we'll take a one-minute recess, and for mr. bloom, they can excuse themselves. >>> mr. bloom, we'll get started. we have votes that will occur so we're going to be limited, as i'm certain that you are sad to hear, and the number of questions that we're going to ask you. i want to reiterate these were questions that were given to

mr. bloom? >> i haven't seen mr. ratter? 's speech and i don't know the broader context and i don't know what he means by a bit. >> my friend was -- >> you asked me if i agree with him. i don't know whether i agree with him, do i think we should have asked the uaw to do more, my answer is no. >> no. >> i think what we did was reasonable. >> so no pay cut, fine and dandy. >> the aggregate deal that the general motors extracted from the uaw was reasonable. >>. >> okay. mr. feldman? >> again, i don't know what the context of the quote is, but i would say about the uaw is you have to remember chrysler went first. chrysler's negotiation with the uaw was led by fiat, so the deal that they established which became part of the pattern of bargaining was done by two-third parties and did not have task force intervention and no thumbs on the scale and so in hindsight, i'm perfectly content with how everything came out. so no, the answer is no. >> the answer is no. >> okay. mr. wilson. i've said publicly that i believe that the only rem

mr. bloom, you indicated in your opening that the bankruptcy proceeding was fair and open. my question to you is was it any different than any other normal bankruptcy proceeding? was this not one of the most expedited bankruptcy proceedings in the history of the u.s.? >> in my experience, it was faster than average. there are other 363 sales -- >> are you familiar with any other bankruptcies that were expedited in such a summary fashion? >> the sale of the parts of lehman to barclay's and lehman bankruptcy, that portion of it which was a 363 sale which is what this was was done more quickly. >> and mr. feldman, you are familiar, in your experience, of any company independent going through a bankruptcy proceeding givinged 1 giving $1 billion to another company? >> certainly they honored a contract and made a decision to honor the contract based on a business judgment. >> how do you respond to that? >> well, first, i would say i have never seen a bankruptcy like this at all. i've taught bankruptc

mr. bloom, mr. feldman, mr. wilson, on the happy train of silence and refusing to answer questions ends today. you have been summoned before congress because of your refusal to answer sig-t.a.r.p.'s questions because they didn't have the ability to compel you. you are here today because you know we do. you didn't come here because you believed you wanted to share information with congress. you were brought here because of your refusal to share the information that the american public is entitled to hear as a result of taxpayers' dollars that were used in the auto bailout of general motors and thousands of people that lost their pensions. there's an accountability here. now, you're going to take an oath when you testify today. this is not a political proceeding. this is a legal proceeding. you will be testifying. you will not be giving speeches. that's why you're sworn in. it's called testifying before congress. in that, i want you to rise to the level of understanding what that obligation is. it means that if yo

mr. bloom, in the discourse between treasury and pbgc, what role did the auto task force play in the decision making to terminate the pension plan of the workers? >> i couldn't really expand on what mr. feldman said. i think that would be my answer. so you have no separate answer of yourself? >> no. mr. feldman indicated that it was an advisory position and what we would like to know is what was with the position of the auto task force with respect to the delphied salaried workers and their pensions? >> i think it was what mr. feldman said it was. >> are you going do that for every answer? >> you don't have an independent answer? >> on that question, congressman, i do not have a different answer. if i agree with what's been said i thought it was expeditious. >> in june, did you have your own answer? there are many that believe that there were significant numbers of conflicts of interests between the treasury, the pbgc and the auto task force and new gm. secretary geithner serving on both the bo

mr. bloom for being here today. recognizing that there is a responsibility of private citizens be referenced shenanigans. i can think of a lot of shenanigans that went on with wall street and particularly goldman sachs. would you call those shenanigans? >> bonobos in detail, but i certainly it would be possible but i have not looked at those in much detail as i have to the auto bankruptcies. >> you were an independent controller for new york state. is that true? >> yes. >> the work he did to rescue u.s. auto industry was what about what was to invest in the country. >> just. >> at any time did you detect that the person on your team was pursuing a political agenda? >> no. >> were you attempting to push a particular political agenda. >> only to save taxpayer money two well, what a novel idea. is that what you are engaged in during? >> yes. >> reworking to stave off the collapse of very large and interdependent automotive industry and you are referring to their judgment based on many of these det

and so the question i'll have mr. bloom, is are you willing to submit yourself to an interview with sig-t.a.r.p. within the next, let's say two months? >> yes. >> mr. feldman? >> yes. >> mr. wilson? >> yes, i offered up this afternoon. i haven't gotten a response yet. i'd be happy to do that. >> excellent. well, mr. romero, the next time you don't have people willing to sit down for you with an interview, let me know. we'll be happy to have a hearing. >> i can't say how grateful i to the committee and to the chairman and ranking member of the full committee. this is all we want. all we wanted doctor we're also not -- we haven't reached any conclusions in our audit. how can we? i can't character the role they plays without giving them an opportunity to speak to that role. i'm very grateful for. that it also goes beyond just these three witnesses and this audit as i talked about in my opening statement. it will be a very, very dangerous precedent if former treasury officials or other government officials who worked on t.a.r.p

mr. bloom was offering in his opening statement earlier. he wants less emphasis on technology and more on intelligence gathering human-based assets. which i agree with. what i want to emphasize is with that number, it's hard for us as policy makers to make the case for spending money on those assets because people think we're wasting what we're giving out. the fact is, in our current environment, we're not getting any more money in the department of homeland security. i think the department of homeland security and the department of defense are -- because of the dangerous world we live, are not going to be as affected by cuts as other departments may be because we've got to be safe and secure. but the days of numbers going up are over. having said that, we got to find a way to take the number we've got, which is roughly $35 billion, and reshuffle it so that it's more effective and what i contend is that we can't justify that number particularly when people are going to the airports with their t

mr. matthew feldman, -- ron bloom, mr. matthew feldman, and mr. wilson, are all members of the task force. thank yo mr. a professor of law at george mason university school of law. as you valvano, this -- as you all well know, this committee swears in witnesses. if you all please rise and raise your right hand, you will be sworn in before your testimony. raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? thank you. let the record reflect that the witness is answered in the affirmative. you are all well practiced at testifying before congress. as you well know, we have the light system here. green beans, as we know from traffic school, green beans go. yellow means hurry up. -- green means go. yellow means hurry up. red means stop. summarize or testimony to allow for discussion and questions afterward. we'll begin with ms. romero for five minutes. >> ranking member quigley, members of the committee, i am honored to be here before you today and

mr. bloom, mr. wilson and mr. feldman. the former head of the team only agreed to be interviewed this may. these individuals were heavily involved in the assistance to gm structuring and had knowledge about pension issues. the first requested from treasury interviews of the former treasury officials in may, 2011. much later the tool list the individuals wouldn't meet with sigtarp while other members what we. we contacted the individuals quickly while reviewing the documents and have their witnesses. we ask the treasury to speak to the former treasury officials about the importance of cooperating with sigtarp. when it became clear that the and vegetables would not agree to be interviewed be informed this committee. the lack of cooperation by these former treasury officials had significantly protected sigtarp's review. we were forced to look elsewhere for the information. while we continue to request their cooperation we reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents but the documents didn't complete the picture. we often fin

. >> mr. bloom, why would you quarrel with what i think are very insightful instructive comments by mr. nelson, one, i agree with the idea of term limiting the administrator. i think ten years, i think five years would be completely undoable. what evidence do you have that it's too large other than to say we need to make it more efficient and more professionally trained? >> well, by no means do i want to quarrel. but based on the public discussion we're having, in my opinion from a terrorist's point of view with surveillance, reconnaissance, being able to find out the aspects of technology being used by transportation security administration personnel, by finding out the typical security procedures that are deployed and employed, it's only a matter of time before these can either be exploited or folks can go around them. i don't think terrorists are impressed by organizational charts, by bureaucracies, by bureaucratic cultures. by studying terrorism in the last ten, 20, 30 years, they take what they

. >> tt is what mr. bloom offered in his opening statement earlier. heants toee less empsis on llcehe w i agree with. what i want to emphasize is with that number is hard for us as policymakers to make the case for spending mey becau people think ware stinwhat agi o tacs o environment we are not getting any more money than the department of homeland security. thdepartment of homeland security and the department of defense because of the dangerous world we live in won't be as afctedy a oer rts beaue hao be safe and secure. but the numbers going up are over. we have to find a way to take the number we have gowhich wa roughl5 biion d reflest. its effective. what i contend is we can't justify the number when people go to the airport with their terrible perspective or perceptions of tsa and expect them to go along spending more asborlncthg. we can't keep treating grandma like she is from a middle eastern country like yemen. i want to see that shift and that is why i keep emphasizing in the hng wca keep ing at we at sut h e to more threat based infrastructu

bloom for your five minute opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranks members of the subcommittee. >> one, i think we need qual taytive analyses of how effective tsa is at the moment and has been in terms of how it is prevented, deterred, successfully resolved any incidentses of terrorism and other crime as well. especially because terrorism and other kinds of crime are becoming more and more interrelated. as to the effective news of public and private approaches, that is not really the right question. the right question should be what principles do we need to have the right people doing the right things based on risk. number two, if we keep tsa, we need to ensure firewalls between whatever regulatory they might have. we need to decide whether it is too focused on aviation and we also have to make a decision on whether u.s. government securities in general are too focused on transportation given the infinite number of the latter. we have to have a greater perspective that transportation per spspectives including that between transport

johnathan bloom found out it's something the police chief has wondered for a long time. >> of all the things mrey on this week, this smartphone wasn't one of them. a few days ago a teenager robbed him on the muni train. >> he reached down and grabbed the phone and he took off like he was a world-class track star. >> and the police chief said it's a common story. >> six robberies, five involve some sort of a phone. so -- and that's every single day. >> a lot of the phones are sold for hundreds of dollars to people who take them right back into the store and reactivate them. the chief greg s of uhr has been leading the charge to stop them. >> if cell phones are rendered useless as they do in other countryings, there would be no market for the resale of the phones. >> and just like sprint or verizon, they will black list your phone if it is reported stolen so no one can activate it. >> it couldn't come soon enough for the two-thirds other users. at&t uses a different network technology that's made it easier to erase and resell one of these phones without getting caught. >> you take a paper clip an

mr. mayor, our sympathy to you. thank you so much for taking time to join us. we'll be back. in alabama we had more beautiful blooms.. in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. >> schieffer: and we leave you now with a remembrance of those who were lost in this awful episode. captioning sponsored by cbs ,,,,

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mr. speaker, thank you. >> thank you. >> o'donnell: we'll be back in a minute. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. my sknowing what to make and not when could help cut down on thousands of unsold baked goods per month. using analytics, we discovered when it's drizzling outside... people eat more cake. and when the temperature rises, panini sales go up. finding these hidden connections helped our european bakeries increase profitability by up to 20%. let's build a smarter planet. >> o'donnell: joining me now two top senators: democrat chuck shooupler in new york and oklahoma senator and medical $tom coburn, author of "the debt bomb, a bold plan to stop washington from bankrupting america." senator schumer, yo

but we will go forward. >> mr. bloom, in the discourse between the treasury, what role did the auto task force play in the decision making to determine the pension plan of the workers? >> i could not really expand on what mr. feldman said. i have no answer. >> so you cannot expand? >> no. >> what we would like to know is what was the position of the task force with respect to a salary and their pensions? >> [unintelligible] >> you're going to do that for every answer? >> i do not know. on that question, i do not have a different answer. i agree with what was said. >> in june did you have your own answer? >> um. >> there are many that believe there were significant numbers of conflicts of interests between the treasury, the auto task force, and new gm. secretary geiger serving on both boards, the task force being parts of the treasury. it is capital infusion. did you ever have a discussion at the auto task force for the potential conflicts within treasury and the auto task force with respect to this bankruptcy proceeding

mr. bloom, i want to hear your two points. >> well, first of all, there's nothing magical, from a terrorist perspective, you're trained to symbolically communicate something through killing people, damaging things or threatening to. and whether you use an airport, an aircraft, another transportation modality or whatever, the -- >> well, i'm going to go through that with you in a few minutes on my next series of questions. i would ask you this, then, and i would ask you to keep your response to about ten seconds or so because my time's going to run out. if you were king for a day, and i've heard what mr. nelson and mr. blank have already said, what's the one thing you would change immediately about tsa? ten seconds. >> i would take maybe 20-30% of the resources and put it into intelligence collection analysis and then use that to apprehend and detain and neutralize more adversaries of the u.s. government. >> excellent. mr. poole? >> i would devolve screening responsibility to the airport level a