mr. perry: i rise in favor of the amendment and -- the chair: the gentleman claim time in opposition? mr. perry: i do claim time in opposition although i'm not object jectsing. i rise in support of the amendment and see it as a reasonable bipartisan approach and agreement, which has seen favorable consideration in this house in the past and as i said just recently, hydropower is the most reliable, affordable and sustainable energy source and seems to me while we spend money time and energy on unproven resources, this is one that has stood the test of time it is one of the beginning of sources of energy, not only in the united states but around the globe. this is one that we know. this is one that is in every community. this is one that is clean. it doesn't create too much noise for people. it doesn't hurt fish. all it does is produce power without doing anything else. it's hard to argue why we wouldn't be in support of this program. with that, i urge my colleagues to vote in support of this ame

mr. perry of pennsylvania. page 1, line five, after the dollar amount inseert increase by $22 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 23, the gentleman and a member opposed will control five minutes. mr. perry: this amendment seeks to highlight the fact that the water power program is vitally important to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. this bill the underlying bill, cuts hydropower by over $22 million. what the amendment i'm offering does is restore that funding and offsets it with department of energy administrative costs. the hydropower -- hydropower is the nation's most available, reliable affordable and sustainable energy source. requiring only the pow over moving water, rivers, streams, and ocean waves an tides, hydropower is domestic and renewable. hydropower is available in every region of the country. a range of technologies exists or are under development to tap the power of waves, tides and river flows. thousands of mega watts of potential are available from projects

. >> chair now recognizes mr. perry. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. mayorkas, good afternoon. good morning. americans pride themselves on a transparent government where any person from any background has an equal chance of success. where a person's success or failures is blind to privilege or association, and that success is solely based upon merit as it relates to objective criteria for ensuring fairness while denying individuals in positions the latitude to use their position to unethically benefit for themselves or for them whom they wish to curry favor. based on that premise, under what circumstances do you consider preferential treatment by a government official acceptable? >> congressman, if i may the principle -- >> that's fine. you should what circumstance is preference preferential treatment acceptable? >> i embrace your articulation of that principle? >> so there aren't any? >> preferential treatment is not acceptable. >> with that understanding -- with the understanding that you work throughout your tenure to revise the eb5 visa adjudication process and as a former

mr. perry: thank you, madam speaker. we hear from the administration, somehow we're having the discussion, somehow we dare to question that we're on the wrong side of history, that we're unpatriotic, and literally new york many cases, the administration trying to equate those who would, in this chamber new york this body would have a discussion, would call into question some of the tenets of this framework, and then this agreement which we didn't know much about, that we are tantamount to the same as the hardliners in iran. the hardliners who have horrific human rights violations over the course of 50 years as far as america is concern and literally do unspeakable things. and that's breath taking to me. the problem is among other things is that we're skeptical because our negotiating partner in this iran is not trustworthy. is shrimp not trustworthy. picture yourself and your own family, if you were negotiating an infraction within your own family and while you were discussing the infraction that member of your family wa

[applause] mr. perry: thank you all. we were here with the u.s. army association. you all out sure them. -- out cheered them. we had a fabulous event. we got to share it with real heroes. you think back about this country, the people who were some extraordinary individuals. president lincoln. to line to he had a quote that he said that while the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness and folly can be seriously injured the government and the short space of four years. obviously, he did not know about the obama administration. [laughter] another one of his illinois natives. in 2014, the american people -- they did exercise a little vigilance, if you will. it was the first time that we had the opportunity for the american people to make an informed judgment on the obama years, and it was then and only then that they begin to understand what ending the war in iraq really meant. the impact and what it was for our country and the world. they saw the consequences of the empty words toward that dictator in syria, the red li

. >> i yield to mr. perry. >> i just have a point of clarification for me and maybe anybody else. is it common practice in hearings and courts to swear in the prosecutor or swear in the judge? the inspector general is not the person under scrutiny here. the inspector general is the one that offered the report. we're trying to get to the facts and it seems to me it would be inappropriate to swear in the inspector general in this case and juxtapose that with this witness as a layman. it just doesn't seem like that has been the normal course of events in any other similar circumstances, notwithstanding. so i just want to make that point from my view -- from my view. >> i think the gentleman raises a very good point and it is the allegations are there and the inspector general's report, the witness is here to respond to these allegations. all i'm trying to do by ensuring the swearing in of the witness is that he's telling the truth in response to the allegations made against him. >> i don't think it's in the witness' best interest not to tell the truth and i think the point that's bei

the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. perry of pennsylvania for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. thank you mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, when i was a boy my father used to point out to me that there were certain moments, certain events that not only define perhaps a community or a generation but leave an indelible mark on a person. he referenced me to go speak to my grandparents about where they were when the news came that pearl harbor had been bombed and i can remember my grandfather lucas describing the exact field, the exact row that he was picking cotton in in december of 1941 when one of the neighbors stopped and said have you heard? my father could tell you exactly the moment walking down the street in elk city, oklaho

mr. sanders: in the perry case, the argument was front and center. it got virtually no attention. the most attention it got was when justice kagen teased charles cooper about it, made a joke at his expense about that particular argument. there was not a lot of evidence that the court was taking the argument seriously. ms. howe: there has been a lot of focus on supreme court decisions with antidiscrimination laws. but there is a real history that the court has had in addressing access to marriage than he -- that includes people who do not pay child support, permitting individuals who are in prison to marry while they are in prison. mr. sanders: not procreating anytime soon in prison. ms. warbelow: there is this really huge history. the supreme court has addressed marriage over 40 times. for a couple hundred years. and the court has consistently found that we have to give huge deference to individuals seeking to marry. they are not interested in picking apart who should and who should not have access to the institution. mr. smith: sort of a quintessential individual choice, you woul

mr. president this is chris perry. >> and sandy stewart.ank you for your support. >> we're proud of you guys and so glad. >> the decision set off a chain reaction. before prop 8 and doma a dozen states plus d.c. had marriage equality the. that number now tripled. and with jim's case from ohio the court could make it law of the land. >> he was the love of my life. he was the person i committed to and would do anything for. we were watching the news waiting for the supreme court decision to come out on winsor. i leaned over hugged john kissed him and said let's get married. >> john was dying, stricken with als. >> i pronounce you husband and how bad. >> jim and john married on board a medical jet. they flew landed said their vows quickly traveled home. john died three months later. jim's fight now to be listed as spouse on john's death certificate. the top plaintiff representing 34 couples from four states. ohio tennessee, kentucky and michigan states fighting for their marriage bans. tomorrow, jim and his attorneys face those states and the

. >> katy perry posted this on instagram, for holding her books, mrs. clinton's book while the two posted writing i told hillary clinton that i would write her theme song if she needs it. >> did she do it? >> just few days ago, came the response, she mentioned katy perry, she said well that's not a hard choice. already did. keep letting us hear you roar. >> suings dollars roar in a video. yes, i think that will be her song. also going to take the stage of another katy perry hit, unconditionally. >> all right. >> ♪ >> you're going to hear me roar ♪ >> vote for me. >> i'm sure all be recruit today sing in the chorus. we all will, right? we've got some singing going on later in the show. that's what i was thinking b stay tuned. just watch the whole show. it will be great. here's your pollen forecast for today. it is not good. we've got today, with high levels of pollen, because we had dry day yesterday. rain in the nor cast tomorrow, we will take the pollen countdown little bit by saturday. it is tree political then time of year. so here's ultimate doppler

mr. secretary good, to see you again. been a few years. i noted that your ceremonial swearing in ceremony a while back, former secretary perry noted your joint in attempting to denuclearize, as he termed it, north korea and that those effort failed. my question to you is, what lessons from that experience do you think would apply to the current situation with iran and mr. chairman, if i may follow up on this tradition of asking each of you a question, and of course chime in if you want. i'm also curious with iran now in line to get these advanced air defense systems from russia, does that effectively take the military option off the table or at the very least make it enormously more complicated? >> with respect to the nuclear weapons situation in iran, which is your question a couple of things jamie first those negotiations that are being conducted by us and our p-5 plus one partners with the iranians, have the active of arresting the north korea -- excuse me -- the iranian nuclear program and obviously that process is not complete yet. the president has indicated he is looking for a good deal and there is no deal yet sewn up. so it's going

mr. secretary, good to see you again. it's been a few years. i noted at your ceremonial swearing in a while back that former secretary perry noted your joint effortsnuclearize as you termed it north korea and that those efforts failed. my question to you is what lessons from that experience do you think would apply to the current situation with iran? and mr. chairman if i may follow on this tradition of asking each of you a question i'm just also curious with iran apparently now in line to get these advanced air defense systems from russia does that effectively take the military option off the table at some point in the future or at the very least make it enormously more complicated? >> with respect to the nuclear weapons situation in ooish riran a couple of things. first, those negotiations that are being conducted by us and our p5+1 partners with the iranians have the objective of arresting the iranian nuclear program, and obviously that process isn't complete yet. as the president has indicated, he's looking for a good deal and there's no deal yet sewn up. so it's going to take some time for secretary kerry and the others who are negotiating th

potential presidential candidates rick perry or scott walker who say if elected, they'd immediately revoke it. >> it would be a foolish approach to take and, you know perhaps mr. walker after he's taken some time to bone up on it, he'll feel the same way. scott: he's working to ease fears of some israeli leaders who worry it will only embolden their enemy. president obama: what i'll say to the israeli people is you're right to be suspicious of iran. scott: obama's biggest challenge, though convincing congress especially over lifting sanction. even democrats leary of the president's plan. >> how will they dilute their stockpile from 10,000 to 300 that's not known. how will the sanctions relief that u.s. and other nations provide, how will that be phased? president obama: it will be really, really tough. the analogy, it's like you've signed a contract to purchase a home. but you've still got the appraisal, the inspector got to make sure that there isn't some kind of environmental disaster on the land. scott: which may mean a series of close votes here on the hill. the president's biggest sell unprecedented inspections, the removal of weapons making material and

perry point. and that was stripped out of the house mark-up. >> well, i would like to, mr. chairman, mr. vice chair talk with you about this. this is a facility oriented to mental health. and it takes care of veterans with significant mental health challenges as well as alzheimer's unit. some parts of that building are, oh my gosh, preworld war i. and i won't ask the committee to come up if the staff would -- i think it's a compelling need. >> we do, too. >> but on the choice card, i understand that, and it's a program that i supported to shrink the waiting list. but i understand of the 8.5 veterans that have been issue d choice cards, only -- less than 1% have been authorized care, none v.a. facilities. could you give us the status of the choice program? is it working the way we hoped? if it's not working, is it bureaucratic delay? what's the issue here? because this was meant to be an opportunity. >> first, let me start, senator, with a thought that community care is important to the future of v.a. currently today, even before the choice act, about 20% of our appointments are community

budget money to replace the 155 bed community living center in perry point and that was stripped out of the house markup. >> well, i would like to mr. chairman, mr. vice chair, talk with you about this. this is a facility that is really oriented to mental health. and it takes care of veterans with significant mental health challenges, as well as alzheimer's unit. some parts of that building are -- oh my gosh, pre-world war i. i won't ask the committee to come up, if the staff would just to validate the need and the necessity for the request. i think it's a compelling need. and we'll talk with about it. >> we do too. >> but on the choice card, i understand that, and it's a program that i supported to shrink the waiting list, but i understand of the 8.5 veterans, that have been issued choice cards, only less, i mean less than 1% had been authorized care, non-va facilities. could you give us the status of the choice program is it working the way we hope? if it's not working, is it bureaucratic delay, what's the issue here? because this was meant to be an opportunity for veterans who either work quite, my mountain county veterans. they

mr. bates speaks for itself. thank you both for joining us. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> thanks. >>> joining me now, developing news in the 2016 race. within the next hour, former texas governor rick perry will take the stage at a republican leadership summit a gop cattle call kicking off today in nashua new hampshire. perry will be the first of several presidential hopefuls appearing today, chris christie, jeb bush marco rubio will speak later today. this will be the first time rubio and bush will cross paths. former governor bush arrived in the state yesterday and met with potential primary voters at a number of events. this morning he spoke at a politics and eggs breakfast in manchester. >> i'm excited about this part of my life where i'm sounding out the views of people around the country. i've been traveling around. i'm seriously considering the possibility of running over the next few months i'll make a decision about that. this may come as a shock to you, but you have brothers and sisters, so you may appreciate this, we're not all alike. >> in new hampshire, benjy, i was surprised governor bush said in the next few months as if he's still pondering whether or not he's going to ju

perry, sources are telling "the new york times" in a general election, the president is expected to help mrsld be asked to campaign for her in the swing states he won back in '08 and in '12. how about your sources? what are they telling you? >> my instinct is she's going to run on the kind of things you heard president obama talk about in his state of the union address in 2012. focusing on the middle class and improving economics. her message is going to be focused on the economy and every day americans and kind of fighting the notions of wage stagnation and declining social mobility. obama's talked about those ideas himself. she'll try to run and build on some of the thing he's already done. you've seen she's been very supportive of the affordable care act, one of his big initiatives. >> right. i also want to get really quickly with you on panama. the president back from that. let's talk about what he has to do in terms of leaving off the selling deal, if you will, of iran to congress. listen to what he said about congressional opponents to that deal. >> i don't understand why it is that ev

perry. at this hour walter scott, a a 50-year-old father of four from south carolina is being laid to rest. the world knows mrof a vid crow showing the moments he was shot in the back multiple times by a police officer after a traffic stop. that officer has been fired from the police department and charged with murder in mr. scott's death. the video directly contradicts initial reports of the events that he shot mr. scott during a fight over the officer's taser. the video shows, instead, the unarmed scott running away from the officer and the officer shoot shooting him several times from at least 15 or 20 feet away. this morning mr. scott's family is laying him to rest. joining us now live from south carolina is msnbc spontcorrespondent adam reese. what can you tell us about today's services? >> reporter: good morning, melissa melissa. the family is arriving as we speak behind me. walter arrived about an hour ago under police escort. his casket under an american flag in honor of his service in the coast guard. there's a police presence here, the sheriff of charleston county has arrived. he said to pay his res