senator chuck grassley has now sent homeland security secretary jeh johnson demanding answers because we just spoke to the senator's office and they tell us that a reliable source has now confirmed to grassley that the alleged killer, that man, emanuel jesus hernandez was a known gang member and was not deported. grassley has been told he applied for and received permission to stay in this country under deferred action for childhood arrivals, that's the program president obama created in 2012 to allow younger illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents to seek protection against deportation. but the accused killer clearly did not qualify for protection. and now grassley wants to know when the administration knew this guy was a gang member and why was his application approved. the judiciary committee has set a deadline of march 9th for the department of homeland security to provide all documents in this case. dhs told us because of privacy concerns it won't release any information about the accused killer's application, but dhs does confirm a detainer has now been placed

senator grassley says that you were bowing to pressure. he cannot answer these questions, sir? in a statement homeland security says they have cut off applicants for the eb-5 program under los angeles under vision for ties to iran and homeland security secretary jay johnson told reporters today he's looking for ways to make sure the program is much more secure. >> so there may be some changes. >> brian ross on the case. thank you, brian. >>> coming up on "nightline," what ginger zee and her team pulled off today, flying a drone into an active volcano. s mess? a mess? i don't think -- what's that? snapshot from progressive. plug it in and you can save on car insurance based on your good driving. you sell to me? no, it's free. you want to try? i try this if you try... not this. okay. da! our eyes they have a 200-degree range of sight. which is good for me. hey! and bad for the barkley twins. your brain can send information to the rest of your body at 268 mph. three times the speed of a fastball. take care of your most important parts with centrum. multivitamins expertly designed

senator chuck grassley has now sent homeland security secretary jeh johnson demanding answers becauseke to the senator's office and they tell us that a reliable source has now confirmed to grassley that the alleged killer, that man, emanuel jesus hernandez was a known gang member and was not deported. grassley has been told he applied for and received permission to stay in this country under deferred action for childhood arrivals, that's the program president obama created in 2012 to allow younger illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents to seek protection against deportation. but the accused killer clearly did not qualify for protection. and now grassley wants to know when the administration knew this guy was a gang member and why was his application approved. the judiciary committee has set a deadline of march 9th for the department of homeland security to provide all documents in this case. dhs told us because of privacy concerns it won't release any information about the accused killer's application, but dhs does confirm a detainer has now been placed on ronguel h

iowa senator charles grassley has sent letters now to the fairfax police chief and the u.s. attorney general just this week. they're about the 2013 death of john gear during a standoff. grassley wants fairfax police to turn over additional documents about the officer who shot the man. officer torres, it is believed to have anger issues and not been on the streets that day. >> on the hill shall the stage is set for a showdown over the keystone pipeline. congress approved a bill to build it, but it still needs presidential approval. he has already promised to veto. the pipeline would carry oil from canada to the gulf of mexico. there are concerns about president obama's request for the continued use of military force against isil. some lawmakers are upset the president is ruling out any long term commitment of ground troops. other expressed belief that the request is too broad. speaking from the oval office late today the president is determined to strike the proper balance. >> make no mistake, this is a difficult mission and it will remain difficult for some time. it's going

duno by that testament with senator grassley? >> idea. >> i don't know if we established what that would cost. do you know what the total cost of the program would be? >> i have not. to forget not. to forgive out of nowhere the 31 billion in refund fraud came from -- 21 drinking from. gao testified we stopped lest you about 16 billion with refund fraud and a 5 billion is her estimate went through which is still a big number and we are worried about but it isn't 21 or $31 billion that is going out of the door. with regard to the question you asked earlier to be eligible for the earned income tax credit you have to work. it's in the earned income tax credit. to apply be able to apply for a jeff abbott social security number. so if you are we have about 700,000 numbers out there by illegal immigrants who are paying taxes but they're not eligible to apply because they don't have a social security number spent by the several million will get sole custody numbers, right? >> if you were to be eligible to apply for the earned income tax

grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: many of my colleagues know that i have been fighting for years to end the abuse of the h-1b visa program and help disadvantaged u.s. workers who are harmed by that program. so today i would like to draw my colleagues' attention to a recent incident that highlights how some employers are potentially using legal avenues to import foreign workers lay off qualified americans and then export jobs overseas. i was shocked by the heartless manner in which u.s. workers were injured in the case i am about to describe, but first i'd like to remind my colleagues about how the h-1b program is supposed to work. under the terms of the h-1b program, u.s. employers may import into the united states each year up to 65,000 so-called specialty occupation workers. the jobs being filled must be a job for which a bachelor's degree is necessary even though the annual cap is 65,000, the actual number of foreign workers being imported is much more because of numerous exceptions and exemptions. in fis

s/ senador chuck grassley (r-ia) (nat up) el senador chuck grassley dijo que eso era una burla de lasnguna persona que trabaje ilegalmente puede ser recompensada. le pidi al irs que revise sus polticas al respecto. mientras tanto los expertos dicen que independienteme nte del amparo migratorio lo mejor es que todos los trabajadores con y sin seguro social- paguen sus impuestos cada aÑo. s/ ngel padilla centro nacional de leyes migratorias "así cuando hacen los taxes pueden usar esos documentos como prueba que han estado en el país que han estado cumpliendo con la ley de los ee.uu. y también si en el futuro quieren cambiar su estatus" s/ randy serrano @randytelemundo mientras el debate sobré sobre si los inmigrantes deben o no recibir créditos tributarios sigue, lo cierto es que ese grupo de personas contribuye significativamente al país. en 2010 los indocumentados que declararon impuestos pagaron unos $10 mil millones de dólares. blanca --usted ya lo habr notado, el precio de la gasolina comenz a subir nuevemente. take vo --en san jos, el galon subi en promedio 17 centavos la semana p

grassley senator grassley asked you questions about the impact within the internal revenue code and the department of what the president has done on executive amnesty. you went back and forth with senator grassley. and asked you about um people that are benefiting from the amnesty. and claiming the earned income tax credit up to 3 years you remember that testimony with senator grassley? i do. i don't now know if we established that -- what would the total cost that have program be? i don't know. i don't know where the $31 billion of 21 billion i don't know where the $ -- 21 billion has. we have stopped with the refund fraud and $ 5 billion. what went through. and we are worried about and this is not 21 or $31 billion going out the door. with regard to the question that you asked earlier. yes to be eligible for the earned income tax credit you have to work it is an earned income tax credit. to be able to apply for that have you to have a social security number and okay. so if you are. we have $700,000 out there by illegal immigrants that are paying taxes. correct they are not eligible to

grassley. senator grassley asked you questions about the impact within the internal revenue code and within your department of what the president has done on executive amnesty. i think you went back and forth with senator grassley and he asked you about people who are benefitting from the amnesty, claiming the earned income tax credit in arrears for up to three years. you remember that testimony with senator grassley? >> i do. >> and i don't know if we established what that would cost? have you had a chance to figure what the total cost of that program would be? >> i have not. but before i get there i don't know where the 31 billion in refund fraud came? >> 21 billion. >> as gao testified, we stopped last year about 16 billion with the refund fraud and only 5 billion is our estimate which went through. which is still a big number and we're worry abdomen butout. but it isn't $21 billion going out the door. now with the question you asked earlier, to be eligible for the earned income tax credit y

. >> ifill: for the republican view from capitol hill, i'm joined now by iowa senator chuck grassley.rves on the senate budget and finance committees as well as the joint committee on taxation. welcome, senator . the president said today he welcomes g.o.p. ideas but that the numbers have to add up. what is your reaction to his budget? >> well, first of all, i think you have to look at not only this budget but past budgets that have been put before the congress for a specific vote and, in most instances -- maybe every instance over the last five or six years -- there hasn't been one republican or one democrat vote to approve of the president's budget. so i think you have to look at it that this budget put forth by the president isn't serious but even if it were a serious budget the president proposes and congress disposes. there's obviously going to be some areas where the president and the congress would agree, like, for instance, not having sequestration because of national defense because national defense is the number one responsibility of the federal government, so i think you wil

. >> senator grassley? >> i think the president's budget is an ideological statement. based on the faith of government making decisions as opposed to individuals making decision ss i think it's based on the proposition that 535 people here in congress are a heck of a lot smarter than 137 million taxpayers and that gets to the issue of increases taxes or not. quite frankly i think the dynamics of the american economy is going to advance the economy much faster if you have 137 million taxpayers decide whether to spend or save, and how to spend it, and how to save it, as opposed to those of us here in the congress of the united states and the president of the united states making that decision. and it's not a question of big government, small government it's a question of where -- what does the most to expand and grow our economy, because what this country needs is not more tax rates, or more taxes. we need more taxpayers. and that's going to happen by the capital investment that individuals make. not what the government makes. is going to really grow the economy. we have

chuck grassley, saying every senator but one wants to debate homeland security bill that will block obama immigration, but democrats filibuster. from the wall street journal the white house plans to play up the role of the homeland security department. they will try to keep the heat on lawmakers by keeping up the department's role in combating terrorism and violent extremism. the event comes after executions by islamic state militants and attacks in paris and copenhagen. with congress having left town, lawmakers have a handful of days to resolve the funding impasse before the department runs out of money. back to your calls. paul, california. caller: i watch every day and i watch every day, your program. you are doing a good job. i am trying to explain to people, what is executive order? he only takes executive order when republicans refuse the immigration reform. almost two years, maybe more than two years, immigration is broken in this country. republicans do not want it solved. i do not know why they are fighting for not funding for dhs. host: the gop's hot potato, they say mitch mccon

last week senator grassley and i along with a number of our colleagues on the finance committee, nelson portman and brown, introduced the ace kids acts of 2015. this bill would improve how medicaid coordinates care for our nation's sickest children seeks to reduce the burden on families who often have to travel across state lines for their children's care. as you know, children who have complex medical conditions make up roughly 6% of the children in medicaid. but account for up to 40% of the programs caused, the issue is especially challenging given medicaid is largely a state-run program and these children often need highly dedicated care in multiple states where certain specialists live. given hhs's recent focus on alternative payment models, moving away from singular service, i wonder if your staff might be able to help work with us to provide the necessary technicologicalal assistance to work through this? >> because medicaid is state based, how do we make sure that that care is both quality and affordable across state lines. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, sen

president i thank senator grassley for his remarks. as chairman of the judiciary committee, a longtime vigorous leader in the united states senate i know he was here and saw the problems of the 1986 amnesty and it had bad ramifications in a lot of ways, and i believe we would lrn -- we would listen to senator grassley's experience, his understanding of what's really at stake here, we'd all be in a lot better shape than we are today. mr. president, the american people want a lawful system of immigration. they want one that's fair to applicants who want to come to america. they are not -- they're not for eliminating immigration to america, but they want a system that allows people to apply wait their turn, if they qualify for admitted, if they don't qualify, not be admitted. and they want that enforced. they don't believe that we should have open borders open visa programs that allow people by the millions to come unlawfully into this country. the president obviously has a different view of that, and we're in a situation in which the con

and taxpayers we pay people like john von jovi senator grassley, ted turner and bruce springsteen from7 through $20,113,000,000 are paid to farmers to prove nothing. through 10 million of course, keep this in mind with the chart that is iowa farmland it is up for a depressant since 2000 for the is it time to pull the plug on the subsidies? you don't ever want to make any one angry man i was. >> would you pay more for anything grown by springsteen? that is the way to market. because these guys are the ones and need the subsidies. but use the large celebrity farmers get the subsidies as well as the tax break they are double dipping i have yet to find something that they really produce. >> yes no videos a piece of land we're doing the same thing? but that is not the way that works stick but they have money in the private sector. >> there are millionaires. charles: as programs if you get money from the government it is means tested. >> what happened to free markets lighting supply and demand determine the price of the farmland term that the average taxpayer keep their money? >> but what ha

claim that the earned income tax credit for up to three years and we remember this would senator grassley. i don't know if we established what that would cost. if you had a chance to figure out what the cost of the program would be. >> the 21 million came from, the gao testified that we stop lester about 16 billion with a refund and only 5 billion as our estimate and it's still a big number and we are worried about but it isn't 21 or $31 million going out the door with regard to the question you asked this includes the earned income tax credit, you have to have a social security number and so we have about 700,000 out there by those who are paying taxes but then on eligible to apply because i don't have a social security number. >> and under the new program if you get a social security number and you were, you will be able to apply for the earned income tax credit. if you're working for this the maximum that you can get -- and spend the range of about five or $600. >> there was such lack of clarity in the interpretation of what they said. is this earned income tax credit only going to be

senator grassley, both in order. and i know my colleagues have been very patient and i appreciate it. >> thank the ranking member. i want to apologize that i was not here earlier, mr. secretary. i didn't have a chance to hear your testimony. it was one of those conflicted mornings. but we're grateful that 54a difficult time. as you know we had ambassador here just a number of days ago. one of the parts of his both testimony and then the back and forth with the questions clearly indicated that initially you and i have talked about the manipulation. that's not been addressed in the tpp negotiations. he directed questions to you and that's the reason i raised it first and foremost. you have discussed my main concern as been about china. the other concern is down the road. that's great concern on currency manipulation. just in terms of data i want to ask you maybe two questions about this. just as it manipulates to japan, the economic policy institute found that currency manipulation is main driver in the deficit for jap

i am so grateful chuck grassley endeavour great ranking member patrick leahy work done this and we are not only putting john cornyn's bill which i am the lead democrat but we also have my bill, less safe harbor bill which john cornyn is the lead republican on and i am grateful that members of this committee co-sponsored this bill. i want to focus briefly on my bill which is the safe harbor bill. version that is similar pass the house of representatives. is simply says creates incentives for states to let adopting laws like the dozen states of arne duncan safe harbor laws, says you are not going to go after victims of prostitution. last week in rochester, minn. we had a 12-year-old girl a man was charged federally for this crime, 12-year-old girl gets a text inviting her to a party. egos to a parking lot with her friend and goes to a mcdonald's parking lot. the guy put her in a car, brings it to the twin cities and racer and then take such will explicit pictures, france to hurt her family, but those pictures on craigslist and sells her to two men who raped her. that is what happens. tho

legislation we are working on thanks to the court he issy and care of our -- courtesy and care of senator grassley is the juvenile justice and delinquency act which has been 12 years since the last reauthorization and i appreciate very much that the chairman has been willing to work on this and has made it one of the priorities for this committee obviously the way in which juveniles are treated in our correction system and as they are detained has been an important issue for the justice department and i would ask for your corporation and active support of our process going forward to reauthorize the jjdpa. >> certainly, senator. the way in which we handle juveniles in the justice system is something of great concern to me in both my practice in the eastern district of new york and in talking to my colleagues, the other u.s. attorneys across the country that face these issues. i believe it is incumbent upon all of us to look at the latest research on issues of how juveniles develop and manage themselves in certain environments. and always be open to reviewing those. i look forward to looking forwar

capital gains and my point was if you take a differential capital gain, you're going to end chuck grassley up with much higher, generate. and indeed, that's what's happened when president clinton came in. capital gains went back in and the rates went to 39%. and seems to me that there's a lot more coherence in a bill with a lower rate that treats capital and labor the same. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, both, for coming. i want to start with something you both touched on in your opening statement, but to get more specific, and so i'll start with with senator packwood, but i'll ask senator bradley the similar question. it deals with the robert "bob" w. packwood process of presidential reform. do you think tax reform would have happened if president reagan had not made tax reform a priority in his administration and a follow on and then isn't it going to take at least that much commitment or involvement from president obama with with his own party in congress to get a tax reform bill enacted and then for senator bradley, could you share your thoughts on the importance of presidential

chairman grassley, senator leahy, distinguished members of this committee, i'm honored to appear before you in this historic chamber among so many dedicated public servants. i want to thank you for your time this morning and i also want to thank president obama for the trust he has placed in me by nominating me to serve as attorney general of the united states. it's a particular privilege to be joined here today by the members of my family that i've introduced, as well as the other numerous family and friends who have come to support me and whose travel and service i am so appreciative. mr. chairman, one of the privileges, and in fact one of my favorite things in my position as united states attorney for the eastern district of new york is welcoming new attorneys in to my office and administering to them the oath of office. it is a transformative moment in the life of a young prosecutor. and one that i actually remember well. and as they stand before me prepared to pledge their honor, and their integrity i remind them that they are making their oath not to me not to the office, not even

my -- on this, it would not have happened. >> and bill touched on something right there, senator grassley. froms democrats wanted to get rid of unjustifiable deductions. republicans are not adverse to going along with that, if they can use the money to lower the rates. and president reagan said i'm -- re reductions and produced a potful of money and you can't raise revenues. to lower rates and you had a willingness, to reach the same conclusion. >> last question deals with something we have to tackle here in a basic way. so both of you in your view, how important was it that the '86 bill was comprehensive tax reform package rather than focusing only on business or on the other hand, individual reform and getting support for its passing? >> for us, it was critical because we needed a lot of the money we raised from business. don't confuse rates with revenue. we raised an immense amount of revenue, more than we raised from businesses before, but we lowered the rates and we used a lot of their money to wholower rates from individuals. i would have misgivings about trying to do just business

senator grassley. >> thank you both for coming. i want to start with something you both touched on in your open statement but to get more specific, so i'll start with senator packwood but i'll ask senator bradley the similar question. it deals with the process of and presidential involvement. do you think tax reform, senator packwood, do you think tax reform would have happened if president reagan would not have made tax reform a priority in his administration? and a follow-on, and then isn't it going to take at least that much commitment and involvement from president obama with his own party in congress to get a tax reform bill enacted? and then for senator bradley, could you share your thoughts on the importance of presidential leadership in accomplishing tax reform? senator packwood. >> well, president reagan was immensely helpful. if you're asking me, is it absolutely essential that the president be there from day one and pushing i don't know. it's like saying this committee couldn't reach its own conclusion without the presid

will join us in reaching out to your congress or senate and tell them to communicate with chairman grassley to allow this case to be investigated and those responsible brought to justice. if we can find nazis in the united states who have committed atrocities, certainly, we can find people in walton county georgia. >> there is an indication are still several people who may have participated that are alive? >> we are convinced, and we believe the fbi is convinced. we hope they move, that there are people still alive who were involved -- there were over 200 people on that bridge. you can't tell me all of them are dead now. >> charlie peppers? >> i believe he knows more than what he is saying. i hope they continue to interview him. >> we were just showing the reenactment from the film herb boyd worked on with you of the 1946 lynching. we thank you both for being with us. edward duboise is a member of the naacp national board and former president of the georgia branch of the naacp. he has worked years on the case, bringing -- wanting to bring those responsible to trial. herb boyd, stay with us.

i want to thank chairman grassley for it and chairman or ranking member leahy for allowing me to be ranking at that time. and i particularly want to congratulate senator cornyn, senator klobuchar for really good bills that i am proud to cosponsor. and i want to thank you senator cornyn, for including certain provisions of a bill i introduced called the combat trafficking act. one provision of senator cornyn's bill clarifies that the federal law allows the prosecution of a buyer of sex from a minor. and this is very important because it's going to enable the justice department to really go after the demand for this horrible crime. the provisions of the bill introduced, and that senator cornyn included of my bill will support that effort. so i think you should talk about his own bill before i say good things about it, but i just want to say thank you. it's an excellent bill, and thank you, senator klobuchar. i hope we will take prompt action on it today. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. >> did i do it within five? thank you. >> senator sessions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in the wisdom

applications have been approved bit administration and in a letter from director leon rodriguez to senator grassley not too long ago he admitted that reasons why the 3% have been rejected is because they're not filling out the paperwork properly or attaching the right check for the processing fee. that to me sounds like if you meet the criteria that's been unilaterally established by this president you'll get an exemption from deportation and that's not what the i.n.a. declares. >> thank you. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. professor legomsky, could you respond to the question that has been posed by the chairman? >> i'll get it right this time. first of all, the figure is 95%, not 97%. professor foley's numbers are quite old and the current u.s. website has laid this out in detail for several months now. we can speak later, if you wish, about whether even 95% is too high. it's actually 95%. but second i think with respect -- confused denials with rejections. when you were speaking about people losing because they hadn't si

they say that they have more questions for loretta lynch, committee chairman charles grassley says thisstandard procedure and they'll vote later this month. the number of u.s. properties in foreclosure rose 5 percent in january. according to realty trac a 15 month high. for more on that story go to cnbc.com. general motors has turned to goldman sachs and morgan stanley for advice on how it should deal with the shareholder activist and four hedge funds that want that automaker to buy back $8 billion worth of stock. and facebook is making it easier to plan for your afterlife on-line. it will let users pick someone who can manage their account after they pass away. previously those accounts were memorialized after death and locked so that no one could log in. coming up on "power lunch" steve liesman interviews dallas fed president richard fish er at 2:30 here on cnbc. all right. if they've called down up there i'm going to pass it back to you, scott. >> they never do. >> we have energy, sue. we have something going on here. >> thank you so much. all right. coming up, another shakeup at the

. >> senator grassley, are you ready or would you like me to go? [laughter] >> why don't you -- >> i'm happy to have you go. >> if you, if we're limited to five minutes, you go ahead. i need -- >> okay great. >> yes, go ahead. >> secretary lew let me kind of walk through what looked like the transportation choices you had. because i think that's an important part of this depavement to me there's sort of three entrants in the discussion. there is the gas tax, you know, issue, and we got a sense last year that it would be hard to build significant bipartisan support for major hike in the gas tax. then there is the repate a ration issue. and i'm certainly open to looking at this. the question of, you know taxes and transportation, there is clearly an infrastructure, a nexus there because we have -- gesundheit -- we have, of course, trust funds, and we have excise taxes. so there is a you know, clear nexus there. i think we also have learned from the 2004 experience that there is no repatriation rainbow out there. and, in fact my sense is that if you m

and charles grassley has said he hasn't decided how to vote on the nomination. this week there will be another confirmation hearing on capitol hill. he was chosen in december to replace outgoing secretary chuck hagel. he previously several that previously served as that did in the obama administration. we will have live coverage beginning at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span three. here is more on what to expect this week in congress from the house and senate floor. >> for a look at week ahead a congress we are joined by christina from the hill. what are the details that stood out for this budget and what has been the reaction for lawmakers? >> he wants to repeal the sequester. those harsh spending cuts that lawmakers agreed to during a bruising debt ceiling fight in 2011. with the economy showing signs of improving as well as threats abroad from the islamic state president obama is making the case that this is a good time to increase spending after three years of deficit dropping. republicans don't think this is a good time to raise spending, especially for domestic,

. >> i think senator grassley for his remarks with the judiciary committee a longtime advocate in the senate he was your to solve the problems of the 1986 amnesty and i believe we will listen to senator grassley understanding of what really is at stake we would be in better shape than we are today. the american people want to lawful system of immigration for immigrants that want to come to america but not for eliminating immigration but a system that allows people to apply if they are qualified to be admitted then if they don't not be admitted. they want that in force and they don't believe we should have open borders were opened visa programs to allow people by the millions to become unlawfully into this country. the president obviously has a different view of that and we have a situation where the constitution is at stake in a lot of ways. moving forward with a common security bill it was passed by the house of representatives finds the department of homeless and security. the basic funding mechanism with allocations as of monday in that legislation was approved a bipartisan basis.

grassley: first, i would have a unanimous consent request for the leader. i have six unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they've been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: madam president two days ago abc ran a story on their "nightline" program that brought to light issues with the immigrant investor program. this program is also known as eb-5. this immigration program was created by congress in 1990. it was created to stimulate the u.s. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. in 1992, congress further added the regional center component that allows participants to pool dollars for foreign investors. the story on "nightline" detailed how visas and green cards are for sale for a mere half million dollars. it also highlighted how spies and terrorists can use the program to enter the country risking o

senator grassley? >> thank you secretary, for appearing. more importantly, i appreciate very much the frequent phone calls. you call me and give me updates. i only have one subject, one question at the end. but i've got a lead-in. so be patient please. i'm concerned about the recent failure of coopportunity, a co-op created through the affordable care act operating in iowa and nebraska. coopportunity was one of 23 formed under that law and federal government loan money went to them through c.m.s. as i understand it c.m.s. played a significant role in overseeing the co-ops including having ultimate authority over setting the rules. coopportunity was very successful in attracting beneficiaries with the second most covered lives of all the 23 co-ops. it was even more successful than they anticipated. in the summer it became obvious co-opportunity and the iowa insurance commissioner that co-opportunity would need additional loans from c.m.s. to stay in business. both the iowa insurance commissioner and co-opportunity frequently inquired with c.

i want to thank chairman grassley for it. ranking member leahy for allowing me to be breaking at that time. -- ranking at the that time. i want to congratulate senators for good bills i am proud to cosponsor. i want to thank you for including certain provisions of a bill i introduced calledi want to the combat trafficking act. one provision of the bill clarifies federal law allows the prosecution of a buyer of sex from a minor. this is important. it will enable the justice department to go after the demand for this horrible crime. the persian -- provision of the bill included will support that effort. i think he should talk about his bill before i say good things about it. it is an excellent bill. thank you, senator klobuchar. thank you mr. chairman. try do it within five? thank you. -- did i do it within five? thank you. >> our founders gave congress certain powers as the branch of government. one of those is to -- at the outset of this process i expressed my concerns we should not confirm a nominee through the offices of at

. >> thank you, chairman grassley. ms. lynch congratulations on your historic nomination and your very fine conduct in the hearing today. the attorney general of the united states, one of the most important offices for which this committee has oversight responsibility and consent responsibility. the current attorney general eric holder has served with distinction under trying circumstances. for better or worse the attorney general often serves as a lightning rod for those in this body with complaints about the administration and i think it takes special mettle to deal with that incoming fire while remaining composed and focused on a forward-looking agenda. i'm interested in hearing how you plan on carrying forward on issues related to rivity -- privacy, i.t. protection, and voting rights, racial profiling. as successful as attorney general holder has been, there remains important progress to make in just two years in this -- and just two years in this administration to make it. first if i could about state and local law en

. >> senator grassley. >> thank you secretary for appearing in more portly i appreciate it very much the frequent phonecalls where you call give me updates. i only have one question at the end but i have a lead-in so be patient with me. i am concerned about the recent failure of a co-op created through the affordable care act operating in iowa and nebraska. co-opportunity was one of 23 co-ops formed under that law and the federal government loaned money through cms. i understand seamus played a significant role in overseeing the co-ops including the ultimate authority over setting the rules. co-opportunity was successful in training beneficiaries of the second most covered of all the 23 co-ops. it was more successful than they anticipated. in the summer it became became obvious company opportunity and the iowa insurance commissioner that co-opportunity would need additional loans from cms to stay in business. both the iowa commissioner commissioner and company opportunity frequently inquired with the mess about their capital position and the need for certainty ahead of open enrollmen

grassley: mr. president members of the senate, as chairman of the judiciary committee, i've mentioned publicly that i am open to certain federal sentencing or prison reforms but i've tried to make it very clear that i'm very opposed to others, so today i would like to address the realities of drug sentencing in the federal criminal justice system. i do so because there are many myths that surround the topic. the myth is that there are thousands of low-level drug offenders like people smoking marijuana in federal prison for very long terms. this is supposed to mean a waste of federal tax dollars overcrowding and unfairness to people who should not be in prison. these myths are often used to just phi lenient and frankly dangerous sentencing proposals here in the united states senate. one of those proposals is a so-called smarter sentencing act. it's time to set the record straight. that's why i'm here. it's important to know how many people are in federal prison for drug possession, who they are and

last week senator grassley and i along with a number of our colleagues on the finance committee, nelson, portman and brown, introduced the ace kids acts of 2015. this bill would improve how medicaid coordinates care for our nation's sickest children, seeks to reduce the burden on families who often have to travel across state lines for their children's care. as you know, children who have complex medical conditions make up roughly 6% of the children in medicaid. but account for up to 40% of the programs caused, the issue is especially challenging given medicaid is largely a state-run program and these children often need highly dedicated care in multiple states where certain specialists live. given hhs' recent focus on alternative payment models, moving away from singular service, i wonder if your staff might be able to help work with us to provide the necessary technical assistance to work through this? >> we look forward to addressing that issue that i think you are articulating, that because medication is state-based how do we make sure that that care is both quality and affordable a

have been approved by the administration and in a letter from director leon rodriguez to senator grassley too long ago, he admitted that the reasons why the 3% have been rejected is because they are not filling out the paperwork properly or attaching the right checks for the processing fee. to me that sounds like it meets the criteria that has been unilaterally established by this president, you will get an exemption from deportation and that's not what the ina declares. >> thank you mr. chairman. professor, could you respond to the question that has been posed by the chairman? >> i will get it right this time. first of all, the figures 95% not 97%. the current website has laid this out in detail for several months now. wiccans big later if you wish about whether even 95% is to -- we can speak later about whether even 95% is too high. when you are speaking about people losing because they had not signed the form or submitted the feet, those are the rejections. there are more than 38,000 denials on merits. >> thank you very much. let me ask you this. in your opinion, do the executive actio

. >> i would bring up a grassley amendment after schumer's is withdrawn. my admin that help us make further progress in the fight against domestic human trafficking. it has three objectives. it would encourage that are all agencies to devote grant resources to street-based services for runaway and homeless youth. it would update the authorizing language for the cyber tip line of the national center for missing and exploited children to ensure that the statute specifically references child sex trafficking, third and finally, this amendment would ensure that trafficking victims protection grants can be used to meet the housing needs of trafficking victims and also calls for the government accountability office report and charges an existing task force with outlining best practices to combat human trafficking. is there any discussion? i would save -- i would ask for a voice vote. >> chairman. my only concern with this is it amends laws that were the authorization has expired. i was trying to think of a time when we have done that. i couldn't find an example o

i just would say i agree with chuck grassley and the others that say, it is well worth the mileage and the sleep to go to all 99 counties in iowa. and -- if any one of those guys wants a travelog, i would be happy to share it with you. thank you very much, and god bless you. [ applause ] >>> more from the iowa freedom summit with sarah palin. her remarks are 35 minutes. [ applause ] >> thank you so much, iowa. thank you. oh, man! thank you so much, i'm so happy to be here. thank you. oh, i thank you so much. it is so great to be back in iowa. we have great memories here of the many trips now that we've been blessed to take here. of course, the '08 campaign. and the even more fun, tea party rally in indianola. that was fun. and chowing down on fried everything at your state fair, of course. and one year, thinking that, after the fair, i was going to work some of it off. so we drive up to storm lake. and there was a half-marathon going on. i'm thinking i could go incognito, for me that means, no makeup. i scare little children. i jump in there in the race, and i'm incognito. running in p

senator grassley. >> thank you secretary for appearing. more importantly i appreciate very much the frequent phone calls to call me and give me updates. i only have one subject. one question at the end. but i've got a lead-in so be patient. i'm concerned about the recent failure of the co-op opportunity. co-op por tunety was one of the acts formed under that law and government loaned money to them. as i understand cms played a significant role in overseeing the co-ops including having ultimate authority over setting the rules. it was very successful in attracting beneficiaries with the second most covered lives of all the 23 co-ops. it was even more successful than they had anticipated. in the summer it became obvious co-opportunity would need additional loans from cms to stay in business. both the iowa insurance commission and co-opportunity frequently inquired with cms about their capital position and need nor certainty ahead of open enrollment as it was clear that liquidity crisis was developing. cms knew co-opportunity was going to be

. >> senator grassley? >> i think the president's budget is an ideological statement. based on the faith of government making decisions as opposed to individuals making decision ss i think it's based on the proposition that 535 people here in congress are a heck of a lot smarter than 137 million taxpayers and that gets to the issue of increases taxes or not. quite frankly i think the dynamics of the american economy is going to advance the economy much faster if you have 137 million taxpayers decide whether to spend or save, and how to spend it, and how to save it, as opposed to those of us here in the congress of the united states and the president of the united states making that decision. and it's not a question of big government, small government it's a question of where -- what does the most to expand and grow our economy, because what this country needs is not more tax rates, or more taxes. we need more taxpayers. and that's going to happen by the capital investment that individuals make. not what the government makes. is going to really grow the economy. we have

. >> and bill touched on something right there, senator grassley. froms democrats wanted to get rid of unjustifiable deductions. republicans are not adverse to going along with that, if they can use the money to lower the rates. and president reagan said i'm -- re reductions and produced a potful of money and you can't raise revenues. to lower rates and you had a willingness, to reach the same conclusion. >> last question deals with something we have to tackle here in a basic way. so both of you in your view, how important was it that the '86 bill was comprehensive tax reform package rather than focusing only on business or on the other hand individual reform and getting support for its passing? >> for us it was critical because we needed a lot of the money we raised from business. don't confuse rates with revenue. we raised an immense amount of revenue, more than we raised from businesses before, but we lowered the rates and we used a lot of their money to wholower rates from individuals. i would have misgivings about trying to do just business and

. >> senator grassley? >> i think the president's budget is an ideological statement. based on the faith of government making decisions as opposed to individuals making decision ss i think it's based on the proposition that 535 people here in congress are a heck of a lot smarter than 137 million taxpayers and that gets to the issue of increases taxes or not. quite frankly i think the dynamics of the american economy is going to advance the economy much faster if you have 137 million taxpayers decide whether to spend or save and how to spend it and how to save it as opposed to those of us here in the congress of the united states and the president of the united states making that decision. and it's not a question of big government small government, it's a question of where -- what does the most to expand and grow our economy, because what this country needs is not more tax rates, or more taxes. we need more taxpayers. and that's going to happen by the capital investment that individuals make. not what the government makes. is going to really grow the economy. we have a