was incorrectly allocated which was resulting in late fees and delinquency notice. after speaking with customer service representatives, no resolution has been reached. these are the stories that motivate us in our work. in this our most semiannual report to congress, we attempt to achieve our efforts on behalf of the consumers. consumers fell victim to various violations of consumer financial protection laws. along with over 32 million in civil money penalties. for example, we took action again a company for illegal debt collection practices that resulted in $2.5 million in relief for service members. we also stopped an illegal kickback scheme for marketing services which resulted in 11.1 million in redress to wronged consumers. we worked with the department of education to obtain $480 million to student loan borrowers who were wronged by corinthian colleges, for a for-profit chain of colleges that has since declared bankruptcy. the bureau also issued a number of proposed final rules. in october 2014, we issued a final rule to reduce burdens on industry by promoting more effective privacy disclosures from financial institutions to their customers. in november 2014, the notice of proposed rule making provides consumer protections for the first time for prepaid cards and accounts that have no such protections. in december 2014, the bureau issued a proposal to clarify various provisions of the mortgage servicing bureaus. in january 2015 the bureau proposed further changes were made to the mortgage rules to facilitate mortgage lending by small creditors, particularly those in rural or underserved areas, community banks and credit unions. this would increase the number of financial institutions offering different types of mortgages in rural or underserved areas and adjust the business practices to comply with the new rules. as the data driven institution, the consumer bureau presented several reports during this reporting period that highlighted important topics in consumer finance, such as medical debt, arbitration agreement, reverse mortgages, and consumer credit scores and credit reports. we released a tool kit that will encourage consumers to shop for mortgages and better understand how to go about the important task of buying a home. in the years to come, we look forward to continuing to fulfill congress's vision of an agency that's dedicated to cultivating a consumer financial marketplace based on transparency, responsible practices, sound innovation, and excellent customer service. thank you for the opportunity to testify today. mr. chairman, i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. director cordray, you've said many times that you're accountable to congress. however, you get to determine your budget and how to spend it. neither congress nor the fed can tell you how to allocate taxpayers' money. many members of congress have expressed strong disapproval of your costly building renovations which include a waterfall and four-story glass staircase, and now stands at more than 3 1/2 times, my understanding, the original estimate. has this disapproval by people caused you to change your renovation plans in any way? and if so, tell us what changes you've made, if any. >> two answers to that question. the first on the overall issue of accountability and oversight. we are accountable to this congress in numerous ways, that are in our statute. the gao does a regular audit of our expenses, and expenditures each year, which is not common to federal agencies. we are subject to an independent audit also by our statute. we're subject to reviews by our inspector general, which have been vigorous. i'm required by law to testify in front of this committee, that's where the congress puts the jurisdiction, and has seemed appropriate in your oversight twice a year. and the house financial services committee twice a year. we have numerous other accountability mechanisms as well. and like the other banking agencies, we are not subject to the appropriation process, but that is not unique. it would be odd if we were different from the others in that respect. as to the building project, that has been overhyped and misrepresented. the building costs have remained essentially static from before we took on this building, and the office of thrift supervision had performed an audit that saw that the building was in disrepair, and needed an overhaul if it was going to remain a productive government asset. the construction costs have been pretty steady between $95 and $120 million, approximately. we recently let the contracts do competitive bidding and they come in thus far underbudget. and the gsa is managing the program which feels more appropriate to me, they know more about it than i do, and they have stated this is an appropriate government renovation project, well within the cost estimates of similar projects. that's my understanding of that issue. >> thank you. yesterday the bureau announced a settlement of an enforcement action against american honda finance corporation, one of the nation's largest auto industries. as part of the settlement, honda, it's my understanding, must substantially reduce or eliminate entirely the ability of auto dealers to raise or lower the finance rate offered to consumers. a recent american banker article quoted from a leaked cfpb memo stated that the bureau is seeking to accomplish, quote, the significant limitations of dealer discretion. considering that auto dealers were explicitly exempted from the cfpb's jurisdiction in dodd/frank, how can -- can this be seen as anything other than a back door effort to regulate the auto dealers, which were basically exempt from dodd/frank? >> three things on that. the first is, we and the justice department -- we're not alone in enforcing the equal opportunity act. we work together on that. we did resolve a matter with honda yesterday. and it's to honda's credit, i would commend them, they have taken far-reaching steps to constrain the discretionary markup, which we think has led to discrimination for consumers. and the justice department thinks has led to discrimination for consumers. it was industry leadership that honda demonstrated yesterday, and i commend them for that. second, in terms of our responsibility here, we have been very careful to observe a line that was not necessarily an obvious or logical line that congress drew, which was to say that the consumer bureau has jurisdiction over auto lenders. but does not have jurisdiction over auto dealers. that jurisdiction, as i understand it, is given to the federal trade commission. we feel that means that the law has spoken clearly, that we have a responsibility to address any sort of issues of discrimination, or other violations of the law by lenders. but not by dealers. that may be illogical, but that's the line we have. and we have taken our responsibilities seriously there. as i say, we have a partner in this work, which is the department of justice. and we work together to address these issues. i think that's been appropriate. but i'm always willing to hear more from members of this committee, and members of congress. we are simply looking to enforce the law, and do it accurately and appropriately. >> on march the 26th, the bureau released an outline of its proposed plans to end payday debt traps. every state, it's my understanding, either regulates or outright prohibits payday lending. what analysis did the bureau conduct of state laws and regulations prior to deciding it should preempt their regulations? and if you have it, could you provide that analysis to the committee? do you want to comment on it? >> sure. in our statute, there were four issues that were very explicitly given full jurisdiction to the consumer bureau. mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, payday lending and private student lending. those were specifically called out in our statute. we've been working on the issue for years. since we became an agency. we have published two extensive white papers that really detail our analysis of this market. they involved scrutiny of upwards of 15 million loans. it's the most comprehensive work that's ever been done on this industry. what we concluded from that was that the problem of debt traps, rollovers of loans, was a very significant problem for consumers, and who are in the small dollar loan market. there is a representation this is a product that people get a loan, and repay it, and they get in, get out, and don't end up in a trap. and what we found was that well over half the loans are repeat loans, in sequences of 6, 8, 10, 12 loans, where people are living their lives off of 400 or 500% interest. that's the issue that we're looking and working to address. it is a very complex issue, i will say. we want to preserve access to credit for people who need that credit, and we recognize there is a demand for that credit. at the same time, we do not want consumers to end up harmed by being stuck in a debt trap they cannot get out of. and harming their finances. that's the dilemma we're trying to confront there. >> thank you. senator brown? >> thank you, mr. chairman. before i begin questions, i'd like to comment on recent attempts to undermine the consumer bureau. last month, the house appropriations committee passed a bill that kills the cfpb's independence. similar attempts have been made in the senate, including the idea that the cfpb governance should be changed to a commission. the argument is that it would be better led by a commission is clearly designed to cripple the bureau and set up one nomination fight after another. we are, i believe, the only committee in the senate to hold a hearing on any of our nominees, most of whom were sent to the committee in january. in contrast in 2007, when senator tester and i joined this committee, when we were in the seventh year of the bush administration, this committee had three nomination hearings and reported out a dozen or so nominees before the august recess. we have important jobs open waiting for us to act, from a fed nominee, to the treasury undersecretary for terro

brown -- national organization for marriage, brian brown. [applause] mr. luntz: i've got to tell you i'm a little surprised see you here today. i don't think i got the memo from the first few rows, but you lost. the issue is over. the issue is over. half the people running for office are saying that nowadays. nothing to see here. the institution of marriage, which predates human civilization by about 6000 years -- no fight, nothing to do. yet, we had a dinner last night to get ready for tonight's event. by golly, you are the most chipper person in the room. explain for our audience why you are so optimistic on the heels of the united states supreme court's attempt to try to play god? mr. brownay that the fight to protect marriage is over just do not know us very well. [applause] i mean, people of faith have fought against great odds and the great civil rights battles for truth throughout the last 2000 years. did they give up when it was difficult to stop gladiatorial combat in rome? did william wilberforce give up what it looked difficult to stop slave trade in england and when everyone mocked him and told him it would never happen? did frederick douglass give up when he was fighting against slavery in the u.s.? of course not. as people of faith, we know the truth about marriage, and we will never give up defending it. am i right? [applause] mr. luntz: when legendary football coach bensalem barty took over the green bay packers, they were a terrible franchise -- when legendary football coach vince lombardi took over the green bay packers. they had a losing culture. famously on the first their practice, he brings these grown men into the locker room and grabs the football an

brown you wish to be heard? representative brown is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. what i'm going to say i was going to say later this afternoon. but brian white stood up here and so eloquently talked about heritage. i have had so many phone calls and so many e-mails about this issue from back home. and i've told the story -- i told it back in 1999, i told it to the charleston post and courier on the 22nd day of june when they called me and asked me how i was going to vote. i told them a story, and they printed it in the charleston paper. the next day june the 23rd would have been 150 years that my great granddaddy thomas peterson evans, took the oath to support the union. he took the oath from a union army general in kershaw township in south carolina, 150 years ago. he's buried in cedar creek cemetery in lee county. with all that heritage i told the charleston post and courier, i'm willing to take it down. my great-granddaddy died in 1925 1925. he lived with my mother's parents from the time she was born until he died. 11 years. she was 11 years old. according to my momma and according to him for those soldiers who wouldn't take the oath some of them were shot. in 1999 i brought the actual not a copy of it but the actual document where my great-granddaddy took that oath. when they told their story the cnn "new day" program called me. we'd like to interview you. in fact, i have a copy of it. we took a picture and sent it to new york. and on thursday morning before the funeral on friday morning in front of the state house, cnn interviewed me about my heritage my family and how i felt about the flag. now, i've got a lot of people who told me back home grady, you vote to take it down. i've never voted against you. but, if this has to be my -- so be it. my momma god bless her soul, she left me all of her confederate memorabilia. she left the document, my great-granddaddy great-granddaddy's confederate money, stamps, a letter from him detailing the information and a letter from her detailing the information, she was an avid member loved the united daughters of the confederacy. but my momma, god bless her soul, would tell me, grady you need to do what you know is right because i raised you that way. there comes a time in life when you have to say you've got to do what's right. and i know that i have as much heritage as any one in the world. my granddaddy, thomas peterson evans joined the confederacy at age 16. 16 years old. he fought for four years. he met a young lady in brunswick, georgia. her name was emmy gaye. trust me i'm not talking just general information. i know what i'm talking about. after the war was over he went back and he married her. after many, many years i finally found out who i looked like. i looked like my great grandmother. ladies and gentlemen, there comes a time in our life and i ask my preacher on sunday morning publicly i said, preacher, this is going to be a contentious week in the state house -- i didn't say state house, i said columbia. he stopped me and said grady we will pray for you. i want to thank them for doing that. i want to thank you all for being so kind today. this has just been unreal. but i want my friends back home on both sides of the issue to know that i'm doing what i'm going to do to vote to take the flag down because i think it is in god's eyes the right thing to do. thank you. [ applause ] >> mr. collins is recognized on the amendment. >> thank you mr. speaker. colleagues, it's looking like i'm not going to be able to vote on this issue, unfortunately for my own self in this regard i have to catch a flight. and i do want to this body and my colleagues to know where i stand on this issue however. this is an important issue for our state. this is a time that we can heal some wounds. i think it's this is the time for us to act. and unfortunately my name is not going to be green on whatever bill is the ultimate bill that comes out of here, but it would be. i do support removing this confederate battle flag as much as i respect it. it's time for our state to use this opportunity to heal. what's worse than being on one side or the other though is being a no-vote. and before i hope y'all get to take some sort of lunch break i wanted to take an opportunity to say where i stand. and representative brown i'm getting the same phone calls that unlike you however this might be two terms in one for me, my first and last. but just like you this is too important of an issue not to take a stand. so should i have an opponent next year i want them to be able to have this clip, not use a no-vote against me but to use this clip one way or the other that the flag should come down. understand that there's some amendments to be had. and represent pitts thank you for what you're doing. there is a huge segment of our population that needs a voice, and you're giving them that voice today. i thank you for that. and whether it's replacing it with the south carolina flag whether it's replacing it with the regimenal flag, the only thing i ask this body to do is i'm going to be one of the thousands watching. tomorrow morning i'm going to open up a las vegas sun paper and maybe tomorrow, maybe friday's paper, maybe saturday's paper, maybe sunday's paper, but i hope that i can open up that paper and that we

mr. brown: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: and mr. president i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: the senate is in morning business. mr. brown: okay. thank you mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to -- that i will be joined -- to be joined in a colloquy with senator merkley of oregon and senator coons of delaware. the presiding officer: without objection. broinmr. brown: thank you, mr. president. during the financial crisis, $13 trillion -- $13,000 billion in household wealth was erased, 9 million jobs lost, 5 million americans, 5 million families, individuals, lost their homes. the financial services industry has bounced back. far too many american families have not. while many in washington may have forgotten the financial crisis millions of americans haven't forgotten how predatory lending practices contributed to the housing bubble, helped spark this crisis. for them, this was the crisis. unscrupulous lenders offered loans that required no documentation, loans with teeser i

brown: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: too many americans are still struggling in today's economy. in spite of comments by some candidates for president americans work hard but still have trouble getting by. we know that americans on the average are working longer hours than workers in almost every other rich country in the world significantly longer hours. simply they are not getting the pay that they've earn and the compensation and the lifestyle to which they aspire and have worked so hards towards. for many workers it shows the longer they work, the less they have to show for it. since the 1970's middle-class waimtion have been stagnant while the nulls on the job have gone up. americans are working more for less. the middle complas has shrunk in every state in this country. a pew research study shows that the share of adults in middle-income households has fallen from 61% in 19 70 to 51%. in ohio the families of middle class is now below 50%. we need to build on-ramps for hardworking americans instead of asking worker

mr. brown: thank you mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. brown: excuse me. thank you. mr. president, we know that we inherited, our generation, people that are in the senate and the house in their 40's and 50's and 60's inherited from their parents and grandparents the greatest infrastructure in the history of the world. from the 1940's and 1950's and 1960's and 1970's into the reagan years when we decideed we should invest less in infrastructure we had this incredible infrastructure, we inherited from our parents and grandparents. yet for whatever reason, we've allowed it to crumble. we haven't invested, we haven't modernized we haven't even maintained it as well as we should. the dismal state of our nation's outdated roads and bridges and railways cost ohioans cost north carolinians valuable time and money and energy. in my state the state legislature -- i know that in the presiding officer's state their state legislature has been on a budget cutting tear, as my state legislature has decided to slice in half and then some local funding so that

brown: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you mr. president. i appreciate the words of senator isakson who is always the cochair of the ethics committee and i served with him and the chairman of the most important committees in the senate. about a year and a half ago january, a cold january morning in cleveland where i live, at a martin luther king breakfast i heard a speaker say your life expectancy is expected to -- connected to your zip code. think about. that whether you grow up in columbus or canton or appalachia whether you grow up in a city or a prosperous suburb or low-income suburb or a small town or rural area, so often your zip code determines whether you have access to quality health care, to good education, to a good job and to the social support necessary to succeed. that's particularly true when it comes to education. the quality of our children's education should not be determined by their zip code. too often that's the case. teachers in schools in far too many cases lack the resources necessary to ensure students can grow and su

mr. brown: i thank the majority leader. i appreciate that. i ask unanimous consent mr. president, to speak for up to ten minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brownthank you, mr. president. i -- next tuesday is july 21. one, it is my wife's birthday. second, it is the five-year anniversary of the dodd-frank wall street reform act becoming law. two decades before that, bering, an international baipg was destroyed by fraud committed by a single one of their traders. in reality, there were no profits unbeknownst to many at the time. just big losses that this trader managed to conceal until the firm collapsed. when writing about his actions later in his memoir, this trader said luckily from my fraud there were too many chiefs who would chat about it at arm's length but never go further. they never dared to ask me any basic questions since they were afraid of looking stupid about not understanding futures and options. unquote. this -- this, mr. president helps illustrate how we got to that financial crisis. wall street so often speaks its own language, one most americans can't understand, one that prevented consumers and taxpayers and sometimes even p

mr. chairman, if i can, i want to slip in one little followup. >> go ahead. >> to the point that senator brown made earlier. that's about forced arbitration clauses. as senator brown highlighted, the report that the cfpb recently released contains damning find beings how forced arbitration clauses fundamentally tilt the process against consumers and keep them from effectively fighting back even when they've been cheated. now it's clear that the biggest banks -- and some of their republican friends in the house of representatives -- see the writing on the wall. that is the rule is coming. so they're pushing legislation that would force the cfpb to redo the report before you issue any new rules. i think this is a stall tactic, plain and simple. the report took three years and 728 pages to complete. it carefully documents a wide range of problems. it is thorough and extensive. i just want to ask you briefly because the chairman is indulging, and i'm over time here. can we get on the record the steps the agency took to ensure the study was complete and accurate including soliciting and considering comments from the financial services industry? >> yeah, sure. first of

brown. ranking member brown: thank you for inviting us here today to discuss the possibility that the va might have to close hospitals or ration health care. mr. chairman, i know everyone in this room agrees that this committee is committed to providing the resources the va needs to take care of the veterans. we all need straight answers to our questions. how much is needed, and why. we need to make sure veterans get the care they need. yet again, we are faced with another element our va budget crisis. we must work together, va and congress to anticipate the resources needed for the va. the va must do a better job of predicting requirements. a must anticipate and plan afford what the veterans need, and where they will need it. we have been hearing this shortfall is due to the increase of veterans coming to get medical care. this results in more veterans treated outside of the va. i also think it takes care of the veterans with hepatitis c. many of whom are vietnam veterans, who we recently honored in a celebration in the capital. it should be one of the highest priorities. this is fundamentally due to lack of planning. today, let us seek out what to do to make sure our veterans are getting the health care they earned. let us take the steps to prevent any more 11th hour budget crises. in february, the secretary asked this committee for more flexibility to move money between accounts that will allow him to run his va more like a business. in february -- and march -- he asked us to give him the flexibility to run theye va like a business so he can better care for the veterans. we had to decide whether or not to allow flexibility. i want to present for the record that the va productivity is up 8.5% and it gives the category of service veterans of fiscal 2015. you want to submit that to a record -- to the record. in addition to that, i want to submit for the record a letter from each of the service organizations indicating that they support they secretary having the flexibility to move this money around. when we did the choice act, the purpose was to provide services to the veterans. we did not say, what services? just services to the veterans. the secretary gates the flexibility to provide those services. with that mr. chairman, i give back to the balance of my time and stop mr. chairman: without obj ection, i will receive those letters. as we meet later on this week, i hope we will keep that in mind. i will remind the members that this committee, and the senate as well, rejected on a bipartisan basis, and attempt to go into the choice find to 60 budget shortfall at the hospital as well. we need to focus, rightly so, forecasting and getting a better grasp on what is going on with the dollars that are appropriated to the veterans affairs. that is why i have asked the secretary to be here. i appreciate you taking are scheduled to be here. when we spoke, the secretary said, i will be there, along with james tuchschmidt m.d. i know you have charts with you. i don't know if we will put to appear. you are recognized, mr. secretary. sec. mcdonald: i would like to start by honoring the five servicemen killed in chattanooga. i extend my condolences to their family members loved ones, and their fellow servicemen. we cherish the freedom they give us. thank you to the chair member. thank you for joining us last thursday morning. i appreciate the opportunity to continue our dialogue publicly so veterans and all americans can understand these issues. representing veterans this morning are some of our most important partners. i want to thank them for being here as well. a year ago today at our senate confirmation hearing, i was charged to ensure the va is giving veterans the highest quality service that they have earned. i welcomed that opportunity and over the last year i have been working with the growing team of excellent people to vote bill that sacred duty. over the last year since m my swearing in, nine of the top leaders are all new. we have to get the right people on the bus, and in the right seats on the bus. veterans access to care has been increased. 2.5 million within the va and 4.5 million within the immunity. 7 million total more than last year and a .5 million within the community -- 2.5 million in the va. we have increased choice i-44 percent -- increased choice by 44%. choice has been a small proportion of that 44 million. utilization has doubled over the last month. because of growth and access, the department is struggling to meet the veteran needs at the end of the fiscal year and we need your help. you have already appropriated funds to meet these needs. you have not given me the flexibility or authority to use them. without flexibility, we will have no option at the end of july, but to the for all remaining non-choice care in the community authorizations until october. you'll have to notify vendors that we cannot pay them as we begin a quarterly -- an orderly shutdown of medical clinics across the country. these are unfortunate conclusions to an otherwise productive year of progress. we double the capacity that was thought to meet the demand of last year by focusing on four pillars. staffing space, productivity and va community care -- or what we sometimes call "choice care." since april of 2014 we have increased staffing by over 12,000 -- including over 1000 new positions. we hired over three thousand 700 medical center staff. we have more states -- we have more space for veterans. we have increased the number of primary care exam rooms. we are more productive and identify unused capacity, optimize scheduling, head off no-shows, and are extending clinic hours at night and on the weekends. we aggressively use technology to reach more veterans. clinical output, as you can see in this chart, has increased it .5% -- 8.5%. we are aggressively increasing care in the community. the choice program increases veteran options for care in the community. in short we are putting the needs and expectations of veterans and beneficiaries first. we empower employees to deliver excellent customer service improving our processes, and shape more eccentric internal operations. that is my va. our top priority to bring the va into the 21st century. our strategy is to pay dividends for veterans. we have increased choice by 44% since we increased access over a year ago. between the end of june last year and may we completed a 4% increase of appointments -- as compared to last year. their 1.5 million encounters during the extended hours. that is particularly important to the women veterans. even with that increase, we completed 97% of appointments within 10 days. 88% within seven days and 22% of same day appointments. wait times are down to an average of five days. wait times are downtown average of four days for primary care. the wait time for mental health care is an average of three days. with your support, the va can be the best customer service agency within the federal government. important challenges remain. there will be more. veteran demographics are evolving. it is not clear that the access crisis in 2014 was predominantly a matter of mismatch of supply versus demand -- exacerbated by greater numbers of veterans receiving services. that imbalance predicts failure in any business, public or private, especially when we promise veterans benefits without the flexibility to fulfill them. the va is working with a budget. not what the veterans have been promised by congress. budgets are static. last year, on average, we added 51,000 veterans to the health care roles each month. this dear, the average monthly -- this year, the average monthly number of new enrollees was 131,000. we welcome them all as i am sure you do as well. enrolled veterans only relight on the va 434% -- on the be ava for 34% of their care. that is just a 1% increase in reliance. it increases caused by $1.4 billion. we are working hard to best serve all veterans, but without flexibility we cannot provide what they need, the way you have direct did it. we have reached a decision point. congress can give the va the flexibility or a veteran will go without care because the money is in the wrong pocket. i earlier compared the in flexibility to having one checking account for gasoline, and another for groceries. the price of gasoline falls and half and you cannot move the money from the gasoline account to the food court grocery account. -- food account or grocery account. altogether, we have over 70 line items a budget that are in flexible. freed up, they will help give the veterans the va they envisioned and they deserve. we need to be able to move money from line item to line item -- just like you would in a business. we need flexibility to transfer both directions, depending upon demand because we cannot ever predict the demand exactly. we go it to the veterans and to ourselves to be more agile 15 years into the 21st century. it was february when i asked for flexibility and it was made when we again asked for flexibility to use choice funding to provide care in the community. i am asking again for the money you already appropriated so we can resource the capacity that we have grown. more flexibility will go far towards increasing access across the country. money for the denver replacement medical center will be depleted by early october at work on the project will ease, unless we receive congressional authorization for the full cost of the project and flexibility to transfer $625 billion to the major construction account. we have presented several plans to congress, the latest on june 5. we will have an update shortly. if we receive full authorization and the flexibility that we seek, we can complete that organization. we need to streamline antiquated business processes. 40 years varieties -- for years, we have provided care to veterans. i have trouble holding this up and talking at the same time. today we have seven different programs for providing community care. each has its own exclusions and payment options. it is incredibly confusing. we have traditional va care, choice two separate plans for care in the community, indian health service, something called "arch" --these two not include all of them. -- these do not include all programs. the providers do not understand it, the veterans to not understand it, and numbers of congress do not understand it completely. we look forward to working with you on a single reimbursement program to get the providers we need on board. providers cherry pick the program to get the highest reimbursement rates. we sent you the proposal to streamline the modernization act. it will give us the flexibility to provide timely local care to veterans. a proposal was modeled only purchase care authority and the choice act. it includes protections for provider qualifications and reasonable costs. flexibility with respect to choice is eccentric to resolving -- if essential to resolving the budget shortfall and ensuring that the budgetshe veterans receive timely health care. congress added new entitlements for veterans in the new choice act. there are many programs that the choice act does not cover. because choice care authorizations if it's a different bucket, there is a shortfall. most types of care our community care. at the current rate, we expect care in the community will cost an additional $2.5 billion in 2015. new hepatitis c drugs for veterans will cost an additional $500 million. always seek his flexibility. to meet these growing requirements and fear, the a neatly adequate -- to meet these growing requirements, the va needs the flexibility. as many as 70,000 veterans may not receive care. it means no funding for four major construction projects and a six major cemetery projects. veterans may not receive the appropriate burial honors. over 50% of our buildings are over 50 years old. services and benefits peak years after conflicts and. we now see the peak years of the vietnam crisis, though the vietnam war ended years ago. the health care requirements and demand for benefits increase as the veterans age and exit the workforce. the full funding for the 2016 budget request is an important step. we have to look much further ahead for the sake of afghanistan and iraq veterans. years ago only 2.2 million veterans were 65 years old or older. that is 75% of the veteran population. we expect 9.8 million will be 65 years or older. what does that mean? the va provides the best hearing aid technology anywhere. medicare does not cover hearing aids and most insurance plans have limited coverage, at best. choosing va for hearing aids saves veterans $4200. as it continues to improve access, more veterans will come to the va. because they want to and because it makes financial sense. it is a foregone conclusion that the cost of fulfilling our commitments will grow in the future. the axis crisis was a vietnam debt. we cannot be shortsighted. we have to respond today with a long-term view that underlines a commitment to va transformation. veterans who have preserved our freedom are watching us. service members are also watching us. young men and women are also watching us. they rightfully expect us to fulfill our obligations with the same degree of dignity and to let delhi -- and fidelity with which they put their lives on the line. we made a breakfast last week. i know we will honor all of our obligations to veterans and their families of every generation. we look forward to your questions. thank you, mr. chairman. chairman: you talk about additional enrollees. you do not have the numbers in front of me. did you say that was a net number and includes those that have died? or was that just new enrollees? you had 100,000 new enrollees. sec. mcdonald: i don't have the number of people that died. there are ought -- there are a lot more alive than who are dead. chairman: for clarity purposes, it is important to not only focus on the number. sec. mcdonald: we will get you that number. chairman: i know you wanted to focus on the appropriations process, which is still ongoing. i hope, very soon the senate will move the legislation so we can get the the va budget passed. if we did not have the choice program to fall back on today that $10 billion or $9 billion -- how would this problem be solved? sec. mcdonald: we agree with you. as we said last week, we favor the choice program. it is the shock absorber that has allowed us to care for veterans at a time when more veterans are entering the system and when the care is necessary. the choice program allocated $10 billion for care over three years. we already spend $6 billion for community care with the current legit. the idea that it has been propagated in the media that we disapprove of the choice program is wrong. community care is absolutely essential. chairman: the issue is, your hepatitis c drug. 1.5 billion or but ever the number is for hepatitis c. that is part of the issue and i do not think that anyone of us believe that we should not be providing that drug. it no budget submission that i can recall, was it discussed about that although, i am hoping that somebody -- miss brown actually talked about someone looking for the approval of that the drug. if it did come on, it was going to cause a significant issue as it relates to the non-va care line item $6 billion. it is gone now. it has never been gone before. all of a sudden, this year it disappeared. if we did not cap the pots of money you are looking at now to solve this crisis, how would the crisis be solved? sec. mcdonald: mr. chairman, what we are saying is, based on the laws that congress has passed there are certain benefits we have to give to veterans. the budget has to match that. without the choice act, we would not have the money for that. just over one third of veterans art using the system. i think the point you make on the hepatitis see drug is a very important one. i spoke about the length of budget cycles. we started the appropriation for 2015. these drugs were invented between 2013 and 2015. it could not have been anticipated. how do we work together to create the flexibility in the budget c

mr. brown. order in the chamber please. mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president i know that senator brown is on his way but i just want to let senators know what this amendment is about -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. murray: madam president? the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take your conversations out of the well. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president too often our nation's students show up to school hungry or lacking adequate school supplies, and many of our teachers as we know, are really struggling to provide students with an education while they are also dealing with the compounding problems brought on by poverty. site resource coordinators that this amendment addresses operate through a community school model are able to bolster the number of resources in schools and increase the number of services offered to students and their families, so what this amendment does is it would further that goal by allowing title 4 funds to be used for site coordinators and i want to thank senator brown for offering this amendm

brown: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. brown: i rise in support of h.r. 2256 the veterans information modernization act, as amended. mr. speaker, this bill does a number of things to improve access and quality of service to our nation's veterans. this bill requires the secretary to submit an annual report on the department's furnishing of hospital care medical services and nursing home care to veterans. one of our priorities on the committee is to ensure that safe, quality health care is provided to veterans and their families. this report will assist us in our oversight duties of the department. this bill expands the definition of homeless veterans to include veterans fleeing from domestic violence. as you know, veterans who experience domestic violence are considered high risk of homelessness. this is a very vulnerable population, and anytime we find a barrier to care we should remove it. further, one of my biggest priorities as ranking member is to ensure that we can provide safe quality housing for homeless women veterans. women veterans are an underserved population, and there is a serious lack of housing options for those who become homeless. there is an even greater crisis with attempts to find housing for women veterans who have children. this is largely due to the fact that many facilities do not allow women and children in the same facility as men. this must be corrected immediately. i have encouraged several women who have been forced to live on the streets in weekly motels and other housing places that are not fit to live due to domestic violence. this is completely unacceptable. we should be working closely with v.a. and h.u.d. to ensure that there is transitional and emergency housing available for women veterans during this greatest time of need. this bill addresses gaps in identification tracking and procurement of biological implant at the department of veterans affairs. finally, this bill will establish a commission to examine the effectiveness of the evidence-based therapeutic model for treating mental health illness of veterans. i would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their interest and support of veterans' issues. with that i yield -- i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. benishek: mr. speaker i now recognize my colleague and friend from florida, the vice chairman of the committee, mr. gus bilirakis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate it. i rise today in support of h.r. 2256, the veterans information modernization act. this bill makes positive bipartisan reforms to the v.a. which has become the hallmark of the v.a. committee. we have such a good committee, mr. speaker. i'm particularly pleased about the inclusion of my bill, h.r. 271, the creating options nor veterans expedited recovery act, better known as the cover act. last year the v.a. committee held a hearing regarding the access of veterans to v.a.'s mental health services. at the hearing, we heard from mothers and fathers of deceased veterans. i remember vividly how hearing their testimony moved me. i can't remember another instance when the v.a. committee room was so quiet and solemn as that day. statistics show that one in five veterans who served in iraq and afghanistan have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress. now we must responsibly ask ourselves, are we doing enough when it comes to addressing mental health in our veterans population? recent data has shown that every day in this country approximately 18 to 22 veterans take their own lives. this statistic answers the question i posed earlier. it is obvious more needs to be done. far too often we have heard of situations where our veterans are being overprescribed opioids and anti-psychotics. while traditional forms of therapy may work for some tailoring therapies to the veteran and finding the balance between traditional and complementary alternative treatments could be the difference in saving lives. late last year, i met with a veteran who was able to tell me just how alternative treatments have improved his life. his treatment plan to address his p.t.s. and physical injuries consisted of 30 different pills. every day. he told me how much this affected him. he said he felt hopeless and wasn't quite himself anymore. he then decided to take control of his life again and looked for an alternative. he found an alternative treatment, training and caring for a service dog. now his treatment includes one multivitamin, one other medication and a four-legged companion that never leaves his side. the cover act is the next piece in a working formula to heal our veterans, mentally and physically. it will pave the way toward including this complementary alternative therapies at the v.a. these therapies include but certainly are not limited to service animal therapy, yoga therapy, accupuncture, equain therapy and accelerated resolution therapy. mr. speaker, i've heard the stories from these veterans, and these therapies really work. they need access to these therapies. at a recent town hall i even heard about benefits of martial arts for treating p.t.s. mr. speaker when treating mental health issues, one size does not fit all. please support this good bill. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan. >> i have one more speaker. the speaker pro tempore: do you reserve? >> i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida. >> i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman is recognized. mr. benishek: i'd like to yield such time heas may consume to -- as he may consume to mr. row of tennessee. -- mr. roe of tennessee. mr. roe: i rise in support of this measure. a frightening january 2014 g.a.o. report found that the v.a. does not use a standardized process for tracking biological tissue from a cadaver to a living donor veteran patient. in the event of a recall it would be virtually impossible to track down which patient received contaminated tissue. g.a.o. also found that the veterans' health administration does not always ensure it is purchasing tissue from biological implant vendors that are registered with f.d.a. and does not maintain an inventory system to prevent expired tissues from remaining in storage alongside unexpyred tissue. v.a. often uses a loophole to allow it to purchase biological implants on the open, unregulated market, which it does. 57% of its biological implant purchases. this would require the biological implants from vendors on the supply schedule which have been appropriately vetted. for those not on the supply schedule mitigating circumstance bill requires justification and approval of open market purchases on a case by case basis, rather than simply granting a blanket waiver this bill would also direct the secretary of vet reens affairs to adopt f.d.a.'s unique device labeling system for labeling of all tissue and implement an automated inventory system to track it from donor to implant recipient. it would require all implant tissue to be procured through vendors registered with the f.d.a., accreditted by the american association of tissue banks and use f.d.a.'s ewe neebling device identification system. the six million veterans served annually deserve the highest standard of patient care in the nation. implementation of h.r. 2256 would helpest tably the v.a. as an industry leader and biological implant and safety accountability. i want to thank the subcommittee staff for their help in developing this legislation which truly puts veterans first. thank you mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. benishek: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida. ms. brownk all my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from michigan. mr. benishek: i appreciate the gentlewoman's support and i encourage all members to support h.r. 2256 as amended and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2256 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the -- mr. benishek: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: excuse me? mr. benishek: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking the vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to rule 20, clause 8, further proceed option this question are postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognitio

mr. chairman, if i can, i just want to slip in one little follow-up to the point that senator brown made earlier and that's about forced arbitration clawses. as senator brown highlighted -- clauses. as senator brown highlighted the report contained some damning findings how arbitration clauses fundamentally tipped the process against consumers and keep them from effectively fighting back even when they've been cheated. now, it's clear that the biggest banks and some of their republican friends in the house of representatives see the writing on the wall here and that is the rule is coming so they're pushing legislation that would force the cfpb to redo the report before you issue any new rules. i think this is a stall tactic, plain and simple. the report took three years and 728 pages to complete. it carefully documents a wide range of problems. it is thorough and extensive. i just want to ask you very briefly, because the chairman is indulging and i'm over time here, but can we get on record the steps the agency took to ensure that this study was complete and accurate, including soliciting and considering comments from the financial services industry? mr.

mr. brown: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. i just want to remind my completioncolleagues that tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of president johnson going to -- traveling to independence, missouri, to be with president truman who in the 19 40's had attempted to push through congress legislation to expand the social security act to include what we now call medicare. when president johnson went to independence missouri, and signed the legislation it's the one we pay most attention to is medicare, health care for the elderly. but probably equally important and certainly very important social security, creation of medicaid. and medicaid came out of several years of congressional debate where congress understood that low-income people -- especially low-income people who were working and didn't have insurance, people that were poor people in nurseing homes as it evolved into, elderly people -- m

brown amendment number 2100. the senator from ohio. mr. brown: madam president brown-manchin expands the full-service community schools mod toll schools across the country. community schools are different from promised neighborhoods two different approaches to what is a complex set of challenges. community schools start with a focus on the school, engage partners and join efforts to improve student achievement and development and in the process work to strengthen family and community. madam president i yield the remainder of my time to senator manchin. mr. manchin: madam president all of us have challenged areas in our states. a county one. poorest counties in the country. these children have no chance whatsoever. it has the worst -- the absolutely worst statistics of any child could be living in. if it wasn't for these programs that's bringing the compassion of public-private partnerships that we're able to work through to reestablish the services that these children won't get -- the areas are so sparsely populated high unemployment. i would encourage all of you to s

brown you wish to be heard? representative brown is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. what i'm going to say i was going to say later this afternoon. but brian white stood up here and so eloquently talked about heritage. i have had so many phone calls and so many e-mails about this issue from back home. and i've told the story -- i told it back in 1999, i told it to the charleston post and courier on the 22nd day of june when they called me and asked me how i was going to vote. i told them a story, and they printed it in the charleston paper. the next day june the 23rd would have been 150 years that my great granddaddy thomas peterson evans, took the oath to support the union. he took the oath from a union army general in kershaw township in south carolina, 150 years ago. he's buried in cedar creek cemetery in lee county. with all that heritage i told the charleston post and courier, i'm willing to take it down. my great-granddaddy died in 1925 1925. he lived with my mother's parents from the time she was born until he died. 11 years. she was 11 years old. according to my momma and according to him for those soldiers who wouldn't take the oath some of them were shot. in 1999 i brought the actual not a copy of it but the actual document where my great-granddaddy took that oath. when they told their story the cnn "new day" program called me. we'd like to interview you. in fact, i have a copy of it. we took a picture and sent it to new york. and on thursday morning before the funeral on friday morning in front of the state house, cnn interviewed me about my heritage my family and how i felt about the flag. now, i've got a lot of people who told me back home grady, you vote to take it down. i've never voted against you. but, if this has to be my -- so be it. my momma god bless her soul, she left me all of her confederate memorabilia. she left the document, my great-granddaddy great-granddaddy's confederate money, stamps, a letter from him detailing the information and a letter from her detailing the information, she was an avid member loved the united daughters of the confederacy. but my momma, god bless her soul, would tell me, grady you need to do what you know is right because i raised you that way. there comes a time in life when you have to say you've got to do what's right. and i know that i have as much heritage as any one in the world. my granddaddy, thomas peterson evans joined the confederacy at age 16. 16 years old. he fought for four years. he met a young lady in brunswick, georgia. her name was emmy gaye. trust me i'm not talking just general information. i know what i'm talking about. after the war was over he went back and he married her. after many, many years i finally found out who i looked like. i looked like my great grandmother. ladies and gentlemen, there comes a time in our life and i ask my preacher on sunday morning publicly i said, preacher, this is going to be a contentious week in the state house -- i didn't say state house, i said columbia. he stopped me and said grady we will pray for you. i want to thank them for doing that. i want to thank you all for being so kind today. this has just been unreal. but i want my friends back home on both sides of the issue to know that i'm doing what i'm going to do to vote to take the flag down because i think it is in god's eyes the right thing to do. thank you. [ applause ] >> mr. collins is recognized on the amendment. >> thank you mr. speaker. colleagues, it's looking like i'm not going to be able to vote on this issue, unfortunately for my own self in this regard i have to catch a flight. and i do want to this body and my colleagues to know where i stand on this issue however. this is an important issue for our state. this is a time that we can heal some wounds. i think it's this is the time for us to act. and unfortunately my name is not going to be green on whatever bill is the ultimate bill that comes out of here, but it would be. i do support removing this confederate battle flag as much as i respect it. it's time for our state to use this opportunity to heal. what's worse than being on one side or the other though is being a no-vote. and before i hope y'all get to take some sort of lunch break i wanted to take an opportunity to say where i stand. and representative brown i'm getting the same phone calls that unlike you however this might be two terms in one for me, my first and last. but just like you this is too important of an issue not to take a stand. so should i have an opponent next year i want them to be able to have this clip, not use a no-vote against me but to use this clip one way or the other that the flag should come down. understand that there's some amendments to be had. and represent pitts thank you for what you're doing. there is a huge segment of our population that needs a voice, and you're giving them that voice today. i thank you for that. and whether it's replacing it with the south carolina flag whether it's replacing it with the regimenal flag, the only thing i ask this body to do is i'm going to be one of the thousands watching. tomorrow morning i'm going to open up a las vegas sun paper and maybe tomorrow, maybe friday's paper, maybe saturday's paper, maybe sunday's paper, but i hope that i can open up that paper and that we

mrs. brown, feel free. >> my name is paulette brown and here concerning my son wloo was murdered august 13, 2006 to a semyomatic gun. all because he saved someone elses life. it is going on 9 years and as a mother i'm still grieving and where i can talk about my son and bring up so his case is not solved and it is a cold case. my son was-just turned 17 years old. he was murdered saving someones life and no justice and i'm speaking justice for my son. people go who did this to by son. no one wants to point the finger. that is why the case isn't solved. i have to walk around and this is all i have left of my son, his body. this is all i have left. his birthday is coming up and this is all i have left. where i can go and bring thup information about my son, i need to. this is my therapy and i bring this up all the time. if i-went to the police commission at city hall and you were not there, i had to look for you and it isn't i'm chasing you brut i need to bring this up at the police commission. all the time i am fighting for my son and other union men and people dying on the streets and i want to give my con