mr. chairman, i yield one minute to mr. coble, who is also the chairman of the court subcommittee of the judiciary committee. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. coble: i thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i rise in support of h.r. 822, concealed-carry permits may be the most scrutinized permits for gun owners to receive. unfortunately, the manner in which these permits are recognized by various states is confusing and inconsistent. h.r. 822 will help resolve this dilemma, mr. chairman. for example, in my home state of north carolina, concealed-carry permits from south carolina and georgia are recognized, but not permits from new mexico. meanwhile, new mexico readily recognizes concealed-carry permits from north carolina. if enacted there would be no discrepancy over which permits are valid. another reason for supporting h.r. 822 is that it protects states' sovereignty. states are not required to issue concealed-carry permits and state laws regarding the use of ownership of firearms are explicitly

mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i rise in support of h.r. 3094, the work force democracy and fairness act and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. clines: thank you, mr. chairman. the -- mr. kline: thank you, mr. chairman. across the country, the american people are asking, how can we get this economy moving again, what will it take to finally put people back to work? and washington is responding with a number of answers. some think we should support more spending, more taxes and more regulations. in essence they're asking the country to double down on the same failed policies of the past. my republican colleagues and i believe we should chart a different course, one that includes removing regulatory roadblocks to job creation. the work force democracy and fairness act is part of that effort. the legislation says we shouldn't allow unelected bureaucrats to dictate policies that make our workplaces less competitive. in june, the national labor

mr. chairman. mr. demarco, in my opening, i spoke of the conflicts or potential conflicts of holding seconds and in servicing first held by others, owned by others. do you see any, and i've asked the leading servicers, all of whom are affiliates, subside yarrs of the banks, what business reason there was for the apparent conflict or at least that alignment of interests that are not identical, which creates at least the potential for conflicts and all i got was there were cross marketing opportunities, not a particularly persuasive reason. do you see any reason to have that alignment of interest? >> i do, mr. miller. as a general proposition, i think one of the lessons to be taken from the last several years is the difficulties that second liens pose for resolving problems with first liens, and potential conflicts of interses have to be identified in how seconds that come in after firsts altering really the risk characteristic of the first, all of these things need to be studied, and i think should be p

mr. chairman, i yield one minute to mr. coble, who is also the chairman of the court subcommittee of the judiciary committee. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. coble: i thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i rise in support of h.r. 822, concealed-carry permits may be the most scrutinized permits for gun owners to receive. unfortunately, the manner in which these permits are recognized by various states is confusing and inconsistent. h.r. 822 will help resolve this dilemma, mr. chairman. for example, in my home state of north carolina, concealed-carry permits from south carolina and georgia are recognized, but not permits from new mexico. meanwhile, new mexico readily recognizes concealed-carry permits from north carolina. if enacted there would be no discrepancy over which permits are valid. another reason for supporting h.r. 822 is that it protects states' sovereignty. states are not required to issue concealed-carry permits and state laws regarding the use of ownership of firearms are explicitly

mr. chairman. mr. secretary, the environment a protection agency has proposed and is in the process of enacting regulations targeting traditional and expensive sources of energy. utility mac,. [booing] , among the more recent and well known examples which result not only an increase in energy cost of but result in more natural gas being used for power generation and and daschle manufacturing. are these rules a factor when considering access for natural gas production? and if not, why? >> i would refer those questions to administrator jackson in terms of the epa. our own view is that there will be a robust demand for natural gas speed is what i'm asking, i apologize for interrupting you, but please answer my question. are you and your department considering the epa rules as any communication between you and epa on the rules that they are trying to enact, regulations they're trying to enact, which is going to reduce production of inexpensive energy, as y'all look at energy production, particularly for na

mr. chairman. mr. chairman, this morning we've been haggling around about whether or not the white house has been responsive to the committee's request for documents. we all agree that a subpoena to the white house is unprecedented in this committee. if there is any way to get the white house to cooperate with us and to provide the documents, that would be the very best result both in terms of getting the evidence we want without getting involved in a prolonged court battle with the white house over executive privilege, and it would also help us get the evidence that we need in this investigation. i like to take a couple minutes to clarify what happened here. to be honest on both sides of the aisle i think there has been real confusion what requests were made to the white house and to the rest of the executive branch and when they were made. this committee's first document request to the white house related to the solyndra loan guarantee was sent on september 1st of this year, approximately two months a

mr. chairman? >> the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate your constructive spirit of this and i thank you for it. let's be clear, i share some of the concerns of my very responsible colleague from north carolina and i would just say, maybe i'm putting thoughts in your head, i don't think so, i do know that this is part of a package of bills that passed the subcommittee on april 5. and i would kill people in for what you will, but the chairman had a subcommittee seven have for months ago and he didn't act in the interim. to me, that suggests that the unwisdom of the fhfa is doing what they did announcing it and they tried to explain it differently, but i think it is fairly, it is at least my inference that we wouldn't have this bill up for his today if it weren't for that. i hope the people there will take that into account. i would note by the way, mr. chairman, this is part of a package of bills that passed on april 5. i cannot forbear when every procedural argument about that, some of us walked out, went into a quorum for a w

mr. chairman. let me begin by thanking all of our members. every single member of this committee has expressed an interest in the postal service's financial crisis. many of you have put together suggestions, have offered amendments, and i think it's a tribute to this committee that all of our members have been so engaged on this very important issue. but i do particularly want to salute the leadership of senator lieberman and senator carper and senator brown who have worked very hard, the four of us, have spent countless hours in coming up with a bipartisan agreement that will put the postal service back on a sound financial footing. this bipartisan bill gives the postal service the authority that it needs to restructure, modernize, survive, and thrive. and i want to point out and unassailable fact, and that is that the postal service literally will not survive without fundamental legislative and administrative reforms. the postmaster general has been very clear on this. he has told us that a year

mr. chairman, i yield back. >> i thank you. i recognize the gentleman from baltimore, ranking member of the full committee, mr. cummings, and then mr. labrador. >> one of the things you said, mr. freed mapp, that was -- friedman, that was interesting was part of the problem was when the funds went to the states, that in some instances the employees who were responsible for dealing with these had fellow -- furloughs were an issue, sir? >> yes. >> okay. and was that -- did you find that the case in many instances? >> there were several jurisdictions, states in which that was the case, mr. cummings. there's an irony there which is unfortunate that here we come to the states with a program that is designed in part to stimulate the any and to create jobs, and yet the very people who would add -- administer the program and apply the mechanics to the program to make it work were furloughed because of the state of the condition of the economy. it's an unfortunate irony if there's a right word for it. >> to get these -- i mean, it sounds

mr. chairman. mrs. petraeus, in your testimony, you discussed you joined the bureau in january of this year to start an entirely new office, the office of service member affairs. how many people have you hired to work in your office, and how many do you hope to hire, and what's your budget, and lastly, are you getting the resources that you need here? >> thank you for the question, ranking member shelby. we now have six employees working for me, so over a small but mighty office i hope. i don't expect to have it much larger than that, at least not for the moment, and, of course, everybody has a wish list. there's nobody that if you ask any of the employees, they wouldn't say no, and i do have a wish list of a few more to extend our reach, but there are other decisions within the cfpb we are able to tap for their expertise as well, so we don't have to do everything ourselves. budgets are still being hammered out, and my deputy is doing the numbers, so i'm removed from that, so i can't give you accurate i

mr. chairman, i struggle with this, too. i'll going to raise the states rights issue but not as a red perfect h herring. i'm genuinely concerned about it. i hope as my friend mr. bishop does the next time we come around with states' rights issue we'll have the same chorus of voices supporting individual states. but today in georgia we have recessiprocity with 24 other states. i'd like for that number to be higher. it generally does hinge on training requirements and other issues of that nature. what would you think about an amendment to this language that left the 24 agreements that georgia already has in place, in place and then made this federal language the floor for those states with whom georgia does not have reciprocity agreements? >> i would not look favorably on an idea because it really runs counter to one of the goals of this bill, wch is to have a national uniform standard that would allow any state to recognize and offer reciprocity to another state that had a conceal carry prlt. i know how strongly you feel. >> i

mr. chairman. >> with that i yield three minutes to mr. connolly. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would note that the attorney general's view of history in mind might be slightly different with reese that to utility rates in even the poor part of virginia. many rate increases he is referring to occur subsequently to the reregulation passed the general assembly of virginia has the favorable to industry, not particularly favorable to this numerous. mr. attorney general, let me ask you just one question. he talked about utilities. the largest utility in commonwealth of virginia is dominion resources. as dominion resources requested that you challenge the air toxic rule legally or that legislation be introduced to prevent it from being implemented? >> now. as i mentioned earlier under mr. mr. rotation of nullification, virginia isn't in the constitutional position to step in on federal environmental regulation of the constitutional objection. even if we have legislation. the supremacy clause of the constitution is federal law trumping state law, the huskers that you asked about earl

mr. chairman. >> thank you free much congenital odierno. admiral greenert. >> thank you mr. chairman and chairman leaven and inhofe members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to comment on and to testify on the matter including the chief of the national guard bureau as a member of the joint chiefs of staff. i fully support continued participation by the chief of the national guard bureau and joint chiefs deliberations, particularly regarding the issues the deal with or affect the national guard. our national guard chief as general mckinley, we consider a brother, has made notable input and provided valuable contributions to issues of importance to those of us serving in the tank and the departments of defense. i think this relationship should continue. however, in my opinion, making the chief of the national guard bureau a member of the trend chiefs of staff adds unnecessary complexities to the principal of the minetti of command. unlike the service chiefs, the chief of the national guard bureau does not represent a branch of service, nor is he responsible for org

mr. chairman. >> with that i yield three minutes to mr. connolly. >> thank you, mr. chairman.i would note that the attorney general's view of history in mind might be slightly different with reese that to utility rates in even the poor part of virginia. many rate increases he is referring to occur subsequently to the reregulation passed the general assembly of virginia has the favorable to industry, not particularly favorable to this numerous. mr. attorney general, let me ask you just one question. he talked about utilities. the largest utility in commonwealth of virginia is dominion resources. as dominion resources requested that you challenge the air toxic rule legally or that legislation be introduced to prevent it from being implemented? >> now. as i mentioned earlier under mr. mr. rotation of nullification, virginia isn't in the constitutional position to step in on federal environmental regulation of the constitutional objection. even if we have legislation. the supremacy clause of the constitution is federal law trumping state law, the huskers that you asked about earli

mr. chairman. mr. dimarco, let me ask, when you announced these compensation packages in 2009, you issued a press release explaining that these million dollar salaries were necessary to, and i quote, to attract and retain the talent needed, end of the quote, for fannie may and freddie mac to perform their roles n. a recent letter to congress you wrote that you were also concerned about a rapid turnover of management and staff replaced with people lacking the institutional, technical, operation aal and rac -- missing management knowledge necessary and more than $2 trillion in financial obligations. let me ask, what kind of analysis did you do prior to making these conclusions? did you survey the current staff that was present? and do you have some kind of document that you could share with us that would demonstrate the potential effects of lower salaries on the work force, on the agencies and, ultimately, on the homeowners who had mortgages to pay? >> congressman, with regard to the announcements of the

mr. chairman, i'd like to give. the issue of consumer protection for military service members has long been a priority for this committee. during the 109th congress, while i was chairman of the committee, the committee examined reports of predatory lending practices aimed at members of the armed forces and their families. this examination identified the steers -- theories of financial tactics to sell products to military personnel, and it also identified gaps and lack of coordination among regulators in handling military consumer protection issues. based on the investigation by the committee, the committee ultimately passed the military financial protection act of 2006. this law protects members of the armed forces from certain unscrupulous sale practices regarding the sale of insurance, financial and investment products. it also improved the ability of our regulators to enforce our consumer protection laws and with respect to the military. service members and their families have unique needs with respect to their us

mr. chairman, for holing this hearing on the next wave in aviation security. mr. chairman, because hawaii is located 2500 miles from the mainland, we have unique transportation needs. hawaii residents and many visitors visitors visitor rely heavily on air transportation traveling between islands and from the mainland or abroad. although, protecting the public is our primary goal, we must ensure that security procedures and technologies safeguard privacy rights, 5e7b -- and are not so burdensome they discourage air travel. i applaud the federal employees who have worked tirelessly to secure our commercial aviation systems since september 11, 2001. as we approach the busy holiday travel season, i hope this hearing will allows to review whether the work force has the tools they need to meet today's security challenges. administrator pistole, you mentioned this morning that tsa's in the first phase of the expedited screening pilot. i understand that honolulu airport, hawaii airlines are being considered for the second phase of the pilot. in hawaii, many people who take

mr. chairman, very much. mr. secretary, it's a pleasure to welcome you back to the natural resources committee. last week, you released a five year plan for domestic offshore oil and gas drilling, and i was very pleased that the plan protects the east coast and especially new england from offshore drilling for at least the next five years. the bp oil spill in the gulf that has many on the east coast renewing their opposition to drilling; however, i'm concerned that the plan does include new lease sales off of alaska even though the oil industry has not effectively proven that they can respond to a spill in the icy harsh conditions offshore in the arctic. as one example of the threats faced in alaskan waters, just last weekend, much of alaska was thrashed with a super storm that produced 40-foot waves and 100 miles per hour winds. now, while the administration has delayed those arctic lease sales until 2015, i will continue to monitor the progress the industry makes in developing its response capabilities and ensu

mr. chairman. i want to point out that the reason this is a government-wide reform is that the direct request of the obama administration -- the postal service makes up the largest number of workers' compensation claims in the system but it is a government-wide system. the obama administration argued that they did not want to treat postal workers differently from other federal employees. that is the rationale for why it applies across the board. we have needed workers compensation reform for many years and the federal system. that has been documented by countless ig reports. there is day gao investigation going on right now. the department told ig has said that each time you take a fraudulent case off the rolls, it saves between $300,000.500000 dollars. the reforms we are making our fair and modest reforms. i mentioned the number of people who are over age 70 that are in the system including two that are 99 years old. that creates real inequities between postal and other federal workers who worked

mr. chairman. mr. chairman, this attempt to change the constitution of the united states is a real disaster. we all want to make sure we balance our budgets, but to compare our household budget to the national budget is prepostruss. -- propostruss. alexander hamilton, who wrote so many of the federalist papers, i thought we understand a great leader, a great american, i thought we understood what the responsibilities of government are. but talking about disasters, what about natural disasters? how would a balanced budget amendment affect how the congress looks at when there is a tornado in joplin, a wipeout and flooding in new jersey, a hurricane in florida, wildfires in texas? the amendment requires this balanced budget amendment, which is a joke to begin with, how you named it. it doesn't balance the budget. if it got through it would take seven years to implement. we have people out of work now. but anyway, the amendment requires a supermajority for every emergency spending in the case of natural dis

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator enzi. i want to introduce the participant, and i know some senators also want to weigh in with their own introductions. i'll go down starting on the right now that i see it. first is rick hess, resident scholar and director of education at the policy policy of research. the executive editor of education next and a researcher associate with the program on education policy and governance at harvard university. next is john schnur, president of new leaderses for new schools, developed national educational policies on teacher and principle quality, after school programs, district reform charter schools, and preschools. i would now invite senator paul to introduce the next person. >> well, i'm pleased today to have. geisselhardt here from adair county, a gifted teacher, and one of the great successes of the kentucky publish education, and i'm glad we can have this hearing to talk about the bill before it's final to get your input, and to get your understandin

mr. chairman. mr. chairman, my amendment would allow members of congress to nominate qualified candidates for admission to the u.s. coast guard academy. located in new london, connecticut, the coast guard a cad my is one of the five prestigious u.s. service academies. the others are the military academy in west point, new york, the naval academy in annapolis, maryland, the air force academy in colorado springs, colorado, and the merchant marine academy in kings point, new york. these service academies provide four-year graduate educations on a tuition-free basis to help mold talented young people in the nation's future leaders. upon graduation, service academy cadets become commissioned officers. under current law, members of congress are authorized to nominate candidates to all u.s. service academies except the u.s. coast guard academy. the coast guard academy uses an admission process similar to the process that's used at traditional civilian colleges and universities. on an average, the coast guard a

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much general odierno. admiral greenert. >> thank you chairman webb and senator inhofe members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to comment on and it testify in a matter including the chief of the national guard bureau and a member of the joint chiefs of staff. i fully support continued participation by the guard bureau and joint chiefs deliberations particularly regarding issues that deal with the national guard. are national guard chief general mckinley who we do consider a brother has made notable input and provided valuable contributions to issues of importance to those of us serving in the department of defense. i think this relationship should continue. however in my opinion making the chief of the national guard bureau and member of the joint chiefs of staff adds unnecessary complexity to the principle of unity of command. unlike the service chiefs on the chief of the national guard bureau does not represent a branch of service nor is he responsib

mr. chairman. in response to what you just said, mr. lot, when doctor the was killed in church. we did some study with crs to see what most of us had grown up believing was a sanctuary, a religious building is no longer that. the number of people killed during church services are in religious service were really quite appalling to us. the number of law enforcement, people killed in the line of duty has increased exponentially. i'm not happy to see this bill. it continues. we're absolutely not going to do anything in this house about creating jobs anywhere. but new york -- let me just speak about my own state here for a minute. convicted of sex crimes carrying possession of a gun, this bill would override that? >> i'm sorry? >> new york prohibits people convicted of sex crimes from carrying weapons. does this bill override that? >> depend on the level of the sex crime. if they are felonies, the law would not allow those individuals to get concealed carry. >> if you can get the concealed weapons perm

mr. chairman. and i'm going to speak on behalf, i think, of the minority leader and myself as the minority whip. but i thank you for holding this hearing. this is a very -- that's all right. i thank you for that. but i want to say how pleased i am to join my colleagues, emanuel cleaver and congresswoman fudge, at this hearing, as well as chairman conyers who's been such a giant on behalf of the rights of all americans in our country, throughout the extraordinary career in the congress of the united states. i want to thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this important hearing. with the federal election just under a year away, the committee is right to look into possible voter suppression taking place. and i say possible. we know that voter suppression has been taking place, is being taken place and is planned. the right to vote, of course, is fundamental to our entire system of government and the ability of every american to have his or her voice heard in washington and their state house and their l

mr. chairman. our nation has just over $14.9 trillion. over 126,700 or american households on average and we are spending -- this is a spending driven debt crisis that has a borrowing approximately 40 cents of every dollar and every time the federal government spends a dollar on its priorities that is a dollar that could be spent on priorities of the american people such as purchasing a home, starting a small business or send a kid to college. when we our deficit spending we are borrowing it from the future opportunities of our children and our grandchildren. we must ensure that each and every dollar the federal government spends is not needlessly spent. the purpose of today's hearing is one as a follow-up on an earlier hearing that we had with the full committee and its to look at whether or not hud has in place policies and procedures to insure the precious tax payers' dollars are not being wasted on home programs. serious allegations of waste, fraud and abuse have been leveled against the program

mr. chairman? thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent to strike the last word. >> so ordered. >> mr. chairman, in my 35 years of congress i have presided over the issuance of only one subpoena the time i served as a committee chairman. it, too, concern and environmental policy matter that began during the bush administration, but unlike the subpoena, sought every single internal white house e-mail relay to solyndra. the one i issued was issued on a bipartisan basis with my ranking member, republican member, jim sensenbrenner, fully supported my efforts to learn more about the bush administration's response global warming. it was a bipartisan effort because we exhausted all other avenues for obtaining the information from the bush administration first. and that has not happened here. the obama administration has been cooperating with the committee and has said it would continue to do so. the white house just yesterday offered to share internal white house e-mails on all issues that are being debated about the solyn

mr. chairman. >> i'd like to ask -- i know you put yourself right away to involve yourself in that last discussion with mr. seatton and ms. danks. >> thank you, senator harkin. what my two colleagues on the panel have described is exactly what is appropriate and available under current law. under the individuals with disabilities with education act, an essential decision that each child's iep team needs to make and the iep team includes the child's parents, of which assessment is appropriate to that child. does the child take an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards, does the child take the regular assessment with or without accommodation or modification? that is something that's currently required under i. i.d.e.a. for those kids on alternate achievement standards, you have to design something that's appropriate to that child. those kids are on a unique place where they are not on grade level. i oftentimes call them act of god kids. short of an act of god, these kids are never going to be on grade level. it doesn't matter how much their mother loved them, what they had for

mr. chairman. first of all i'd like to point out that ms. smith, that's not her real name. we have agreed to withhold her name because the bureau of prisons has asked us to do so. that's what agreed. i thought it was a respect thing to do. ms. smith, did you work for hud? >> no, sir, i did not. >> you work for a nonprofit organization, is that correct? >> yes, sir, that is correct. >> do you any other sons other than hallowed -- home funds that flowed through that organization? >> yes, we did. >> did you steal those, to? >> i'm sorry? >> did you steal that money, to? >> there were funds, yes, sir. >> so you stole that. you could steal anything to get hands-on. i respect that. at one point you stated, maybe news report, that you were pressured by politicians. and i do not want you to name those here today because that's not the purpose of this but i would like to know, did you pass those names along to the justice department? >> yes, sir. >> has there been any prosecutions as a result of the? >> the

mr. chairman, and i commend you, mr. chairman, for a good hearing and an important one, particularly timely because of the supercommittee. and that's what i want to ask you about, dr. elmendorf because, fortunately ks r, one of the issues that is very much in play, it goes right to the heart of this debate about stimulus and particularly stimulus right now. as you know, over the last five years i've had the chance to work with two colleagues on the other side of the aisle who would certainly call themselves, you know, conservative. former senator gregg and senator coats and senator begich. two democrats, two republicans have worked on this over the last five years. and i want the talk about the stimulative effect of what would happen if tax reform was enacted, certainly n2012313 -- in 2013. in other words, there's discussion about the timing of 2012 and 2013. but let's talk about, say, 2013. under the legislation that i've put together, bipartisan effort, if you're a couple that makes $50,000 a year, $60,000 a year, $70,0

mr. chairman. >> [inaudible] >> thank you very much. i've got, i want just to ask a final question on mr.-- [inaudible] and his legal costs of damages which i raised when we last met. just before that, chair, this whole inquiry is really about this committee being misled for, essentially, what news international knew, who knew it and when did they know it. as part of what you call an aggressive defend on the 28th of february in reaction to our record in "news of the world "editorials, tom watson was not called mad, he was called a top -- [inaudible] and i was a former journalist on the observer mainly pursuing an agenda for my powers of the left-wing rag. sadly, the victims here are you, the public. well, how true is that? um, but very quickly after that appeared, um, the next big settlement was with max clifford in march 2010. chair, this is a about what news international knew, who knew it and when they did. you were the executive chairman then, but rebecca brooks was the chief executive. were you involved in the, in the million pound

mr. chairman. mr. olsson, thank you for the work that your bank has done in the community to assist tribal members whose needs were not being met by the traditional institutions. in addition to the programs that eagle bank runs, you also observed that the programs that are available for the first-time home buyers and students can be effective. so my question to you is how could you expand your coaching services into a more formal program of financial literacy? and what would the benefits be? >> senator, one of the premises when eagle bank was chartered was to develop financial literacy and work closely with the underbanked within our market whether they're tribal members or not. unfortunately, in the current economic environment our resources are extremely limited as is our staff time. what we would hope to be able to do is either through increased revenues and retained income or perhaps if there may be some type of grant program available, we would like to be able to offer dedicated staff to the finan

mr. chairman? >> yeah, i'll have a second round for those of us here, just a couple questions each to get to the second panel. mr. secretary, did iraq ever request u.s. trainers or other troops remain in iraq after the december 31st, and if so, in what number did they request, and were they willing to grant legal protection immunity to our troops? >> there was no such request. >> >> senator mccain? >> just briefly, mr. chairman. i don't know how you expected the iraqis to agree when we couldn't give them a number, and that was not just the case in may. we came back, kept asking the president's national security adviser and others, what is our proposal, and we never had one until it got dob to, i guess, 5,000 or 3,000. i mean, history will show secretary pa net that that -- panetta they were willing to negotiate in may, and we wouldn't give them a hard number both as far as numbers are concerned and missions are concerned, so it's hard to understand how anyone would believe that they were reluctant t

mr. chairman, mr. mccain, members of the committee, first, i want to thank you for allowing me to come in and testify. this is a big problem obviously and a big focus of our job. my company's job is to authenticate, sores, and supply parts to the defense and aerospace industry. we take this quite seriously, and i will explain to you exactly what i saw while i was in the city of shenzhen and then in another city as well as some of the counterfeits we're seeing out there today. in july 2008, i had an opportunity while traveling in to the city of hong kong on business to go into a nearby city of shenzhen, and the reason i wanted to go in was to visit the marketplace that has been mentioned here, that was referenced on the screen. i had an interpreter go with me. we walked to 3 marketplace for the day, and while i was touring the marketplace, the interpreter told me that the marketplace district was the largest in the world of its kind. 30 to 40% of all parts sold here were counterfeit. that many of the bo

mr. chairman. first of all, i want to point out that their reason that this is a government-wide reform is that the director >> of the obama administration -- the direct request of the obama administration, the largest number of works when comp claims are made here. the obama administration argues that they do not want to treat postal workers differently from other federal employees. so that is the rationale for why it applies across the board. we have needed workers' comp reform in the federal system for many years. that has been documented by countless ig reports. there is a gao investigation going on right now. each time you take a fraudulent case off of the roles, it saves between $300 dollars -- $300,000 and $500,000. there are real inequities between postal workers and other federal workers who have lived their whole lives and then retire and get a lesser benefit than someone who stays on workers' comp, past retirement age, and is able to get a higher benefit that is tax-free. that is why the

mr. chairman, i offer as one motion the amendments of number 12 by mr. nadler and/or the number 8 by mr. bishop and i believe the committee members know what they are. and i won't offer any words in support of sail. >> vote occurs on the hastings amendment. those in favor say aye. those against no. clerk will call the roll. mr. sessions, no. ms. fox, no. mr. bishop, no. mr. woodall, no. mr. nugent, no. mr. scott, no. mr. webster, no. ms. slaughter. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings aye. mr. polis, aye. mr. chairman no. >> and the clerk will report the total. >> three >> aradhana >>> now a look at the prospects of the deal being reached by the deficit reduction committee to find least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings by the november 23rd deadline. this is about 40 minutes. >> we're back with senior congressional reporter with politico and this is the front page of your newspaper this morning deficit panel ponders endgame. what is the endgame? >> guest: the $1.2 trillion question i think. these guys who've covered to come up with a $1.000000000000 reduction

mr. chairman? >> the lady is recognized. >> pursuant to rule 16, clause four, i move that they posed consideration of the resolution, authorizing subpoenas to the white house regarding the cylindrical loan guarantee until november 15, 2011. >> the gentle lady is recognized for five minutes in support of her motion. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. this morning, we have been haggling around about whether or not the white house has been responsive to the committee requests for documents, and we all agree that the subpoena is unprecedented in this committee, and if there is any way to get the white house to cooperate with us and to provide the documents, that would be the very best results, both in terms of getting the evidence we want without getting involved in a prolonged court battle with the white house over executive privilege, and it would also help us get the evidence we need in this investigation. i would just like to take a couple of minutes to identify what has happened, because to be

mr. chairman. mr. attorney general, i want to congratulate you and all of those risking their lives on the war on terror and fighting crime. it is a very serious and substantial -- very serious and substantial tactical successes and i think it is appropriate we acknowledge the hard work that has gone in to keeping the country safe. from a strategic point of view, i think we are coming to some crossroads as a nation about what we need to be doing in the future. it i embrace trying to find a new confinement facility other than guantanamo bay. senator mccain did when he ran for president. senator obama, president was. but i have come to conclude -- and i may not be the best vote counter in the world -- we are not going to close did know -- gitmo anytime soon. in brussels i think you stated to the european parliament that we have an election in november of 2012. we will be pressing for the closure of the facility between now and then -- being gitmo -- and after the election we will seek to close it as well

mr. chairman. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. again, i heard about this really for the first time -- i had heard stories at my state, but at the alzheimer's dinner in minnesota. an athlete actually came and spoke about the research. i walked away sort of blown away is some of the facts and the things out there and the need for more education. and then held an alzheimer's fund this summer. one of the things i learned was that this is early diagnosis of alzheimer's, and i learned that a lot of the players are donating their brains, i understand, that it dementia, to research. early diagnosis of alzheimer's and also in the advancement or problems due to a concussion could help us not just of the patient but potentially develop a cure. pat summit was diagnosed, for the basketball coach in history for college that won the most games, and the mayo clinic was able to do that because they have advanced ways to now recognize what early diagnosis -- and i finally realized that as part of finding a cure. because you cannot practice differen

mr. chairman. >> with that i yield three minutes to mr. connolly. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i ould note that the attorney general's view of history in mind might be slightly different with reese that to utility rates in even the poor part of virginia. many rate increases he is referring to occur subsequently to the reregulation passed the general assembly of virginia has the favorable to industry, not particularly favorable to this numerous. mr. attorney general, let me ask you just one question. he talked about utilities. the largest utility in commonwealth of virginia is dominion resources. as dominion resources requested that you challenge the air toxic rule legally or that legistion be introduced to prevent it from being implemented? >> now. as i mentioned earlier under mr. mr. rotation of nullification, virginia isn't in the constitutional position to step in on federal environmental regulation of the constitutional objection. even if we have legislation. the supremacy clause of the constitution is federal law trumping state law, the huskers th you asked about earlier i

mr. chairman. let me begin by thanking all of our members. every single member of this committee has expressed an interest in the postal service's financial crisis. many of you have put together suggestions, have offered amendments, and i think it is a tribute to this committee that out -- that all of our members have been so engaged on this very important issue. but i do particularly want to commend the leadership. we have worked for iran is to put the postal service back on its footing. this bill gives the postal service would it needs to modernize and thrive. and i want to point out an unassailable fact, and that is, the postal service literally will not survive without fundamental legislative and administrative reforms. the postmaster general has been very clear on this. he has told us that a year from now, the postal service will be unable to meet its payroll. those dedicated postal workers will not be able to be paid, and that means that the mail will not be delivered. in fiscal year 2010, th

mr. chairman. mrs.e x. how many total staff members do you hope to higher and what is your budget and lastly are you getting the resources that you need here? >> thank you for the question. thank you member shelby. we now have six employees working for me and so we are a small but mighty office i hope and i expect to have a get much larger than that. of course everybody has a wish list and there is nobody if you asked if they could use more employees that they would say no and i have a wish list to extend our reach. but you know there are other divisions within the cft be that we are able to tap for their expertise as well. so we don't have to do everything ourselves. as for a budget, that is still being hammered out and thankfully for me my deputy is doing the numbers, so i'm a little bit removed from that so i can't give you accurate information on that right now. >> do you think you can get the resources overall that you need thus far wax and know you are just getting started. >> yes. although, the r

mr. chairman. mr. chairman, you are absolutely right. the challenge that we face internationally and nationally in the international organized crime is extraordinary. in some of these groups of course have persuaded that it crosses borders easily and have become almost institutions almost extraterritorial if you will states of themselves. you talk about some of the groups in the former soviet union. if you talk about groups in latin american cartels, the have a masked gunman believed to resources and are extremely diversified and the have of course -- >> will use the enormous resources, compared to -- or the resources larger than the revenues of countries that we recognize? >> certain countries, yes con senator. they are at least equivalent. so we believe they are massively diversified switch pos is an enormous threat and underscores your point that to combat this will only do we need to have enhanced tools, but we need to have our international partners join us in this very important preeminent battle

mr. chairman. i'm proud to have an opportunity to introduce an old friend of mine, a proud north carolinian, one of this country's foremost education leaders, dr. terry greer. she has -- he has experienced the public education system from all levels. a graduate of east carolina university and vanderbilt and as a teacher, coach and a high school principal. i first met dr. gear in 2000 when he became the superintendent of my hometown. during his eighth years in the county, dr. greer led the district as it cut its dropout rate in half. to less than 3%. increased the high school graduation rate from 63% to nearly 80%. received one of the largest investments from the center of creative leadership to help schools leaders. today, early college institutes across the country are wildly seen as one of the most effective ways to steer our low-income students on a path of success. >> then dr. greer continued his track record in san diego, he helped reduce the dropout rate by 60%. in 2009, dr. greer became supe

mr. chairman, members of the board. i would be remiss if i did not call up my colleague to help give this award to ms. willis. it is a great honor considering all of the work that has been done to ensure the smooth transition with clipper, and as he indicated, this was a very challenging process and yet one that proved to be quite successful duf ms. willis and hr staff to insure that this group could transfer to the new technology. i would like to read the words today, is a deep appreciation and recognition of your dedication to improving the quality of life for the employees of the municipal transportation agency and the residents of san francisco. the san francisco transportation authority, november 1. i would like to say thank you for your dedication for the past 20 years. you are quite an asset to the agency. thank you. ayes -- [applause] >> thank you. i think this is the greatest thing since the fast pass, and this helps out a lot. i tell people if they do not know anything about it or if they want to know the best

mr. chairman. i look forward to working with you. >> thank you. and the co-chairman now recognizes the gentleman from ohio, senator portman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to say first that i appreciate the way you and senator murray have laid out the critical task before us. the truth is, this extraordinary committee exists because nothing else has worked to address the serious fiscal crisis before us and one that threatens to sink an already weak economy. the signs are all around us. record deficits, unsustainable debt, a bond rating downgraded for the first time in our great country, the faltering economy and this budget problem that was talked about earlier are, of course, both linked. an economy burdened by excessive government spending and borrowing doesn't create jobs. it creates uncertainty and caution. and an economy failing great jobs, of course, stretches the government's resources further and fails to create the revenue needed to close the gap. how to fix the budget problems and

mr. chairman, and thank you, mr. attorney general. my colleagues mentioned the work done to avert terrorist attacks on our own soil including the recent assassination attempt of the saudi ambassador, and i continue your support of the local law enforcement. i can't tell you the difference it's made in our state. minneapolis changed in part because of tougher law enforcement, but also because of the help from the cops program, so thank you. i was going to first ask you here about some intellectual property issues recently senator and i introduced a bill that passed through the senate judiciary committee on a bipartisan basis and the bill is designed to go after people who steal other people's works whether it's books or commercial music or movies, incoming foreign pie -- including foreign piracy, and it just includes professional, not personal works people post to the web, but it's from a first time guitarist with their first cd in nashville, and as far as i can see, america's not a country where people with write a song or book just t