connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. once again, i believe this is a commonsense approach to contracting. we can't just take a mindless approach to hest cost winning every bid. it can jeopardize national security and at the end of the day can cost more than if we'd gone a different way. so i thank my friend from florida for his leadership on this issue. i urge my colleagues to support passage of h.r. 856. and i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. comer: thank you, mr. speaker. the safe and smart federal purchasing act is measured and targeted legislation that can inform future congressional work on federal procurement, a policy area we know is ripe for reform and taxpayer savings. i urge my house colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan bill and yield back the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 856. those in favor say aye

connolly: quick u.c. i would ask unanimous consent to enter into the record an npr article entitled criminal records of january 6 rioters pardoned by trump include rape, domestic violence and i would ask the correspondence between a number us and the new attorney general, pamela bondy, be entered into the record at this point. mr. comer: without objection, so ordered. now the chair recognize plz crane from colorado. mr. crane: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for allowing me to waive on. this is a very important issue to the state of colorado and, mayor johnson, thanks for being here. i know for all of yous been a long -- you it's been a long day i appreciate you being here. denver has an ordinance that proibts city and county employees from insisting in the enforcement of federal immigration laws or inquire being a person's immigration status. we've just talked about that. the city of denver also has a legal defense fund to support individuals facing deportation. denver's received more than 41,000 ille

and so absolutely, williams and connolly gold star.u all things set aside, they are the best of the best. so that is great. but andrew, where is the rest of the bar in meeting their minimum ethical obligation? >> look i they're they need to be heard from. there's no question that what you're saying is right, that they need to speak out. and if they don't speak out, they are basically making it clear that they can all be picked off and that the next they will be the next covington and the next perkins coie. by the way, just one aspect with respect to say it with perkins coie is that the partner there who is singled out by john durham, charged, acquitted. just to be clear that when he was targeted last time, that didn't go anywhere. and so here this is a sort of better way for trump to do that because he doesn't have to face a jury. but i do think a lot of what he is doing with respect to perkins coie is, is clearly going to be challenged and is going to, i think, is going to result in much of this being overturned as we're seeing in the

and ranking member connolly. i want to thank the panelists for your willing tons come before the committee and help us with our work. you know, i truly believe that if we had a rational and comprehensive immigration policy in this country, if we competently regulated the flow of immigration, if we knew the purpose and circumstances of each immigrant's arrival here, and if every immigrant knew what was expected of them when they arrived, i honestly and truly believe that immigration could be the greatest blessing for our country. look at our world rivals. china and russia. no one, no one is trying to sneak into china, sneak into russia. it's because of what we offer here as a nation. there is a substantive issue that's at play here. i want to address that. so under article 1, section 8, clause 4 of the constitution, it provides congress, and i'll read the section here, to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. clause 18 further provides that congress has the power to make all laws that shall be necessary and

joining me now is democratic congressman from virginia, gerry connolly. he is a ranking member on the house oversight committee and sits on the house foreign affairs committee. all right. i want to start with this because this just happened. breaking news last month, job losses were the worst we've seen in almost two decades, typically, economists say that we don't see these kinds of bad numbers unless we're in a recession. it was a tech sector responsible for a lot of these cuts. how do you explain this to the american people? >> well, i think we put it right at the doorstep of donald j. trump and elon musk. they've created so much uncertainty about an economy that. was strong when he was inaugurated. right. he inherited a very strong economy from joe biden. biden doesn't get the credit, but he deserves it. and in the last six weeks, donald trump and elon musk have gone through the federal government, you know, with a chainsaw, reckless and irresponsible. and donald trump on. >> top of that. >> has jeopardized long standing relationships. >> you. i don't

congressman gerry connolly put out a statement saying his reasons. quote, these are not normal times. the challenges my constituents face demand more than sitting in a chamber. i revere listening as if the person addressing our country is not unleashing chaos and cruelty on their lives. i cannot give audience to that. and he is not alone on the democratic side. the question is how big the abandonment will be. jeff zeleny is outfront live outside the white house to begin our coverage this evening. and, jeff, as we're getting ready for the president's address to that joint session of congress, you know what? what more do you know about what we're going to hear from him tonight, how long he's going to talk, what's going to be in this speech? >> erin, we are told the president spent much of the afternoon putting the final edits into this speech. it will last well over an hour. and of course, it could last much longer with applause or perhaps with outbursts from democrats. now, this is a familiar setting. he's been in the house chamber giving this kind of

connolly and thank you for your testimony today. i look forward to further discussion. i now with that and without objection all members have 5 legislative days in which to submit materials and additional written questions which will be forward today the witness. the committee stands adjourn. [inaudible conversations] >> c-span's coverage of thenatis continues this afternoon. watch the afternoon session featuring senate majority leader john thune and wes moore. that's live at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered including sparklight. >> what is great internet? is it strong? is it fast? is it reliable? at sparklight, we know connection goes way biontech. from monday morning meetings to friday nights with friends and everything in between. but the best connections are always there right when you need them. how do you know great internet? because it works. we're sparklight and we're always working for

connolly and thank you for your testimony today. i look forward to further discussion. i now with that and without objection all members have 5 legislative days in which to submit materials and additional written questions which will be forward today the witness. the committee stands adjourn. [inaudible conversations]

connolly and thank you for your testimony today. i look forward to further discussion. i now with that and without objection all members have 5 legislative days in which to submit materials and additional written questions which will be forward today the witness. the committee stands adjourn. [inaudible conversations] announcer: next on q & a, house oversight committee james comer talks about his committee's 15 month investigation and to the business practices of than president joe biden and members of joe biden's family. british prime minister keir starmer emphasizes the need for peace in ukraine at a emergency meeting in brussels with security leaders. following that president zelenskyy needs with eu leaders in brussels before the emergency summit. later french president macron talks about global security in a address to his nation. ♪ announcer: c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more, including buckeye broadband. ♪ announcer: buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, g

connolly and thank you for your testimony today. i look forward to further discussion. i now with that and without objection all members have 5 legislative days in which to submit materials and additional written questions which will be forward today the witness. the committee stands adjourn. [inaudible conversations] >> c-span's washington journal, live forum inviting you discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington, d.c. to across the country, coming up thursday morning, we will talk with tennessee republican congressman tim about next week's federal spending deadline ukraine and house republican strategy to advance president trump's legislative agenda and then we will continue the conversation with rhode island democrat congressman, member of the budget committee as we discuss next week's federal spending deadline and the trump administration's recent actions. c-span's washington journal, join in the conversation live at 7:00 eastern thursday morning on c-span, c-span now, free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. live thu

connolly of virginia democrat responded to that from that freedom caucus, that warning with just thisicture. this is a marjorie taylor green yelling at president biden during his state of the union address last year. >> you have been covering these types of speeches and states of the unit for a long time. hence they're always been a bit unruly or has it gotten-has an arc change question. >> has been a market change since trump's first term carried over into the biting years. we can expect at least something that will be kind of dramatic. i feell like they have always been moments where we can point too. there is a joint address president barack obama delivered his tongue but healthcare and wilson the succulent republican yelled out you lie. that was obviously a moment that lives in history. that was kind of the exception to a lot of the rules. it is been amped up a little in the last 10 years. >> i would w argue some the best moments of the joint addresses what some people say can run far too long they start on the east coast a little bit late. sometimes people believe there may be a

congressman jerry connolly of virginia and don wagner of virginia and of course aoc. she says i do not go to all of that i had to protect my peace, that your reason for not going, you represent a district people voted to put you in that position and you did not bother to show up. maria: she admits to an abrasive republicans. >> it was amazing she spoke what insight people voted for republicans, holy cow she figured out. i wonder if i'll continue to support democrats and her. the way the country is going is very exciting we are getting back to basics. as a kid football blocking and tackling move the ball down the field. that's what were starting to do and it's very exciting. maria: the whole resist movement is not going to work this time. they looked petty last night. >> democrats have a power vacuum at the top of their party and until they fill the vacuum they are the leader of the democrat party the ones getting out on social media. my question to democrats who will take the mantle of your party is not hollywood or nancy pelosi is not chuck schumer and until they get

i'd like to invite rob connolly to come up and i would note that we have been joined by our former cityd general manager dennis herrera as well as our former police chief greg sir and i think they may be here for rob. >> so as i was as i was handing out the the certificates to get my colleagues to sign today, they got worried that you might be retiring. >> that is not what is going on here. rob connolly is not retiring but it is the 25th anniversary year since he joined the boys and girls club of san francisco or bgc s.f. where he is president rob received his b.a. from yale university and attended oxford university as a visiting study fellow. he began working for the boys and girls clubs in 1998, serving two years with the boys and girls clubs of america's relations team in washington dc and then he joined the organization's san francisco chapter as executive director a quarter century ago and then was named president in 2005 during his time with the boys and girls clubs of san francisco, rob has focused primarily on expanding the reach of the clubs to serve more youth and more communi

gerry connolly sent a response with this warning.his is marjorie taylor greene yelling at president biden during his state of the union address last year. peter? peter: you've been covering these types of speeches and state of the unions for a lopping time. have they always been a bit unruly or has there be been a marked change? jason: i think there's been a marked change since trump's first term that has carried over into the biden years. i think we can expect something that will at least be kind of dramatic. there was a joint address that president barack obama delivered when he was talking about health care and joe wilson, south carolina renyeled out "you lie." that was a moment that sort of lives in history but new hampshire kind of the exception to a lot of the rules that we've seen. it's been afford up a little in the last 10 years. >> i would argue that some of the best moments of these joint addresses that sometimes people feel can run far too long. obviously they start on the east coast a little bit late and some people they

thank you representative connolly.>> general thurman from new jersey representative king. >> thank you america spending $40 billion and 40 in four and a. gets caught up in bureaucratic inefficiencies and organizations that have not that have not always been transparent for the american taxpayer. under the biden administration noted one out of every $10 actual people in need abroad. the reset study by the middle east forever revealed that usaid awarded $164 million in taxpayer funds to extremist organizations including 122 dollars two groups linked to designated terrorist entities. i believe my colleagues here would agree this reckless spending has drifted from american interest in said benefited foreign interest it's time we commit to cutting waste fraud and abuse and government funding program initiatives that with american values. people deserve to know where and how the money is being spent and how they align with the u.s. interest. should the organization include a comprehensive audit of usaid spending four years how should the audit identify waste fraud and programs that may have

. >> and connolly. >> has come forward. they're going to take this on. what does that tell you though. >> about the moment. >> we find ourselves in that? that's even a question. this is an administration that is moving swiftly to shut down any form of dissent and to delegitimize any avenues for dissent. this is a standard strong man move. universities are often places where critique dissent is fomented. you shut down the universities. you make it harder for them to operate. this retaliatory effort against columbia university is emblematic of that. you drive a wedge between the university populations, between the administration and the students. you shut down dissent in that way. you shut down dissent from law firms who might now be unwilling to uphold the rule of law by taking on clients who may be unpopular with this administration. you also then turn and begin critiquing, as this administration has already done, the courts, so that if there is an unfavorable ruling for this administration, then the courts themselves are now sites of delegitimization. s

dodaro for his opening statement . >> thank you ranking member connolly and members of the committee. it's good to be here to talk about gao's high risk area which focuses on fraud waste and mismanagement on but also on broad-based transformation needed for a number of our programs to achieve greater efficiency. there's been good progress since our last update . we've saved $760 billion over time through implementation of recommendations that havebeen acted on by congress and the administration on high risk areas. today i want tofocus on a couple of things, one we are adding one new area and that's improving the delivery of disaster assistance . storms are becoming more frequent and intense . the last 10 yearsthe federal government has appropriated $5 billion for disaster assistance . ima is stretched way too thin. they're managing right now 600 disasters, some of them go back 20 years. the system is fragmented, there are 30 different federal agencies involved in delivering assistance. there's confusion overlapping regulations. we need reform in that area and that's why we are highlig

connolly:: thank you madam chair. and thank you for having this first hearing. you know, improper payments is not a new subject. i remember joining steve and todd platts from pennsylvania in my freshman year talking about improper payments. at that time improper payments were in the range of 35 million a year. they are now in the range of $280 billion a year and times 10 we could cut a most $3 trillion from the debt if we addressed improper payments in a deliberative way. which was called for in the high risk category for years. we can also enforce the tax code it's estimated at least a half trillion dollars a year is left on the table uncollected because of lack of resources in the irs. that is $5 trillion over a decade. finally we can modernize the federal i.t. systems for years on this committee. with the legacy systems alone could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year operating at these costs. if we want to be serious about it let's be serious about it. it to fire the people just went out to do that is mainly inspectors general. president trump is alre

in boston mayor wu for her opening statement precooked thank you chairman culver, ranking member connolly and members of the committee my name is michelle wu from the daughter of immigrants. since november of 2021 i've had the honor of serving as mayor of boston. i am proud to be here on behalf of our city. the police officers, first responders, city workers, the faith leaders, teachers, parents, neighbors to partner every day to make boston the safest major city in the nation. and, i am proud every day to work alongside the greatest police commissioner in the nation commissioner michael cox. every year since i took office we have set a new record low for gun violence in boston. last year boston saw the fewest homicides on record in the last 70 years. those are the facts. behind record lows are historic highs. the most ever young people working at a paid summer jobs the most pre-k seats at no cost to families. the most affordable housing bill in a generation. we have invested in the opportunities that cultivate prosperity and eradicate crime. the walls on our books promote the kind of com