mr. rahall: mr. speaker, parliamentary inquiry. mr. speaker. the gentleman from michigan's time was his own time. not my time. correct? the speaker pro tempore: that's correct. the gentleman yielded to the gentleman from washington. that is correct. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the claims resolution act to remedy a past injustices against native americans and african-americans. this bill will provide a resolution to respond to past mismanagement in tribal lands and to discrimination against african-american farmers by the department of agriculture. in short we are taking at least a partial step to right old, old, old wrongs. this legislation also extends through fiscal year 2011. the basic temporary assistance for needy families, that's the tanf program, the extension of this program is welcome but it's not enough. this bill does not include the tanf emergency fund which provides funds to our states to help needy families and to establish or expand employment programs for jobless

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: in the absence of senator inouye, as a member of the appropriations committee, i'd like to ask permission to speak in his behalf for the one minute allocated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i am going to vote today against senator coburn's effort to change our rules relative to earmark legislation, and i want to tell you as a member of the senate appropriations committee, that we have put in place what i consider to be the most dramatic reform of this appropriations process since i've served in congress. there is full disclosure of every -- in my office, every single request for an appropriation. we then ask those who made the request for the appropriation to have a full disclaimer of their involvement in the appropriation so it's there for the public record. this kind of transparency is virtually unprecedented. and i think it is an effort to overcome some of the embarrassing

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, the top priority of congress for this lame duck session should be extending the tax cuts for all americans in order to create jobs and get people back to work. once this important matter is completed, i strongly encourage congress to consider ways to protect the privacy of airline passengers while keeping air travel safe and secure. air travelers across america have come to expect a certain level of discomfort in society when they fly and for the most part these american travelers are good sports and team players in the name of tight security. recently the patients and privacy -- patience and privacy of these travelers has been tested of a whole new level of full body scans. these scans of one such screening method congress should examine this year. i -- i support the act authored by congressman chaffetz of utah to make sure the images lifted from scanners are not stored, transferred, or shared. in conclusion god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the

mr. poe: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i have a bill at the desk, i move to suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 6411. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6411, a bill to prope provide for the approval of the agreement between the government of the united states of america and the government of australia concerning peaceful uses of nuclear energy. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. tanner, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. tanner: thank you, mr. speaker. i would ask unanimous consent that all m

mr. poe: mr. speaker, my district's in hurricane alley, since i have been elected to congress we have had five hurricanes, katrina, rita, um berto, gus to have, and ike. hurricane season is over in southeast texas, but hurricane season came late this year to d.c. as i predicted in september, the fall forecast in washington was for gale force winds. sure enough a hurricane hit d.c. on november 2. we warned them, we told them all about the hurricane warning signs, we even gave them an evacuation plan, stop spending trillions of taxpayer dollars. say no to nationalized health care, stop the government takeover of everything that moves, stop the taxes and quit borrowing money from the chinese, and most importantly listen to the american people. but they didn't listen. and the hurricane named after the american people blew through now and it was a category five with 63 electoral casualties. the elites and the big n the -- sown the wind. ng the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman fr

mr. nye: mr. speaker, congressman pickett represented the second district of virginia for 14 years from 1987 to 2001 prior to that serving in the virginia house of delegates. he passed away on october 8 of this year at the age of 80. owen pickett understood that the best way to get things done was to work with people from both sides of the aisle. congressman pickett always put his constituents first. he stayed out of the partisan bickering that so many politicians fall prey to and instead focused his energy on how best to serve the people he represented. a member of the armed services committee during his entire tenure, he distinguished himself as an outspoken advocate for a strong, advanced and superior military and an improved quality of life for our military personnel and their families. and enduring support of military facilities for the greater hampton roads region. there are some here today who had the honor of serving in this body with him. at this time i yield to my colleague from virginia

mr. king: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i am honored to be recognized here on the floor of the house of representatives. i have long appreciated the honor to serve the people of western iowa here in the united states congress. and each one of us carries this duty with us in a heavy way and also sometimes in a juvenile way depending on the cycles of the day and cycles of the election. as i sit here on the floor tonight and i listened to the presentation of the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, and he talks about the situation on the border between texas and mexico, arizona and mexico and perhaps new mexico and mexico and california and mexico, there are a whole lot of data points he rolled out here. and i believe that there's a misunderstanding on the part of the american people on the magnitude of the border problem that we have. i make a number of trips down to that border. i think it's my obligation to do that. i served on the immigration subcommittee of the house judiciary committee now for eight years, and if

mr. lewis. you have additional time, mr. rangel. >> if there are any members of the committee that have any questions, i would be more than glad to respond. >> the gentleman yield back his time. i would turn out to the committee for guidance. the democrats have been noticed that we have a recorded vote. so that has been postponed. i retract the statement. are recorded vote has now been rolled, so we will now go to the time in our proceedings when members may, under the five minute rule, as questions that they may have. i will turn first to the ranking member for his five minutes. >> madam chair, i will defer questions to my colleagues, but i want to respond directly to mr. rangel about two matters that he raised in his statement. mr. lewis referenced the fact that as a young man mr. rangel volunteered in came and marched with him and sell, alabama, to rightsing civil and justice for all. i was born in slema before -- in selma before the march, and i wanted to know that is one of many prou

well, mr. speaker, mr. speaker, mr. speaker, their constituents will be astonished to see them cheering 20% cuts in the police budget. mr. speaker, he will be aware of the report of the chief constable of greater manchester setting out how front line police will have to be cut. what does he say to the people of greater manchester who will be deeply worried about the cut in police numbers? >> well, first of all, let me answer the point she said about what labour said after the election. after the election again the shadow chancellor was asked. she raised the point after the election. if labour had won the general election, the home office budget would have been cut and the police would have had to make savings. that is what they said. now, she asks -- she asks about greater manchester. let me answer specifically about greater manchester. first of all, the chief constable of greater manchester have said his plans are putting the maximum resources on front line policing. and i'm not surprised -- and i'm not surprised he's

mr. rangel's conduct. and the speaker would verbally administer a rebuke to the new york congressman. you will hear the entire ethics committee hearing in its entirety. >> the committee, the standards committee, will come to order. i would like the record to reflect that all 10 members of the committee are present. and to note also that the chair is authorized to recess the committee at any time. this hearing of the committee on standards of official conduct in the matter of representative charles b. rangel will come to order. when i designated the members of the judetory subcommittee to consider the statement of alleged violations in this matter, i noted that the code of government ethics states clearly that a public office is a public trust. it was our responsibility to determine whether representative rangel's conduct met that standard. it was our obligation to act impartially as finders of fact and law. and the members of the subcommittee fulfilled that responsibility and met that obl

>> mr. speaker, i understand that diane dodd, another mep is working hard to address some of the difficulty experienced by the fishing industry in northern ireland especially to the matter the honorable gentleman related. the fishing matter but i will undertake to look at this and put a country of the library -- i put a copy of the letter into the library. >> order. questions to the prime minister. jason mccartney. >> number one, speaker. >> mr. speaker, i've been asked to reply. my right honorable friend the prime minister is in china and he's leading the trade allegations in china and say now travelling to seoul for the g20 summit. mr. speaker, i'm sure the whole house would join me in paying tribute senior aircraft scott hughes of the squadron royal air force regiment who died if cyprus while returning from operational service in afghanistan. he was a professional and brave airmen and it's very sad that he died while returning home from a tour of duty. our thoughts are with his family and

mr. inouye: mr. president, i rise this evening -- a senator: i ask unanimous consent request? mr. president, i ask unanimous consent -- mr. coburn: i ask unanimous consent that after the chairman of the appropriation committee speaks, that we alternate back and forth. we are going to plan to turn in a bunch of our time -- to yield back a bunch of our time and i would suggest that senator udall be given eight minutes after the chairman of the appropriation committee and following him, senator lemieux with an intervening statement from the other side followed by senator mccaskill for 10 and senator inhofe for 15 minutes. alternating back and forth. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coburn: thank you. mr. inouye: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. inouye: mr. president, i rise this evening to speak against the coburn amendment, which imposes the moratorium on congressional initiatives for the next three years. mr. president, our founding fathers bestowed upon

mr. speaker, on a happier note, on behalf of the government i extend our warmest congratulations to the leader of the opposition and his partner on the birth of their baby boy. >> thank you, mr. speaker. >> a hemophiliac was injected with infected blood. it gave them the hiv. when will he and the 2000 other survivors of the shocking scandal get their compensation? >> i know my friend is a vigorous campaigner for all of us whose lives had been so tragically affected. it is a dreadful catastrophe for all of those affected. we intend to report of the outcome of the review to see what can be done for those infected by contaminated blood by the end of the year. the minister will also be holding an open meeting for everybody. all the members from all bawdyhouse and other members can raise any concerns they have. >> the leader of the opposition. >> mr. speaker, i would like to join the deputy prime minister in joining the tribute for scott hughes. we honor his memory and sent condolences to his

mr. stutzman: thank you, mr. burton. mr. burton: it's now my distinct honor to introduce the newest member of the house of representatives, representative marlin stutzman. mr. stutzman: thank you, madam speaker. thank you. it is just a tremendous honor to stand here before you today. it's been very, very humbling, i can say that. your kindness to us. the members we have met so far. i want to introduce my wife, christy, who is up in the gallery. she has been my most supportive person that we have -- we've done this together as a team, and i can't say enough about her and so proud of her. my father, albert. my mom, sarah are both along. my brothers, my sisters and a lot of other friends and family. but i just want to say thank you. it is such a humbling experience so far. i am proud to serve the people in northwest indiana. i believe we have a wonderful community and to know that i get to serve with the indiana delegation is such a high honor. thank you very much. i look forward to serving you in the upcoming congress. the spe

mr. speaker. i'm sure the whole house will want to join me in paying tribute to guardsman christopher davis of the first battalion who died on wednesday november the 17th of afghanistan. he was the 100 british soldier to die this year a reminder of the high price that we are paying. christopher was an utterly and highly respected soldier and we send our deepest condolences to his family and his lived ones. mr. speaker, this morning i had metal with ministerial colleagues and in addition to such duties i should have more meetings. >> i join with my col dolences and express families to the families of those in the new zealand mining disaster, two of whom come from scotland. did the prime minister share my concerns that while 100% tips are passed to the staff some are using scams to pay national insurance while ripping up to 14% of the staff tips will. will he grow to meet with myself and a delegation of hospitality workers of the one year review on the operation of law on tips. >> thank you

mr. speaker, on a much happier note, on behalf of the government, may i extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes to the leader of the opposition and his partner, just seen, heard on the birth of their baby boy. it is wonderful news and we really are thrilled for them. >> thank you, mr. speaker. a 12-year-old was injected with contaminated blood ruct products, giving him h.i.v., hepatitis c, and when will he and the 2,000 other survivors of this shocking scandal get fair compensation? >> i know that my honorable friend is a vigorous campaigner for all those whose lives have been so tragically affected, but it really is a dreadful, dreadful catastrophe for those affected. we do intend to report on the outcome of the current review to see what can be done for those affected by contaminated blood by the end of the year, and the minister for health will also hold an opening meeting where all members from all sides of the house can raise any concerns they have tomorrow. >> the leader

mr. inslee: mr. speaker, i urge our republican colleagues to join us in doing what's right for worker families during this time of unemployment. we heard them say, we just can't afford this. well, that's interesting to me when we can blow a $700 billion hole in the federal deficit by giving away tax cuts to millionaires. we democrats stand for working middle-class folks to give them mide-class tax relief but not grow the federal deficit another $700 billion. . what's going on here is a hostage taking situation because the republicans are holding the middle class hostage by not allowing 100% of americans tax relief just so their friends who might be hedge fund managers or otherwise can get additional tax relief on top of it. here's what we should say. americans do not negotiate with hostage takers. we ought to have the right economic policy, and i'll tell you what we are not going to allow the trickle-down economics of george bush to be foisted on america anymore. >> the gentleman's time has expired.

i had known mr. king in the last 10 years, and i'm here because i wanted to show my support for him. our community's lack of leadership, but where you find leadership is in the character and the essence of people like mr. keane. you go on a saturday in farmer's market on fillmore, and you see him there. every issue and every thing that you have, he will listen in whenever he can, and that is what leadership is. what you have is a person with death and integrity and commitment, and he does things out of fairness -- what you have in mr. king is a person with depth and integrity and commitment. i'm here to ask your support for his reappointment. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i am a native sentences in, and i would not be here this morning without mr. king's leadership and commitment -- i am a native san franciscan. i just want to say his commitment and voice has been very important. his institutional knowledge of the redevelopment agency as well as longstanding knowledge of the entire city co

mr. stevens, you made some very good comments. how much impact do you think your efforts are having on the system today as it applies to rectify some of these problems that have occurred? >> we thank you for the question. we have seen a significant change since we began our reviews. as and bs or to the process of our formal procedures to the mortgage review board, i believe we will see a greater response. today we have already find a quarter of a million dollars in penalties. >> that is for those responsible in those misdeeds? not be an asset? >> that is correct. we have eliminated 1500 other institutions. it has elevated the awareness of all institutions in the country about the need to adhere to processes. thatu'd think your actions have taken place are affected and they are working? >> we need a verifiable approach. we are doing what we think is appropriate. we are sending teams into the service is right now. we are expanding our reviews. we will look at the remaining stages of the for

mr. schoepp values the input of the community and here's what they are saying. one of the reasons he has opted to move forward with the process in this situation is because it is an underserved part of the san francisco community. as you saw, the majority of the dispensaries in the city are located downtown. there are none in that district. he has been a member of this community operating a family business for a number of years. his father opened a hardware store in outer richmond. the continue to be an important part of that community on balboa st.. they are attempting to do the very same thing on taraval street at this location. in terms of the issues regarding schools, regarding everything else, the zoning laws are the zoning laws. they are very clear, very specific. in terms of the actual institutions that are located in the immediate vicinity, while i value the input of what the community is saying, they frankly are not qualified institutions. and in this situation, i do not see that

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 1118, the nomination of jack lieu to blew to bedirector of the officf management and budget, the nomination be confirmed. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i ask consent the motion -- the presiding officer: the question is on confirmation of the nomination. mr. reid: i'm sorry. the presiding officer: all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. they do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. reid: i ask consent the motion to reconsider be reconsidered -- motion to consider be considered and laid on the table, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record as if read, the senate be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislativ

mr. neesar, councilman abreeka, mr. sweetland, mr. rosenbloom, mr. kuratori, mr. amrai, mr. druckmeir, ms. fong, ms. wizlick, ms. doubty, and mr. gordon. and i believe mr. jensen would like to wrap up. president vietor: if you can keep your comments to 2 minutes, that would be great. >> i would like to think the commission for this opportunity. our comments supplement a letter which submitted on november 5. i would like to start by thanking mr. ritchie. he has been a friendly face on the process. president vietor: you have to move over a little bit so you can speak into the microphone. >> is that better? we appreciate that the sfpuc has been engaging boscaa in this process. we serve users in fremont. over 25% of the demand is met by the hetch hetchy system. we understand where you're coming from and we see the need for it, and we agree fundamentally with the comments that agencies need to stay within their contractual limits. we established our limit in 1984 with the puc, now the isg, before the isa. since that time, through prudent and responsible planning, we took this as

mr. sanchez, if i can go back to 790, section b, tommy how a community facility that primarily serves persons under 18 years of age is not a day care? >> excuse me? president peterson: you know the language. a secondary school or community facility that primarily serves persons under 18 years of age. >> 790.141 section b? president peterson: it is the latter part, the following the language concerning schools. or secondary school, public or private, or community -- >> we have a separate and specific definition for child care. there is no reference in the code anywhere to community facility. president peterson: what is the definition of a community facility that primarily serves persons under 18 years of age? >> would look under the assembly and social service. the community facility and recreation building -- it meets the definition of social service. it is included in that. but by the definition as a social service, not a child care facility, under 790.50a. i can put it on the overhead a

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to s. 315, the natural gas, electric vehicles act be withdrawn and that at 11:00 a.m., the senate resume the motion to proceed to s. 3772, immediately vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. the senate recess from 12:30 to 2:30 today. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, i have spoken to senator hatch, senator men nen des who are the main sponsors of this legislation. this is extremely important legislation. we're going to continue to work to get this done. it is a bipartisan bill. there is some dispute as to what the pay-for should be. hopely we can work it out before the end this year. whether we can do that or not depends on the schedule. it is one of the most important things we could dovment it is job-creating, great for the environment, great for

mr. heddell served as inspector general for department player. harold geisel, and i seem to [inaudible] >> okay, herald geisel served as deputy inspector general for the state department says june 2008. he is more than 25 years experience for the state department improves a certified teen inspector general since 1994. michael g train to a served as deputy inspector general for the u.s. agency for international development, u.s.a. ig since february 2006. mr. carroll is a member of the executive service with 126 years government service. prior to his appointment, mr. carroll served as director administration for the bureau of industry and security in the department of commerce. stuart bowen, enter standard that feeling today, mr. bowen. try not to breathe on mr. carroll. last back last night mr. bowen is served for iraq reconstruction since october 2004. mr. bowen cert is a george w. bush as deputy assistant to the president. deputy staff secretary, special assistant to the president and as

mr. kerry: mr.ing officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to proceed as if in morning business for such time as i will consume. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kerry: mr. president, we live in what we all understand are very difficult times, challenging in every respect and certainly with respect to the national security concerns of the country. as we speak, american soldiers are fighting a war in afghanistan, winding down a war in iraq. our nation is engaged with young men and women in harm's way in many parts of the world against a persistent challenge against global terrorism. iran's nuclear program continues to advance. in north korea, they're building a uranium enrichment facility and provoking the south on a regular basis with its military aggress. every single one of these is a complex challenge without any easy solution. but in the middle of all these challenges, the united states senate has been given an opportunity to actuall

mr. sanchez? >> scott sanchez, planning department. just to reiterate again, there are two issues that have been raised by the appellants -- whether or not the project is code complying. using their arguments would change how we review mcds in san francisco. if we were to consider child care facilities, which are a separate definition in the planning code -- and we do have many definitions in the planning code. it would be common to refer to one definition for one use and another for a different use. the important thing we look at is how we would process the application. the chapter facility we will process as a child care facility in planning code. we will not process it as something else. we will not process it as a social service. i think that is an important part to make. this is a code compliant project. we did review it against the requirements of the planning code for the 1,000 foot requirement. we did not find that there were any facilities with of the defis that are prohibited in

mr rasmussen. my friend and your friend or your colleague mr gore's in the russian representative phil nato he said recently in one of his interviews i quote the problem is that nato countries haven't come to a conclusion how the anti-missile defense should look like and how much it will cost not all of them if you are even convinced that missile risks are a reality and quote well at this upcoming summit do you think the nato countries will have a common approach to this and tight lipped think or you will still have different opinions. we will have a common approach and all decisions within nato are taken on the basis of consensus so the decision we will take will be a decision supported by all twenty eight member states and i consider the threat a real threat we know that more than thirty countries in the world have missile technology or aspirations to acquire missile technology and some of them can also hit targets in the your atlantic area so the threat is real and against the real threat we als

mrs. davis: mr. speaker, this bill does two things -- first, over time congress has passed five laws creating three categories of senior management positions in the architect's office. the five laws specify the number of positions in each category. their functions and compensation. the creation of multiple categories with different pay caps can yield undesirable effects, including the possibility of employees bringing more than soup -- earning more than supervisors. this past work hinders the architect's flexibility to align sown yor positions equitablely across the agency

mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i am sure that the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to corporal david barnsdale from 33 engineer regiment, explosive ordnance disposal, who died on october 19. he was a brave and highly skilled member of our armed forces whose service and sacrifice must not be forgotten. our thoughts must be with his family, his friends, and his colleagues. this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. in addition to my duties in the house, i shall have further such meetings later today. >> harriett baldwin. >> may i associate myself with the condolences expressed by my right honorable friend? does the prime minister agree that yesterday's excellent growth numbers show that the private sector is growing and will create the jobs that my constituents need? >> the honorable lady is entirely right. the growth figures yesterday were twice as good as market expectation. of course, members opposite do not like good news, but they sho

law enforcement wanted mr boot by to the u.s. as quickly as possible in our extradition cases it's not unusual that if the u.s. government wants someone to be returned to the u.s. that they're going to act as quickly as possible in order to make sure that that individual is returned to the u.s. and the and that there's no further delay now tell me this how is this going to play out in court i mean is this man going to have a jury trial he's known he's been nicknamed the merchant of death i can't really imagine how anybody would be objective after that point. it's going to be difficult there's a significant amount of pretrial publicity of course they've been books written about mr boot he has he is facing a two separate federal indictments so he's potentially going to have two trials one of which he's facing up to why without parole in the u.s. federal system if he is sentenced to life i'm certainly not suggesting that he's going to be convicted but it be as convicted and sentenced to life like this life they literally carry him o

i'll ask mr. barnes. mr. barnes, you're a democrat candidate for attorney general has publicly stated that he would not pursue the legal challenge to the obama health care legislation because he thinks it's constitutional. now, you two have stated that you think it is constitutional but that you would continue the litigation. my question to you is, if both of you are elected, how would you challenge obama care or would you simply give up that challenge? >> well, congressman, if you know the constitution of georgia and also the procedures of operating, there's often in fact not often, but sometimes conflicts between the attorney general and the governor. that's happened at least a half a dozen times that i can recall and when that happens, the governor00 points an independent counsel and that continues. i think the independent counsel that we have now is sufficient, and i would continue -- ann lewis, and i would continue to appoint. >> rebuttal, mr. deal? >> well, first of all, i voted against obama care becau

mr. ralph house, on behalf of supervisor elsbernd for the late mr. ray shiran and mr. howard lester. on behalf of supervisor chu for the late mr. william frost. on behalf of supervisor dufty, for the late mr. john mayer, and mr. irwin bayer. on behalf of the full board of supervisors, at the suggestion of supervisor alioto-pier, for the late mr. robert barbijalata and the full board of supervisors supervisor dufty for the late chief medina. on behalf of the full board of supervisors, for the late brother kelly cullen. president chiu: madam clerk, is there any more business in front of this board? >> in a concludes our business today, mr. president. president chiu: thank you. at this time, this meeting is adjourned. director beach: present. director brinkman: present. >> director heinicke is expected. chairperson nolan: i would like to welcome the acting executive director on behalf of mr. ford. >> please be an fis that the use of cell phones or any similar sound-producing electronic devic

but mr. thomas' presentation was impressive, as was mr. hahn. this supervisor has a different take on some of the issues around entertainment. i believe the industry has to be responsible. i believe the industry has to be held more accountable, and that has not happened to the extent that is needed. but i also worry about the anti-entertainment center that that is coming out of local government at times, and that worries me. i think that a member of the atomic commission should not be persuaded by the industry -- of the entertainment commission should not be persuaded by the industry, but it cuts both ways. that have to be independent. not that any of these individuals would not be, but based on the presentation and experience i see, i think that tim benetti is the better choice and i will be supporting tim today. any other college questions or comments? can we have a motion? do we want a roll call? ok, we take that without objection. thank you, congratulations. madam clerk, any other business before the committee? >> no, mr. chair. supervisor a

mr. ford. >> please be an fis that the use of cell phones or any similar sound-producing electronic devices are to habited at the meeting. anyone who has won going off may be asked to leave the meeting. please be advised that phones set on vibrate cause microphone interference. the board respectfully requests the beset in the off position. chairperson nolan: is there a motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting? all in favor say aye. >> there are no communications at this time. chairperson nolan: i would like mr. rowe him to give us a brief report on the cable car operator who was severely attacked. mr. rohan, if you would? >> on sunday, november 14, at approximately 8:00 p.m., police were called to the 1300 block of mason court in assault on a cable car operators. the victim was an employee for 12 years and still is an employee. the agent was being transported to san francisco general hospital. at the time the incident happened, the cable car was stopped, which in to go out of ser

mr. thomas. also, mr. steve lewis of advanced drilling technology implementation engineer, seldovia marine services. mr. cichon rogers smith, associate professor, department of petroleum engineer at lsu, and darryl bourgoyne director of louisiana director louisiana state university petroleum engineering research and technology transfer laboratory. mr. thomas? >> yes, sir. >> do you have an opening statement? >> commission, if i could for a moment. >> panel members here this morning, we also have charlie williams of the shell company, who will be answering questions today. is to give you a sense of what the format will be, this morning we're going to hear from five different deepwater and non-deepwater drilling experts in two separate panels. on various subjects relating to well designed and deepwater drilling issues, generally, as well as macondo and the blowout. we will be splitting the panels into too. one in the first more recession which includes the individuals, commissioner graham has just introduced

i wanted thanksmto thank mr. paterson for being here, and i know that this can be very intimidating to be before the committee. we'll have a right to be nervous about this. that said, i do believe that the questions that were asked by president chu do raise some issues, and again, because we have limited time to make this decision, i do not want to take anything away from mr. paterson, with what he has accomplished and he wants to serve the san francisco community. i would like to continue this matter. i am not ready to move forward at this time, one way or the other. >> i want to thank the community for spending some time on this commission. i would like to say that i have heard good things about you as a person and a business person and the like to thank you for suggesting that we move forward with this project. there have been a lot of frustrations about the fact that the commission has not been able to address or fix or proposed solutions to move forward in the small-business world as aggressively as i would

mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call, senator. mr. wyden: i would ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. j. res. 40 introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s.j. res. 40 joint resolution marking the day for the convening of the first session of the 112th congress. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the stkwroeupbt resolution be read -- joint resolution be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed

mr. ballmer -- that offer has no credibility. -- of that offer has no credibility. -- that author has no credibility. he keeps creating solutions to the assassination until they are proving -- proven wrong. he alleges that because he sent me a 22 page letter that i discussed that with jerry. i doubt that i ever got a 22 page letter from this individual until i heard him say it on tv. i never discussed it with jerry. it did not seem important to me. as far as him being an expert, i do not know where the expert part came from. i spent a long time in the secret service in protection and i am not an expert. apparently, he became an expert somewhere in consoling him. i do not know where. >> -- somewhere in pennsylvania. i do not know where. >> describe your relationship with mrs. kennedy. >> we were very close to a very professional. i always refer to her as mrs. kennedy and she referred to me as mr. hill. at one time, she asked me if i would bring my children over to pay with -- to play with

so mr. bly, this is a question and answer with mr. guide. he was asked was if mr. kaluza's and mr. vidrine's responsibility before moving on from that operation? answer, they were, whichever one was on tour at the time. one of the people who was supposed to determine of the neck of test was successful or not. do you agree with that statement? >> i think that is the right statement from a bpg perspective because they are the senior most people on the rig. >> mr. bly do you agree that of the test i were performed at macondo that evening the negative pressure test was the only one that tested the integrity of the cement at the bottom of the well? >> yes, that aligns with what we said in our report, that is right. >> and mr. vargo do you agree as well that was the only test, the test of the integrity of the cement that might? >> yes, sir. >> i showed a long animation this morning and i want to make sure was right. i think you guys were probably watching. did you see anything that was incorrect about that animation that we went through showing how the precious went up and down and the d

mr. clyburn seize this as an opportunity to get far away from the leadership table and communicate back and forth. and i think there's a lot of liaison roles. i spoke to members who said he may have a rose in leezing talk about what the spending choices are and some of the other caucuses within congress. so it sounds like he's very much got a communications component. >> there's an admission i think in the way he talked about what he intends to do and what didn't happen in the last two years that what democrats accomplished was not communicated well. and there's also that, at least in my ears when the republicans said you're no listening, democrats have begun to internalize that and they will go to lessons learned. and you do new tactics. >> he also made the argument that he can connect with voters better than some of these other leaders of his party. what did you make of that? >> i thought it was very interesting. obviously, they're very focused on communication. when he listed speaker p