>> senator johanns? >> i'm not entirely certain about that because at least when i was secretary, senator conrad, we looked at this from an agricultural standpoint. and so i probably never pushed the authority. this administration may be looking at it. times are different. times are more difficult and may be saying, gosh, do we have the authority here? kind of underscores the point. this may be something that we address at some stage, and i might even be willing -- i am willing, not might be willing i am willing to work with senator brown, senator case toy ty to t solve this issue but i would hesitate to jump to an amendment without really understanding the implications. at the end of the day the best way to answer your question is to ask for a league opinion. as to whether that authority does or does not exist. >> just to clarify, from answering a question. staff indicated that in fact under president bush they did indicate they had that authority at one point. the current administration is questioning

i'd like to call up johanns aem four. this amendment i have described as the agriculture trade enhancement study, what it does is it calls for a study to consider a re-organization of the trade function at the usda. trade is absolutely trittical to american agriculture. the u.s. exported $136 billion last year over $5 billion of that was from nebraska. one out of every three acres is of production goes into the foreign marketplace. increasing population, affluence, urbanization it's going to require our farmers to grow more and it's going to require our farmers to do it more efficiently and put tremendous pressure on our trade functions. there will be increased dmabd for ag products like nebraska beef, michigan cherries. thus it's increasingly important that usda ensure that our trade is open and it is based on science. as a former ag secretary i know while the importance of the department responding quickly and aggressively to sbs and other nontariff trade barriers, if he was a surprise that the usda in my time as secret

senator cardin followed by senator johanns. followed by senator baucus. >> thank you very much for holding this hearing. i thank the ranking member. this is very important. we all were shocked by the inspector general's report revealing the shocking and shameful extravagant spending that the gsa western regional service division engaged in in 2010. i think it's important to understand that this event is indicative of a culture of this agency that goes back many years. the inspector general miller and the deputy administrator that brought this problem to his attention should be commended for investigating this event, bringing this problem into the public eye, and calling for reforms within the agency. what's most important now is that congress work with the agency to advance smart and thoughtful reforms. the fact is, gsa is vitally important to the function of the federal government. gsa makes sure that federal government pays its rent on time, keeps the lights on in public buildings, manages federal priorities makes sure federa

senator johanns. >> madame chair, thank you very much. let me thank the ranking member and the chair for holding this hearing and i appreciate the attendance of the witnesses today. i'm going to be very, very brief. i'm looking at the clock and i have an ag members meeting in about a half hour so i'm hoping to be here long enough to hear your testimony and if i have questions following that, i'll probably submit those questions in written form for the record, but let me offer just a couple of thoughts. first of all, to the people are -- who have been involved if bringing this to light, we thank you for that. i have to imagine if this happened at this conference, there's other issues out there. i can't imagine that this was just an isolated incident. my experience with federal employees is the vast, vast majority of federal employees are there working hard. they want to do the right thing. they want to follow the rules. they don't want to get themselves into the kind of problems we see today. that's the vast majority of federal employees.

. >> johnson said that she may have a cameo in the movie but we do not yet know who will play johannes mehserle. but we do know that something is expected to begin in july. >> thank you. >> the city of san bruno has gone through major rebuilding since the 2010 pipeline disaster. but now the community could lose

can have hope that change can come although we do lose a loved one. >> no word on who might play johannes mehserle. he was sentenced to two years in prison and is now free. an oakland native is writing and directing the feature which is being produced by forest whitaker and his significant reductions. >> coming up, why california is studying australia's kangaroo harvest. >> big changes come to muni. koula get free rides and will be paying more for some departing? >> the bay area commemorates the hundred sixth anniversary of the great earthquake. coming up we will show you the destruction than and tell you if we are prepared today. >> caught on-camera, the terrifying moment after a car crashes into a crowded supermarket. >> high clouds and blue skies and plenty of sunshine starting off this afternoon across the ba,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, >> here we go, a 76 year-old woman that's when her car three supermarket. she has been charged with careless driving. the florida highway patrol released a video of the crash showing the car shattering the glass doors and hitting a baby stroller. the collision l

senator johanns? >> i think they're still talking about that issue, if i'm not mistaken. >> i think senator chambliss' office and the usda, the senator and your staff just agreed to this language. >> no, i don't think so. no. i think they're still working on it. >> okay. we'll delay. >> put it aside and come back to it. thank you very much. now, other than the, if there are no further amendments, we will hold the title open for the one amendment that is being worked on, if that can be worked out, and we will proceed to title 11, crop insurance. and let me just say at the beginning, we have every hearing, every meeting we've had with farmers we have heard loudly and clearly crop insurance is the most important tool for risk management, and very proud of the fact that this bill strengthens and improves coverage for all commodities, underserved crops like fruits and vegetables as well without making budget cuts to crop insurance title i want to thank my partner, senator roberts, for his ongoing leadershi

. >> senator johanns. >> let me just say, thank you for being here. mr. giddens or judge free, either one of you may be equipped to answer this. i'm trying to get a perspective here just in terms of time. you said when i think mr. giddens, that when former senator corzine came on board, there were problems with this firm. they had liquidity problems and that sort of thing. and as i understand it, that would have been in the scope of $200 million at that point in time? is that what you found? >> no. no, senator. just alluding to the fact that the evidence we see is from 2008 on. mf global was either losing money in an operating sense or was highly leveraged. it was a firm which had financial difficulties when mr. corzine came in. that's simply to say the liquidity crisis was not as severe as it was in the final weeks of october 2011. >> that's what i was trying to get at here. that everything i've heard through hearings like this and reading testimony, et cetera, was that in the final weeks of mf global, the sky fell in. now, my understanding -- to me it s

secretary, johanns knows of what he speaks. if he feels the need is there for re-organize, i think he's right on it. i certainly agree with the smart baucus. there's so much more we can do with trade. >> thank you. any further discussion? if not all those in favor say aye. those a posed nay. the amendment is adopted. thank you. are there further amendments in title three? having none, then the title is closed. we'll now move on to the next on our list, title ten, the horticulture title. thissen clouds specialty crops. are there any amendments in this title? if there are no amendments in this title, then the title is closed. excuse me, senator roberts. i think we're fine. so thank you very much. if there are no amendments in this title, then title ten is closed. now we'll move on to title seven which is extensions. we're very pleased with a tremendous amount of work we've done. we've heard from farmers. we've heard from all of you. we all know how important agriculture research is and this title continues. the critical research

there is no word yet on who would play johannes mehserle, the man convicted of involuntary manslaughter in his death. octavius spencer will take on the whole of her mother -- of his wonder -- of his mother wanted johnson. >> we have been in conversation back and forth. >> she hopes the movie will act as an educational tool. >> we want people to know that we should all be able to get along. racial profiling is unacceptable. we want to get that message out. stunt work on the sum could start this summer with correction being base in northern california. >>justine: it is time to talk about the weather and traffic. >> it looks like friday and saturday could be the warmest days of the week. as you take a live look from the mt. tam cam, clear conditions, just a little that a fall forming along the coastline with windy conditions and higher elevations fifth in terms of temperatures, we are running on the line outside. fear is a look in your current structures. in terms of the afternoon highs, as we head into the east bay valleys, as a return to our attention to the phone and fall, a pretty warm

at the hands of bart police officer johannes mehserle. during his trial the officer said he meant to use a taser instead of a gun and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years. >> we want to humanize oscar, is like mattered. >> early word is that octavia spencer, the academy award winning actress will play wanted johnson. >> maybe we will get to know each other and she will be able to really works the role because of what she learned from a. i'm sure that i will learn something from her also. >> actor michael jordan is slated to play oscar grant in this movie that will be produced by forest whitaker. johnson, who has been in talks with a film maker for the past year will consult on the film. her hope is that it will keep her son's memory alive. >> this is not over. his life is not going to die. we are going to continually put it out there along with trayvon martin and those accept have been murdered. >> johnson said that she may have a cameo in the movie but we do not yet know who will play johannes mehserle. bu

senator cardin followed by senator johanns.d by senator baucus. >> thank you very much for holding this hearing. i thank the ranking member. this is very important. we all were shocked by the inspector general's report revealing the shocking and shameful extravagant spending that the gsa western regional service division engaged in in 2010. i think it's important to understand that this event is indicative of a culture of this agency that goes back many years. the inspector general miller and the deputy administrator that brought this problem to his attention should be commended for investigating this event, bringing this problem into the public eye, and calling for reforms within the agency. what's most important now is that congress work with the agency to advance smart and thoughtful reforms. the fact is, gsa is vitally important to the function of the federal government. gsa makes sure that federal government pays its rent on time, keeps the lights on in public buildings, manages federal priorities makes sure federal worker

that will determine whether not they can johann and identify other program. it will be the discharge process to the door street or any other facility. they will work case by case. i believe that the way that we were in the emergency area, they try to bring them back if they can. that is going to determine whether or not they go into the psych bed. >> the only issue is making sure they have access to those beds. that is my only concern. >> we can work through that on the issue of this program and make sure that they receive those beds. commissioner borden: they need to add a bunch of beds, i want to make sure that -- >> because there is not capacity utilization, it should be capacity when necessary for individuals to come for that process. they would also have homes like consoles. >> st. luke's will be transferred to cpmc? >> that is the determination of the consoles. -- consult. we have-nots worked on this social work. -- we have not worked ont h the social work. commissioner miguel: thank you for clearing up some of mine. i appreciate the comments on the san

senators leahy, grassley, and johannes are waiting for committee chairperson debbie stabenow. it was originally scheduled for yesterday, but it was postponed amid opposition to some of the cuts and subsidies to rice, peanut, and cotton farmers. >>> the "national journal" writes that 2012 farm bill would cut payments and counter cyclical payments intended to act as a backstop for when market prices fall below a set level and it will cree re place those programs with stronger crop insurance. >>> the chairwoman of the committee just entered the room. she's talking with senator leahy. it would also constitute new tigers programs saving $10 billion. the total deficit reduction from the bill is $26 billion over ten years. >>> politico writes that the new approach to payment with farmers is most popular in the midwest corn belt, and senator pat roberts who chairwoman stabenow talks with right now is close to wheat and crop insurance is supportive, but southern crops which typically benefit more from the current cash payments have more to lose. the senator is saying they're not going

senator cardin followed by senator johanns.wed by senator baucus. >> thank you very much for holding this hearing. i thank the ranking member. this is very important. we all were shocked by the inspector general's report revealing the shocking and shameful extravagant spending that the gsa western regional service division engaged in in 2010. i think it's important to understand that this event is indicative of a culture of this agency that goes back many years. the inspector general miller and the deputy administrator that brought this problem to his attention should be commended for investigating this event, bringing this problem into the public eye, and calling for reforms within the agency. what's most important now is that congress work with the agency to advance smart and thoughtful reforms. the fact is, gsa is vitally important to the function of the federal government. gsa makes sure that federal government pays its rent on time, keeps the lights on in public buildings, manages federal priorities makes sure federal work

which will be titled "fruitvale" named after the station where grand was shot by former bart officer johannesmehserle. it is the brainchild of east bay film make is the writer and director according to the hollywood reporter, oscar winner octavia spencer has signed on to play grant's mother. >> we want people of color to see the disadvantage that we have. we want them to learn from what happened with oscar to try to stop that from happening to anyone else. >> actor michael b jordan said to be in talks to play grant. production could begin in july. >>> larry flynn's hustler mobile is leaving san francisco for greener pasteurs. it has been rolling through the city advertising his north beach bar it ran into trouble in the richmond district where it has been parked overnight. the supervisor found out his constituents weren't happy and asked the van below located. it is taking its act on the road in las vegas. >>> filed your state tax returns? you may have to do it again. >> next, last minute policy change in sacramento that could mean you have overpaid your taxes. >> reporter: the secret service

senator johanns. >> thank you. mr. secretary, let me if i might visit with you about the national call center. this is something that i think we had high hopes for. you might have had high hopes for. but i have to tell you, it's not working well. here's what we're running into. the complaints kind of fall into two separate categories. the first category would be people that call the call center and no one answers. i mean, it just rings and rings and rings and there's no one there. i will tell you in my own senate office my staff has run into this problem, where we just can't get a live person on the other end of the line. the second area is you finally get somebody, a live person to answer the phone, and you get connected with them, and they don't have information. you know, the veteran is -- or we're calling in or somebody's calling in, what's going on with my claim or whatever it is, and you're just not getting a responsive human being on the other end of the line. i'm guessing what it is is they just don't have acce

. >> senator johanns. >> aye. >> senator bozeman. >> no. >> senator grassley. >> aye. >> just in time. >> senator? >> aye. >> senator hovan. >> aye. >> senator leahy. >> aye by proxy. >> senator harkin? >> aye by proxy. >> senator conrad. >> aye. >> senator baucus. >> aye. >> senator nelson. >> aye. >> senator brown. >> aye. >> senator casey. >> aye by proxy. >> senator klobuchar. >> aye. >> senator bennett. >> aye. >> senator gillibrand. >> no. >> chairwoman stabenow. >> aye. >> the total tally of senators present is 12 ayes, four nos. >> a majority of the committee being present and having voted in the affirmative, the committee print is ordered and reported to the senate as amended. i want to -- >> madam chair? >> -- without objection, let me just say the committee counsel is authorized to make technical and conforming changes consistent with the actions of the committee. and i want to thank everyone again for perfect work. >> madam chair? >> yes. >> i think there were five nos. >> yes. >> would the clerk repeat the final tally? >> sure. the total tally -- >> four present. one by p

senator johanns has an ag commitment he needs to get to and i don't so i'd like to have you go ahead of me in line here. >> thank you very much. that's very kind of you. i appreciate the courtesy. mr. miller, let me start with you. i have to assume that with everything that has happened that has transpired that you are also looking at other area as within the gsa. as you have gone through you this and you're thinking about what happened and are going forward, what thoughts would you have? what recommendations would you have in terms of how the gsa just better manages what's happening? because this is beyond normally what an inspector general would run into. i think everybody would agree on that. how do we stop this? how do we put the right structures in place to empower the leadership at gsa to make sure we're not back here again? >> thank you for the question. we have to deter others from committing criminal acts from committing fraud, waste and abuse. we had a region and a regional commissioner that was doing all sorts of things that are documented in our report and we produced to

characters, for example african american characters, i'm also caution -- i had written another play called johann that was about an african american gi and a japanese wife that got married in post war japan. i wrote that play 20 years ago. i wouldn't do it for about 8 years or so because i just didn't feel comfortable about being a japanese american writing an african american character. you have to think about, too, this whole idea of political correctness has both an up side and a very bad down side. one of those is people tend to be very cautious and not want to try things like that. i eventually through my relationship with danny glover pulled it out of my drawers -- out of the drawer, desk drawer, and read it and danny was instrumental in saying, let's do this. let's just do this. but, again, it was me working with some african american actors and i actually had it vetted by august wilson, read it and checked it out for me and there's another fellow who wrote soldier's story, charles fuller, took a look at it for me. i wanted to make sure my bases were covered. but this new play, what i did

as senator johanns said. we still hear horror stories of 12 and 18 and 24-month delays.e should of course never tolerate them. and i know your views about that, secretary shinseki. and know that we need to continue to push. and with better trained staff and improvements in electronic and other processing efficiencies. i also, on a similar note, disability ratings system, clearly needs substantial improvement. a bum knee in charlotte should be treated the same as a bum knee in cincinnati. and the backlog in disability ratings in many ways related. fixing both at the same time makes sense. and i know your commitment to wanting to do that. and we expect to see results as we move forward. i'm aware, too, of the funds in this budget to train outreach coordinators and operate targeted clinics and provide other services specific to -- to particularly rural veterans but veterans everywhere who simply don't know enough about veterans' services. people from the va, officials from the va joined me in a field hearing in appalachia, two areas of ohio, of appalachia, ohio, one in 2007

bart police officer johannes mehersle says he mistook his taser 4 is done. he was sentenced to two years for involuntary manslaughter. mehersle is now free and the incident sparked numerous riots and demonstrations over police brutality and we are told that octavia spencer is set to play grant's mother. she just won an oscar for role in the movie called the help. michael jordan is negotiating to plate cracked. he has been on friday night lights and the wire. the director reportedly grew up in oakland and graduated from st. mary's college. you can see this mural, half of oscar grant space facing the bart station. now that story looks like it will be shared with a whole world. >> >> we're getting into the upper 80s and close to 90 by the weekend, friday and saturday we've reached a peak with the temperatures. 50 in livermore and partly cloudy skies out the door right now. all the clouds should burn off bringing plenty of sunshine and we should be on the warmer side. this is just the start of a warming trend across the bay area so looks like this will be the co

marcus johannes sen shot, blocked by thomas. boston on the counterattack.head of the attack and he beats holtby. the game winner. caps fall, 1-0. a tough break for holtby but the team knows the 22-year-old will be just fine. >> he's a battler and has always been that way in junior and up and so in the american league, too. so he's going to protect his crease and, you know, it's a tough job. a lot of traffic and he is going to have to battle and just like thomas has to battle and we're there now. >> it's my crease. you know, i don't really like to let anyone in there because i don't want to fight as hard as i can to find the puck and make saves. >> they're an aggressive team. they play to win. our job is to counter that especially myself battling for position in my crease and to fight to find shots through traffic. you know, there's times where i lost it yesterday and i want to be better at it tomorrow. >>> all right. crazy scene. check this out last night just after boston's game-winning goal boston's bruin four hit in the back of the head by a pane of glas

i want to turn to senator johanns.on this committee, we have always said that we have the former chairman and former ranking members. we are fortunate to have a secretary secretary of agriculture. let me just note at this point that when senator johanns was secretary of agriculture, he talked about reforming conservation. we have taken a number of your ideas. he really gave us a basis for thinking, and for moving ahead. i think we have a terrific conservation title, and you have -- you get a lot of credit for giving us the ability to get started. i want to particularly thank you for that. >> madam chair, thank you very much for that. i appreciate you. you have seen some of those ideas. what more can i say in appreciation to you and to the ranking member? you have both done a great job. i will offer an inside that writing the farm bill is a lot different from writing the farm bill in the office of the usda. but the great thing about this committee is there is such deep experience. you know, you look at this committee, v

we always like to begin by asking asia johanns for how many of you is this your first time at sixth and i? so a good number of you. i will tell you a history about sixth and i so you understand the significance of where you are today. the building opened in 1908 and was for about 45 years and then when we located the building became home to the turner memorial church. when they decided to relocate the building was put up for sale and the highest bid was from someone who wanted to buy it and turn it into a nightclub. so thankfully that did not have been and the building was saved within 24 hours and it was turned into a nondenominational non-traditional synagogues and also the center for arts and culture to host events like this one tonight. we have a great lineup of authors including tonight stopping on the book tour this evening next week and will be a new cookbook, jacob is coming, madeleine albright, frank ford and john irving among others. we are so happy to have jonathan haidt tonight and i want to begin by congratulating him on the release of the righteous mind why good people are

but our nucleus of guys are altogether, johann's back, david's healthy, ike dive avis back, that's hugea new york yankee fan -- i should point out, those were lean years, they weren't winning the world series every year -- what it's like playing for the new york mets in a town dominated by the yankee because of the way they've performed over the last 15 years? >> i've loved it. i fell a real connection with the fans and i feel like it's, you know, kind of a working man's team. my experience has been great. we haven't won as many games as we like, but we think it's going to change relatively soon. there's a lot of hope in the air over there in flushing. >> talk -- let's talk about the book. >> yeah. >> "wherever i wind up" what inspired you to put your life into pages of a book? >> i was an english major in college and always wanted to write. i felt like my life was unique enough that i had a very interesting story and so i thought that's the genre i wanted to start with, and so i started with writing about my life and i tell you, it was really hard. the 2008, when i first started writin

so the previous question that senator johanns asked, looking at what did what when with a potential causeof action. when you negotiate their salaries, how, just how can -- i mean, how are you going to do it when, n., you look at them as part of the problem, part of the so-called crooks? >> we have not made determinationings in that regard. salaries are set, senator. >> who sets them? >> well, they were set at the time of the petition reverting back to base salaries. each employee with base insiders had base salaries which have been continued. >> okay. all right. the point i'm trying to get here, and i think i heard the answer is i really don't want to give benefits whatsoever who caused this debacle. are you confident that's the case? >> i'm confident that's the case. what i said to the chairman with respect to the insiders, for instance, the group working now to get very important and tax refund back to the estate, you know, i need to maintain them or else the alternative would be to go out and hire an accounting firm at three or four times the cost. that's the balance i'm conducting, bu

senator cardin followed by senator johanns. followed by senator baucus. >> thank you very much for holding this hearing. i thank the ranking member. this is very important. we all were shocked by the inspector general's report revealing the shocking and shameful extravagant spending that the gsa western regional service division engaged in in 2010. i think it's important to understand that this event is indicative of a culture of this agency that goes back many years. the inspector general miller and the deputy administrator that brought this problem to his attention should be commended for investigating this event, bringing this problem into the public eye, and calling for reforms within the agency. what's most important now is that congress work with the agency to advance smart and thoughtful reforms. the fact is, gsa is vitally important to the function of the federal government. gsa makes sure that federal government pays its rent on time, keeps the lights on in public buildings, manages federal priorities makes sure federa