and in some ways directly contrasting federal law. big factor of the federal and state marijuana conversation is also green, money. last week attorney general eric holder spoke about dispensary and bank relationships. >> businesses that are recognized by state government generating cash as a result of the sale of a product and you don't want huge amounts of cash in these places, they want to be able to use the banking system and so we will be issuing some regulations i think very soon. >> reporter: at the moment it's illegal for some banks to accept deposits or offer other services like loans and lines of credit to marijuana providers. even if it's legal in their state. >> there is a public safety component to this. huge amounts of cash, substantial amounts of cash just lying around with no place for it to be appropriately deposited is something that would worry me from a law enforcement perspective. >> reporter: colorado projected close to 600 million in combined wholesale and retail marijuana sales for 2014. 70 million of that will

federalism we've been talking about and is needed for helping states- federal partnerships. but the workforce investment act is not the only way that congress can help put people back to work. reauthorization of state trade and export promotion grant program beyond 2014 will ensure growth in the nation's global competitiveness. it will also help us maintain the program's operations and outlays. and most importantly, create jobs. it is moving our country from scarcity to abundance, from dependency to self-sufficiency and energy policy is another area where governors have been leading the charge despite the absence of a company has of national energy plan. for some of us, that is just fine because we are moving ahead here and many governors have created their own innovative energy plans that are helping state support homegrown energy production and meet the energy efficiency needs. this is helping to advance economic development, lower cost, improve reliability and resiliency. in the process, generating state revenue. state efforts can go a long way. federal policies must comp

the federal government said look we can't regulate your drinking age but we can withhold federal highway fund going to you don't move it to 21. it's your choice. >> i think that's a good analogy. highway safety measures would be a local matter and the federal government would provide incentives such as highway money. >> and another very important federal role is in education and messaging around the use of substances like this. the federal government, i'm sure, will keep up with all the drug prevention andy version strategies that it has tried over the last decades, but it's not going to make it an exception of colorado and washington. aren't we going to have multiple voices in the culture about what to do with these substances? >> i suspect that's right. if you have something that is legal under state law and illegal under federal law theree are going to be different messages. in the state of washington and colorado will hav want to promoe responsible use just like with alcohol. from a federal perspective it's just illegal so you might get a different message from the federal government

in fact, madam president, the federal reserve balance sheet shows that the federal reserve itself is by far the largest holder of u.s. treasury bonds, with $2.2 trillion in treasury debt, the fed holds nearly $900 billion more than china does, if you can think in those terms. madam president, the fed holds more in treasury bonds than do china and most of the euro zone combined. madam president, the rate of acceleration with which the federal reserve is purchasing treasuries should be alarming to all americans. on the day of president obama's first inauguration, the federal reserve held $475 billion in treasuries. today it holds $2.2 trillion in treasuries. that represents a 363% increase in the past five years, and it's no coincidence that president obama has greatly accelerated our national debt over that same period of time. there is a connection here. when he took office, the national debt stood at a large $10.6 trillion. that's a lot of money. today it stands at $17.3 trillion, five years later. the federal reserve is aiding, i believe, and abetting the failed policies and the re

there is not a federal statute that matches up for lane closures. this is not your garden variety. >> there is no federal law that says toll lane 23 must be opened to people from ft. lee, right, exactly. >> fair to say. >> that means, in other words, what you are saying is for them to have taken this act of furtherance, to issue binding subpoenas to people means that they, in order to get that far, they have to think that some federal law is implicated. that's a threshold issue for a serious federal inquiry. >> exactly. to be clear, though, there is a long road ahead, and this is not to say that there is any allegation that a law has been broken at this point. but to carry an investigation to say for example, or someone is held criminally responsible, there are a lot of steps that need to take place before that happens. but certainly, issuing subpoenas is a serious development. it shows a widening investigation, that federal authorities are taking this seriously. >> forgive my layman's ignorance on this subject. and tell me if you don't know, but as

for the federal government. do we have a government that looks like it cannot compete its way out of a paper bag? do we have a bigger problem or are we going to solve something there? >> we did talk about giving the agency more authority because it is a part of their job and it's important that they have the decision making power. i will point out that there were none until 1989 which begs the question why we didn't have it prior to that and other legislation since then and it requires continuous work that is quite difficult but the competition is important and i think that this legislation is also important. >> by five minutes went by faster than i thought i would. >> recognizing the gentle lady from california. >> i wonder to what extent you come here to congress making recommendations to us you seem very interested and engaged in what happened. maybe you can help in providing to me a list of all the things that we have done as a result of the work that you have provided. you have given us easy recommendations

murrah federal building in downtown oklahoma city which housed 14 federal agencies, including the secretd the atf. >> mcveigh believed that his bombing would be the opening salvo in a conflict against an illegitimate tyrannical federal government that needed to be brought down to its knees. i've got a job to do today. i've got a job to do today. have a good first day at work, mom! your donations to goodwill fund job-training programs right in your community. feels good to start fresh, right? sure does. narrator: and like that, you're a job creator. >>> on august 10th, 1995, a federal grand jury charges timothy mcveigh and terry nichols with 11 criminal counts, including 8 counts of murder. that figure is based upon the number of federal law enforcement officials killed in the blast. on april 24th, 1997, 2 years after the bombing, mcveigh's trial begins in denver, colorado. the prosecution presents first, and lays out a timeline of events that led up to the bombing. by mid 1994, mcveigh and nichols, along with their army friend, michael fortier, were ready to put their army plan into acti

from the federal perspective, it is a nice thing. a far better thing to do is to have states come for a waiver request with the request. what states like is the ability to have greater flexibility and to say we have this target. you let us do this and we can accomplish that. as long as you can agree and agree -- accomplish that, the state would prefer that approach. >> that is the kind of our approach that a state like maryland is now engaging in as a talks about replacing the current medicare waiver. one of the reasons we talked about that was to change the incentives of states. right now it is how will i reduce my medicaid budget. of that ends up by increasing cost in other parts of the health-care system. so how do you change the incentive of states away from just focusing on medicaid to focusing on total health care in the state? i agree with all that i was on i other side -- with bob, was on the other side. you are absolutely right, every state is unhappy. in my mind it would be a voluntary thing. you either come in or come out

spend federal money. coburn's report, for example, goes into a goldplated million dollar bus stop in arlington, virginia, where i live. 80% of the money came from higher levels of government. arlington county has no incentive to spend the money efficiently. that happens throughout the federal aid system. i think the three layers of government and the united states should be sort of like a layer cake with each layer funding its own program. the citizens would know who's responsible for those programs. the aid system makes american governments would like a giant confuse marble cake. citizens have no idea who was responsible for various programs like bus stops that go over costs. so i think cutting aid programs would be a great way to reduce waste. my other recommendations i go into, privatization. private sector companies have built-in incentives to minimize wasted many governments around the world have figured that out. there's been a privatization revolution that's gone on around the world in recent decad

federal defenders do nothing but appear in federal court.they have a lot of institutional expertise. in virginia, in my district, many lawyers have clearances because the cases involve classified information. when federal defenders are cut, those defendants will still get lawyers. the constitution requires it. to payernment will have lawyers in private practice, many of whom are competent, but when you pay by the hour as opposed to the institutional defense function, you spend more money. ultimately whether you are in favor or against us, cutting this particular program has increased cost to the taxpayer. it makes no sense, from a political perspective, from a values perspective. this is about that rock fundamental principles. we believe in equal access to justice. we believe that regardless of your circumstances, when charged with a crime you have a right to have your other rights protected. this is not adequately funded, none of the other rights matter. ohio, for michael nachmanoff. caller: what percentage of the cases are noncapital cases

federalism we've been talking about and that is needed for helping states-federal partnerships. but the workforce investment act is not the only way that congress can help put people back to work. reauthorization of state trade and export promotion program beyond 2014 will ensure in teen you'd growth in the nation's global competitiveness. it will also help us maintain the program's operations and outlays. and most importantly among create jobs. -- and most importantly, create jobs. from moving our country scarcity to abundance, from ,ependency to self-sufficiency and energy policy is another area where governors have been leading the charge despite the absence of a company has of national energy land. -- energy plan -- energy plan. many governors have created their own innovative energy plans that are helping state support homegrown energy production and meet the energy efficiency needs. this is helping to advance economic development, lower cost, improve reliability and resiliency. in the process, generating state revenue. can go a long way. federal policies must complement th

the federal funds rate has been on the lower bound ever since. despite the constraint imposed on interest rates, the federal reserve has turned to alternative tools -- enhanced guidance and large scale purchases of longer-term securities for the federal reserve sport folio. other major central banks have responded to developments since 2008 in similar ways. the bank of england and the bank of japan have employed detailed guidance and conducted large- scale asset purchases. the european central bank has moved to reduce the perceived risk of sovereign debt, providing banks with financial liquidity and offered qualitative guidance regarding interest rates. short-term rates expanded guidance about future policy, and that is helped to shape market expectations, which in turn, has eased the situation. forward guidance about the short-term interest rate supplements the broader policy framework that i descriptor earlier by providing information about how the are going to achieve the stated policy objectives. beginning with qualitative guidance and commun

one is that federal reform should produce savings not only on the federal side but also for the state's. deficit-reduction should not be accomplished by shifting the cost to the states. and also, through the unfunded mandates. the states should be given increased flexibility to create efficiencies and to achieve results. congress should not impose maintenance efforts, effort provisions on the state and the conditions of the funding to the states. so, let's go back and look at one year ago. because one year ago last january, i stood before you and we reviewed the challenges that the states faced coming and we highlighted our challenges for the vision for 2013. congress had just had a last minute new year's deal to resolve the budget impasse one year ago. to avoid the march 1st sequestered by implementing a thoughtful solutions to reduce the deficit and to promote economic growth. in february, the en g8 joined several other organizations urging the congress to complete a long overdue reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act facing the flaw in the no child left behind

it would allow $11 billion of federal money that the federal government now spends through programs for children with disabilities to follow these six million children to the schools their parents believe provides the best services. so there might be a child in tennessee or wisconsin or south carolina who is eligible both for the scholarship for kids because he or she comes from a family that fits the federal poverty definition, so there's $2,100. then if that child is also disabled, the child might be eligible for a scholarship under the choice act of several thousand dollars. that would then be in digs to the amount -- in addition to the money south carolina spends on education per child probably in the neighborhood of $8,000 or $9,000 or $10,000. to take the case of tennessee again, $9,000 or so for the state, $2,100 of federal money for scholarship for kids, a few more thousand dollars spending upon circumstances for the scholarship under senator scott's act, and you have a significant amount of money that parent could use to follow a child to a school that helps that child succeed,

navy federal credit union. >>> issue 2, whistleblower or felon.ditorial board of the new york times has decisively weighed in on the case of edward snowden, the former nsa, that's national security agency, contractor who seven monthsing a leaked reames of information about nsa's surveillance programs to the press, and by proxy to the world. mr. snowden fled the u.s., first to hong kong, then to moscow where he has temporary asylum. the u.s. government has charged mr. snowden with espionage and theft. this past thursday the new york times described mr. snowden as a whistleblower, not a criminal. "considering the enormous value of information he has revealed mr. snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile fear and flight. he may have committed a crime to do so but he has done his country a great service. it is time for the united states to offer mr. snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow limb to return home. they would at least substantially reduce punishment in light of his role as a whistleblower and a life adv

relative to its federal public land. and we have to remember that lifting these weights is not only within the government's power, it is the affirmative obligation of government to lift those weights. in an 1861 address to congress, president abraham lincoln said that the leading object of american government was -- quote -- "to elevate the condition of men, to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all, to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life." close quote. current pilt policy imposes government weights that make it more difficult for communities to provide important services like schools, police, and fire departments. it -- it hampers states' abilities to budget and plan and provide for infrastructure improvements. make needed reforms to their tax systems and attract new businesses and new jobs. this policy and the federal land management policies that accompany the pilt policy more generally is broken, and it's imposing a heavy burden on o

we met with the federal exchange.the same oklahoma and our citizens voted overwhelmingly not to support the affordable health care act in our state pass a constitutional amendment in oklahoma. what happens at oklahoma is different than colorado. all at the governor speak about his state. in general, the ng respects other governors in a different budget situations are different opinions about public policy. we do have agreement on a nuclear medicaid cost, to improve lower in the and improving the health of our citizens. >> and it is obviously been difficult. our local exchange fared much better than i rollout was smoother. not without bumps, the smoother than the national rollout. we are now up over close to 150,000 people between people who didn't have the expanded medicaid or people coming off and didn't have insurance for other reasons. one thing that gets lost in the discussion too frequently, five years ago, before obamacare was even fully expressed, 90% of the doctors in the united states of america used paper fo

in cases where federal lands, federal tax dollars, federal employees and federal operations are concerned, the federal government should have the last word. my amendment provides a prudent insurance policy to ensure that we do not use limited superfund resources to litigate rather than to mitigate. my amendment ensures that we move forward. it ensures that we clean up these sites and convert them from revenue liabilities to revenue enhancements. it ensures that we reduce public health risks from contamination. with that i urge my colleagues to support my amendment and, mr. chair, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from -- for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? mr. johnson: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes. mr. johnson: mr. chairman, i'm sure my colleague's amendment is well-intentioned and in fact, i agree with him. i do not want to see an increase in litigation or a slowdown in the cleanup process or a decrease in funds available t

>> i think that a good thing would be the federal government and various entities within the federal government expedite the process. and one of the things that happens is that you submit a waiver and states are pretty firm on budgeting year-to-year and some of them unless and you can submit a waiver and not get an answer in a timely fashion and it can be a couple years later and you have not yet been able to understand what the future looks like in terms of the medicare delivery of what you need to do to broaden the population. and that is kind of a thing that we are looking out we were considering this waiver request list. to do it without costing us a lot of money and having the federal government say that this is an okay restriction. and so that is the number one thing from my perspective, to set up as a and get an answer in a timely process. >> i would like to tune to two areas and we thought a lot about these issues. some were guilty of pulling no punches and so let me bring those to you and ask you to stand on whether i am right about this and why and if not, tread lightly in

you could edit the pages from the federal register. government regulation again at an all-time and frank lee growing at an exponential rate. the most traditional way to do a quantitative analysis is this chart that i have here which is federal government spending as a% of gdp. in the early days of the republic from the founding say to the new deal it was generally two or 3%. government spent two to 3% of gdp although there were spikes during wartime and as you can see now we are at the 25% level. when my generation, the baby boomer generation gets on the entitlement trained in terms of social security and medicare and medicaid and now help care that number is going to go up much further. and in fact to a range that is untenable for government. we are talking about greece levels of debt and governments governments -- government spending. i think from a quantitative angle this is really a concern. hoover on the other hand was really more concerned about the qualitative aspects of the government. government in his day wasn't all that huge

this federal building is within the center complex. after the earthquake of 18906 devastated many buildings it was transformed offering a promise of a now a fundamental humane city. this was designed by before a began in 1933 and was complete in 1936. the 77 his is unique including the historic oral office of chester. thanks it to the recovery act it's a beacon to achieve a plaque. in other words, this historic building has received a new life and it proudly takes it's police radios with the jackson's r. browning an, an effort to revitalize san francisco market street corridor. this historic renovation goes well beyond the improvement. it is an innovator across the nation. the people who are categorize enough to think they can change the world can. this quote is from steve jobs and it opens his biography. jobs profoundly changes tending starting with the other person communication what the ipad. his flip was in the technology of the humanity. he believed that simplicity and extraordinary customer he experience could go together. apple

barriers went up around federal buildings.e security, the seeds of homeland security were actually planted by timothy mcveigh. >> there were other changes as well. the attack led to significant engineering improvements that allow buildings to better withstand excessive forces, whether manmade or natural. and legislation passed in the wake of the disaster has given greater voice to the victims and families left behind by attacks like the oklahoma city bombing. >> timothy mcveigh believed that he was going to cause people to rise up and rebell against the government. this was going to be the start of the revolution and what happened was the total opposite. you saw a community in total support of its law enforcement, of its government and it shows when we put our hearts and our minds together, we can make something good happen out of something terrible. >> but resilience alone can't protect against every threat. events continue to demonstrate that free societies must remain vigilant. the tragic bombing that killed three and injur

earlier this month the department strengthened federal background check system by clarifying federal rules concerning mental health-based prohibitions for firearm purchases. under the leadership of our civil rights division we are working diligently with our federal agency partners to implement the supreme court's ruling in the united states versus windsor to make real the promise of equal protection under the law for all an american families and to extend applicable federal benefits to married same-sex couples. and we are vigorously enforcing federal voting protectioprotectio ns and working with congressional leaders for both hardees to refine and to strengthen the proposals that congress is currently considering to help ensure that every eligible american has access to the franchise. in addition last year as part of our ongoing efforts to hold accountable those whose conduct conduct -- the mortgage crisis the department filed suit against bank of america and ratings firm s&p. in november the department reached a $13 billion settlement with jpmorgan chase and company. this is the la

federal rail policy, and for overseeing federal funding to amtrak. and as president of amtrak, i've spent the last five years figuring out what capital investments amtrak needed to make to operate safely, to maintain the northeast corridor, and our trains and stations, and to meet the growing demand for our service -- always without knowing how much money i would have in the next year, and often in the current year, to meet all of these needs. these experiences have given me some perspective on the challenges of transportation policy, and i'd like to offer you some of my thoughts on what i have seen, and what i think needs to be done. the highway trust fund was established in 1956 to pay for what was then our country's single greatest transportation goal -- the construction of the 47,000 mile interstate highway system. it was a real vision. it was authorized in 1944, but the real genesis of the system may be the trip major dwight eisenhower made across the u.s. in 1919 with an army convoy at an average daily speed of 5 miles per hour. the good road m

the federal funds rate has been there ever since. to provide additional monetary policy accommodation, despite the constraint imposed by the lower interest rates, the federal reserve has turned to two alternative tools, enhanced forward guidance regarding the likely path of the rate and large-scale purchases of longer-term securities for the federal reserve's portfolio. other major central banks had responded to developments in 2008 in roughly similar ways. for example, the bavepk england and the bank of japan have employed detailed forward guidance and conducted large-scale asset purchases by the european central bank has moved to reduce the perceived risk of sovereign debt, provided banks with substantial liquidity, and offered qualitative guidance regarding the future path of interest rates. the short-term rates near zero expanded guidance about intentions for future policy has helped to shape market expectations, which in turn has eased financial conditions by putting downward pressure on longer term interest rates and helping to

the senate is to confirm janet yellen as the next federal chair.nd bernanke has plenty of wisdom to impart. we will see if he shares any of it today. >> phil mattingly joining us there from d.c.. our white house respondent. ben bernanke will be speaking in 30 minutes time. in the meantime we move from macro issues to hedge funds. blizzard conditions today grounding thousands of planes. su keenan is with me now. delta is making headlines. delta airlines reported a 10% jump in passenger revenue for december. it also boosted its outlook. you saw airline stocks soar across the board. stranded passengers typically weigh on airline stocks. were his big plate at a time when many hedge funds were looking the other way. >> the big play versus the market is airlines. we are the biggest holder of all these different airlines. no hedge funds knows as many airlines as we did. ual, u.s. air, amr. allwn big percentages in those stocks. they did pretty good. >> that is an understatement. delta and united sword. one of the best-performing funds at the time, it is $

>> not at the federal reserve.l reserve and the united states of america. would you describe what you're doing here you call it quantitative easing in a term that has been made up i guess we all make that, but is that a stimulus you use the term monetary tool is that what you would call it to halt to stimulate the economy? >> it is a tool that is intended to push down the longer term interest rates to stimulate the demand and spending. >> is this in the area of economics something that others have espoused over the years at times when you have got high unemployment? gandy you use a monetary tool to stimulate the economy? >> well, friedman and others -- i don't know if they actually thought about this, but a number of economists have written about something called the portfolio balance the fact that basically is about supply and demand that by the upper class of assets it may be possible to push up their prices and push down their yields and thereby affect the financial conditions in the economy. >> was set several

we now have had all three branches of the federal government. the courts congress and the white house all in some way say that the n.s.a. has overstepped their bounds so what what should reform look like moving forward what do we make first off of this idea that's going on a state level of restricting public utilities from providing services to i guess kind of starve out or cut off electricity and water to n.s.a. facilities that's something that has any any legs here well i think that it's a creative idea that's maybe the most that can be said because it's a constitutional i don't know i mean whether it's constitution or i can't see it working practically i mean the federal government has significant power to assert pressure on states to do it it wants that's why we have a minimum drinking age naturally so even if it passes in a state like utah where there is a data center i just simply can't see a state official sitting there with guns and survive this is new i was talking to talk nader earlier about this this issue has created strange bedfello

reserve issues -- in federal reserve issues. i likewise maintained regular contact with both the bush and obama administrations principally through meetings with the secretary of the treasury and other economic officials. the crisis and its aftermath, however, raised the need for communication and an explanation by the federal reserve to a new level. we took extraordinary measures to meet extraordinary challenges, and we had to explain those had beens to earn the public's support and confidence. talking only to the congress and market participants was no longer enough. the effort of to inform the public engaged the whole institution including both board members and the staff. as chairman, i did my part by appearing on television programs, holding town halls, taking student questions at universities and visiting a military base to talk to soldiers and their families. the federal reserve banks also played key roles in providing public information in their districts through programs, publications, speeches and other media. the cris

at the federal building, the workday is starting.of people are already inside. >> explosion downtown. >> about a third of the building has been blown away. >> the whole front of the federal building is gone. >> mcveigh is only two blocks away when the bomb detonates, but he makes it to the get away car and heads north on interstate 35, where he is soon stopped for driving a vehicle without tags. among the items found after his arrest is a business card for a military supply store. on the back is a handwritten note, tnt at $5 a stick, need more. >> there is no question in my mind that timothy mcveigh wanted to get caught, wanted to known. he left a trail of bread crumbs. he was seeking the deluxe suicide by cop execution package. at 315 chestnut street. the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the dusty basement at 1406 35th street. it is the story of the old dining room table at 25th and hoffman avenue. the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ...and the second floor above the strip mall at roble and el camino. ♪ this ma

at the federal level, the code of federal regulations deliberately and ex-- explicitly have become binding law. as joe the president of the american national standards institute clearly states, a standard that has been incorporated by reference has the force of law and it should be available. my non-profit has assembled a collection of 1 sthowrks a public safety laws. we have made them available to the public for the first time on the internet. for that service, 3 standards boy bodies are suing us for, and i quote, massive copyright infringement. they are suing us for publishing the law without a license. my second point, is about money. some standards bodies insist that before one can read or speak the law, one must first obtain their permission. they say everybody needs a license because they need the money. but the goal of their process is precisely the safety codes become the law. they lobby aggressively for that outcome and they boast loudly when the codes are adopted when is a safety codes become law, the publisher gets a gold seal of approval of the american people. they exploit tha

murrah federal building in downtown oklahoma city which housed 14 federal agencies, including the secretd.e.a., and the atf. >> mcveigh believed that his bombing would be the opening salvo in a conflict against an illegitimate tyrannical federal government that needed to be brought down to its knees. multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts? here we go. thank you. he took my shield, my lady. these are troubling times in the kingdom. more discounts than we knoweth what to do with. now that's progressive. millions have raised their hand for the proven relief of the purple pill. and that relief could be in your hand. for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms from acid reflux disease. find out how you can save at purplepill.com. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. side effects may include headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. if you have persistent diarrhea, contact your doctor righ

the rest of his speech is about federalism. he says we have this great system of federalism. checks and balances, ounces of power, making sure nobody can really get behind the wheel of the government and start running over people, or running headlong in one particular direction. he said all of this apparatus in your is to make sure that the founders called, the cool, deliberate sense of the community is carried out. not some minority or even majority faction. of course, you just look at the debate today. this is ackley the debate we are having today. roosevelt's we the people approach we call today the living constitution. there's all kinds of claims out there that the constitution is antiquated, it prevents us from tackling this serious problems of the day. there are calls for constitutional conventions, calls for just ignorant sort of checks and balances because that's really slowing government down. there are workarounds. i don't know if you followed the national popular vote act where people don't like the electoral college say we know we could never get an animate to eli

all the leaders in here signed treaties with the federal government, and that federal government became our trustee. that is one impression of i asked government officials, are you my trustee? we seated millions of acres of land to make this the most prosperous, the best, number one country in the entire world. we are second to none. unfortunately, all too often, throughout the years, the federal government has not .pheld its trust responsibility there are provisions in our treaty that require the federal government to fund and programs for us and all too often they do not see that obligation, and so it is our job to educate them that it is a trust responsibility, not a line item in the budget. ncai is continually working with the budget writers. i want to thank brandon stevens from wisconsin. to bringhe initiative us tribal leaders together from washington and wisconsin to meet with senator patty murray and representative paul ryan, yes. i do not want to mess with that one. [laughter] but because, as you know, the two key budget writers this last , paul ryan said to the oneida nation i

and they had federal funding. so now we're going back at it because the need for tunnels is crucial. so i had three questions on the gateway program. first you agree it is a critical transit rail and passenger project? second do you believe it could be a candidate for the new starts program? and third do you need legislative authority to admit gateway into the new starts program? >> let me take those in order. you correctly point out we have had a painful history to get necessary tunneling capacity under the hudson and tunnels currently serving extraordinary number of passengers on amtrak side and -- >> very diplomatic, mr. chairman. much painful history. >> those tunnels are over 100 years old. your first, do i agree, that it is an essential investment? we absolutely must do something about those. i believe we're approaching 110-year-old tunnels. they not only constrain capacity but at certain point they will become a real safety risk. and you know, think about the upheaval that will result if we were to lose tha

could it actually be that state/federal laws were broken because of this? >> reporter: well, that's the million-dollar question, if you will. what state and federal laws, if any, had been broken. the lawsuit is very interesting, suzanne. i've got to say. they're trying to get class action certification. it has a bunch of different things in there. it claims official misconduct, it claims conspiracy. and it's also largely a negligence lawsuit. so all of these things stemming from people who say they were inconvenienced and they lost money, they lost time, what have you. >> sure. >> but the larger question about the federal government, there is an investigation at least starting preliminarily. that's the fbi, department of justice. and they're going to take a look to see if any federal corruption laws were broken. >> right, right. >> reporter: a lot of people say that might be a stretch. >> i want to bring in gloria borger, political analyst, to talk about this. gloria, what is your perspective on this? it was two hours we were listening to governor christie

federal emergency management agency alone obligated over $80 billion in federal assistance for disasters declared in disasters through 2004 and 2011. despite the warnings and reality, congress remains gridlocked over this issue, over our impacted communities, our children and the rest of the world await our leadership. i don't think the world can wait much longer. that's why i welcome the president's comprehensive climate action plan. i think it's a big step and a big look forward to hearing today what progress we've made to date and what work remains. at the end of the day, i still believe the best path forward to combat climate change is through legislation. i hope in the near future members of both parties as well as leaders in the private sector and other stakeholders will decide to come together on common sense environmental protections that are good for our climate, our health and our economy. the last thing i'd say, if i could, administrator mccarthy and i were together on monday of this week in detroit where gm won car of the year, truck of the year, international competition aga

frankly, long before the federal government did. different states with different move a statecan forward toward integration in their own unique way in a fashion that the federal government has not yet been able to achieve. >> our experience in colorado is interesting as well, probably fall somewhere between the massachusetts and utah spectrum of regulation. it's another place where you see things happening in a bipartisan fashion. , governoras governor owens gathered a group of people and they formed the senate bill 208 mission. they came too late for governor owens but we wound up implementing many of those regulations, but after i left office and the states were left with the decision about health care exchanges, one of two states in the country where they was a bipartisan agreement around a state health care exchange. colorado, which is a purple state, has been able to do a variety of things in a bipartisan way and take these recommendations from this 208 commission and get them passed legislatively and have done a variety of thi

the use of federal facilities for abortion and prohibiting federal employees from performing abortions. this bill applies to the federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger. this commonsense measure, which restores a longstanding, bipartisan agreement, protects the unborn and prevents taxpayers from being forced to fund thousands of abortions. for this -- these reasons, i urge my colleagues to vote for life by voting in favor of this rule and h.r. 7 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from north carolina reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you very much, madam speaker. and i appreciate the gentlewoman yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i yield myself such time as i may consume. and ask unanimous consent that i may attach extraneous materials to this part of my speech, since we only have 30 minutes on two pieces -- two legislative matters. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: thank you very much. madam speaker, at a time

we need a fight for a balanced federal budget and the restoration of federalism here in america. [applause] thank you, congressman grift and and -- griffith and hurt for taking notes back there on that. and one day you need to end the outdated and nonsensical state bourbon and vodka monopoly. now, i'd say, that if you work real hard you can knock all of that out just in this session alone. we've made, we have made a lot of progress but not everything has proceeded exactly as i had hoped. because you have elected me as governor but i'm not perfect. i have always worked tirelessly to do my very best for the people of virginia. i set exceptionally high standards for myself. but as a flawed human being i sometimes have fallen short of my own expectations. while choices i have made have been legal, and several reviews showed no person or company received any special benefits during our administration, i understand that there's been adverse public impression of some of the decisions and choices that i have made. and i prayed fervently over the last month that the collective good that w

there were no federal bailouts or federal programs to keep the jobs in pittsburgh, and it took us a decade to realize the mills were not coming back, so we reinvented ourselves. we created an entire new economy on healthcare, science, energy, and finances, and more diversified stronger economy from that. the quality of life issues, we were able to hold onto the brand that we had. and it was the richest city in north american. it's letting people understand as we start to shift how cities do change, cities are resilient and cities can come back. the way that pittsburgh came back is very different from the city that my grandfather came to in 1921 from city italy. it's not that same city but it does have the opportunity to be better. >> i think when people think with oakland, the polarization between black and white community, but today oakland is a city that is equally divided between blacks, asians, latinos, african-americans. we're diverse racially and economically and makes it one of the most interesting cities in the world. we won over 20 accolades being one of the most exciting cities t

and they had federal funding.so now we're going back at it because the need for tunnels is crucial. so i had three questions on the gateway program. first you agree it is a critical transit rail and passenger project? second do you believe it could be a candidate for the new starts program? and third do you need legislative authority to admit gateway into the new starts program? >> let me take those in order. you correctly point out w

banking committee seeks to review how public transportation in the federal -- and the federal programshat assist our nations transit providers have advanced since the current transportation law was enacted in 2012. this committee worked well , and i look forward to continuing our bipartisan work on public transportation issues. public transportation is vital in rural areas just as it is in large cities. our transit systems connect workers with employers, keep cars off congested roads, and get people where they are going safety -- safely and affordably. a recent law made many important changes to federal transit programs. 21 provided authority to the federal transit administration to institute a much-needed national framework for safety , including the emergency transit relief program that is helping new york and new jersey transit agencies recover from superstorm sandy. to 83vided new funds tribes across the nation to help reliablever safe and transit services to one of the segments of the u.s. population. our focus today will be on the , but wetation of map 21 cannot overlook the high

isn't it true the federal reserve is a sickly the buyer of -- federal reserve is basically the buyer of our bonds? >> senator, we are purchasing -- >> for the most part? >> we are purchasing a substantial wanted tea of -- a substantial quantity treasury and mortgage backed securities, but we certainly are doing so for the sake of helping the government finance the deficit. in circumstances where we have -- we are doing so to achieve the goals that congress has assigned to the federal reserve. in circumstances where we have run out of scope for conducting monetary policy when our overnight interest rate target has hit zero, we really have to rely on alternative techniques, and we are certainly not the only central bank that has recognized this and is undertaking similar programs. >> you allude to other central banks, and i don't know of any other central bank i think we should follow. we should set the example here, and the fed has darkly. -- has historically. i will run out of time in a minute. unemployment. you mentioned unemployment. 7.2% ornemployment is 7.3%. 7.2%. what is reall

concern is a federal issue. so that is the argument that we make. the old story, in closing about the husband and wife who are having a conversation at the husband said i just have to ask you, if i lost everything, if i lost the house, the car, the boat, which you still love me? the way said yes, i would still love you. i would miss you, but i still love you. why is how that is after 80 years, progressives and conservatives are still trying to appear together. progressives are still trying to expand the new deal. conservatives are still wrestling against it. it's really amazing if you think about the relevance of conservatism. it is amazing that obamacare was signed in to law over three years ago and is still being debated and worked out today. conservatism isn't dead. if you look at this obamacare debate over a law that has been in effect over three years. the american people are center-right in their hips. i think the argument we make in this boat is if conservatives could just give americans some philosophy a

law or regulation which would provide an important state check on federal power. we have federal checks on state power, which i support and think are a good idea. we don't have that many checks on federal power, and state legislatures can provide that check and that's one of the proposals there. >> host: another one? >> guest: oh, think there's a proposal to -- well, a process sal that the court should follow the original meaning of the constitution, which is what the book is about. a proposal to basically repeal the income tax amendment and say congress cannot tax income no matter how derived, but they can have a national sales tax instead. so there's that propose signal there. there's a proposal to ban unfunded mandates imposed on states. although there are very few proposals that have to do with states. they're all to do -- mostly all to do with individual liberty. >> host: randy barnett, what courses do you teach here another georgetown? >> guest: after teaching through the curriculum i now have settled down. i teach common law one, constitutional structure, c