san francisco mayor, secretary lahood, leaders, ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of the apec secretariat, i would like to thank apec, the economy, and the city of san francisco for hosting this meeting, and for the hospitality extended to us. today, i would like to take this time to congratulate the working group from aipac on its 20th anniversary and to recognize the work of the group's. it has been instrumental to implementations and directions. the transportation sector is critical to our economic prosperity. just last week, in his address to a joint session of congress, u.s. president obama said that building a world-class transportation system is part of what made america an economic superpower. the transportation meeting today in the first joint energy transport news conference yesterday. crucial to aipac's 2011 priorities. as apec hosts in 2011, the u.s. has prioritized compleat initiatives that build a seamless regional economy, looking at outcomes in specific priority areas, including strengthening regional economic integration and expanding tra

my secretary of transportation who is here, ray lahood, great man from peoria.in congress. he's a republican. member of my cabinet. he knows how badly we need to act on this issue. >> transportation secretary ray lahood, left that and got straight to the white house for us. we appreciate for his time this afternoon. mr. secretary, before we get to the -- to the vote tomorrow on the infrastructure portion of the president's jobs bill, i do want to talk to you about something you said earlier this week. you are, as the president mentioned there, the only republican in his cabinet. in an interview monday, you took your party to task, essentially calling them obstructionist. it was in an interview monday with "the daily beast." the crowd that was elected last time not only came here to do nothing, they came here to put down the president, and the way to put him down is to not give him any kind of opportunity to be successful. what's your motivation, mr. secretary? is it purely ideological, or is it more sinister than that? >> i think it's all about politics, and --

selection] [singing in foreign language] ♪ 9 hi ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ [in sturman told her musical selection lahoodal musical selection] [singing in foreign language] ♪ feazl ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪

9 hi ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ [in sturman told her musical selection lahood [instrumental musical selection]ing in foreign language] ♪ feazl ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] >> hello, thank you again. before we send you a laugh, we would like to invite our special guest to come up and say a few words. thank you. >> thank you all. i want to thank the city of san francisco, but the mayor, the board of supervisors, and the committee that organized this event. [applause] and we cannot have survived the last 12 years -- next january, it can be 12 years since we've founded this. it would not have survived without your support. for those of you who come for the first time, please go to our website and keep following our various performances. we have a big performance, a two-hour concert on november 20 in oakland. it is a fund-raising event. i hope to see many of you there. i could not have done it without my family here. [applause] this has truly become my family in the last 12 years, and in the last year, they have been all my children. i do not know how to thank them. they have done wo

i have been there at least twice with secretary lahood, jose, and many representatives of our congressionald senatorial bodies. they are seismically retrofitted. it will be even more beautiful. you will see a lot of scenery and around that. we're excited about completing phase one and look forward to starting phase two. for the trans-bay terminal, one of the most important projects we're building downtown, we have had the program since the bay bridge was built. the trans bay terminal houses different transportation modes. we already have under construction the rebuilding of that terminal as a transportation hub. there will also be a brand new neighborhood of offices where people live and work. there will be a beautiful series of buildings where designing in the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way to make sure we keep our status of as being the greatest city in north america. we anticipate there will be 27,000 permanent jobs created as a result of that terminal. we are building the north terminal hub for high-speed rail. we're going ahead and building it. we're building it in a

en maryland, claudia uceda univision el secretario de transporte ray lahood informo que se ha alcanzoun acuerdo de cerca de 3 mil millones de dolares en fondos, para la construccion de la segunda fase del proyecto de extension del metro hasta el aeropuerto dulles... la construccion a comenzado en su primera fase con la extension del metro desde falls church hasta tyson corner... pero todavia no hay un acuerdo sobre quien pagara por el tramo final de la construccio n...futuros incrementos en el peaje del dulles toll road, podrian ayudar a la conclucion de la obra.. la catedral de washington esta lista para reabrir sus puertas al cabo de de 10 semanas de cierre tras el temblor del pasado 23 de agosto... manana sabado sera consagrado un nuevo obispo de la diocesis episcopal de washington en una ceremonia especial abierta al publico... durante la semana tambien se efectuaran conciertos y otros actos... las visitas turisticas se reiniciaran el lunes a partir de las 10 de la manana.. una familia hispana del condado de prince george denuncio a univision washington haber sido victima de abuso

jenna: secretary lahood, thank you very much. >> thank you.orite story of the day. gold, and treasures buried underground and unearthed more than 1,000 years later. some stunning relics and where they were found. the question, who put them there? ♪ jenna: now some new information on stories we're watching for you across the united states and around the world. and washington state a string of exploding shipping containers prompting emergency procedures at ports there. there is no word on the cause. one theory is, it isn't the cargo but faulty coolant in refridge straighted containers. >>> wikileaks founder julian assange losing a legal battle to stay in england. a judge ruling he will face extradition to sweden for questioning on sex charges. one of my favorite stories of the day, jon. one of most fame mous stores in the -- famous stores in the world, macy's flagship store in new york city undergoing renovation. it will be hole to the world's largest shoe department. jon: oh, no. you're not going to spend anytime there, are you. jenna: no, neve

. >> tom, ray lahood created a bit of a stir today.cretary, and he said today i've been in washington for 35 years and i've never seen a time when people put their own political feelings over how to get the economy moving. from your book i sense you share ray lahood's view of how polarized the political process has become in washington. >> it has. i suppose it's summarized from me and i relate this antidote in the book. i was there a couple years ago in washington. i'm there on a regular basis. i was in capitol hill, and two bright young men -- you would know the type, lawrence. they came in with blue suits and red ties and bushy tailed and thrilled to be working on the hill. he said mr. brokaw, i'd like to talk to you about the old days. i think he meant 1996 by the way. he said, i'm a republican. my buddy is a democrat. he's my best friend and we go to georgetown every night and argue politics. our bosses won't talk to each other. was it always like that? i called over winston lord who was a member of the nixon administration. we des

transportation secretary ray lahood and elizabeth dole unveiled that statue right in front of the entrancerminal a. >>> there may be one thing that both republican and democratic leaders seem to agree on. almost nobody seems to think that halloween e-mail was a good idea. that's the one that depicts president obama as a zombie with a gun shot wound to his forehead. >> horrific and horrible. >> it's over the edge. that's really almost like a threat, don't you think? >> it's sad they would go to that extent in depicting the president in that way. it's not the first time we have seen something like this? terms of president obama. >> the committee chairman apologized to the president, but insisted the e-mail was supposed to be a light hearted attempt to attract republicans to a halloween parade. >>> and virginia's tide water area is being safe from the wrecking ball. president obama signed legislation today designated fort monroe as a national monument. the old army fort is historically significant because it was where dutch traders first brought slaves from africa in 1619. the property remain

also transportation secretary ray lahood was at that speech. be a guest in the next hour of msnbc. >>> the great recession took a massive toll on american workers and families. now a new study highlights how young americas feel about the economy right now. the state of young america takes a truly revealing look at what the next generation believes is in store for them and many see a rougher road ahead. the study finds that nearly half of people's ages 18 to 34 polled believe that their generation will be worse off than their parents. aaron smith is the executive director and co-founder of the young invincibles, his group worked with the democrats on this report. aaron, that isn't the only discouraging finding coming out of this study. average tuition is three times higher than it was for those in 1980. two out of three young adults are graduating with student loan debt that averages over $24,000. how much tougher is it for young people to come out with a resilient attitude knowing what they have to face ahead? >> well, i think the state of youn

. >> secretary lahood has assured us that there will be federal financing. >> but the federal credit assistance is capped at 30 million, a small part of the now estimated $2.8 billion plan. >> it's a bad project. >> this group from watchdog organizations such as loudon opt out, warned holes will have to rise as part of the funding formula to its highest about $11 one way. which they say will cripple the project. >> people aren't going to use it. and as a result, it's going to wind up going bankrupt. >> federal grants and other federal money could also become available. peggy fox, 9news now. >>> coming up a date that comes around just once a century. what some people are doing to make 11-11-11 memorable. that's still ahead. plus, republican presidential candidates descends on south carolina. big debate tomorrow. we'll have a preview for you. and remember, we are still taking donations for the troops for military families here in our area. we're hoping to feed 1400 of them but we can't do it without you. so call us now at this number. or check those alternate numbers on your screen or

the most interesting piece of news in the transportation area, this month is secretary ray lahood's announcement that he will not serve a second term with president obama, as he is now at occupy sf -- just kidding. he is planning to pursue opportunities in the private sector. we will see what this portends for the future programs. for high-speed rail in driving safely. they have been closely associated with the secretary. hopefully this will receive as much support from his successor, if not more. congress continues to debate the president american jobs act, including the proposed $60 billion for transportation. but this work is happening against the backdrop of activities of the deficit reduction cibber committee, which is on a seek and destroy mission to reduce the federal prevacid by $1.20 trillion. in this political context, it appears that the only way that the house transportation infrastructure committee, headed by congressman john mica, can find its way to a six-year surface reauthorization is that it can find $100 billion in a non-gas tax revenue that it can pledged towards the act. thi

transportation secretary ray lahood says he's reached a deal with the major stake holders that are payingor the $2 billion project. they'll offer federal loan assistance for fairfax and loudoun county as well as the airport authority. virginia will also contribute $150 million. >>> the local housing market seems to be making a bit of a rebound. the number of pending home sales in our region spiked by more than 10% in october, outpacing the five-year average for that month. it's also led to houses on the market with active listings down 15%. home prices are also falling, down 6% from a year ago. that's likely because of the increasing number of foreclosures. >>> engineering crews return to the washington monument monday to begin sealing cracks left by august's east coast earthquake. the same engineers that inspected the landmark in september began setting up rigging for next week's weatherization process. the national park service says they plan to use a foam joint filler that will help keep water from getting into the monument when it rains or snows this winter. >> the expanding and freez

ray lahood and former senator elizabeth dole who served as the transportation secretary under president reagan unveiled the statue in front of terminal a. it was named after president reagan 13 years ago. >>> an historic army port in virginia's tide water area is being saved by the wrecking ball. president obama signed legislation designating fort monroe as the national monument. the old army fort was where dutch traders brought slaves from africa into the united states in 1619. the property remains in union possession and it became a place where escaped slaves could find refuge. >>> the centers for disease control reports overdosing on prescription painkillers is an epidemic in the united states, especially for men. government researchers say more people suffered deadly overdose from prescription painkillers compared to heroin and cocaine combined. nearly 15,000 people died from prescription overdoses in 2008. the cdc says there needs to be changes in the way the drugs are prescribe in order to cut back on misuse. >> a new study shows low amounts of alcohol can increase a woman's risk

the announcement was made yesterday by transportation secretary ray lahood. virginia will seymour than $2.1 million from the federal highway administration's emergency relief program. >>> here is a look at other news making news now. pakistan is considering pulling out of next week's international conference on afghanistan. the move would be in response to a weekend nato air strike which killed 24 pakistani soldiers. the strike happened after a joint u.s. afghan special operations team came under attack by militants in afghanistan. they called in an air strike which was across the border and that turned out to be a military border post. >>> a united nations investigation accusing syrian forces of crimes against humanity. investigators say the crimes include torture and murder of children as well as several sexual assaults and murders. the u.n. report says the crimes had taken place during the last eight months. the findings only add to international pressure for assad to step down. >>> millions of egyptians cast ballots in that country's first election since

transportation secretary ray lahood says it will create more than 100,000 jobs over the next five years alone. construction begins next year in fresno. ultimately, the train will run from san francisco to los angeles, reaching speeds of 220 miles per hour. supporters of the project say the goal is to relieve traffic congestion on california's highways and its airports. >>> found cold, hungry and flea-infested, today, another abandoned puppy was found near a monterey county recycling center. last week, the puppy's six siblings were found under a t.a.r.p. near the same location. the spca believes this puppy was likely separated from the litter when the others were found. the puppy is reunited with his siblings and receiving medical care. all of the puppies will be available for adoption once they are nursed back to health. they look like they are doing well. getting much-needed rest. >> i don't think there will be a problem for people wanting to adopt the puppies. bring in our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri, you are the man of the week. >> rainfall coming our way, going to be doing trav

ray lahood says the department of transportation will offer federal loan assistance to fairfax and loudounounties as well as to the airport's authority. virginia will also contribute, the state, that is, $150 million. >>> have you checked the calendar? today is 11/11/11. people across the region are pressing their luck and celebrating with extraordinary [ male announcer ] the chicken marinara melt is the featured $5 footlong of november. juicy chicken, marinara sauce, and melty cheese served toasted on freshly baked italian bread. get it pronto, cuz this november only, it joins our everyday $5 footlongs! subway. eat fresh. bargains now. where to go to >>> welcome back, i'm meteorologist, doug kammerer. a very cold afternoon leading to a cold evening. 46 degrees outside now. a windchill of 42 with wind gusting to 20 miles per hour. 27 in frederick. some areas could see windchills in the upper teens to low 20s. inside the district, a windchill of 30 to 32 degrees. 58 in manassas. it will turn windy. warmer with the sunshine. coming up on tuesday, how much snow will we see this winter. my ini

on hand today for the unveiling, the current secretary of transportation, ray lahood. and the woman who served as ronald reagan's transportation secretary, elizabeth dole. today reagan was credited with modernizing air traffic controlling and deregulation that kept pricing competitive. but dole says reagan was most concerned with safety across every mode of transportation. >> the safety belt laws going into effect, the air bags, skels the age 21 drinking, those lee at a minimum have produced 360,000 lives saved. >> reporter: this is one of several around the world that are unveiled as part of the year long celebration commemorating 100 years since the birth of our nation's 40th president. from freedom square in the heart of would you today pest to london, statues have been raised, town squares are been renamed and lasting tributes have been created to recognize his role not just as the great communicator, but as the great liberate tore. >> other works can be seen at the u.s. capitol rotunda and the reagan library in california. >>> the mother of hillary rodham clinton

. >> secretary lahood has assured us that there will be federal financing.inancing that will be very, very helpful. it will bring down the cost for us. but then secondly, he has agreed to help us identify some grants or federal funding in addition to that. >> reporter: but the federal assistance is capped at 30 million now part of the estimated 2.8 billion plan. >> it is a bad project. >> reporter: this group from watch dog organizations since at loudoun opt out warns holes will have to rise as part of the funding formula to highest of $11 one way which they say will cripple the project. >> people aren't going to use it and as a result it is going to wind up going bankrupt. and the people financing it are going to lose their money. >> reporter: virginia is committing $100 million. critics say that's not enough. >> toll players paying over 250 million to the commonwealth and it is our money. so give us back our money. >> reporter: now, one of the goals of this new agreement is to bring down or keep down the toll costs so it doesn't get any specifics on how th

transportation secretary ray lahood announced the commonwealth will receive more than $2 million in aidhelp make the needed repairs. >> good to see that. hate to see the storm come through. a little bit of rain today it looks like. >> yeah, this morning is misleading because we are getting a few little showers out there. later on today, we'll get some pretty good rainfall during the course of the day. let's take a look at all of that. we'll start with our september nell radar. we can show you where the precipitation is right now. for the most part, it is just kind of misty out there right here in washington. there are some rain showers off to the north and then in particular off to the west. but right here in the district, not a whole lot going on. more rainfall off to the west at this hour and then across the lower chesapeake bay or portions of the chesapeake bay i should say. let's pull this out. show you the big picture. that is how you will get a sense of what is going to be going on today. this is a very vigorous storm system. pretty well defined front. area of low pressure spinnin

transportation secretary ray lahood and elizabeth unveiled the statue in front of the entrance to terminale airport was named after president reagan 13 years ago and mrs. dole served as reagan's transportation secretary. some lanes near the terminal were closed during the ceremony. >> president obama plans to use the key bridge as a backdrop for a speech tomorrow. the president is expected to visit the georgetown waterfront park making yet another push for his jobs proposal. the key bridge is one of the structurally deficient bridges and the white house says it could qualify for upgrades under the president's plan. president obama has been chris crossing the country talking up the jobs plan. >>> the nation's first over the air broadcast network targeting black viewers is coming right around here. details just ahead. top. >> yeah, coming up, we will talk to the executive director of the central union mission. we'll take you out with the almanac. 61 and 44 go in the books. average is 64 and 45. 86 and 27 is the record high and record low. we'll come back with a full forecast after this. >>>

secretary of transportation ray lahood says a deal has been reached to fund the second part.t still needs final approval though. phase two will cost at least $2.8 billion. it won't open for at least another seven years. >>> this morning, police in venezuela are saying nationals catcher wilson ramos is alive but they do not know where he is, nearly 48 hours after being kidnapped from in front of his family's home. >> surae chinn is live outside of nationals park with more on the search for this rising young star. good morning, surae. >> good morning. we are in the off-season of baseball and that's why ramos was in his home country of venezuela. he was playing in the winter league. but that's where he was snatched away by four gunmen outside of his home in santa inez. police say he's alive. police following different leads, including the get away vehicle that was found thursday and also they have sketches of two out of the four captors. ramos is a rising star. he's a catcher for the nationals. no one has heard from him since he was kidnapped wednesday night. fans and family are

transportation secretary ray lahood hammered out the deal with state and local officials last week.onstruction has already begun on the first phase of metro's silver line from falls church to reston. but until last week, there was no agreement on who would pay for phase two into loudoun county. >>> police in columbia, south carolina, arrested occupy wall street protestors who refused to leave the state house grounds overnight. it is just one of the latest spots where authorities have tried to evict demonstrators who have been camping out. now, today, occupy movement organizers are calling for a new tactic. 9news now reporter surae chinn is live at mcpherson square with more on today's day of action. surae? >> well, be prepared for a rough commute today. at least this afternoon. where occupy protestors plan to march on the key bridge between 2:30 and 6:00 tonight. it will surely be a traffic headache. you might as well just avoid the area altogether or definitely find an alternative route. because there could be some arrests just like what happened in san francisco, california. >> re

transportation secretary ray lahood reached a deal with the major stake holders paying for the $2.8 billionject. the department of transportation will offer federal loan assistance for fairfax and loudoun county as well as the airport authority. virginia will also contribute $150 million. >>> 5:21 is the time right now. time again for weather and traffic on the ones. >> here's meteorologist tom kierein to tell us about the forecast today. tom, good morning. >> what a chill in the air on this veterans day morning. good morning. >>> we've had the sky clear out overnight. areas just to our west in loudoun county, northern fauquier, and points west -- those clouds may make their way to the east. under a clear sky, they've got that bright moon. temperatures are chilly, down in the 30s through much of the region, except right around the bay. parts of southern maryland near 40 there in washington. the nearby suburbs, montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties, only in the mid and upper 30s this morning. it is chilly all throughout the region. 30s all to their west, winds gusting to around 20 to 25 mi

it was announced last week by transportation secretary ray lahood. the federal government agreed to offer loan assistance to loudoun county. before that supervisors were threatening to pull out of the project. opponents of the plan are planning to testify at tonight's meeting. >>> on capitol hill this evening, members of congress and the obama administration paid tribute to gay rights activist frank cammeny.t of his life for getting fair treatment for gays and lesbians after he was fired for being fay himself. today marks the 50th anniversary of the cofounding of the society of washington. it's considered d.c.'s first gay rights route. he died last month. he was 86 years old. >>> tonight in the district, the d.c. council was taking a strong stand on illegal immigration enforcement. all 13 councilmembers signed to a bill today. that bill would bar local police officers from helping federal officials round up illegal immigrants. with the exception of extreme cases, that is. tom sherwood in our newsroom with more on this. >> reporter: jim, d.c. is alrea

today transportation secretary ray lahood announced the commonwealth will receive more than $2 millionaid to help make needed repairs. >>> the centerpiece for tomorrow's celebration at the capitol is in place. the 65-foot white fir traveled from california's stanislaus national forest to the west lawn. the 4,000-mile trip took three weeks. tomorrow night speaker of the house john boehner will light the capitol christmas tree. >>> finally wage for the burgundy and gold exactly 56 days -- a win for the burgundy and gold, exactly 56 days from the last one. sports director dave feldman with the state of the skins. >> the first thing said was roy helu will remain the starting running back and you can read all about that in the next edition of duh magazine. helu had 108 yards, 54 yards receiving in the win over the seahawks sunday. things started off well, too. the redskins first possession rex grossman to fred davis for a 2-yard score, the redskins first opening route touchdown since november 28, 2010. that's 15 games, 7-0 redskins. 10 minutes left redskins trail 17-7, 3rd and 3 grossman to

just last week a financing deal was announced by transportation secretary ray lahood. in it the federal government agreed to offer loan assistance to loudoun county. prior to that agreement, supervisors in loudoun county were threatening to pull out of the project. opponents of the plan are preparing to testify at tonight's meeting. >>> wearing your flip-flops today? because you could. it is still fabulous out there. but it could be getting a little bit -- starting to get a little wetter. >> we' going to get some wet weather. and it may get darn chilly too, doug. >> yeah, it's going to do both of those things over the next 48 hours or so. first it's going to come the rain, and see temperatures really take a nosedive over the next 48 hours. outside right now still pretty mild. and for the most part, not too bad. 61 degrees out there with winds out of the south at about 8 miles an hour. we have seen temperatures above average once again today. nothing like what we saw yesterday as we've seen plenty of cloud cover. but at least we're int the upper 50s to lower 60s. 61 rig

and yet when secretary lahood very early in his tenure had the audacity to talk about this issue and talked about the fact we needed to look at a v.m.t., he got publicly slapped down by robert gibbs, the press secretary at the white house. and he's a very resilient fellow, and he got right back up and kept on trucking, but he didn't say that again. so that whole dynamic has got to fundamentally shift after this next election. i'd be on a beach somewhere enjoying life if i was smart enough to know who shift it, but i know that it's got to shift or elsewhere we are today is minor. so, to get to your question about how we explain the fact you've still got to have very ample federal resources is several miles down that road, our problem today is a crisis that's all but immediate without raising fuel taxes. can't be done. i think we all would agree. you can scotch tape together some stuff for a couple of years, but you can't do it on a sustained basis. so you've got to have that fundamental debate. it's going to take leadership. president ice inhour personally gets credit, and he deserves

in march, senator durbin and i worked with secretary of transportation ray lahood to help the city of chicago, american and united airlines to come to agreement to keep the o'hare modernization program moving forward. this is the single greatest job creation program in northern illinois, and the agreement that we helped foster keeps thousands at work at o'hare. we've worked closely to bring high-speed rail to the state of illinois, and together introduced legislation to expand charter schools, to improve access to epi pens at school for children with severe allergies, and to ensure military families in north chicago continue to receive their federal education assistance. we fought to open a new federal prison in thompson, illinois, but without al qaeda detainees to create jobs in northwestern illinois and address also flooding issues in southern illinois and levee rehabilitation in the metro east area. we have also successfully confirmed four new judges for central and northern illinois and have an additional two nominations -- one democrat, one republican -- pending. but legislation

let's continue this conversation with the former republican congressman from illinois, ray lahood.e today on the republican leadership in the house and senate. listen to this. >> okay, so if the speaker of the house, republican leader in the senate, all the democrats, all say that this is important to do, why weren't we doing it? what's holding us back? let's get moving and put america back to work. >> always assumed looking at the president's proposal for a half a trillion dollars to create jobs, this is one area where republicans and democrats have always worked together. what's going on? >> too much politics, wolf. we need to set politics aside. hopefully, the senate will set politics aside tomorrow and pass the american jobs act. $50 billion and then a $10 billion infrastructure bank. people all over america would go to work quickly. the $48 billion we received in economic stimulus money, we spent in two years and we put 65,000 people to work. in 15,000 projects. we've proved at d.o.t., you give us the money, we'll show you the jobs. you give us the money, we'll fix up infrastr

my secretary of transportation who is here, ray lahood, a great man from peoria. time in congress, he's a republican. a member of my cabinet. he knows how badly we need to act on this issue. >> that's president barack obama at key bridge in washington, d.c. calling on congress to pass the transportation component of his jobs bill. meantime, go across a different bridge from washington to alexandria, virginia, and in the spotlight and perhaps now getting a little testy over the past sexual harassment allegations, republican candidate, herman cain was to talk about health care in alexandria. but instead, was invited by some questions that he did not necessarily welcome. jim acosta is in alexandria. and you were covering that event. describe what's going on. i guess it's getting a little hot in the kitchen? >> that's right. fredricka. that's an understatement. this was a nasty scene here at this hotel just across the river from washington and alexandria, virginia. herman cain was scheduled to speak to a group of conservative doctors. he gave that talk behind closed d

lahood had attempted to sell this case at a number of levels before they ever came to me. at a variety of levels. some of which appear to be above their authority. >> so -- >> 10,000 pounds spin who had given him of authority to try to settle, at higher amounts they are authorized to give? and who had given that authorization? >> certainly in the document that i've seen, recently and that you've seen as well, certainly mr. crone took it upon himself to authorize a settlement of 50,000 in 150,000, and i certainly didn't authorize that nor the increased to 350,000 that came later. that was not at my authorization no delight any records, i've looked quite hard at this define any records of any authorization, other executives who could have done so, chief financial officer for example, and there is no record of any of the spent tom crone had authority to set up to 10,000 completely unilaterally he was instructing your lawyers to settle the case for 150,000, 250,000, without any authority from anybody else even though his authority level is 10,000 pounds? >> presumably he and m

my secretary of transportation, who is here, ray lahood, a great man from peoria -- [applause] he's the pride of peoria -- he spent a long time in congress. he's a republican, member of my cabinet. he knows how badly we need to act on this issue. the other members of congress here, they understand that this is important to their states. i can't imagine that speaker boehner wants to represent a state where nearly one in four bridges is classified as substandard. i'm sure that the speaker of the house would want to have bridges and roads in his state that are up to par. when the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell visited that closed bridge in kentucky that i was talking about, he admitted, look, "roads and bridges are not partisan in washington." that's a quote from him. paul ryan, the republican in charge of the budget process, recently said, "you can't deny that infrastructure does create jobs." okay, so if the speaker of the house, the republican leader in the senate, all the democrats all say that this is important to do, why aren't we doing it? what's holding us back? let's get

ray lahood a republican member of the house when i started, now the secretary of transportation, said that the republican side or at least some part of it is not here to get things done, they're here only to defeat this president and they need to pass a bill to put people to work and improve this infrastructure. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: i heard my republican colleague on the other side of the aisle talk about the senate. the fact of the matter is the senate democrats on at least two occasions have tried to bring up the american jobs act, the president's jobs initiative. they even broke it into smaller pieces. but what happens is, they vote for it but can't get the 60 votes because none of the republican wills join with them to get over that 60-vote majority rule. this is being held up by the republicans, here in the house, speaker boehne