cummings elijah cummings: thank you very much mr. chairman. and i thank all our witnesses for being here today. mr. chairman, sitting here today, i'm surprised and -- i mean very surprised and shocked, that you would invite john hannah to testify before our committee as an expert witness. particularly, on the subject of false white house narratives. mr. hannah was vice president dick cheney's top national security advisor in the white house. he personally, personally helped prepare secretary of state colin powell's infamous speech to the united nations in the run up to the iraq war. a speech that secretary powell has called a permanent blot on his record. mr. hannah was identified by the iraqi national congress as is quote, "principle point of contact" end of quote in the vice president's office. the inc was an organization that supplied our nation's marines -- marines with false information about weapons of mass destruction. mr. hannah worked directly for scooter libby, who was convicted after the bush administration leaked the identity of a

cummings. mr. cummings: gentlemen, i want to thank you for being here. these are serious allegations. and we definitely needed to have a thorough inquiry so we can hear all sides. i think you would agree. mr. brainard: yes, sir. mr. cummings: you testified that you were removed from your position and basically that you are demoted. mr. livingston: that is correct. two grades. mr. brainard: and you lost pay? mr. livingston: yes. mr. cummings: how much did you lose? mr. livingston: $10,000 a year and bonuses. mr. cummings: you said right at the end of your, so, you said that they did it right at the end of your one year probation? mr. livingston: yes. mr. cummings: how close were you to the end of the time when they did this? mr. livingston: roughly 48 days. i had served for 17 months, because the secretary of homeland security had announced her retirement, they had frozen all those being certified, putting them into a new security at the time. i was in that position for a long time. both my agency, the bottom line was they removed me and investigated me a

cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. let me try to understand mr. sullivan. there are 14 open cases; is that right? >> that is not a hundred percent accurate. we have 14 cases pending in which we submitted a report of investigation. we have many more in the pipeline that we have not yet written a report of investigation. so we have approximately 90 pending misconduct cases. >> the reason i ask is i said you talk about the agents that are available to investigate and i said 14 cases, i know it take as lot of manpower so you have about 90 cases you are actually involve in? >> yes, mr. cummings, but we have an excess number of other cases like theft and assault and it runs a spectrum. but we have 90 pending cases and 14 of which have been presented to the agency and are waiting adjudication. the other 76 are in the various process of the investigation. >> when we have a situation where somebody is hired and then commits a serious felony, do they have a duty to report? they are already h

cummings.life in southeast, paul wagner, fox5 locals. > tonight, questions remains about a deadly police chase mucc the instance kent happened atat winchester back in much ma. it's marked several protestors. he shot himself, but the familyi isn't buying story. a bullet was found just two feet from the body. today we spoke with the mother, jacqueline by phone.phon she's frustrated with the speed of the investigation.nve >> i don't know of anything of criminally was done, but i doas know that that d incident was nt investigating everything that is possible that could have happened. basically they didn't chec told to them and still came away with a different story two months later. his mother last saw her son about two weeks before he died. she said he did not show any signs of being suicidal.icid > one of the victims of the two day shooting spree was laid too rest today. they spread their goodbyes at the saint screwed. morales was shot and killed at a grocery store. eulalio tordil faces charges f

cummings misses on that check. back come the terps. second half down to guess who. slices through the d and scores. maryland within a goal. 7-6 is the score of the game at this point, but the heels would not back down. path ahead to reed. the alexandria native fires and scores. unc does not look back. tar heels hands maryland its first loss of the season. 13-7 your final there. jas jason pugh picks up our coverage. >> reporter: no perfect season for the lacrosse team. unlike last season, the terps were unable to complete the comeback. >> that was definitely going through my head. we had been in that position before. we were hoping that we could turn it around like we did last year. unfortunately, we didn't. >> my six girls this year, seniors, who have had the success they've had, the records they've had ever season, they've won lots. >> reporter: in the final game of the season, maryland had their worst performance scoring a season low seven goals. yet these seniors have nothing to hang their heads about. >> i'm sad that is the way my class went out and that was my

cummings? >> we have 14 cases pending at the agency in which we've submitted the report of investigation. we have many many more on the pipeline that we have not yet written a report of investigations, so we have -- we have approximately 90 pending misconduct cases right now. >> okay. >> and the reason why i ask that is because i said to myself, now, you talk about the agents that are available to investigate and i was saying to myself, well 14 cases, i know it takes a lot of manpower, but so you've got about 90 cases that you're actually involved in. >> yes, mr. cumming, but we also have in excess of 150 additional cases, 97 fraud cases, contracting grand fraud. but we have a number of theft investigations, some assault investigations. so it runs a spectrum. so but for the misconduct we have currently 90 pending cases, 14 of which have already been present to the agency and we're awitting adjudication. the other 76 various process of us in investigating. >> we have a situation where somebody i

cummings. mr. cummings was my ranking member, we, together, led the effort from 98-2000. i remember going into baltimore with him and conducting hearings there when the people were dying on the streets in huge numbers. but mr. cummings, we are back, unfortunately backsliding and here we are today. out he did a great job going to say people in his community, and he is now the ranking member of our full committee. mr. cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for holding a hearing on america's heroin and opioid epidemic. i want to take a moment before i start to extend our prayers to the people of brussels, belgiu belgium,. >> and i would join you. and i would ask everyone for just a moment of silence, if we could. >> thank you, mr. cummings. >> thank you, mr.chairman. today's hearing is about a national public health emergency, and we need to treat it like one. people are dying in baltimore, orlando, salt lake city, manchester, in cities all across our nation. we can no

cummings. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. mr.irman i do thank you for holding today's hearing examining employee misconduct at the environmental protection agency. this is the third hearing of our committee has held on this topic. this congress and i am encouraged that the epa's response to allegations of employee misconduct has vastly improved. i like you want it to be effective and efficient. i do not want to constantly hold hearings and hear about be these problems and at some point we should be able to get them resolved. serious employee misconduct is indeed rare but as this committee has seen, too often agency and the inspector general responses to misconduct cases have taken far too long. at the committee's hearing in april 2015, a little over a year ago, i asked the epa and the ig to work together to improve their coordination in employee misconduct matters. i did that again so we could be effective and efficient to get things done as opposed to going around in a circle. i also directed my staff to work directly with epa a

cummings, thank you, i appreciate that. i'm concerned that when we have an investigation and because i don't have enough special agents to expeditiously investigate allegations, we eventually get to them, but the old saying "justice delayed is justice denied." i'm concerned that i do not have enough agents to address our legation's is why have so many cases in the pipeline. is atresponsibility which headquarters doing gs 15's -- the average nine cases each. the agents in the field average seven cases each. i simply do not have enough agents to expeditiously investigate every case that i have. >> will you continue to work with us and come up with solutions? -- you have been wonderful. will you continue to do that? >> absolutely. it is beneficial to both my office and to the agency because we can move things down the field much quicker. >> thank you. >> i think the gentleman from maryland. >> thank you, mr. chairman. several of the cases of employee misconduct that has been reported from the ig took place in region four where

cummings and connolly and mr. meadows for all their work. we've done a lot of work on the side to try to coordinate our efforts out here and i'm very pleased to see the same thing is hang down there. we have the post master general, along with the national ass association of letter carriers, the clerks, supervisors and then the prc as well as the mailing community and inspector generals, everybody on the same page. it troubles me that we can't move this ball forward. i do want to focus on one key aspect of this and that is the coordination of benefits between the fehbp.

elijah cummings in the record. i do not object to that being in the record only stai. irs commissioner without any provisions as to what had should be attached to the entire statement he has a chance to be here. he's not. the chair will ask if there's -- if there's objection to the unanimous consent request of the gentleman of michigan to place ranking member cummings statement in the record. being none that will be made art part of record. there's objection heard regarding placing the statement of commissioner in the record and therefore it will not be placed in the record. if there are further discussions regarding under what concerns it might be made a part of the record. the chair will be happy to entertain that and any time to, of course, the hearing. but at this point objection is hearing and not be used as part of the record. j gentleman may continue with opening statement. >> thank you. >> in the history of our republic, the house of representatives have votessed to impeach a federal official only 19 times. >> i have hon noser having served on this committee to

cummings for five minutes. >> thank you very much. you know the postal service has come up with methods to save some $15 billion. is that right? >> that's correct. >> and i've always been concerned about making sure that we save as much money as possible at the same time was hoping that we could find ways to bring in more money. so, do you agree that in order to be financially viable, the long term it's important for the postal service to develop integrated products and services? >> we support the postal service's continued ability to develop products and resources that people need. the challenge is trying to find that sweet spot when the postal service will be profitable. but you don't want them to be able to compete unfairly because of their unique status or lose money because of their unique status. >> so, you end up in a no spot. it's kind of hard. on the one hand, we want them to be able to bring in more money but then we tie their hands and shackle their feet and say we don't want you to do this and that. so, what do you recomme

when he was shot yesterdayhot afternoon cummings was on his knees firing at someone else. after he was shot someone picked up the gun that dropped from his hand and took off much the shooting attracted a large crowd to the bang could he shopping center across benning road where wave after wave of friends and family arrived after hearing the news. some collapsed in tears. others had to be held back from running across the street. it's terrible. the cooper and cummings murdersm were two of five victims shot within four hours in the city which then brought the mayor and the police chief across the river. and although the violence may be shocking, the chief says overall violent crime is down. last year this overall crime reduction.im they had a 16 percent reduction in violent crime and they'rehey' already down in vial ingredientl crime 3 percent this h year.this it's a little bit of a continuation of what we saw in certain areas last year and tha the overall guns are down. > chief lanier was so concerned with what happened hereapp yesterday she ordered reinforcements in from o

cummings, for five minutes. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. let me try to understand, mr. sullivan. there are 14 open cases, is that right? >> that's not 100% accurate. mr. cummings, we have 14 cases pending at the agency in which we have already submitted the report of investigation. we have many, many more in the pipeline that we have not yet written a report of investigation. so we have approximately 90 pending misconduct cases right now. >> okay. and the reason why i ask that is because i said to myself, now, you talked about the agents that are available to investigate, and i was saying to myself, 14 cases, i know it takes a lot of manpower, but so you have about 90 cases you're actually involved in? >> yes, mr. cummings, but we also have in excess of 150 additional cases, 97 fraud cases, contracting grand fraud, plus a number of threat investigations, a number of theft investigations, some assault investigations. so it runs a spectrum. but for the misconduct, we have currently 90 pending cases. 14 of which have already been presented to the agency and we're awaiting

cummings.epresentative cummings: today of threehe testimony employees from the transportation security administration who allege a series of abuses and improper practices within that agency. whistleblowers are essential to identifying ways based on the work conducted by this committee today protect employees who bring wrongdoing to light. i know chairman and i share a strong commitment to ensuring that federal employees who come before us are protected from retaliation and reprisal. equally important, we as members of the committee also have an obligation to run these allegations to the ground and determine if we can substantiate them. of course just as we want to protect whistle blowers from retaliation, i'm sure we all agree that we also want to protect federal employees from claim s that are not substantiated. all three of these men who have stepped forward today for their willingness to testify and for the information that they provided in the transcribed interviews with the committee staff

neighbors speculate she was killed in rel tool craig for killing cummings.if they couldn't get him, they would get somebody else. she's collateral damage in an ongoing fight somewhere. >> yeah. she and it seen it coming. > police also believed the murders may be connected to a shootout in that same area last summer that left two men dead. > tragedy on the tracks in burke, virginia. police are trying to figure out what an 18 year old woman was doing when she was hit and killed by a train. this happened last night on burke road. police say ericka dun of springfield was walking along the tracks when she was hit. mow one else was police are still investigating what led up to that accident can. disturbing new details about the deadly amtrak train derailment in philadelphia last year. distracted driving is to blame. the amtrak engineer driving the train was distracted by radio chatter about an emergency situation involving another train. that's why he didn't notice train was traveling at more than twice the speed limit when it derailed. ate people were killed. 100

. >>> taylor cummings and maryland unc. terps down two. the senior final game.licing through the d and scores. maryland within a goal. 7-6. the tar heels would not back down. the a13-7 the final. they hand maryland the first loss of the season. >> i couldn't be more thankful to have been a part of this. i'm just happy. >> up with of the most decorated lacrosse players of all time ends her career with a loss. we will hear from taylor cummings on what went wrong in the national title game today. >>> as for the maryland men they have a title match with unc tomorrow after dramatic overtime saturday's semi finals. >>> to to the track, 350,000 people on hand at indianapolis motor speedway, 100th running of the endi 500. pick it up, one pablo montoya won last year. he se slamming in to the outside wall and brings out the second caution. the car comes to rest on the infield. montoya not hurt but that will end his request for the third win at indy. final lap,er ail sander rossi trying to stretch the last ounce of fuel in to a first place finish and he does it. he becomes

cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. mr. hanna, you were dick cheney's top national security adviser, is that right? >> yes, sir, from 2005 to 2009. >> no, i don't think it is. as you said, we played an important role in making the first draft of secretary powell's speech to the united nations. that was certainly true, but we -- >> okay. but you were involved in making the first draft? >> that's correct. >> is this pretty much the draft he presented to the united nations? i know a first draft usually goes through many more drafts. >> sure. if you hear mr. powell's people now, they say it contained reports that couldn't be supported by the intelligence community and at the end of the day they threw out my draft and secretary powell spent four days with the high eest level of peoe at langley and he did a new draft. their claim was my draft did not actually form the foundation of what he presented to the united nations. >> i'm sure you having heard that, i'm sure you probably said, let me at least listen to what he did say. is

cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. there have been few times that in my 20 years on this committee that i have felt so strongly about an individual. administrator nefenger is a person who i have phenomenal amount of respect for. when i was the chairman of the self committee on a coast guard in maritime matters, it was mr. nefenger, admirable nefenger who cleaned up a mess called "deep water horizon" when a coast guard would bind ships that didn't float. radar systems that were suppose to have surveillance of 360 degrees, with 180 degrees. radios that when they got wet, they didn't work. he cleaned up the mess and saved this country and the coast guard probably hundreds of millions of dollars. and, sir, no matter what happens in this hearing, i thank you, i really do. last month our committee heard testimony from three transportation security administration employees. they raised troubling allegations about personnel practices that stretched back several years, in some cases. employees who came forward deserve to have t

cummings. let me tell you how i -- how i approach leadership at this organization. the first thing you have to do is set very clear standards which i've done since i've been there and very clear expectations and define a vision and mission for where you're going. it is directly related to getting our security mission done. and then i hold people accountable for reporting back to me. i sat down with each of my leaders, the people who report directly to me at headquarters and who are responsible for collectively for the performance of tsa and i looked each one of them eye to eye, and i've done it repeatedly and i do this weekly and i do this sometimes daily and i said this is what i expect of you. if you fail to perform then i will hold you accountable. and i hold them accountable by requiring them to report back to me with very specific measures of performance. i will tell you to date. and i've driven them very hard. i know that. because i know how hard i -- how hard i'm working and i know how long they're there. and if i'm there at 8:00 at night and i call somebody,

cummings. i am inspector general i am happy to report that since i last testified before this committee in april 2015 the agency's internal adjudication process has dramatically improved at the suggestion the oig and the agency now meet by weekly. these cases are now being addressed faster by e.p.a. management. i believe this process can serve as a best practice model for the federal government. many allegations are investigated and some are ultimately determined to be unsupported. oig investigations often clear an individual. our job is to collect and present the facts in a fair and unbiased manner. we are just as proud of our work in the case that is clear an employee as we are when our work leads to a criminal conviction. now i would discuss a few significant cases. in 2014 the oig seattle field office interviewed a contractor who had previously worked for e.p.a. for the past 20 years stating he was addicted to pornography he admitted to viewing pornography on his government issued computer.

cummings. sometimes he and i disagree. rarely, but his line of questioning, i'm not here to bust your chops, but his line of questioning was from the other side of the aisle. we heard great questions and the amounts of money used to pay and transfer people in retribution, and the other thing is i think you are a good guy to be sent in to clean up the mess. sometimes the leader is fed mushrooms and kept in the dark. mr. cummings described to you what we heard is going on. that you are being fed this information by these people who are protecting their rear ends. i am putting it in terms that can be transmitted on c-span, a family community. this is our concern. i helped create tsa and i will never forget we went out and i think we had a goal of 20 or 30 minutes from curb to the gate. it was under the transportation committee. we actually went out and did it and it can be done. we don't have to hassell 99% of the people. we are supposed to be looking at the ones getting through. again, you have an attrition ready, an average

cummings and i. >> parliamentary inquiry? >> the gentleman from south carolina. >> does the executive privilege apply to media interviews or only to appearances before congress? >> i don't know the full answer to that, but i believe they're free to talk to whoever they want to in the media. but they did claim in mr mr. egalston's letter to claim executive privilege. >> so is that a yes or a no? does that apply when you're being interviewed by the "new york times"? or abc or cbs, or just when members of congress want to ask questions? >> evidently, when members of congress. >> i thank the chairman for that clarification. >> we are here to -- we are going to continue with the hearing. we do have mr. michael rubin, the resident scholar at the american enterprise institute. mr. michael doran, senior fellow at the hudson institute. mr. john hannah, senior counselor at the foundation for defense of democracies. we welcome you all and thank you for being here. pursuant to committee rules, all witnesses are to be sworn before they te

cummings of maryland. rep.ummings: i thank you for your hard work on both sides, working so hard for a long time to resolve many complex issues that the postal service faces. i want to thank the postal service community and all of those affected by this. there is a genuine effort to come to a resolution that is a win for everybody. i express my appreciation. it helps us, as we move along. i also want to thank our witnesses for being here to discuss the ideas for addressing the significant challenges facing this very critical institution. since the establishment, the postal service has served as a critical link, which touches each life and connects us all together, families, businesses, and communities, through 32,000 offices. the postal service delivers 150 billion pieces of mail to 150 million addresses a year. since the last reform legislation was enacted tenures ago, the postal service -- 10 years ago, the postal service has challenges. as a result of online transactions, the volume has fallen 25% since 2006

cummings. >> what were you going to say? >> i was going to say we have identified many flaws within the criminal justice system that are not necessarily related to immigration status. >> as i said to you, ms. hartling, and you, mr. root. i really do thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> and you know, the government printing office prints the records of these hearings. and you know, one of the things that i noticed about myself, sometimes you can learn stuff about yourself when you go through stuff, is that i never wanted anybody to forget my nephew. you know, i didn't want him to be like a flash and then it's like he didn't exist. and since a record is being made he here, that is a permanent record. i wanted to give you an opportunity to say anything special about your loved ones. ms. hartling. >> oh, may i. >> yeah, you. >> casey -- casey was a spitfire. everybody loved her. she was a tiny little thing. >> was she like you? >> yes. she was like me. >> how did i guess? >> she's not as tall. she was very short. i have tw

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learned theve identities of the victims of both deadly shootings john talked about. 22-year-old tayvon cummings and 45-year-old tracey cooper. talked about this latest crime spree. she says while they are making arrest, many crimes are committed by people who have been through the system. is a smallest issue number of people that are repeatedly involved in these crimes. we are arrest the same people again and again. when they come back to the community, the community asks why we can't have peace. believesief lanier they will close all cases. she says there has to be an analysis of the justice system and how the offenders end up back on the streets. you can use our spot crime map to see what is happening in your neighborhood. go to wjla.com. teenager killed by a train in fairfax county. was walking on the tracks when she was struck by the train. it happened just after 9:30. she died at the hospital. else was injured. police are investigating the circumstances. police pursuing a car that ends in a crash. it happened south of the beltway. police were trying to make a traffic stop but the driver to

cummings has been picked up on a number of gun charges in the lth when he was killed yesterday. four hours later, five blocks away, tracy cooper shot and killed outside her home on 49th street southeast. >> she was a good person. would do anything for anybody and she never saw it coming. >> police believe the murder of tracy cooper and the shooting death of tavon cummings may be linked and so does this man. he is not to be identified. he brought flowers to the scene. he says he lived with miss cooper for 15 years. >> do you think somebody killed her to get to somebody else? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: and this was sort of a murder with a message? >> yeah. yeah. i believe that. >> reporter: these two murders yesterday came during a rash of gun violence in our city. five shootings in the middle of the day. police say as they arrest violent somehow get some sort of release and the level of violence increases. >> there's a small number of people that are repeat, violent offenders and if they repeatedly commit violent crimes then their privileges to serve time in a community versus b

. >> reporter: congressman elijah cummings urged calm after the verdict.udge barry williams will give his verdict on monday in the trial of officer edward nero charged with assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office. >> this is the justice system working its way through. >> reporter: cummings calling his own actions he's urging peaceful protest and respect for the judge's decision. >> whatever it might be. whatever it might be. i want them to say this is how justice works. let me tell you something. if i did not do this, i would consider it legislative and political leadership malpractice. >> reporter: barriers remain ready. baltimore police say they are not trying to raise anxiety. all leave is cancelled and extra resources are on standby in case anything happens. >> the community has an expectation for us to be overprepared and not to be caught flat footed in any scenario. we hope every resource we have available to us is not needed. >> reporter: an activist is anticipating the judge's verdict. he says the state's attorney's office has not

the terps are led by two-time player of the year, cummings.roberts has the story. >> this is the trophy given to the best lacrosse play ner the nation. player in the nation. she won it two years in a row and could very well win her third this year. >> coming inside. score! >> taylor cummings is a very good lacrosse player. >> terrapins of maryland. brings college lacrosse. back-to-back beauty. >> since the day she stepped foot on the university of maryland campus. she has had one of the best efforts i've ever seen. >> hers might be the end was regular season. they came in several categories, including points. she's been big-10 athlete of the year. and as mentioned, two-time tour and award winner. despite her accolades, the terps' captain is a consummate team player and will always speak about them first. >> we just really left our mark here as a class. and i'm just really proud to be a terp, to have had the team success that we've had through my four years. >> they have been to the national championship the last three years, winning the last t

taylor cummings had a huge game, four goals. this one puts the terps up 16-6. maryland wins 19-9. they will face north carolina on the finals -- in the final on sunday. nba finals, lebron with a chance to close it out against the raptors. great ball movement by cleveland, jr s don't use the head fake, never works. the cavs close it out. lebron james going to the nba finals now for the sixth 3-87.ght time, 11 wizards guard bradley beal maybe getting big money. to giverds are expected him the max contract that he has been asking for. as soon as the free-agent negotiation period begins july 1. instead of "you like that," it is "you think that." tok cousins is teaming up launch financial football, interactive money-management, with steny hoyer. they like that. hustle.t this sac up, second to third, does not stop. and scoreso bases, the go-ahead run. saint albans wins. quarterbackavy keenan reynolds has been cleared by the secretary of defense, ashton carter, to play for the ravens, he was drafted in the sixth round. so lebron james keeps it going. okc, i find it really hard for them t

violent protests erupted after gray's death and congressmen elijah cummings already asked for calm. in theust stay just throes of anger. we must be just whether we agree or disagree. roz: freddie gray died from spinal injuries after being aansported in the back of police fan, shackled without being seatbelt it. five police officer's charged in the case with a scheduled to go to trial in june in october, including the retrial of officer william porter whose case and it with a hung jury. nero elected to have a bench trial, where the judge will hand down the verdict. >> that verdict will have as much legitimacy as our society and justice system roz: all the charges that nero faces are misdemeanors. if convicted, he could spend years behind bars. one trial watchers said based on the questions the judd has been asking, -- the judge has been asking, she believes he is leaning towards not guilty. >> i think we can expect a not guilty. nobody can say for sure, but perhaps not guilty on assault. roz: the judge is expected to announce the verdict at about 10:30 a.m. roz plater, abc 7 news. ki

cummings, for his opening statement. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. let me, first of all, start off by expressing how very sorry i am for the families of casey chadwick, sarah root and marilyn ferris. the crimes that were committed against them were brutal and bar bieric, and they -- barbaric, and their lives were stolen away from them all so soon. their lives were stolen away from them, their parents, their friends and relatives. and so to mr. root, mr. hartling, i want to thank you for being with us today. i thank you for something else though. i thank you for taking your grief and turning it into a passion to make sure that it does not happen to anybody else. i really appreciate that. thank you. i know how painful it must be to relive these nightmares, especially before a congressional committee. and when i read your testimony, mr. root, i gotta tell ya, you said over and over again a parent should never have to do this. identifying a child who has been harmed and murdered. so only you can truly know what losses mean to your families. i also lost a

chairman chaffetz, ranking member cummings, this concludes my prepared statement. i can answer any questions. >> you've asked me to focus on the urgent need for postal reform legislation and the provisions that we believe are necessary. i'm pleased to do that today, but before i do, it's important that we take a moment to recognize the current reality of the postal service. it is no longer 2009 when the great recession sent mail volume plummetling in the prefunding mandate crushed the postal service's finances, raising doubts in some quarters about the viability of the agency. postal employees never doubted the viability of the postal service, but we worked hard to help the service to adapt and survive as it shed more than 200,000 jobs, and we boosted productivity dramatically. the postal service's return to operational profitability. now earning $4.4 billion over the past 2 1/2 years. our pension funds are healthy and better funded at 92% than most private sector pensions, and we have set aside some $50 billion for retiree health when most large private companies

cummings s?ked him the question >> i can say whatever i wanted to say in my opening statement. >> just be fair about it. you can say what you want. >> i wanted to know if he was here. >> mr. rhodes is not here. i would also note that the democrats were free and usually almost always invited democratic witness but there is no democratic witness because you did not invite one. >> you know for fact that we got less than the notice is required in the rules and did not object and went on with the hearing. you know that. >> i disagree with the timing issue. >> you gave us the required time. >> yes. >> i disagree. >> we will sort that out. we have a good working relationship. >> parliamentary inquiry. does the executive privilege applied to media interviews or appearances before congress? >> i do not know the full answer but i believe they are free to talk to whoever they want to in the media but they did claim executive privilege. >> is that a yes or no, does that apply when you are being interviewed b

. >> now now, taylor cummings, later on, the position, zoe, now, scoring her 40th goal of the season.ow, the quest for the third straight title continues, 14-8 victories. >> we really, really stepped foot on the play. playing strong. maying it tough in the regular season as well. we are able to come away with a victory at home. we have been on the rod for a month. nice to may in front of our fans and our facilities. now, seeing him grow up as a player right before our eyes, when healthy one of the best at his position in all of football. now, the red skeupbgs reading about a now, you build the system, you preform you reward them. a perfect example of that. a great message to send to the rest of the guys, work hard, pro duce, good things happen, it did for jordan. >>> now, check out that video from softball. trying to score from 2nd. hurdles over the catcher. she is safe! unbelievable athleticism. yes. safe. >> yes. safe at home. >> i have no words. >> a go throw there. leaps over and she is in there. she got it. >> yes. that is fantastic. heck of a play. now, a strange day, strange da

. >> the victims are identified tonight as 22-year-old tevon davanty cummings. and 45-year-old tracy louise cooper, both of southeast washington. at 49th and b street today. police cruisers stood guard. the two murders happened less than a half mile apart. investigators believe they are connected. >> i'm scared for myself. and that's just it. myself, my kid, everybody. nobody is safe. >> i would rather move with my kids. >> reporter: nobody has been arrested just yet. police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anybody with information leading to an arrest and conviction in either of these murder cases. >>> the d.c. council has given preliminary approval to major revisions in the ma for building new homeless shelters. both plans would shut down the city's largest shelter at the old d.c. general hospital but under the council's council's plan, most new shelters would be built on public land, rather than private property. d.c. council general said the council planned to save taxpayers about $165 million over the mayor's plan. >>> coming up, a police officer l

cummings' staff and mr. chaffetz's staff and they're taking an effort to reach out to the entire ig community using the epa as a model to educatehe rest of the ig community that maybe there's a way to get these cases moved faster governmentwide. >> i think that that would alleviate this committee maybe having to have as many hearings as they have to these other agencies, and we can get on with the actual work of congress if we were to do that. but would you support efforts to encourage, then, governmentwide adoption of this? and your office would be willing to work with this committee to do that? >> we certainly do support that and we have worked with the committee. but one caveat. the epa, we're somewhat unique in that we don't have any subcomponents. there's just one epa and there's one ig. if you take dhs or the department of justice, they have multiple subcomponents, and the model that we have in epa probably wouldn't work in a department that has multiple subcomponents, just to put that out. >> and have

cummings. it's time to do it sooner rather than later. with that, the committee stands adjourned. >> thank you. >>> "book tv" has 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend. and here are some of the programs to watch for. this saturday morning at 10:00, we're live for the gaithersburg book festival. authors include a.j. dionne with "why the right went wrong." annette gordon reed and peter onuf on their book "most blessed of the patriarchs: thomas jefferson and the empire of imagination." juan williams with "we the people: the modern-day figures who have reshaped and affirmed the founding fathers' vision of america." james risen on his book "pay any price: greed, power and endless war." kristen green in her book "something must be done about prince edward county: a family, a virginia town, a civil rights battle." joanne bamberger with her book "love her, love her not: the hillary paradox." john norris on his book "mary mccrory, the first queen of journalism." and marlene trestman talking about her book "fair labor lawyer, the r

cummings. >> i want to thank you all for your testimony. i just think that we have to get this done. i mean, we can go around in circles forever and ever and be in the same place 10 years from now. again, i want to thank you all for coming to the table. i am interested in what the chairman said about government to government. -- i mean, growing or going, postmaster general? ms. brennan: i do see opportunity. >> how would we get there? would need: we support from you and the chairman on that. i think some of the outreach efforts we have had with other agencies as a starting point, leveraging infrastructure, another example is the tsa pre-verification for frequent flyers. there is an opportunity for us to handle some of that work. may, ifhairman, if i the postal service is going to go down the road, one of the key pieces is funding associated with that. that goes to the larger issue of what do we want this constant -- government institution to do? does notlative process always lend itself to get to first principles. but if there is some way t

cummings. mr. cummings: thank you. forink all are witnesses being here today.very surprised and shocked that you would invite john hannah to testify before committee as an expert witness. on the subject of false white house narratives. mr. hanna was vice president dick cheney's top national security advisor in the white house. helped prepare colinary of state powell's infamous state -- speech to the u.n., a speech that secretary powell has called a permit blot on his record. mr. hanna was identified by the as hisational congress "principle point of contact" in the vice president's office. were provided reams of false information about weapons of mass destruction. heworked with scooter libb who was convicted after the bush administration leaked the identity of a covert cia agent valerie plame. her husband, ambassador joe wilson had publicly debunked the administration's false claims about the iraqi nuclear program. libbyas the same scooter who told the f

you you you make a dead man cum you you you make a dead man cum ♪ ♪ ♪ >> here is a look ahead of thethat trade deal supported ted cruz has hurt indiana. ted cruz voted 4-1. supporteds ted cruz illegals and would welcome more. upy donald trump will stand to china, japan, and mexico and renegotiate bad trade deals. he will keep us safe. donald trump: i am donald trump and i approve this message. sen. cruz: i am ted cruz and i approve this message. announcer: ted cruz stop to the gang of eight amnesty bill while donald trump funded the gang of eight. millionso had a $1 judgment against him for hiring illegals. what a phony. ♪ >> madam secretary, we probably 72 of our delegate votes to the next president of the united states. [fireworks] applause] ♪ >> today, a discussion on the challenges of transporting energy and hazardous materials. pipeline and hazardous materials speaks at ther center for strategic and international studies live today at 1:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. and looking at international tax policy. makes remarks followed by a panel with government officials and tax scholar

cummings and mr. connolly and mr. meadows for other work. a lot of work on the site to coordinate efforts appear. i'm very pleased to see the same thing happening down there. we have postmaster general along with the national association of letter carriers, rural carriers, clerks, supervisors and then the prc as well as the mailing community and the gao, and vector generals, everybody on the same page. it troubles me that we can't move the ball forward. i want to focus on one key aspect and that is the coordination of benefits between between -- i hate these acronyms, but the better health plan and medicare. postmaster general brennan, the situation we have right now has notified the chairman and the chairman deserves a lot of credit because he has the one that has brought us all together with the ranking member and have us all together and has been completely and angrily we do a lot of work appeared in this effort has been really bipartisan. this is the way this works right now, the postal service is the second-largest contributor to medica

cummings. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for holding today's hearing examining employee conduct at the environmental protection agency. am encouraged by th eee epa's response. it has vastly improved. i like you, want to be effective and efficient. i do want to constantly hold hearings and hear about these problems. at some point, we should be able to get them resolved. employ misconduct is rare. but as this committee has seen , cases have taken far too long. the committee's hearing in april 2015, a little over a year ago. i asked the epa and the ig to work together to improve quarter nation in employee -- improve coordination in employee misconduct matter so we could be effective and efficient in getting things done, as opposed to going around in a circle. i directed my staff to work directly with the epa and ig to help develop new protocols to improve disciplinary processes. as a result, the epa and the ig are coordinating their efforts, as they never did before. but as i often say, we can always do better. they a

cummings. sometimes he and i disagree, but his line of questions, i am not here just to buster jobs, but his line of questioning was from the other side of the aisle. what we heard raised great questions and was documented by staff. the amounts of money that were used to pay to transfer people in retribution, and then the other thing is, i was telling the chairman, i think you are good guy. you are good guide to be sent in to clean up the mess, but sometimes a leader is best as mushrooms, kept in the dark. what we heard is going on, you are being fed this information by these people who are protecting their rear ends. i'm trying to put this in terms that can be presented on c-span. again, this is our concern. i am not going to forget. we had a call of 20 or 30 minutes from curb to gate. that is when it was under the transportation committee, and we went out and did a thing. and it can be done. they do not have to hassle 95 percent of the people. we're supposed to be looking for the ones who are

and that's where police found 22-year-old tayvon cummings dead. another homicide, took place at 49th street, near a street, and also in southeast dc, and 45- year-old tracy coopers was killed there. and police believe these two shootings were related. now, the victims in the other four shootings remain in the hospital right now. >>> the race for the democratic nomination continues today with a pair of states holding primaries, and as craig boswell report, the leading candidate is already looking ahead to the general election against donald trump. >> voters in kentucky and oregon could help determine who will win the democratic nomination. >> bernie. >> bernie sanders is poised to win one, possibly both when all of counting is done. but hillary clinton has a huge delegate lead. and is already preparing to square off against the republican opponent. >> i am hoping and really looking forward to debating donald trump in the fall. >> the money behind clinton is moving ahead, too. >> you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. >> priorities usa,

they are 22-year-old tayvon cummings and 45-year-old tracey cooper. an andrea mccarren reports, four others are recovering from gunshot wounds while neighbors worry about safety in their communities. >> reporter: no one has been arrested. and the bloodshed has left residents in fear. a cold southeast washington crime scene. police cruisers stood guard as detectives searched for clues. two murders less than half mile apart and investigators believe they are connected. [ sirens ] >> reporter: on this dismal gray day, the outlook feels bleak. shattered families, anguish and despair have come to stay. >> i rather move my kids. >> i just think it's ridiculous. it's ridiculous. >> reporter: again and again, we heard that hope was in short supply. >> it's this neighborhood. you know? there's no surprise. >> reporter: and then, we met ray evans. >> well, i'm always going to be optimistic. >> reporter: the key to hope, he says, is education and dc should offer it for free. >> got money to do that. so people have something to look forward to, some hope, some sk

cummings. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. there have been a few times that in my 20 years on this committee i have felt so strongly about an individual. administrator neffenger is a person who i have a phenomenal amount of respect for. when i was the when i was the chairman of the subcommittee on the coast guard and maritime matters, it was mr. neffenger, admiral neffenger, who cleaned up a mess called deepwater horizon. where the coast guard was buying ships that didn't float, radar systems that were supposed to have surveillance of 360 degrees with 180 degrees, radios that when they got wet they didn't work. he cleaned up the mess. and saved this country and the coast guard probably hundreds of millions of dollars and sir, no matter what happens in this hearing, i if ythank you. i really do. last month our committee heard testimony from three transportation security administration employees. they raised troubling allegations about personnel practices that stretched back several years in some cases. the employees who came fo