lawsuits against osama bin laden, the taliban, saddam hussein, the country of iraq, fidel castro and hugo chavez. how did any of these suits pan out? >> guest: well, we got a $1.8 million judgment against fidel castro. the other suits are continuing on. we got default judgments against many of these dictators. it certainly is difficult to collect because frequently the u.s. government comes in and protects the dictators, if you can believe that, and doesn't allow you to attach the assets. so it's a fight every step of the way. but the reason we did it and the reason i wrote a prior book called fatal neglect with my colleagues was because i wanted to show how the american government had sat there, basically, you know, twiddling their thumbs when all the information was publicly available that we were going to be hit again, this time with a bigger terrorist attack at the world trade center just down the street from where i am today. the american government was more preoccupied on itself and reestablishing the blush administration -- bush administration and pumping its chest than actually running w

these are more examples of the repression of the freedom of the press by hugo chavez of vens way. -- venezuela. i yield to the chairman of the western hemisphere subcommittee, my good friend from new york, mr. engel. mr. engel: i thank the jerusalem for -- gentlewoman for yielding. he was mentioning venezuela, i agree with everything she said about the lack of freedom of the press and the shutting down of opposition papers, newspapers, but i wanted to add, because the next bill we're going to talk about, involves sanctions against iran, i wanted to mention, subcommittee chairman of the western hemisphere, i want to raise a concern with venezuela, which arose at my october hearing, on iran's role in the western hemisphere. wins -- venezuelan leader hugo chavez agreed to provide 20,000 barrels a day of refined gasoline to iran. it's anyone's guess whether this would be implemented but it may be covered by the bill we consider now and that we're considering next. while some question whether venezuela has the ability to provide gasoline to iran since it imports gasoline to meet its own d

he committed to the voters that he saw himself in the fashion of governing like brazil, not like hugo chavez in venezuela. contrary to some of the trends in europe and elsewhere where we may see a backlash, and in the u.s. going towards a conservative end of the spectrum, i think that election points to the fact that people will alleged leaders that can produce results for them. if you are good for people and is more in tune with market- based policies from an economic standpoint that will recognize human rights, i think those are themes that can produce a somewhat different way, very much grounded in what we call the common-sense conservative outlook that started back with the founders in the 18th- century. i think you may see a trend again, deliverable spawned by a hearing to market-based principles -- spawned by adhering to market-based principles. >> i think for next year there will be this growing trend that is boring but very significant, which is the fact that teh g-20 is the -- the g-20 will be the global economic regulator. it is a major shift in what was the [unintelligible] >> two

. -- hugo chavez. livingston had the most unlikely profile you could imagine of a candidate. there are many ways this thing could blow out. think about the times it has been proposed in san francisco. the initiative would impact a lot of people's lives. had to be done all at once, not street by street, and it had never been done before on this scale anywhere. political of visor's said don't do it, because if it did not work, he could kiss the next term goodbye. the media said it would be an unmitigated disaster. a rabbi in the guardian newspaper said my synagogue was bombed during the war, but livingston is going to do more damage than the germans. but he did not panic. what he did was, he took failure seriously. he had to take a lot of extraordinary steps to make sure it went well. they tested the plan and test it again. there were fanatical about mapping out every single risk. they did some more games of everything that could go wrong. two weeks before the launch, they had a dry run. they wanted to put the control room to the test. they would get calls all day long to respo

but e of the first to arrive, venezuela's president d major oiexporter hugo chavez, told the conrencee agrees with the protester- the burden is on rich nations to more. >> ( translated ): in the streets they are saying e following: if the clime was a bank, you would have alrdy saved it. and i thinthat's true. if the climate was a b capitast bank, you would have alreadsaved it. you, the rich governmes. suarez: still, deadlock persisted on major iues: first, setting firm targs for cutting greenhouse g emissions by industrialized natis and ining in emissions growth in the developing world. cond, getting the u.s. and other rich nationso spend billions of dollars on hping poorountries adjust to global warming. and third, verifying that emergingowers like china and india stick to their promis to cut emissions. china's lead negotiatocharged again today developed cotries are asking too much. and, hsaid, they are backsliding on the commitmen they made inyoto, japan more an a dozen years ago. >> ( tranated ): if we look at the difficulties in negoations, we find the additional and unreasoble re

the voters of that country that he saw himself in the fashion of governing like brazil, not like hugo chavez in venezuela. and i don't think anyone was surprised at the outcome of that election. and contrary to maybe some of the trends in europe and elsewhere where we may see a backlash and-day think in the united states going back towards the conservative end of the spectrum, i think that that election in uruguay points to the fact that people are going to elect leaders that can produce results for them. if you're good for people, if you're good for their life and is more in tuned with market-based policies from an economic standpoint that will recognize human rights and the defense of those rights, i do think those are some themes that perhaps can produce a somewhat different way. again, very much grounded, though, in what we like to call in virginia the common-sense conservative outlook that started way back with the founders of 18th century servants of jefferson, madison and the rest. i do think you may see a trend again, deliverables spawned by adherence to these market-based principles

hugo chavez's refuse -- refusal to act responsibly not only hurts americans, they have the second highest murder rate in the world. it is so pervasive that ministers of the chavez government are now categorized as tier two kingpins. it's pretty clear-cut, madam speaker, that chvezz and the flow of drugs into the united states is something we cannot ignore. i want to thank chairman engel again for his leadership and urge my colleagues to vote yes on the western hemisphere drug policy commission act, h.r. 2134. thank you, chairman and enkle. thank you, madam speaker. thank you to the ranking member , ileana ros-lehtinen. thank you. ms. ros-lehtinen: with that i'd like to yield the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida yields back her remaining time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. engel: madam speaker, let me just say very quickly, it's been a pleasure to work with the gentleman from florida, mr. mack, as well as the ranking member of our subcommittee. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman fr

he has shaken hugo chavez's hand. he sent an envoy to myanmar.to the supreme leader of iran. he certainly has tried to change the image of the united states in dealing with countries like it. i think these countries are still pretty authoritarian. but in some cases we have seen some cracks. and i go back to the idea when the united states is no longer seen as the enam i am eemy it dissidents to protest. and even in north korea the government has had to apparently backtrack on currency reform because there's been -- there have been huge protest business people who are in private markets and who have amassed some foreign currency. and this is probably a first. i don't know that north korea has ever shifted policy because of a domestic situation. so, i think we have to give this policy a little bit more time. it maybe that the united states can't reach nuclear agreements with north korea and iran. but it may be there will be changes in the country to make it easier to live with them. host: as part of this process, it is war council as you wrote abou

he counts fidel castro and hugo chavez as among his closest friends.e made a sport of antagonizing margaret thatcher while she was prime minister. livingston had about the most unlikely profile you can imagine of a candidate of someone who would adopt a market road policy favored buy free market economists. but embrace it he did because it conformed with his environmental views and might be a way out of london's environmental nightmare, congestion nightmare. so there are many ways this thing could blow up, ok? so think about the times it's been proposed in san francisco. the initiative would impact a lot of people's lives. it had to be done all at once, not street by street. it had never been done before to this scale anywhere, ever. so his political advisors said don't do it, because if it didn't work he could kiss his next term goodbye. the media said it would be an unmitigated disaster. the quote from a rabbi in "the guardian" newspaper was typical, it said, "my synagogue was bombed during the war, but livingston is going to do more damage than the

he counts castro and hugo chavez as one of his closest friends.on had the most of likely profile you could imagine of a candidate who would adopt a road market pricing based on economists. there were many ways that this thing could blow up. the imagine this thing proposed in san francisco. it had never been done before on this bill ever before anywhere. political advisers said, do not do it. 70bif it did not work, he could kiss his next term goodbye. the media said it would be a unmitigated disaster. a rabbi in the guardian newspaper was typical. "my synagogue was boÃduring the war, but livingston is going to do more damage than the germans." but he did not panic. he took felicitously. -- he took failure seriously. they made sure that this went well. they tested the planet and they tested again. they were fanatical -- they tested the plan and they tested again. there were fanatical about it. then they had a dry run. they wanted to put their control room to the test. it was like a preseason game, but with the pads on. the day started at 7:00 a.m..

several of these nations who are opposed to what the united states does -- hugo chavez from venezuelaompared bush -- compared obama to bush in his speech and implied that obama was as much as the devil as bush was. so i do the know to what extent the administration will be able to bring those countries into the fold. it underscores the challenge you have when you are working internationally trying to get a consensus agreement with 193 countries. that is a hard thing to do. host: what does on the agenda for 2010? is there another level meeting? guest: -- is there another global meeting? guest: there is another meeting. that is really going to be one of the top issues, and in some sense it is going to be determined by what the united states does here and whether we have a binding, the bill. that will be a key factor and there will be others as well. host: said this kind of -- so this kind of ups the ante? guest: president obama that with these other world leaders from china, india, europe, and other countries, and he personally invested in it being a successful outcome. whether he can e

several of these nations who are opposed to what the united states does -- hugo chavez from venezuelampared bush -- compared obama to bush in his speech and implied that obama was as much as the devil as bush was. so i do the know to what extent the administration will be able to bring those countries into the fold. it underscores the challenge you have when you are working internationally trying to get a consensus agreement with 193 countries. that is a hard thing to do. host: what does on the agenda for 2010? is there another level meeting? guest: -- is there another global meeting? guest: there is another meeting. that is really going to be one of the top issues, and in some sense it is going to be determined by what the united states does here and whether we have a binding, the bill. that will be a key factor and there will be others as well. host: said this kind of -- so this kind of ups the ante? guest: president obama that with these other world leaders from china, india, europe, and other countries, and he personally invested in it being a successful outcome. whether he can en

he committed to the voters that he saw himself in the fashion of governing like brazil, not like hugo chavez in venezuela. contrary to some of the trends in europe and elsewhere where we may see a backlash, and in the u.s. going towards a conservative end of the spectrum, i think that election points to the fact that people will alleged leaders that can produce results for them. if you are good for people and is more in tune with market- based policies from an economic standpoint that will recognize human rights, i think those are themes that can produce a somewhat different way, very much grounded in what we call the common-sense conservative outlook that started back with the founders in the 18th- century. i think you may see a trend again, deliverable spawned by a hearing to market-based principles -- spawned by adhering to market-based principles. >> i think for next year there will be this growing trend that is boring but very significant, which is the fact that teh g-20 is the -- the g-20 will be the global economic regulator. it is a major shift in what was the [unintelligible] >> two

you know, he's the guys that's buddies with venezuela president hugo chavez. he tried to nullify his term limits to hold on to power. his actions were illegal under honor duran law. he was arrested by the army under the order of the supreme court. and even though the united states inappropriately tried to interveer, he was put in arrest. and the people elected a new person as their new president. congratulations to the people of honduras for sticking to the rule of law despite great odds. they held free and fair elections. the national triumph for the people of honduras is a victory for all those anywhere in the world who live in freedom and seek freedom over tyranny, and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? ms. sanchez: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. sanchez: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor a fallen soldier from my district, jesus flores jr. was killed in action on october 15 of this year in afghanista

this is what happens with hugo chavez in bolivia. the indians are in the forefront of poverty. lives. what we want to do is give them back their land. guest: my view of this is that, we take these things as they come in litigation. this is one case, and in some ways, this is a very important and significant case because this is affecting so many people. they want to resolve by -- standing problem. there are many other issues. this is not to say that that they have taken everything in the past to resolve everything. i am happy we have made a priority to reach out to ind. countries through the president, to build the bridges and repair the relationship between the federal government and the native american people. from my vantage, we are on an upward trajectory and i hope that more people -- more presence and less invisibility here in washington. this will be critical to meeting some of the needs. host: we have a republican from south dakota. caller: i will go from another angle and i want you to talk about this. nobody is talking about this side of the situation. we live in the

he has shaken hugo chavez's hand. he sent an envoy to myanmar. states in dealing with countries like it. i think these countries are still pretty authoritarian. but in some cases we have seen some cracks. and i go back to the idea when the united states is no longer seen as the enam i am eemy it dissidents to protest. and even in north korea the government has had to apparently backtrack on currency reform because there's been -- there have been huge protest business people who are in private markets and who have amassed some foreign currency. and this is probably a first. i don't know that north korea has ever shifted policy because of a domestic situation. so, i think we have to give this policy a little bit more time. it maybe that the united states can't reach nuclear agreements with north korea and iran. but it may be there will be changes in the country to make it easier to live with them. host: as part of this process, it is war council as you wrote about levin of michigan, reed of rhode island and john kerry of massachusetts and kerry phr

actually developed our own oil and gas resources in america, became less dependent on, you know, hugo chavez in venezuela or some of the other countries that frankly aren't real friendly to us, what if we stopped funding some of the things they do to actually work against our way of life by not sending money on oil, what if we -- spend money on oil, what if we developed our own resources? they say, it will take you 10 years. let's get started. while we work in a transitional vehicle that doesn't have to use oil and gas, which i'm all for, but in the meantime, hardworking americans have to take that pickup truck, and do the work on the cattle ranch. there are a lot of people hauling things back and forth so that our economy functions. $3, $4, $5 diesel about killed them economically. so why don't we access our great oil and gas reserves? we should. and we generate revenue to the government that if you had a fiscally responsible congress, we used to pay down the debt and pay down the debt before our kids come of age and our grandkids come of age. that's the christmas present i'd like to see. t

the voters of that country that he saw himself in the fashion of governing like brazil, not like hugo chavezn venezuela. and i don't think anyone was surprised at the outcome of that election. and contrary to maybe some of the trends in europe and elsewhere where we may see a backlash and-day think in the united states going back towards the conservative end of the spectrum, i think that that election in uruguay points to the fact that people are going to elect leaders that can produce results for them. if you're good for people, if you're good for their life and is more in tuned with market-based policies from an economic standpoint that will recognize human rights and the defense of those rights, i do think those are some themes that perhaps can produce a somewhat different way. again, very much grounded, though, in what we like to call in virginia the common-sense conservative outlook that started way back with the founders of 18th century servants of jefferson, madison and the rest. i do think you may see a trend again, deliverables spawned by adherence to these market-based principles o

. -- hugo chavez. livingston had the most unlikely profile you could imagine of a candidate.ways this thing could blow out. think about the times it has been proposed in san francisco. the initiative would impact a lot of people's lives. had to be done all at once, not street by street, and it had never been done before on this scale anywhere. political of visor's said don't do it, because if it did not work, he could kiss the next term goodbye. the media said it would be an unmitigated disaster. a rabbi in the guardian newspaper said my synagogue was bombed during the war, but livingston is going to do more damage than the germans. but he did not panic. what he did was, he took failure seriously. he had to take a lot of extraordinary steps to make sure it went well. they tested the plan and test it again. there were fanatical about mapping out every single risk. they did some more games of everything that could go wrong. two weeks before the launch, they had a dry run. they wanted to put the control room to the test. they would get calls all day long to respond to potential