tallinn's nordic lutheran culture and language connect it with stockholm and helsinki, but two centuriesf czarist russian rule and nearly 50 years as part of the soviet union have blended in a distinctly russian flavor. fins and estonians share a similar history. first, swedish domination, then russian. then independence after world war i. until 1940, the estonians were about as affluent as the fins, but then estonia was gobbled up by an expanding soviet empire and spent the decades after world war ii under communism. when the ussr fell, estonia regained its freedom, and in 2004, it joined the european union. tallinn has modernized at an astounding rate since the fall of the soviet union. its business district shines with the same glass and steel gleam you'll find in any modern city. yet nearby are the rugged and fully intact medieval walls, and the town within these ramparts has a beautifully preserved old-world ambiance. among medieval cities in the north of europe, none are as well preserved as tallinn. the town hall square was a marketplace through the centuries. its fine old buildin

visit ncicap.org] steves: a selection of ferries make the 50-mile crossing between helsinki and tallinny hourly. because of the ease of this delightful two-hour cruise and the variety a quick trip over to estonia adds to your nordic travels, pairing helsinki and tallinn is a natural. stepping off the boat in tallinn, the capital of estonia, you feel you've traveled a long way culturally from finland. its a mix of east and west. tallinn's nordic lutheran culture and language connect it with stockholm and helsinki, but two centuries of czarist russian rule and nearly 50 years as part of the soviet union have blended in a distinctly russian flavor. fins and estonians share a similar history. first, swedish domination, then russian. then independence after world war i. until 1940, the estonians were about as affluent as the fins, but then estonia was gobbled up by an expanding soviet empire and spent the decades after world war ii under communism. when the ussr fell, estonia regained its freedom, and in 2004, it joined the european union. tallinn has modernized at an astounding rate since t

we're not talking about helsinki here or the helsinki accord. you have to start somewhere you have to find a way to work with these people and the chinese made a dramatic shift prior to the summit to say we don't need to talk about economic espionage. >> did say first that. when it depends on how they push to live up to its agreement the biggest problem is if you look if it was carefully designed and are interest but on this side traditional espionage but the traditional espionage parked. >> host: is the u.s. also having a cybersecurity attack? >> chinese always complained about that. >> knowing that the u.s. is that -- very active and a couple years ago. >> that the internet created a golden age we benefit as much as anyone. >> host: talk about edward snowden did he do the country is service to get the information out to have a discussion? >> guest: no. he limited himself to domestic surveillance you could make the case. what possible benefit to privacy does it do to repeal we were monitoring russian nuclear launch? that is directly related to

even letting me tag along on his 2009 return to the helsinki stadium.cally frail leading up to his 91st birthday last month. that determination and drive that fueled so much of his life and legacy remain defiently strong. on the door of his hospice bedroom where red, white, and blue gave final salute, inside, we saw his courage and felt it. he ran his race called life vigorously, all of the way. dad passed away with the same kind of stamina, smoothness and grace that won him renowned distinction, marvelous mal whitfield. ♪ ♪ e group. i wore lederhosen. when i first got on ancestry i was really surprised that i wasn't finding all of these germans in my tree. i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. the big surprise was we're not german at all. 52% of my dna comes from scotland and ireland. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com. the citi double cash® card comes in very handy with cash back twice on purchases. earn once when you buy, and again as you pa

we're not talking about helsinki here, the helsinki accords. you have to start somewhere. you have to find a way to work with these people. and the chinese made a dramatic shift in their position. prior to the summit when you talked to them, they said, well, we don't need to talk about economic espionage because, of course, we don't do it. a huge change. it's a first step. how well it makes progress and in reducing the problem will depend very much on how much the u.s. pushes on china to live up to its agreement. the biggest problem with it is if you look, the language was carefully designed -- and this was in our interests too to say there's a line. on this side commercial's i imagine the, we agree nod to do it -- espionage, we agree not to do it. on this side, traditional espionage, nothing said. so it's not clear to me how much we've caught the pla. the chinese would said we haven't caught nsa, but the traditional espionage part is still very much up in the air. >> host: so do you think the u.s. is also conducting cybersecurity attacks against state players? >> guest: t

none of it defeating marvelous mal, even letting me tag along on his 2009 return to the helsinki stadiumon gold in the 1952 games. while he most certainly became more physically frail leading up to his 91st birthday last month, that determination and drive that fooled so much of his life and legacy remained defiantly strong. a great team of loving care around him saw to that. on the door of his hospice bedroom, where red, white, and blue gave final salute, inside, we saw his encourage and felt it. >> he ran his race called life vigorously, all of the way. dad passed away with the same kind of stamina, smoothness, and grace that won him renowned distinction, marvelous mal whitfield. withof my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... ordinary objects often seemed... intimidating. doing something simple... meant enduring a lot of pain. if ra is changing your view of everyday things orencia may help. orencia works differently by targeting a source of ra early in the inflammation process. for many, orencia provides long-term relief of ra symptoms. it's helped new ra patients and those not h

in fact, we had a hearing in the helsinki commission with assistant secretary ann richard.ked about the vetting process after i asked her about it. and basically, chris, five agencies are going to vet these folks before they come and settle in our country. the problem is, you've got too many people involved. no one has veto power over the other. >> do you have evidence to present the 1700 are connected to terrorism or any reason to suspect they are? >> look, after last friday night, i think for those of us who have a keen interest in protecting our country, we ought to hit the pause button, rethink what we're doing. >> just on that question -- >> right now we don't know. >> just to -- >> the fbi said they can't vet the people because they don't have a data base. don't you think we need a data base first? >> congressman, is it your understanding, as it is mine, that the folks carried this out in paris are european nationals, belgian citizen, french citizens. are you in support of stopping for instance the visa waiver for french or belgian citizens? >> look, i'm in favor of p

we are not talking about helsinki, here. you have to start somewhere. you have to find agreement. you have to find a way to work with these people. the chinese made a dramatic shift in their position, prior to the summit, we talked to them they said we do not need to talk about economic espionage, because of course, we do not do it. a huge change. it is the first step. how well it makes progress in reducing the problem will depend very much on how much the u.s. pushes on china to live up to its agreement. the biggest problem with it is that if you look, the language was carefully designed. this is in our interest, too. there is a line, on the side commercial espionage we agree not to do it. on the site, traditional espionage, nothing. of course, the chinese would say, we have not caught nsa. traditional espionage is still very much up in air. >> do you think that the u.s. is also conducting ever secure the attacks against state players? james: the chinese always complain about it. of course, we have mr. snowden to think -- think for knowing now that the u.s. has been very active.

first, i chaired a hearing last week with the helsinki commission on refugees coming out of syria. and the high commissioners regional representative testified. his bottom line was there were two big trends that have left to the mass exodus. one, political solution will not be found any time soon to the war. secondly, that after so many years of exile, many people's resources have dwindled to next to nothing. he said the third factor is the trigger. it is why people have made their way into europe. he said the trigger was that a few months ago there was a lack of funding for the world food program. they cut their assistance by 30%. he testified and said, as a consequence, many refugees felt that the international community could be starting to abandon them. he pointed out that the syrian regional refugee plan is 41% funded. people are living on less than 50 cents a day. he said they decided to go into flight in order -- my question would be, i know we are generous supporters of the wfp. i'm glad that congress and the administration has done that. but did we anticipate that this mig

last month the helsinki commission which i was a member held a hearing, assistant secretary of state said the refugees were fleeing to europe because they perceived those borders to be opened. madam speaker, there can be no perception that our borders are open. during my questioning last month, it became clear to me that we do not have the procedures in place to perform adequate and thorough background checks on refugees. president obama is engaged in hat may be best described as magical thinking. certainly it's a fragmented strategy to combat isis. the world held a moment of silence this morning. we should not be silent on this issue any longer. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the entirety of governor abbott's letter be inserted into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mada