the gentleman from hawaii is recognized. mr. djou: madam speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. djou: madam speaker, i rise in support of house conttnued resolution 286 which was introduced by my friends from texas, mr. edwards and mr. carter. this recognizes the 235th birthday of the united states army and honors the valid commitment and sacrifice of the united states army and their families and civilians have displayed throughout the history of the united states army. i personally also want to know what the recognition of the army birthday means to myself and my district. three things i want to poubt point out to the floor, first off, of course, it is that it is my honor to respect hawaii's first -- represent hawaii's first congressional district which is home to the infantry division of the united states army. it is also home to the u.s. army pacific medical center and of course my army reserve unit. all of which i take great pride in representing here

the gentlewoman from hawaii. ms.hirono: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. rodriguez, for as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. rodriguez: thank ou, mr. speaker. thank you for allowing me this opportunity to say a few words on cybersecurity in this particular exercise done by universities. i rise today in support of h.r. 1244, recognizing the national collegiate cyberdefense competition for its now fifth year effort to promote cybersecurity curriculum and instruction in higher learning. the cybercollegiate defense competition focuses on the operational aspects of managing and ppotecting an exciting commercial network infrastructure. students get a chance to test their knowledge in the operation environment and network with industries -- industrial professionals who are always on the lookout for up and coming engineers. on february 27 and the 28 of 2004, a group of educators and students, government and industry representat

in hawaii.and other places. and there's a lot of things to talk about, for sure. one of the things in hawaii -- of course, there's issues with the technical parts of the economics. but more in what we're talking with oil, this state is completely relyant on oil. it's like 99%. my point of its history, it was geting a lot of its electricity from burning sugar cane waste and all kinds of things that all got pushed away because of the cost of oil. but really what i think something we're looking at right now is a lot of people don't believe that solar capacity, as an example, can make much of a penetration in the overall energy portfolio of the united states. host: what do you think, deborah gordon? guest: i think the call ther -- caller is exactly right, it's all about the price of oil. when only is $35 a barrel, very little economicically competitive against it. that's where we were for a very long time. i think if the price of oil were higher, we could use a whole range of alternatives, definitel

the same consumer rights, whether they live in the district of columbia, alaskaa oregon, iowaa or hawaii. this is an interstate, global service. that should be good quality wherever we go. internet is going to perform all of the functions from beginning to day-to-day -- dated downloads, but it is also the place where you call the sheriff. you will have to get hold of emergency services. it has to run those things well. that is where the industry is going to step up and take societal costs on. the question is how far should the fcc go beyond those basic things toward regulating the internet. that has yet to be determined. >> what are the top complaints that come into the commissson over the past five years? >> the complaints are mostly about speed, costs, and getting dropped off of the network when they have free services. the customer does not believe they got what they bargained for, that service does not work in that area. industry has gone a long way into writing that. there was also a big row about termination fees. there were charging $200 to change services. now they are providing

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from hawaii is recognized for two minutes. . mr. due jew: i rise and count myself in the 1.1 million americans who voted at the youcut spending. these americans are saying to this congress that enough is enough. this government is spending far too much money on programs that do not work and worse of all we have no plans to pay this money back. since the majority in congress is refusing to cut spending, exercising discipline, or even passing a budget, the american people are rising up and standing in this gap. today's youcut winner which we are going to be looking at is a straightforward proposal. it would prohibit taxpayer funding for union activities. this would save taxpayers $120 million this year alone and $1.2le with billion over the next 10 years. this is a simple commonsense idea and one step in the right direction to restoring fiscal order in our house. i urge my colleagues to listen to the miles per hour people and cut this wasteful spending and make tough choices to provide us for a better tomorrow for ourselves and our fa

gentleman yieldba the the balance of his time for what purpose doeshe geleman from hawaii ri? mrdjou: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous const to address the house fofive minutes. the speaker pro tempo: wiou objeion. r. djou: thank y very much, mr. speaker. mr. speake and cleues, i'm ring to speak very briefly on the fiscalituati facinour nation today. mr. speer, and collgu, i ha t privilege of being -- having w a scial electn in the state of hawaii just couple of eks ago. i am the junior most member, of course. riht now in the u.s. house of reprentatis. bui an on a very sime platform. that we need to t oufiscal house in order. that our gernment spending far t much money and the meality here in congss today is that ofpendspend and spend some more. and if that doesn't fix the problem, throw more moneyt it. that, i believe, is a recipe for a fiscal disaster. it dear constuents in the state of hawaii that will never, er forget that sgle llar the overnment spends comes from a famy li yours and rig now we're spending far too much that money. . speaker, and cleagues, i wanto highlight wha

. >> the chairman now recognizes the gentleman from hawaii. >> this committee is concerned about the impact of this merger on employees, customers and competition and on the issue of competition is the department of justice that has the major responsibility to determine an analysis. how long do you think the time will be regarding your merger? >> we expect a very professional organization. we are being responsive to their requests for permission. >> considering this will be one of the largest mergers ever, if congress came in and requested an exemption, the department of justice have concerns about that, do you have any concern about approving this kind of a large merger? >> congressman, i cannot speak to the department of justice whose thought process with regard to our application, i would say that we recognize that joint ventures may have revenue benefits and cost savings, but not the efficiencies of the merger. therefore, i would imagine that the concern had to do with the difference between the joint venture and a merger which would have consumer benefits. >> when continental ca

. >> in mid june, senator daniel inouye from hawaii led a group of senators and their spouses on a tripto france. >> that was an eight-day trip with spouses, spending thousands on hotels and meals. >> this story is about the huge increase in travel that members of congress are doing overseas. the world is changing. members of congress are involved more and more in international politics. economies are more and more in alliance. our stock market is crumbling partly because of the problems in greece. it is important for members of congress to go overseas and meet with lawmakers over there. what we found was that on a lot of these trips, they are bogus. you say you are going on some good government trip, but then you bring your spouse. you are partying and staying in expensive hotels, flying on government planes. they are pretty fancy trips. i have gone on a whole bunch of work trips myself, and have never brought my wife. as soon as i am going on a trip where i am bringing my wife, i am probably not working that hard. >> in october, representative cramer spent two weeks in europe on busin

let's go to hawaii and william. caller: good morning. ii is 2:00 a.m. here in hawaii. aloha. guest: i will be there on vacation in two weeks. caller: i live under the volcano. [laughter] guest: i will not be there. calller: in this budget debate i have never heard a word yet aboout the cost of the military budget. we have noww177 permanent bases in 84 countries world, including brand new, permanent baases the country of colombia. if they're going to deal with the overruns of the budget, when are theyygoing to deal with this bloated, wasteful, black hole is the military budget?%- guest: that is something policy discussing. robert gates at the pentagon called for trimmed down spending. barney frank has put together a experts to recommend%% major cuts in the budget. recently they came up with their roughly $1 trillion%% to cut back that they say will not hurt defense. standing lawyer in a speech he today will say defense spending needs to be on the table. we need to look at the defense bbdget -- steny hoyer wiil say. other tax increases or defense cuts, eveeything must be on the

in hawaii. it's interesting that it matters so much. but when you look at the amount of money it costs for foam refuel their car, maybe between an efficient or inefficient car between $500 and $1,000 a year, it's really one of the smallest costs in your household budget but it matters so much. host: plano, texas. pat, democratic line. caller: hello. i'm a frustrated -- i've worked my entire life on energy. i realize the good intent of your guest, but if america wants to get out of this mess, they're going to have to dispell myths. solar will never get us out of there. the sun's density, we can get no more than 20%. i build solar cells. they cost $1 to $2 a watt. electrical power to a car is $25 a kilowatt. you need a actor of 1,000. you will never get it. the gas price will never rise to the point where solar cell will ever drive a car. and if we want to get off of this mess, the government has to get involved ala manhattan project and get involved with fundamental, revolutionary new physics app

>> like hawaii? >> wasilla, alaska. it's in alaska. >> larry: we're back.evi johnston shows up on the new season of "life on the d list." actually, kathy shows up in alaska. let's take a look. >> by the state of alaska, you guys are married! >> go ahead, tiger. show me your moves. >> give it a little pop up. let it down. ♪ >> i could really get used to this. after spending the day ice fishing, i actually want to get knocked up. just out of sheer boredom. can we go to the mall? >> sounds good. >> holding levi close, feeling my heart beating against him, i realize this is where i'm meant to be, for three days. and then get me the [ bleep ] out of here. have you been to wasilla? >> larry: no. >> it blows. i'm not going to lie. it blows chunks, yeah. it's not what we want the country to be like. when sarah palin said i would run the country, you know, you betcha', the way i run wasilla, that's not what we want. it's a lot of boredom and then some crystal meth. and go ahead. write your letters. i don't care anymore. go ahead, tweet me about it. >> larry: what is

let's go to hawaii and william. caller: good morning. it is 2:00 a.m. here in hawaii. aloha. guest: i will be there on vacation in two weeks. caller: i live under the volcano. [laughter] guest: i will not be there. caller: in this budget debate i have never heard a word yet about the cost of the military budget. we have now 177 permanent military bases in 84 countries around the world, including seven brand new, permanent bases in the country of colombia. if they're going to deal with the overruns of the budget, when are they going to deal with this bloated, wasteful, black hole that is the military budget? guest: that is something policy makers are discussing. robert gates at the pentagon has called for trimmed down spending. barney frank has put together a group of experts to recommend major cuts in the budget. recently they came up with their condition of roughly $1 trillion to cut back that they say will not hurt defense. standing lawyer in a speech he will deliver today will say defense spending needs to be on the table. we need to look at the defense budget -- steny hoy

hawaii and pennsylvania had a .pecial election whic the only question was which of the republicans that made it to the runoff would be elected. >> arkansas on the republican line. good evening. >> i am a republican. i chose to vote in the democratic primary. i voted for morris in the first time around. i did that so that i could help cause a runoff between halter and licoln. -- and lincoln. the lady who called earlier and said that she thinks more democrats voted than republicans, i do not think that is necessarily true. i think the republicans in the state used the same strategy as i did today. >> what about that? >> i think the caller is right. the race does not end here for blanche lincoln could starting tomorrow, there is a very uphill challenge that -- for blacks lincoln. starting tomorrow, there is a very uphill challenge. her opponent -- is a great republic gain year. he has a lot of advantages working for him now. >> ernest is joining us from monroe, louisiana. ernest, please turn the volume down from your set. that will eliminate the get go. ernest, are you with us? go ahead. >

ros-lehtinen: i'm proud to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from hawaii, mr. dijew, a member -- mr. djou. mr. djou: i'd like to thank the gentlelady and i thank mr. faleomavaega for introducing this resolution. it is with some degree of sadness i rise to speak in support of this resolution. it is my understanding from the house historian's office that i am the first member of the united states congress of thai ancestry. for myself, thailand is not just a place, not just an ally of the united states, it is someplace where my mother was born and raised and most of my mother's side of the family continues to reside. i, of course, speak in strong support of this resolution asking for a peaceful resolution of the conflict an dispute going on currently in thailand. mr. speaker and members, for us here in this nation, while we%% may have strong disagreements between conservatives and liberals, we ultimately resolve our differences peacefully. right now, what's happen in thailand is saddening, disappointing and something we must all be troubled by. island is an incred

chairman for opening this hearing and i want to start by welcoming the newest member congressman of hawaii. we look forward to welcoming you to the economic challenges and it is exciting to see you and your family here being sworn in at the conference and we look forward o welcoming you. welcome to the nation's capital and to you, german bernanke. it's appropriate your coming before the committee to talk about the state of the economy because the health of the u.s. and global economy is intertwined with the budget in our fiscal issues we deal with in this committee. over the past few months we watched as the sovereign debt crises in europe have boiled into a troubling problem. we are seeing that the economic recovery is being threatened and b.c. even global financial stability in general is being threatened. in some ways we are seeing the replay of a similar dynamic that impaired global financial markets in 2008. the fear then was systemic exposure to bad mortgage related assets. but the fear now is driven by exposure to sovereign credit and the possibility of a debt induced economic slump

host: next up is hawaii. go ahead. caller: good morning. actually, i live here in hawaii, but i'm from micronesia. i do not know if you have heard of it. we are called the federated states of micronesia. we are protected under the united states flag, and me, as a person, we send allies to the united states. as i watched the news every day from msnbc, and i watched the division that the u.s. has. it is divided. we do not know how to react or how to -- we go about believing which to believe. we're talking about the burgers, talking about tea parties, talking about all those other organizations that make america what it is, so which one is which? because after world war ii, the marshall islands, you know, we were used as a place to place the atomic bomb -- host: we are going to leave it there. thanks very much for your call. in the survey, is there information that talks about or ask questions of the people you are surveying, their opinions on particular political groups or political organizations, parties inside the united states, or is it ju

we live in hawaii. you have seven islands with seven different counties. everybody has their own net money coming -- their own money coming in. the county wanted to see if the stimulus money that was coming out to separate it from the state and give it to the county, because maui has, i would say, honolulu and maui are the grwowing islands. on kuwai, they are farms. we are fortunate that we have farmers. we have our own cows and everything. the things that we need our firemen, policemen, people to take care of the parks and the roads. there are jobs but they have to go to civil service testing, and they are not qualified. what they are doing is these retirees are coming in and taking positions. host: we only have five minutes left. we are talking about should the federal government provide aid to states? the senate left this weekend without passing a package they put together that included unemployment benefits and about $23 billion for states to help with medicare costs, medicaid costs. and it included another $24 billion for unemployment benefits. they d

rse or right.al next phone call hawaii, independent line. l, good morng.ler: yes, thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. patient with me, arid of mine who was a navy scientist in deep submergence assigned by the nixon administration to help resolve thoil spill inanta barbara in 19, they basically utilized seenage tent models for emge incident -- you trol just to rapidly con the spillage. one ing he mentioned was that the vy does have secrary of salvage, which was utilized not only duri oblemsike finding nuclear weapons underwater, butecause submergence technollgy, they should have had a larger hand in understanding exactly something o , especially with trip pointroblems. he said that they basally to look very careful at havg a much stronger tool chest, and the navy's deep e and secretary of salvage already have too on the shelf for these kd h oblems becausehey deal wit all the time. gues again,ur 3:00 conference call,hich i've been fairlsafe about being on, where no m.m.s. and coast the specific e question was asked regarding d.o.d., or depart

rse or right.all next phone call, hawaii, indepdent line. l, good morning.er: yes, thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. patient with me, a fend of mine who was a navy scientist in deep smergence assigned by the nixon administration to help resolve the il spill in santa barbara in 196 they basically utilized seenage tent models for emerge incident -- you trol ust to rapid con the spillage. one ing he mentioned was that the vy doehave seetary of salvage, which was utilized only during problems like finding nuclear weapons underwar, but because submergence technollgy, they should have had a larger hand in understandi exactly sething of ve , eecially with tripleoint problems. said that they basically to look very carefully a having a much stronger tool chest, and the navy's deep e and secretary of salvage already have tools on the shel for these kind h oblems because they deal wit all the te. guest: again, our 3:00 conference call, which i've been fairly safe about bng on, where no m.m.s. and coast , the specic re question w aed regarding d.o., or

states that want to ban assault weapons include connecticut, hawaii, new york. states that want to permit local control on the loss included florida, illinois, new jersey, pennsylvania. more from the a section of this paper. richard on the twitter page -- next is steve, from atlanta. caller: if the democrats did not work so hard on being soft on criminals and letting the relief corps bad guys out, telling us we must rehabilitate them, telling us we must understand them -- they are the ones with the guns. to restrict the common folks from having them, to prevent and defend us from liberal judges who cast of the worst in society out -- there are those who tell me that they constantly serve the same morn's on the same people. due to the breakup of the family urged by the great society reform bills, now you have people in the country who do not, did not grow up in a good family, and then they will not let us defend ourselves against the weekend policies. we need our guns. it is our constitutional right. host: justice samuel a leto writing that the gun right is funda

although they have given it much >> my first recommendation, as foreshadowed by the gentleman from hawaii is that congress ought to hold retrospective hearings on the merger. as an accomplished its objective? has competition been adequately protected as the american consumer looks as if it is better off or worse off. there is no question that the answer would be invaluable in our efforts to predict what the implications of the united continental and mayor richard and to be. it might make sense to the level of the consummation of this merger until it fully credible merger of -- study of the prior merger this is an industry in which there be a of expanding a large network may offset the network. the industry is already concentrated on a national basis, but this generalization might under estimate the market power that is present at most hubs on most routes. a merger of this magnitude will, in all probability, lead to at least one more merger of similar size and that will leave the u.s. with three national network carriers, plus southwest. for, this merger will likely lead to rationalizing c

she helped raise me so i was very close to her and she lived in hawaii.ter my grandfather passed away she had the same little apartment she had had when i was growing up over there. we kept on trying to say, you know, listen, why don't you move to chicago? and she said, what am i, an idiot? i am going to trade 80 degrees and trade winds for chicago winter? but she was always very proud and insistent. until the end of sher life she insisted on making sure -- until the end of her life she insisted on making sure she live in her apartment. there are given options for different people. the key is we want to give choice to seniors, what's best for them. some people love living in a retirement facility. some people want to stay in their own house. some people want a mix of options. so if they can get help that comes in, you know, that may be the best option. what we tried to do, not just in this law but what we're trying to do generally, and i want secretary sebelius to fill in on the specifics on this, is to increase the number of options that are available fo

they are using it in hawaii. there is using it all over africa.y have used it in south -- in central louisiana. >> once this is planted, it grows very rapidly. within three months, you could not pull out of the ground. the root system would be about 7 feet and three months. what happens is it maintains itself where it is very resilient. it stands up well against flooding come up against drought. it can go for long periods of time in water, without water. you can burn it. but it will grow back. it takes the nitrates and phosphates out of the soil and water. it takes the heavy metals out of the water. >> in this case, with our weapons being inundated with heavy crude, this wod be ideal to not just plant on the sand berms we want to build but as we ild back our wetlands, this woulbe the perfect plant species to put into the wetlands because of its ability to be able to take in those hydrocarbons to almost clean the area. >> we are not sure how much of the hydrocarbons at could clean at this point. that is an unknown. we know it can withstand some. th

the spker pro mpore: the for what purpose doeshe geleman fm hawaii rise? r. djou: address the hse for one minute, revise and extends remarks. e speaker pro tempore: without objtion. mr. djou: mr. speaker, last nth i left thholu cy counciwith the great honor of entering this chamb as a member of the uned stes house of representatives. last week my form chamber, the honolulu city council, passe its anal budget. the budgewa $3.5 billion. my positi is tt the budget passed last weekas too big a it increased tas by too much and increased govern size by far re than the citizens could afford but at least the city passed budget. it was $3.5 billion, t federal govnment will spend tt money in about fiveinutes. here today in mid june, the united atesongresstill has yet to pa a budget. the honolulu citycouncil can pass a budget for $3.5 billion, with t -- which the federal government will end in just a few minutes, it is the responsibilityf our vernment here in the unit stas congres pass a budget. we're spending far too muh money even worse than that, we e spending t far

they are using it in hawaii. there is using it all over africa. they have used it in south -- in central louisiana. >> once this is planted, it grows very rapidly. within three months, you could not pull out of the ground. the root system would be about 7 feet and three months. what happens is it maintains itself where it is very resilient. it stands up well against flooding come up against drought. it can go for long periods of time in water, without water. you can burn it. but it will grow back. it takes the nitrates and phosphates out of the soil and water. it takes the heavy metals out of the water. >> in this case, with our weapons being inundated with heavy crude, this would be ideal to not just plant on the sand berms we want to build but as we build back our wetlands, this would be the perfect plant species to put into the wetlands because of its ability to be able to take in those hydrocarbons to almost clean the area. >> we are not sure how much of the hydrocarbons that could clean at this point. that is an unknown. we know it can withst

next phone call, hawaii, independent line. independent line. al, good morning.k you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. if you can be patient with me, a friend of mine who was a navy scientist in deep submergence who was assigned by the nixon administration to help resolve the oil spill in santa barbara in 1969, they basically utilized seenage tent models for emerge incident -- you know, just to rapidly control the spillage. one thing he mentioned was that the navy does have the secretary of salvage, which was utilized not only during problems like finding nuclear weapons underwater, but because of deep submergence technollgy, of deep submergence technollgy, they should have had a larger hand in understanding exactly how to resolve something of this depth, especially with triple point problems. he said that they basically need to look very carefully at having a much stronger tool chest, and the navy's deep submergence and secretary of salvage already have tools on the shelf for these kind of problems because they deal with oil spills all the time. guest: a

massachusetts, minnesota, new hampshire, rhode island, vermont, wisconsin and in september on the 18th, hawaiioctober 2, louisiana if ruffs are necessary. taking us into the fall when the general election will be held next november -- october 2, louisiana, if runoffs are necessary. caller: what motivates me to vote in primaries is i know the value of my vote. i can do more on local issues. the electoral college elects the president. i can do my vote on local issues. smoking issues, gambling issues. in arizona, i bet the immigration thing was on the bill. you have to get out and vote for these things. you can vote for your mayor. you start with a grass roots. you start with your local community. that is something you can do something about. people that say they just vote for president are stupid. they do not know how to use their vote and the right way. i vote on local issues and in every primary. host: looking at the california senate race, "the new york times" has a right up of that position. republicans face a battle there on tuesday. "the new york times" says, to appreciate how tough it is

jan bridge were in arizona, connecticut, hawaii, michigan -- jan brewer in arizona. asking whether or not gender affects your vote at the ballot box. pittsburg, shirley is on the republican line. caller: i was just wondering if maybe women are being elected because all of the scandals that the men have caused, starting with bill clinton. it seems like we had just so many scandals lately with the man getting into trouble with other women and looking for their soulmates, that maybe we are taking more women to leave us. i think maybe that will be the answer to our problems. host: south carolina, and the governor's race, there was a similar campaign suggesting that there was impropriety and the female candidate there that was denied. so it is not just men being accused of these things. caller: yes, my daughter lives in south carolina and she said she did a little research into that and found that maybe some of that was being put upon with the democrats trying to get are not elected in south carolina. host: i guess the question is, as women become more ubiquitous and poli

the other one in why a -- in hawaii.emocrats have been holding on by running a campaign that is pretty apologetic about how bad the economy is, but basically saying, you do not want the party activists to win because they're going to repeal social security. these are hardly things we're used to them saying. it is not even clear this is going to lead to a huge republican victory. it is clear it has changed with the congress passed and the most powerful democratic majorities in the 1970's, and that is enormous. in makes it clear whatever this this is, with what is being said on the op ed ages, less power is going to come from them. more often they are going to be reacting to people with facebook accounts. i always glaze over when people went at an ipad about how force for is changing the world. getting this rump of americans who did not represent the coalition that elected this congress, that changes everything. we are going to have a congress that listens much harder to the minority that is passionate, and i am done. i wa

she lived in hawaii.er my grandfather passed away, she had the same apartment that i grew up in over there. we kept asking her to move to chicago. id said "what am i, and iot?: [laughter] >> she was going to trade 80 degrees for a chicago winter? she was consistent to make sure that she could live in her apartment. there are different options for different people. we want to give choice to seniors. what is best for them? some people love living in a retirement facility. some people want to stay in their own house. some people want a mix oo options.3 in, that could be the best for them. what we are trying to do, generally, and i want secretary kathleen sebelius to fill in some of the specifics, is to increase some of the options that are available to people, and make sure that we are reimbursing, through medicare, not just for the traditional choices. if you are in a nursing home, you are going to do it one way or another, and not that, but are there ways someone can come in and clean the apartment once a

the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of he gentleman from -- the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hirono, to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1244. the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1244, resolution recognizing the national collegiate cyberdefense competition to devote cybersecurity in institutions of higher education. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the rules as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this d -- members, this is a five-minute vote, five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 410. the nays are two. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 412

here in hawaii. aloha. guest: i will be there on vacation in two weeks. caller: i live under the volcano. %%aughter] guest: i will not be there. caller: in this budget debate i have never heard a word yet about the cost of the militaay budget. we have now 177 permanent bases in 84 countries% world, including brand new, permannnt bases the country of colombia. if they're going to deal with the overruns of the budget, when are they going to deal with this bloated, wasteful, black hole is the military budget? guest: that is something policy discussing. >> we're leaving this recorded program now to go back live to the house oversight committee on afghanistan. >> reeurning to order. and we're now going to receive testimony from our second pannl of witnesses. i thank you for your patience and waiting while we had the first panel to testify. i will introduce our panelists all at once and then start again with mr. schwartz. moshe schwartz is part of the congressional research service. before joining the congressional research service he served as the senior analy

i, too, when to stand up and recognize our newest membbr from hawaii. it is exciting to see you and your family here and being sworn into congress, so we are very happy to have been. welcome to the nation's capital. and welcome to you, mr. bernanke. it is good that you're here to talk about the economy, because the hhalth of the u.s. and the entwined with the issues we deal with in this committee. watcheddas the sovereign debt crisis has more problems. the recovery is being threatened, and we see global instabblity -- global stability is being threatened. in some ways, we are seeing a replay of a similar dynamic which impaired financial markets in 2008. there was a systemic exposure to assets. now, it is driven by a sovereign credit and the possibility of a3 interbank lending rates, like libor, on the rays, and investors have become much more market is down.p, and the stock what we are watching in real time is the adjustment of the marketplace and the severe inflicted on countries mired in debt to. at the moment, the u.s. is in the periphery of the u.s.

she went to hawaii. i am not quite sure who went to -- who got the better end of that deal.but most of all, i want to thank you, the attendees, for taking the time to be here today. we need to talk about a very, very important subject. some may ask why we should have a rural summit. what is the purpose of it? i think there are a number of purposes. first and foremost, it is an opportunity for us to educate the rest of america about the important role that farmers and ranchers and those who live and work and raise families in rural communities play not just in the lives of those who live in these communities, but in the lives of all of us. i think it is important for the rest of the country to know the contribution the rural america makes to every family in this country. it is obvious that we are the providers of high quality and abundant food. we are certainly blessed in this country with the most ppoductive and efficient farmers in the world. when i was born, in 1950, a farmer was responsible for feeding about 12 people. today that number has grown to 155 people. when you m