department of commerce success is our country success. n leslie will serve those that want - - both the department and the secretary with distinction. thank you again for inviting me to join you today in the important work all if you do on behalf of our nation i'm delighted to introduce to the committee and i enthusiastically endorse a swift nomination. >> thank you so much for joining us and to come back the department of commerce with people working with them. now we will turn to the nominees. thank you for your willingness to serve. >> thank you madame chairman. if i may submit my testimony and writing for the record. and if i may, address the committee directly. >> thank you to my family. my spouse going on 50 years. grace. our daughter and our son joining us virtually. i want to thank the co-pay analyst and congratulations to you and anything that you have already accomplished is already impressive. thanks to my former colleagues. there is a catch in my throat when i think of the wonderful times i have had with you all. and the friend

department of commerce success is our country success. in my opinion leslie will serve those that want - - both the department and the secretary with distinction. thank you again for inviting me to join you today in the important work all if you do on behalf of our nation i'm delighted to introduce to the committee and i enthusiastically endorse a swift nomination. >> thank you so much for joining us and to come back the department of commerce with people working with them. now we will turn to the nominees. thank you for your willingness to serve. >> thank you madame chairman. if i may submit my testimony and writing for the record. and if i may, address the committee directly. >> thank you to my family. my spouse going on 50 years. grace. our daughter and our son joining us virtually. i want to thank the co-pay analyst and congratulations to you and anything that you have already accomplished is already impressive. thanks to my former colleagues. there is a catch in my throat when i think of the wonderful times i have had with you all. an

miss kiernan, you listed the department of commerce's i.t. and the cybersecurity posture among what you believe are the top challenges facing the department. in the wake of recent major cybersecurity breaches of federal agencies, could you please describe what you see as the most significant hurdles for the commerce department here? >> senator, protecting our networks is vital to our economic and national security. this cybersecurity network has improved cybersecurity awareness and facilitated regulatory streamlining. since i'm not at the agency, i don't have all the current details on the department's efforts in this regard, but if confirmed,ly make it a priority to work with the experts at ni st and other agencies throughout the government on these issues. >> if you are confirmed as general counsel, how would you advise the department to approach these challenges? >> senator, i think that this is an issue that one that requires government-wide responses. it will be incredibly important to work with other agencies throughout the government an

commerce department announcing these 7 chinese supercomputer developer companies are now on the export blacklist this move now bans american companies from exporting technology to the groups without a license so why are they banned and a statement made by the u.s. commerce department quote the 7 added to the entity list were involved with building supercomputers used by china's military actors its destabilizing military modernization efforts and or weapons of mass destruction programs the relevant personages on the u.s. side should abandon the cold war game in 0 sum thinking friday china fired back at the move saying the us should treat china u.s. relations objectively and rationally and do more things that are conducive to the healthy and stable development of china u.s. relations many would die out containment and suppression by the united states cannot stop the pace of china's scientific and technological progress only strengthen china's determination and will to innovate independently and while china works to innovate independently the move is starting to trickle down across the gl

secretary ross was also reported to fall asleep, kind of constantly, at commerce department meetings and even at higher profile meetings on tv. but velvet smoking sleeping billionaire wilbur ross had his moments of genuine scandal like when he threatened to fire federal weather officials because a hurricane was not going to alabama and they said so, even though president trump insisted for some reason that alabama was absolutely where that hurricane was going. do you remember that? sharpie gate? it was wilbur ross who tried to fire the weather people who were correct about the hurricane. he wanted to fire them for that. there was also the time that wilbur ross lied to the supreme court as commerce secretary, it was ross's job to oversee the u.s. census. the population count that the government has to undertake every ten years because the institution says so. trump administration announce that i had would add a new question to the census form this year asking everybody about their citizenship status a question that hadn't been on the census for at least 70 years. the aclu led by dale

when you look at the past decade, you have the fcc, commerce department, department of agriculture, the treasury department all having a role when it comes to the digital divide at where it should go. when it comes to taking stock of this money, aliens of dollars already allocated for fixing some of these problems, who should be doing the taking stock? is there a need for a new coordinating office in the administration on this? brendan: good question. there is a lot of cooks in the kitchen at the moment when it comes to broadband and i am worried we will have all these programs with taxpayer dollars that are building over each other. so much of this country still has zero megabits per second. we need to spread those out. the fcc voted last year, completed an auction for $9 billion to bring millions of americans in rural communities across the digital divide. we have $11 billion set aside for the second phase of that. we voted this year for 3.2 billion dollars to support low-income americans getting online. congress sent us more than $7 billion for distance learning for schoolkids. we ha

it means they will need the commerce department's authorization to do business.ources say that won't prevent the firms from getting products made. italy's prime minister has revealed the government recently blocked the takeover of a semi conductor company. mario draghi says he backs an extension of so-called old and power to protect local industries -- golden how are -- power rules to protect local industries. the indian prime minister says he is trying to boost capacity to make vaccines as new infections surged to a record. several states have warned of shortages with mumbai saying it is just three days worth of doses and stocks. india reported a daily record of more than 26,000 cases with that region counting for almost half. australia is recommending that people under 50 avoided taking the astrazeneca vaccine over warnings of links to rare blood clots. they say the first dose of astrazeneca should only be given when benefits clearly outweigh the risks. the guidance comes after the eu found possible risks between the vaccine and blood clotting issues. global ne

that's toe commerce department. surge in incomes helped fuel the increase. the government says personal income shot up more than 21%. >>> to all who come to this happy place, welcome. disneyland is your land. >> that music does something to you, right? today, more than a year after shutting down disneyland is reopening. visitors need to make reservations in advance. guests older than two must wear face coverings and temperature screenings are required before entering. admission for now is limited to only california residents. time for a check of our weather with meteorologist mary lee. we need to plan that disneyland trip. >> we do. how exciting! the first day it is open. i know michelle and gianna have some tickets so len and i need to make that happen too. >>> we are looking at a beautiful afternoon. we have more clouds in the sky, tracking that ocean breeze kicking in for us. that's why temperatures are cooler compared to yesterday at this time. let's show you our temperatures. really that temperature spread from the coast around the bay 70s inland from c

he only made the news for ridiculous thing thes like wears $600 commerce department monogramed slippersep at meetings on tv. but he moments of genuine scandal, when he threatened to fire weather officials because a hurricane was not going alabama, and they said so, represent that? sharpie-gate? it was wilber ross who tried to fire the weather people. he wanted to fire them for that. it was a time when wilber ross lied to the supreme court as commerce secretary, it was ross's job to oversee the u.s. census. the population count that the u.s. has to undertake because the constitution says so. they decided they would add a new question. andthe aclu, took wilber ross and the commerce department to court saying they were punishesing the citizenship question on the census because they wanted to drive down response rates in immigrant communities. it would askew the congressional seats. wilber ross said it was ridiculous, he merely added the question to the census because the justice department told him to. he was barely involved. a number of federal courts, found that was not true. in fact, th

something that strikes me in debates when you look back the last decade you have the fcc, the commerce department, department of agriculture and other, like the treasury department now all having a ball when it comes to the digital divide and broadband and where it should go. when it comes to taking stock of this money, billions of dollars have already been allocated towards fixing some of these problems, who should be doing the taking stock? is her need for any new cord coordinating office within the administration on this? that's a structural question i've always had. is that congress needs to be doing that job? >> guest: it's a good question. there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen at the moment when it comes to broadband and i am worried we'll have all these different programs with taxpayer dollars and they will be over building a top of each other. so much of this country still had zero megabits per second. we need to ordinate our nats to spread those funds out. the fcc, we voted last year, completed at auction for $9 billion to bring millions of americans in rural communities across the digit

investors are waiting on another batch of endings and a slew of economic data, including the commerce department'setail sales report. the labor department's also out with the latest jobless claims numbers later this morning. >>> meantime, stocks ended mostly lower yesterday. the dow gained 53 points, the nasdaq slid 138, and the s&p 500 lost 16. >>> a new study finds blocking middle seats on airplanes curbs the risk of spreading covid-19. the cdc and researchers at the kansas state university found up to a 57% reduction in exposure to viable virus the y account the federal mask mandate or whether people are vaccinated against the coronavirus. the findings come as airlines abandon the practice of blocking seats to maintain social distance between travelers. >>> dollar general wants to fill 20,000 job openings starting next week. the tennessee-based retailer will be holding in-person and virtual hiring fairs to find new employees. officials say they have openings at local stores, regional stores at the corporate level and truck drivers. >>> and busch beer is on the search for a pooch to fill an impo

>> department of commerce. >> were you worked at the department of commerce were you a licensed peace officer? >> yes, sir. >> probably a lot of people don't know that there are licensed peace officers in the department of commerce? >> yes, sir. >> what investigations did you do in the department of commerce? >> white collar investigations. >> at some point did you leave the department of commerce? >> yes, sir. >> where did you go there? >> the bureau of criminal apprehension? >> 2014. >> that's where you are today, sir? >> yes. in the middle of 2013 to 2016, i was not. >> that's when you were working -- >> from 2013 to about 2016 i was not. >> that's when you were doing the corporate work? >> correct. >> a licensed peace officer, you are required to take ongoing educational credits, correct? >> yes. >> and you have done that throughout your career? >> yes, sir. >> when you were hired at the bca in 2018, what were you hired to do? >> i was hired in the metro homicide unit, so we investigated major homicides as well as officer involved incidents. >> when you were hired at the bca, were

saw an opportunity to make money and they went for it but that's that's a very small minority commerce department of justice is also trying to stop those who are responsible like one of the richest families in the country the one that funds and controls the purse and hire. article i want to show you that appeared for about the sack or family and back in 2015 they had 14 bay and one of the richest families in the united states and they sold more than 35. dollars worth of oxy cotton since it was really just. boarded 1952 by the circle brothers. until then their name was known to the general public nowadays billionaires and very much appreciated by. made itself known as the patrons of museums such as the new for all the guggenheim but without anyone making the connection between their fortunes and their company michael barrett intends to make this truth. do you think they knew what they were doing sure they knew what they were doing. back there were they would and they pleaded guilty to crimes for alternately with and knowingly crossing the north of the. that's a result of one thing. i mean billions

i heard that secretary raymondo of the commerce department said she believed it was fair and completes reasons to be skeptical, given the shenanigans that was played by trump administration, and then there were questions among immigrant communities, given all of the angst expressed by the former administration around their status in the first place. so i think there is reason to be skeptical. but that said, i think it's important for the processes to go forward in the legislatures to begin drawing these lines. we know it's a highly divisive and political process, and at the end of the day, given the states and the population shift, we may see a bit of a wash when it comes to the numbers as they might affect the presidential election. >> david jolley, same question to you. one, do you trust the integrity of the census results? and two, your analysis of how it might impact or politics? our politicians? >> the majority that controls the house kind of hangs in the balance with some of these challenges to this census and to the reapportionment based on the census. you know, the constitutio

. >> reporter: the commerce department says retail sales surged nearly 10% in march.ted. why are we seeing such a big boost in retail sales right now -- right now? >> i think we have a lot of reasons to smile right now with respect to what's happening in the u.s. economy. we have the impacts of all the federal stimulus or relief payments. so there's money to spend right now. >> reporter: bankrate.com economic analyst mark hamrick said car dealers saw an increase in customers last month. there was also a big jump in business at clothing and sporting goods stores. >> what's perhaps most heartening right now is that we're seeing big pickups at brick and mortar retailers. >> reporter: businesses are looking for more workers, giving the job market a boost. last week there was a drop in the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits. where does the economy go from here? >> i think the sky's the limit for the u.s. economy. >> reporter: hamrick believes unemployment will continue to fall in the coming months, and spending will get closer to pre-pandemic levels. cb

sales of new homes have surged last month saw an increase of more than 20% the commerce department reported today that sales climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of one million last month after a 16% tumble in february. it was the fastest pace for new home sales since the housing boom of the mid two thousands when sales reached more than a million units in august of 2006, california's unemployment office still has a backlog of hundreds of thousands of claims that have yet to be paid out, the agency said. they get people their money earlier than expected and then just blew right past their own deadline. ktvu tom vacar explains, should roll ppe you see pandemic emergency unemployment come sensation is a program to help unemployed americans keep receiving money until this pandemic is reasonably under control. it was initially extended to go through march. the 14th then re extended under the biden administration to september. the sixth, provided the recipients re certify their eligibility. many are still waiting. initially e d d promised to process all extensions for all of those with z

recovery in the united states as retail sales surged more than expected for the month of march the commerce department reported thursday u.s. retail sales were up 9.8 percent for the month as more americans were vaccinated and received their stimulus checks looking at some of these numbers here clothing stores saw an increase of more than 18 percent while spending it auto dealerships was up just over 15 percent for the month restaurants and bars 13.4 percent increase but still sit about 2 percent below where they were for the same month and 2020 again just at the onset of the pandemic and stores which specialize in building materials cell sales go up by more than 12 percent now in another bright sign for the economy the department of labor reported jobless claims for the week ending april 9th fell to their lowest level since the onset of the pandemic jobless claims came in at 576004 the week down by nearly 200000 from the week prior so with all this in my head and look at the impact on markets thursday with co-host christiane i just get see he is the founder and c.e.o. of strategy marketplace thank yo

the commerce department is policing that the way they should the net needs to be corrected and we need to make sure they are committed to those export controls as well. i appreciate you highlighting then i will follow up with senator cotton and senator one - - senator schumer. >> thank you. i appreciate that. the hallmark of the new competition with china that national security is no longer limited but to the foreign relations committee now in banking, health education, every department is on the frontlines of the china competition. i quoted director ray about tpp so the director stated he is now reach the point where the fbi is opening a new chain a real - - china related base every ten hours and nearly 5000 are currently are underway across the country and almost half are related to china. so for example the recently confirmed attorney general come are you comfortable the fbi campaign and department of justice china initiative will continue and to be staffed? >> i am really glad director ray is staying on. i am a fan of his. and on this topic i have said he is pretty stoic. he doesn'

>> department of commerce. >> when you worked at the department of commerce, were you a licensed peace officer? >> yes, sir. >> probably a lot of people don't know that there are licensed peace officers in the department of commerce, right? >> yes, sir. >> what kind of investigations did you do in the department of commerce. >> primarily white collar investigations. >> at some point did you leave the department of commerce then? >> yes, sir. >> and where did you go after that? >> the bureau of criminal apprehension. >> when were you hired by the bureau of criminal apprehension? >> 2018. >> and that's where you are today still? >> correct sir. >> so initially licensed in 2007. >> yes. >> did you maintain your license as a peace officer during that entire time period? >> no. >> when -- >> 2013 to 2016 i was not. >> that's when you were working -- from middle of 2013 to 2016 i was not. >> and that's when you were doing the corporate work? >> correct. >> as a licensed peace officer, you are required to take some on going educational credits kreshgt? >> yes, sir. >> you have done that throu

when you were at the department of commerce are you a licensed peace officer yes or. my probably a lot of people don't know that they're licensed peace officers and department right. what kinds of investigations that you do at the department primarily white collar investigations. and at some point did you leave the department of commerce that. and where did you go after that the bureau for my branch and what are you hired by the bureau of criminal apprehension 2900. and that's where you are today stowe. so initially licensed in 2007 did you maintain your license as a peace officer during that entire time. know it went well about 2000 middle of 2013 to 2016 that. that's when you were working. from 2000 the militant 13th are to about 1016 was not enough when you're doing a corporate work correct. peace officer you are required to going educational credits cracked down all that throughout your career the exception of a 2 year period. when you were hired at the b.c.s. in 2018. what were you hired to do was hired within the metro homicide unit so we investigated. major homi

this would strengthen the commerce department's role in coordinating federal travel policies and set consistent national goals and strategies to boost travel exports. finally, investing in our country's infrastructure will help facilitate travel and better prepare us to welcome back visitors from around the world. by prioritizing infrastructure, investments now, the u.s. can emerge from the pandemic and rebuild the travel industry with stronger, more connected systems than ever before. we need the federal government to enact the right policies to ensure all sectors of travel can recover as quickly as possible and any delay in reopening any segment will only hurt our economy further. thank you again for inviting the travel industry to testify today on such a devastating economic impact of the pandemic, and i welcome your questions. thank you. chair rosen: thank you, ms. barnes. our final witness is carol dover, president and ceo of the florida restaurant and lodging association. ms. dover also serves as a member of several boards including the board of directors for the national resta

rishaad: the commerce department targets chinese superconductor companies.t does this tell us about biden's strategy? bruce: well, the provisions against these countries, they're not the most extreme. they haven't taken it to the top level that they have against huawei. that said, though, the biden administration has taken action against these chinese companies and will require anyone that wants to export them to get approval. the significance here is that it was unclear what the biden administration policy would be regarding china, and specifically, what trump had done, the various policies trump had enacted. would biden keep those? would he ease up? it seems from this that they intend to ratchet up the pressure. juliette: bloomberg's bruce einhorn, thank you so much. let's get a check on the latest business flash headlines. hsbc will allow 15% of staff to return to its offices in hong kong. the changes take effect from april 12. hsbc previously said only critical workers should enter the buildings. local infection numbers have fallen and mid social distanc

exporters will need the commerce department's authorization to do business with them.hat will not prevent the firms from getting products made by tmsc. italy's prime minister revealed that his government recently blocked the chinese takeover of a semiconductor company. mario draghi says that he backs an extension of so-called golden power rules to protect local industries. the eu nations have been scrambling after last year's pandemic left many vulnerable to takeovers. indian prime minister says that he is trying to boost capacity to make vaccines as new coronavirus infections surged to a record. several states have warned of vaccine shortage with mumbai's state saying that it is just three days worth of doses in stock. india reported a daily record of over 126,000 cases thursday with that state accounting from a staff of those. australia is recommending people under 50 avoid taking the astrazeneca vaccine amid warnings to a link of a rare blood clots. the government prefers the five -- pfizer is shot for that age range. this is after the eu found the possible links be

department of commerce. $35 billion for climate science. and $10 billion for a new civilian climate corps. adding insult to injury, madam speaker, this astronomical spending plan would be funded through tax increases. this current proposal fails to address our nation's most critical infrastructure needs and falls short of meeting my constituents' expectations. we can do better, maments, if -- ams ma, if we work together -- madam speaker, if we work together. my constituents want our elected officials to work again together, to get things done, improving opportunities for the familie -- for our families, and our community. they do not want to see us to use our time in washington to play political games. please be assured i'll remain focused on this pair mount objective. thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair now recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. brooks, for five minutes. mr. brooks: mr. speaker, earlier this month, employees at amazon's bessemer, alabama's facility had a

increase in education, 23 to half% increase for the health, budget includes a 28% rise in the commerce departmentenergy department budget mostly for a clean energy project. and meanwhile on the other side the defense budget increase by 1.5% and dhs homeland security didn't get any increase even though they got to the worst border crisis probably ever to give you a sense of biden priorities, non-defense spending rose 16% in their budget and defense spending increased just 2%. i want to tell you even though has a slight rise we didn't have all the information for the budget i guarantee when we see the tenure projections you have a much deeper cut military spending, let's review the bidding and bringing her great friend general jack king former vice chief of staff of the u.s. army retired four-star general strategic analyst and medal of freedom recipient, you think the government of china will be cutting its military budget. >> the going to the most rapid expansion in their military capability in history and they come in in 2013 and he forced the accelerator and put it on fast-forward this budget i'

according to commerce department retail sales soared 9.8% last month, much better than expected.s is as economic restrictions continue to loosen nationwide and vaccine roll out accelerates. sales of clothes, food and beverage led the game. >> diane king hall, thank you much. >> thank you. >>> in oakland an unveiling today for the city's tallest mural. mayor libby schaaf will lead alchty e giant mural highlights the problem of food insecurity. it's part of joint initiative by un world food program and street art for mankind. >>> today after six months in space, a bay area astronaut will hurdle back to earth. >> the napa native spent a total 185 days on international space station. rubins got to do some pretty cool things. this was her fourth space walk. she continued solar power system upgrade and helped finishing wiring a european experiment background. >> she even got to vote from space during the november election more than 200 miles above earth using a secure electronic ballot. mission control forwarded the ballot to space station and relayed completed ballot to the county cle

trade commission, and leslie kiernan is the nominee to serve as the general counsel for the commerce department commerce committee hearing is two hours and 40 minutes.

also good news from the commerce department that the economy grew 6.4% in the first quarter in the last three months. we will see how wall street reacts to these new numbers when the opening bell rings in less than a half hour. >> thank you. >>> coronavirus, california has lowest rate of covid-19 cases anywhere in america. the state has a rate of 33 cases per 100,000 people. that's less than a third of the average rate of 116 cases per 100,000. health experts say the turn around is due to vaccine roll out, masks, and immunity from past surges. right now, all bay area counties except solano are in the orange tier but with steadily declining covid transmission sonoma is on the verge of advancing to the least restrictive yellow tier. the qualification to move from orange to yellow can come as early as next tuesday. >>> today mass vaccination sites back on the peninsula. san mateo got a large dose from the feds and are reopening two of the largest sites. >>> let's go live to kiet do who joins us live from the san mateo county event center. >> reporter: good morning. the sun is coming up giv

today the commerce department announced retail sales jumped by 9.8 #% in march, a major spike compared to february when sales fell by nearly 3%. >>> the administration slapping russia with tough new economic sanctions. punishment for massive cyberhack and election interference, president biden is set to speak on this hours from now. we're on it. this is ours. the lexus is. all in on the sports sedan. lease the 2021 is 300 for $369 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. ♪ it's velveeta shells & cheese lease the 2021 is 300 for $369 a month for 36 months. versus the other guys. ♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier. life... doesn't stop for diabetes. be ready for every moment, with glucerna. it's the number one doctor recommended brand that is scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. live every moment. glucerna. ♪ ♪ is scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. - [narrator] if you're thinking about going to school online, southern new hampshire university is where you belong. we've been online for more than 25 years and have helped thou

it also contains a staggering 50 billion over eight years to create an office within the commerce department to oversee the nation's critical supply chains whose vulnerabilities have been exposed during the coronavirus pandemic. this piece was really about what folks may have missed in this infrastructure plan. we're talking a lot about the headlines out of this thing, but there is a lot of stuff that we haven't necessarily spoken of that could really benefit americans. >> yeah. there's a ton of things that the biden administration has put into this package to really try to make this package and the biden presidency into kind of a great society or the new deal where he has a legacy that goes far beyond just one term potentially. they know that with the first package that they did of covid relief, that's more just checks to get the economy through the next few months. this is really about trying to set america up for the future because we look at china, and they are spending trillions of dollars on improving their own country, on building up africa and the middle east and latin america. we're

the president has also included $50 billion to create an offer's -- office at the commerce department to securing industrial capacity because he recognizes this is an issue we will continue to address. next week, there will be a meeting led by the nec director and national security advisor with a number of companies. we should have more details on hopefully by tomorrow to discuss and get some private sector input on how to address this issue. this is something that there is a great deal of focus on at the highest level across government. >> the president is supposed to meet with the japanese prime minister. i am wondering if he will ask him to place restrictions on export of semi conductor chips to china. ms. psaki: he is meeting with the japanese prime minister next friday. i certainly expect semi conductor shortage to be a product of that discussion but we will not get ahead of the agenda of that. i expect it will have remarks and take questions following the meeting. >> the president has said that he intends to host lawmakers in the oval office. i wonder if you could give us a prev

the commerce department reported today that first-quarter growth surged ahead at an annual rate of 6.4%n, new unemployment claims fell to 553,000 last week; a new low during the pandemic. and, on wall street, the economic news gave stocks a boost. thdow jones industrial average gained 240 points to close at 34,060. the nasdaq rose 31 points,and, the s&p 500 added 28, for another record close. still to come on the newshour: prosecutors in the derek chauvin murder trial consider the impact of the verdict. the f.d.a. announces a long- awaited ban on menthol cigarettes. and a focus on indigenous voices leads to a major revival for a pioneer museum. >> woodruff: as president biden pushes these sweeping new policies, he's relying on his cabinet secretaries to help in that effort. our amna nawaz sat down with one of them earlier today. >> nawaz: and the secretary for health and human services joins me now. secretary xavier becerra, welcome back to the newshour and thanks for bei here. you we should mention is one of five cabinet officials the president tapped to lead the negotiations in the bi

the commerce department reported today that first-quarter growth surged ahead at an annual rate of 6.4ition, new unemployment claims fell to 553 thousand last week -- a new low during the pandemic. and, on wall street: -- still to come on the newshour, prosecutors and the derek chauvin murder trial consider the impact of the verdict . e fda announces a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes and a focus on indigenous voices leads to a major revival for a pioneer museum. >> this is the pbs newshour from debbie ta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: yesterday, the biden administration laid out the 1.8 trillion dollar american families plan, which focuses on child care and education. as president biden pushes these sweeping new policies, he's relying on his cabinet secretaries to help in that effort. amna nawaz sat down with one of them earlier today. >> and the secretary for health and human services joins me now. secretary xavier becerra, welcome back to the newshour and thanks for being here. your one of

was in need of some help, we created the department of commerce we have a department of labor because labor needs the kinds of legislation and the kinds of benefits that a congress can accord labor, the persons who actually work for a living. when we need a defense, we created a department of defense and department of homeland security. so i am proposing that we have a department of reconciliation so that we can deal with the issues that have hotted us in this country. for centuries. a department of reconciliation with a secretary of reconciliation. a department of reconciliation with a budget. a department of reconciliation with undersecretaries. so that we can accomplish our atonement with a department of reconciliation. it can be done. i am not asking for a commission . this is about a commitment. a department in the case that you are committed to a cause. we were committed to labor, that's why we have the department of labor. we have been committed to education, that's why we have a department of education. we now need a department of reconciliation. a commitment to

federal agencies that have key responsibilities in the defense production act, department of commerce, department of transportation, energy. they all need to have responsibility for their specific functional area, the portfolio, we definitely have a responsibility when doing the plann >> that was the concern that senator murphy was getting to that if we have a lot of agencies working on this, who is actually in charge of prioritizing what needs to be done. >> we have a responsibility to chair title i and the prioritization. we don't have authority to chair title three in specific expansion of economy or stimulus to each one of those department agencies. the department of energy does it within their organization and hhs within their's. but for the rest of them we traditionally don't. one of the things we do do is plan to identify the gaps within the agencies so they can be responsible for building the capacity. we should work on identifying where those big gaps are, the significant events we face based on risks in the country, to allow the federal agencies to take their authority and build capacit

and then another bill that senator blunt and i introduced towards the act, directs the commerce department in consultation with the u.s. travel and tourism board in key federal agencies to develop a plan to help the tourism industry recover, simply because, you know, i think that as things are getting a little better, their ramp up is going to be slower by virtue of the nature of the customers here and where they come from and how they can travel with other industries and i guess i'll turn to you on you, mr. perez and by the way, i also want to mention the great leadership of chair rosen, as well as senator cortez masto, these issues with nevada. but one report from that in 2020. more than 670,000 hotel industry jobs and in your testimony, mgm resorts had 60,000 employees as a result of the pandemic. can you speak to how long the hotel industry can sustain itself on the current federal economic relief, particularly regarding your-- >> thank you for the question, the employees are coming back not only in las vegas, but regional properties, and customers have started to come back, what we've

to permit of commerce during the obama administration -- u.s. departmenterce during the obama admin is trajan. these goals -- obama administration. these goals are amazing. it is going to take work in every single sector to get there. realistically, what needs to happen in terms of tax incentives, financing, regulation? ellen: a lot has already happened in the private sector. when you look at the auto industry, transportation accounts for the lion's share, the largest share of emissions. out of the 50 automotive plants in the u.s., 24 are producing ev's or are planning to produce ev's between now and 2025. in the financial markets, the clean energy etf's have so outperformed fossil fuel etf's, so finance is way ahead in terms of transitioning to clean technology and clean energy. add to that the government's responsibility because econ 101 says we've got a negative externality, a natural capital that we are consuming, but we are not paying for it. so the role for governments is to make sure they protect that and help nudge us in the right direction so we d