mr. chairman, mr. van hollen, it could be the case. but it depends on how the authorizers and the appropriators use the money and make decisions on how they use the oco funds. >> you use that for base budget. clearly it's not available for overseas contingency request that the military has asked for, right? you have two things. either you're not providing what the military said they need for overseas contingency or the plan is to increase the oco account. is it one of those two things? that's just logic. >> again, mr. chairman, mr. van hollen up to the appropriators to determine. >> i stepped out of the room, was it answered or identified what the president's assumption from oco in base defense spending? >> yes. >> yes. >> $5 billion versus 23 wld in the budget year forward. >> i think it's true from a factual standpoint, a technical standpoint that the discrepancy in the impression on the use of oco is in how much money needs to be utilized to fill base needs as opposed to what happens with the other.

mr. chairman, no. mr. hairman, on that vote, the ayes are 15 and the nos are 19. >> ayes being 15 and the nos being 19, the amendment is not agreed to. >>> the next amendment is amendment number 4 and the clerk will designate the amendment. >> an amendment offered by mr. paskre lechlt relat paskrel related to medicaid. >> as luck would have it, you are recognized for five minutes. >> before i give my soliloquy about the amendment. i want to show this picture. i want to associate myself with this young lady, a syrian refugee muslim who we brought into this country to family. i think it is a moral issue. we can't slip over it. i'm glad you brought the subject up. mr. dhachairman, i want to associate myself. i'm not afraid to step up for immigrants. they're my grandmother and my grandfather. i resent what they said before about the irish when they into this country and this group and that america. this is a america. we can give a million excuses why we can't, we shouldn't be in the congress of the united state

mr. chairman? mr. chairman no. mr. chairman on that vote, the ayes are 14 and the nos are 20. >> thank you, so much, mr. the amendment is not adopted. >> amendment number 26 to prevent cyber attacks. >> our federal government has been and still is vulnerable to cyber attacks. last year the massive breaches at the office of personnel management led to the resignation of the then director as well as release of millions of social security numbers of federal employees and over 20 million security clearance data records stolen. these records have been called the crown jewels of american national intelligence, congressman seth and i had our records stolen as part of a breach and a foreign adversary has them. as a recovering computer sipes major the problem is we have outdated systems in our federal government. they need to be upgraded. some of these systems were written in a language, for example, known as cobalt which is simply not equipped for the 21st century hack attacks but the other problem is you have systems that run

mr. chairman, mr. practices cepascrell the solven for social security to put it on a sustainable basis agree with those that commented, this was a positive step forward, a constructive solution. what worries many of us given the fact that it didn't get any support on the republican side is that the proposals on the republican side would be to cut social security, which we know is a dead social security system in the country. i know that the earlier bug proposal had a $4 billion cut to social security. that was an error, i understand. we want to make sure that the proposal from our republican colleagues is not a cut social security benefits. so mr. pascrell put forward a proposal that would be a constructive positive alternative. we just want to make sure that no one in this budget begins to think that we should be cutting social security benefits. it's as simple as that. i will withhold the remainder of my time unless any of my colleagues want to say a word. >> he yields his time t. gentleman from sout

mr. chairman. y, this is a surprise to me, sir. i also had the honor of working with ray and learning from ray baum when he was a utility commissioner and i was on the new mexico commission as well. it's been an honor working be you, ray. many successes and look forward to continued work with you. you other a great person and truly an asset to america. look forward to learning from you and working with you in your future endeavors. >> thank you. >> now, on to our hearing. we're entering what will most likely be, if tradition holds, the final chapter in the history of the sec under chairman wheeler's leadership. while we worked together on many public policy issues we've been at odds at times on process and policy. while the commission began with a commitment to reform the agency from within, we know the commission implemented only half of the recommendations of the 2015 working group. that's why i believe true reforms require changes in law that can transcend any particular chairman or commission. t

mr. chairman? >> no. >> mr. chairman, no. >> the clerk will report. >> the ayes are 13, nos are 20. >> the amendment is not adopted. as a reminder we'll do 14 followed by 1 and 13. amendment number 14 is up. the clerk will designate the amendment. >> offered by mr. ryan to prevent prescription opiod and heroin abuse. >> the gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. again, this issue speaks to us as to where we are as a people and the decisions we have to make with regard to our budgets. we all know the opiate problem, heroin problem we have in the united states today. no community, regardless of wealth, sim municipal to the devastation being caused by the heroin epidemic. we've proposed closing tax loopholes on big oil companies, people with corporate jets, ceo bonuses, using deductions and a variety of other measures that would affect primarily those people and only those people at the very, very high end of our economic spectrum. we are asking to put $1 billion into treatment for the men

mr. chairman. mr. chairman, no. >> clerk will report. >> mr. chairman on the vote 12-20. >> the ayes being 12, no's 20 amendment is not adopted. we will not address amendment 16. number 16. the clerk will designate the amendment. >> amendment 16, offered by mr. pascrow relating to social security. >> you're recognized for three minutes. >> i'm introducing the amendment that urges congress to pass legislation to increase the solvency and benefits provided by social security. in addition to being one of the most popular government programs, social security is one of the most successful anti-poverty programs our country has ever seen. social security benefits are more and more critical to a secure retirement. because fewer workers have access to defined benefit retirement plans. in many workers don't make enough to save enough to live on in the first place. more than 59 million americans currently receive earned social security benefits. and for most social security's modest benefits provide the majority of their income. this is an insurance progra

mr. chairman -- mr. airman -- >> you are -- >> the time of the gentleman has -- >> unanimous request. >> gentlelady will restate her request. >> unanimous request for a recess. >> object. >> chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. hinojosa for five minutes. >> thank you, chairman and ranking member waters for holding this hearing on the annual state of the international finance system. welcome secretary lew, i'm pleased that you are testifying today. because this hearing gives us on this committee the opportunity to discuss the net bank in san antonio, texas. the net bank was created in 1994, as part of nafta, to alleviate the environmental concerns and economic problems that would be created by the movement of commerce and people to the u.s./mexico border region. since its creation over 20 years ago, the bank has made a tremendous improvement to some of the most impoverished communities in both nations, including towns and colonials in my congressional district and along the u.s./mexico border

mr. chairman. mr. chairman. no. ms. grisham. aye. >> clerk will report. >> mr. chairman on that vote the aye are 13, no's 20. >> the amendment is not adopted. we have completed the tier one amendments and we'll work through the tier two amendments now in numerical order unless

mr. chairman, i'd like to -- mr. pallone: mr. chairman, i'd like to speak on this amendment. i understand this is mr. engel's amendment, 01. the chair: is the gentleman offering to be the designee of the amendment? mr. pallone: yes. the speaker pro tempore: the -- the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in the part b of house report 114-453 offered by mr. pallone of new jersey. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 640, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i would yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. chairman. last month the energy and power subcommittee held a hearing that identified numerous flaws in the sense act. and this amendment is designed to correct two of them. if the sense act were to become law, waste coal facilities would be able to emitt more than their fair share of pollution under the cross-sta

mr. chairman. >> mr. price? >> thank you, mr. chairman. director, i'd like to address your relationship within dhs with the science and technology directorate. the secret service relies heavily on your colleagues in the directorate to develop and validate tools that you and your agents use in the field every day. unlike some of your other dhs counterparts, counterpart agencies that have their in-house research capabilities, you're more dependent on the department's research and testing capability to ensure that you have the tools and resources needed to carry out your mission. so could you speak to that, to the way you work with snt, the value-add of that important relationship? and how has your ability to fulfill your mission related to funding for science and technology pry or notes? >> we have a very good relationship with the snt director and dhs. their director very recently came down to the white house complex and we gave them a full tour of our facility and what we have in place and we've worked with them, one of the biggest problem

mr. chairman. i see my time is up, i yield back and hopefully i can gain some time from other individuals down the road. >> thank the jarks mr. wahlberg. we now recognize the gentleman from new york, ms. maloney for five minutes.gentleman mr. wahlberg. we now recognize the gentleman from new york, ms. maloney for five minutes. >> the flint drinking water crisis is a national scandal and it cries out for accountability from those that are responsible. and that is what we are trying to accomplish today. i would like to begin with mayor walling. mayor walling and mr. early's statement for this committee, he made several statements that specifically concern the involvement of yourself and the city council in the decision to switch to the flint water. first, mr. early alleges and i quote, quote the concept of using the flint river is an interim water source, was inherent in the city council's kwa water authority vote. and kurtz' mark 2013 order. enquote. so mayor wall, at any time did the city council ev

mr. chairman. i will not go through all of the things i disagree of the recounting of the facts because we would be here too long and you and i have been friends for too long. i know during election year nominees in the last your of president reagan's -- >> is his mike on? >> turn your mike on. >> it is on. i don't know if is carrying. in the last year of president reagan's term, the democrats were in charge and it was presidential election year and he was going to be leaving the presidency and we voted on a supreme court nominee of president reagan. talk about partisanship. every single democrat voted for president reagan's nominee in a presidential election year. i am sorry that you feel that somehow this attention is directed at you and this is about you. it is not. it is about the constitution which is more important than you, me, or anybody else in the room. the president has a constitutionconstitutio constitutional obligation to nominate when there is a vacancy in the supreme court. we have a

mr. chairman. i return the compliments to you in the way that the two of us have worked together in a bipartisan way on a number of issues trying to blow them down to a common approach. i am encouraged that we will continue in the committee thanks to yours and your staffs approach to leadership. on behalf of senator mccaskill, which we all know is going through a difficult time, i want to ask that her letter to the commissioners and then their responses when they summit them be submitted into the record and entered into the record as a part of today's hearing. >> without objection and i would also say to my colleague from florida that i think all of us on this committee express our thoughts and prayers * colleague who is a very active and respected member of this committee, we hope and pray for a quick recovery. >> thank you mr. chairman. this is significant because it has been over a year since all five commissioners have appeared before this committee. a lot has happened in the interim. i really

mr. chairman and thank you to our panel. i'm going to continue the tradition that we are hearing on here of congressman dingell, and chairman wheeler, as you know i have legislation requiring the fcc published any rule changes on the website within 24 hours. h.r. 2589. transparency has been a priority for this administration so i find it strange that somehow balked at this proposal to do that and i would like to ask you if you yes or no questions. does the fcc had the ability to publish rule changes online within 24 hours? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. so you confirm that within 24 hours we will be able to publish that information at the fcc speak with your asking a question t we have the technical ability to publish within 24 hours. >> and your answer is yes, correct? >> yes. >> thank you. i want to move on to another subject. chairman wheeler i've been a little disturbed to read about the fcc's quote antibusiness bias in a recent hill article. the commissioner's job is to ensure that their communications workplace is functioni

mr. chairman. mr. secretary, i think you have an obligation, certainly a right to respond to something that former deputy director cia said yesterday in response to question. he said that isil is winning. and he said based on two assessmen assessments, one, although there's less caliphate territory, they seem to be spreading their influence beyond the caliphate territory. and then of course in direct reference to the attacks in brussels. so i wanted to get your assessment about whether you think isil's winning, and if not, your assessment of the former deputy director cia's comments. >> i'm not familiar with those comments. as far as the campaign is concerned, i'm confident we will defeat isil. and we have the momentum of the campaign in iraq and syria. i gave you some details about that. we're prepared to give you much more. we're doing more. we're actually looking to do yet more than that. and i'm confident it will lead to the defeat of isil in iraq and syria. it's not sufficient as the attacks in be

mr. chairman. >> senator hatch. thank you, mr. chairman. this is an interesting meeting as far as i'm concerned. the question of the vacancy by supreme court justice antonin scalia is one, not whether the senate should consider a nominee. democrats say the constitution answers this question with a prompt hearing and floor vote whenever the president chooses a nominee. everything else would not be doing our job. mr. chairman, rarely have so few words been so misleading that the constitution gives the nomination to the president and the advice and consent power. the constitution does not tell either the president. how to exercise that power. advice and consent image situation and has done so in different ways under different circumstances. of course the democrats know this is true in their past positions and actions confirm it. during the 102nd congress, then chairman joe biden is the distinguished chairman ed denied dozens of judicial nominees and recommended the supreme court vacancy occurred the entire appointment process should be deferre

mr. chairman, for mr. johnson's letter to be placed in the record. >> without objection. >> thank you very much. now, why is this issue even being raised? there is a woeful record under what we are operating under now because cable companies have really moved it at a glacial pace in their efforts to make more minority programming available to consumers. essentially, there are two or three large cable companies effectively determining today what the american public sees and how they see it. so i don't know why there is a defense of this abysmal record when we have an opportunity to open new doors to diverse programming. do you want to respond to this? >> well, thank you -- >> or would you respond, please. >> there are four african-american owned channels in the 500 channel universe on a cable system. >> four out of how many? >> in a 500 channel universe. and most of them are on the most expensive tier, by the way. >> uh-huh. >> but the interesting thing here is that there are literally hundreds of programme

mr. garrett. chairman -- >> thank you, mr. chairman. after listening to the secretary's responses to your questions or nonresponses, mr. chairman, i think anyone viewing today's hearing would say, mr. secretary, that you are the epitome of what is wrong with washington today. the disdain you have for the american people. the failure of yours to answer the simplicity of question is what is wrong with washington and why the public has the view of the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats such as yourself here today. you know, questions we put to you are basic ones and simple ones. asking sometimes for long answers and sometimes for simple short answers. i got a new phone the other day. i'm just -- curious question, do you use a cell phone, iphone or anything like that, do you carry that with you? >> i carry it but i hardly use it. >> there's almost a simple answer. so in your communications with people, whether on your phone, iphone, e-mails, letters, phone calls or other things, the chairman asked you a simple question. has anyone from the adm

mr. chairman. mr. milione, i have a few questions for you. in 1970, congress enacted the poison prevention packaging act to address aspirin overdose cases with children. and they, as part of that, a tamper resistant container was developed for that purpose. we are now dealing with a situation where there are a huge number of young people who get these opioids from their parents' medicine cabinet. and i've been made aware of a product that i'm holding right here, which costs less than a dollar. it would increase the cost of the prescription less than $1. and it is a -- it has a combination on it. it would require the parents to open that. if a child that didn't have the combination tried to get into something like this, there would be evidence of the parent that this was opened by someone that didn't have the combination. has dea looked into a packaging like this? >> congressman, obviously as the father of three, we support anything that would serve that purpose. and we are aware of that company, and that device. >> you're probably aware the c

mr. chairman, can commissioner pai respond? it's telling that on one hand we're saying that all this investment is up, infrastructure is booming, yet on the other hand just one month ago the chairman and a majority of the commission said broadband is not being reasonably and timely deployed pursuant to section 706. which is it? is the broadband infrastructure broken or is it not? i would submit to you part of the reason why it is not, part of the reason why i agreed with the chairman and my colleagues that broadband is not being reasonably deployed in a timely way is precisely because the fcc's policies have failed. this administration's policies on broadband have failed. and that's part of the reason why we see this decline in broadband infrastructure investment. there's a reason why google, for example, has a greater market capitalization than every cable company in the united states combined. it's just no accident that the regulatory infrastructure we have built is now depressing broadband investment. >> we are not seeing a d

mr. chairman. good morning to you and welcome back to the chairman and each of the commissioners. it's been four months since you've been here. i think that you have made optimum use of the four months since your last year because you are a series of actions that are being taken up at the commission that i think put consumers first, strengthen competition, and advance innovation. at the top of that list is the agency's vote last month that will make it easier for consumers to buy a set-top box or an app from someone other than their cable company. is technology neutral proposal means that any company will be able to manufacture a set-top box or design an app and sell it to consumers. should a consumer wish to continue renting their set-top box from their pay-tv provider, they can. no one is going to take it away from them. i don't know if there's that much of a love affair with a set-top box i that if they wantt they can keep it. very importantly the fcc's proposal is an opportunity to enhance acce

mr. chairman. let me thank the secretary for her attendance here today and her service to our kocountry. we appreciate the work that you're doing on behalf of america. i want to thank our chairman for not just this hearing but his commitment for our committee and the united states senate and for the congress to carry out our responsibilities on the reauthorization of the state department. i don't think there's a member of this committee that was in this senate the last time we passed an authorization bill. >> unless she was serve iing wi abe lincoln. >> it's been awhile. it's even been a longer time you have to go back to the 1980s when we reauthorized the aied program. we are hamstring the state department by our failure to pass an authorization bill. you mentioned outdated laws and that's certainly true with the fee service issues. that was developed a long time ago when the services were different than they are today. it requires an update of that authorization or we could talk about the current

mr. chairman. madam secretary, thank you for being with us. president obama pledged $3 billion for the u.n. green climate fund. congress hasn't authorized any funding for the new international climate change slush fund. the most recent appropriation prohibited the transfer of funds to create new programs. media is reporting this morning the administration deposited $500 million into the u.n. green climate fund, appears to be the latest example of the administration going around congress. because the american people don't really support what the president is doing with this initiative. so if the media reports are true, this is a blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars. so, first, did the administration deposit $500 million in the united nations green climate fund? >> thank you, senator. we have reviewed our authorities and made a determination that we can make this payment to the green climate fund. >> the question is, did the administration today, as announced, deposit $500 million into the green climat

mr. chairman. >> without objection, so ordered. >> january 18, 2015, from dwayne walling, the mayor, last paragraph on the second page, it's directed to you specifically, and he says there is nothing more important in flint right now than fixing the water problems. do you see that? >> i do. >> do you admit getting that letter? >> yes. >> the mayor asked you repeatedly to come to flint during that crisis. do you admit today you didn't show up for more than seven months after he asked you? >> actually i'm not familiar. i'd have to check my schedule. >> that's what he says. you didn't go to flint until october 2015. is that right? >> i don't know if that's correct or not. >> you don't know. you admit here today to seeing headline after headline about health problems, hair loss, rashes, e. coli, bacteria, sewage, legionnaire's disease, did you read any of those stories, governor snyder? >> congressman, i read a number of those stories. what i would tell you is those stories we would follow up on them a

mr. chairman. mr. royce: mr. rohrabacher. mr. rohrabacher: the first question i'd like to ask, i think it can be answered with a yes or no. has the defense department ever knowingly transferred a detainee to a country that did not exhibit an ability to substantially mitigate the risk or maintain control of that individual? i think a yes or no could be -- that's a very straightforward question. no? has the defense department ever sent someone to a country knowing that that country was unable to keep control of that person? mr. lewis: no. mr. wolosky: i'm not with the defense department, but i am assuming your question relates to this administration, while that was the statutory standard. mr. rohrabacher: actually i'm -- it doesn't. do you know of any examples? mr. wolosky: i can't speak to the previous administration. rohrabacher: what about this administration? is there some reason you can't say yes or no? mr. lewis: i represented department of defense. bacher:t -- mr. mohr let's leave it at knowingly. do you know of a case where

mr. chairman,. >> no, no, no. >> mr. del toro was just one of several people at region five who were concerned about the failure to implement corrosion control. it had been communicating to mde queue at higher and higher levels of epa management. >> this information was out there publicly. it had been released. you didn't like it, did you. >> mr. del toro did somebody release that report? did he do the right thing or not do the right thing question that. >> i do not believe he released the report. i think we need to be read clear. >> was that the right thing for that report to go public? >> there were three reasons they could not release the report. >> what are those? >> first it contains personal identifiable information, health information and that kind of information is not something that we could release. so before the report's release, that is typically redacted by our office. >> so a black pen would take ten seconds or so. okay, go on. >> secondly the material in the report included requirement enforcement informat

mr. chairman. we've taken the food out of the poor children's mouth, so there is money for this bill to be balanced. for those of you who need that report. this amendment is just another example of the attitude of the majority. that is, at all ought to be user fees. if you don't get any benefit from it why should we pay for it? that sounds pretty good on roads, but talk about health care for amendment. if you get sick, you're on your own, right? we don't care. we don't want everybody to of health insurance. is that what republicans are saying? over 20 million previously uninsured americans have gotten coverage under the aca. that's choke .7 million americans enrolled in the marketplace plans, 83% are consumers who qualify are tax credits valued around $300 a month. anybody who knows anything about the insurance market knows that the average family of four can't go out and buy health insurance. and that's why the credits are there. this provision in the budget that tears up those credits is simply t

mr. chairman, to fill that seat. miller was confirmed in 1862. mr. chairman, that was the last time the senate kept a supreme court seat vacant for more than a year. so it took our nation tearing apart for the senate to keep a supreme court seat vacant for more than a year. and that was the last time it happened. no supreme court seat has been kept vacant by senate inaction for over a year since that time. so what's happening today is contrary to our committee's practices. even in divided government and election years. also, no nominee for a supreme court vacancy has been denied a hearing since 1916, when the committee first started holding hearings on such nominations. that's 100 years of precedent. we have confirmed nominees in presidential election years. most recently a democratic senate confirmed justice kennedy, a republican, in the final year of reagan's term. 14 supreme court nominees in fact have been confirmed in presidential election years. clarence thomas did not receive a majority vote of support in this committee. but still he was confir

mr. chairman. mr. lew, i've got a couple of questions on a different subject here, that. >> with regard to specific designations you testified last week before the appropriations committee with regard to arbitrary thresholds for specific designations. do you believe, your response was that you oppose raising the bank threshold to specific designations to $500 billion? >> last week at the house appropriations committee, you, your response to arbitrary threshold, asset thresholds was that you oppose raising the bank specific threshold to $500 billion, is that correct? >> i commented on that issue. last year there was a proposal to go to $500 billion. $500 billion is a very large financial institution. the number is now 50. there's been a lot of debate, should it go from 50, to 100. the what i said is there's a big difference between 100 and 500. >> i guess the question becomes assets is one thing. i think we need to be looking at this based on the risk and asset makeup and liability makeup of each one of

mr. chairman. mr. cordray, i do not want you o be intimidated or to be made to feel bad by these accusations that are being made by the chairman. i would like to think that the chairman and the opposite side of the aisle are truly interested in discrimination. there's nothing in their work or their history that shows they are. and so you continue to do your work and make sure that the work that you do on disparate impact analysis is work that will benefit all of the people who are being harmed by it. and so let's get on with the real issues. let's talk about payday lending. despite the fact there is substantial support for payday operations on the opposite side of the aisle, we know that these operations have targeted minority communities and poor communities and people are getting hooked on these payday loans and i want to talk about for a minute what is happening here in florida. but before i do that, i have asked my staff to get me more information about where they are locating and how many are locat

mr. chairman? mr. chairman no.

mr. chairman. the report notes, quote, while the investment has been low the rate to payouts to shareholders in the nonfinancial firms in the share of dividends and net share buybacks is rising. returning nearly half of the funds that could be used for investment to stockholders. one possible explanation provided by the report is that, quote, the rise in pay as to shareholders may be related to the decline in the start-up rate as young firms are more likely to reinvest their cash flow than mature firms. higher share of funds returned to shareholders suggests firms had more cash than they thought they could profitably reinvest. however, the rise in share buybacks predates current economic circumstances. senator baldwin among others has pointed to a 1982 s.e.c. rule that provided for a safe harbor for manipulation liability at the beginning of the explosion of stock buybacks. prior to 1982 buybacks were a very limited use of corporate profits and buybacks as we know can make earnings reports look bet

mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you. i appreciate that. we'll turn now to mr. sablom. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and secretary, welcome. thank you for your service. many of the questions i have for secretary jewell are local in nature. i'm interested in the programs that the department funds. but there are two concerns that i have that are larger. and so let me just make that my focus right now and i'll trying to be brief. the relationship between the united states and the republic of pa low is based on the administration of ronald reagan. today with the expansion of china, reagan's foresight that palau would be an adversary. palau and the island of guam are links in a chain of violence that form a strategic perimeter to the east of china. china certainly understands how important islands can be. right now china is actually creating islands where none existed before. so i'm glad to see the department of interior with a proposal to submit their relationship between the united states an

mr. chairman. i want to thank all of our panelists. i want to thank my friend from maryland for his gracious invitation, which i will take him up on. i would love to go see what's happening in baltimore. i suspect, mr. chairman, that it is, at least on the larger scale, similar to what was happening in my own hometown, which is why i started a drug court in 2000. and in addition to that drug court, we started a drug court for expectant mothers who were using controlled substances during the course of their pregnancy because i do believe getting them off drugs is infinitely preferable to incarceration in nonviolent cases. i would also say this, mr. chairman, and to my friend from maryland, there is no joy like going to a graduation ceremony for those who have concluded drug court successfully. i have had folks that i prosecuted stop me in the grocery store to show me their certificate from their graduation. and they were prouder of that than anything you or i could have ever accomplished in our care

mr. chairman. mr. cordray, i do not want you to be intimidated or to be made to feel bad by these accusations that are being made by the chairman. i would like to think that the chairman and the opposite side of the aisle are truly interested in discrimination. there's nothing in their work or their history that shows they are. and so you continue to do your work and make sure that the work that you do on disparate impact analysis is work that will benefit all of the people who are being harmed by it. and so let's get on with the real issues. let's talk about payday lending. despite the fact there is substantial support for payday operations on the opposite side of the aisle, we know that these operations have targeted minority communities and poor communities and people are getting hooked on these payday loans and i want to talk about for a minute what is happening here in florida. but before i do that, i have asked my staff to get me more information about where they are locating and how many are loca

mr. chairman, can commissioner pai respond? > it's telling on one hand we are saying all this investment is up, infrastructure is booming. yet on the other hand one month ago the chairman and majority of the commission said broadband is not being reasonably and timely deployed pursuant to section 706. which is it, is it broken or not? >> 35 million americans don't have enough. >> i would submit to you part of the reason why it is not, part of the reason why i agreed with the chairman and my colleagues that broadband is not being reasonably deployed in a timely way is precisely because the fcc's policies have failed. this administration's policies on broadband have failed. that's part of the reason we see this decline in broadband and infrastructure investment. there's a reason why google for example has a greater market capitalization than every cable company in the united states combined. it's no accident that regulatory infrastructure we have built is now depressing broadband investment. >> we are not seeing a decline in broad

mr. chairman. >> mr.rohrabacher. >> well, the first question i'd like to ask, i think could be answered with a yes or no. it's has the defense department ever knowingly transferred a detainee to a country that did not exhibit an ability to substantially mitigate the risk or maintain control of that individual? i think a yes or no could be -- that's a very straightforward question. >> no. >> has the defense department ever sent someone to a country knowing that that person -- that country was unable to keep control of that person? >> no. >> while i'm not from the defense department, i'm assuming that your question relates to this administration, while that was the statutory standard. >> actually, it doesn't. do you know of any examples? >> i can't speak for the previous administration certainly. >> okay. well, what about this administration? can you speak to whether or not that -- the defense department has transfer a detainee to someone who -- is there some reason that you can't say yes or no? >> well --

mr. chairman, i take this moment to thank you. you didn't have to do this. i asked you for a hearing, and you granted us three hearings,

mr. chairman. it would be unwise to date with more than 19 trillion-dollar debt, the unsustainable spending or the looming deficit. we can never forget our primary obligation to provide for the common defense. that providing for the security at home and strength of god comes with a heavy responsibility. our defense budget has sunk to levels where we are struggling to try to run the manpower and this is happening is that are expanding. that means being able to fully respond to the world's threats and likewise we must provide the financial security here at home. crucial mandatory programs are driving mandatory spending and they are in jeopardy depriving mail enchant millions of benefits. we must do what needs to be done to preserve and protect these vital programs while still getting our fiscal health in order and we can do both. this provides for strength and security. it is responsible and forward-looking budget that balances and advances the right priorities and that includes to provide security a

mr. chairman. i would like to thank the secretary for coming before us to testify before the international financial system. the quarter reform package that was adopted after a five-year delay is part of the omnibus spending bill is an important achievement in reflection for the officials and democratic leaders to get this deal done. previously the failure of the congress to approve the coda had the reform in serious jeopardy with ratification now complete what is it essential to the interest is to restore some emphasis on the ongoing reform and to repair in part what has been done to the u.s. reputation for leadership. the price the administration paid included a commitment that it achieved to seek to eliminate the systemic exemption of the role that since 2010 has allowed lending even when there was a risk risk that the death was unsustainable and was used to support loans for the countries of europe. many believed they should revert back to its original access rule. i am perfectly fine using suc

mr. chairman. secretary, the continent of africa, you know, 55 countries, a population of a billion people, that population is expected to double by the year 2050. and a lot of failed states in africa we see the introduction of isis in libya, the terrorism of boca haram in nigeria, and we see the tearing apart of the newest country in the world, south sudan with a population of some 11 million people. the u.n. reported that in south sudan soldiers with government uniforms were entering united nations mission in south sudan protection of civilian camps firing on civilians and killing many of them, creating great instability. so i think when you look at particularly the activity of non-state terrorist actors, isis and boca haram, which are seemingly moving away from traditional ways of getting revenue to tax and charge protection of people, the continent of africa poses great, great challenges to the united states. what in this budget and what is the vision for the department of state with respect to

mr. chairman. >> senator hatch. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is an interesting meeting as far as i'm concerned. the question regarding the vacancy created by the death of supreme court justice antonin whetherf his when, not the senate should consider a nominee. democrats say that the constitution answers this question for us requiring a prompt hearing and floor vote whenever the president chooses a nominee. anything else they say would not be doing our job. mr. chairman, rarely have so few words been so misleading for so many. the constitution gives the nomination power to the president and the advice and consent power to the senate. the constitution does not tell either the president or the senate how to exercise their power. the senate must decide how to exercise its power of advice and consent in each situation and has done so in different ways at different times under different circumstances. knowurse the democrats that this is true and their past positions and actions confirm it. during the 102nd congress, joe dozensenied a hearing to

mr. chairman. good afternoon, mr. secretary. >> good afternoon. >> prior to my arrival here, i was a prosecuting attorney for 25 years in jog county. responsibility to represent the county and the townships in how we adapted to local zoning. i have great concern with you permanently furthering fair housing rule or affh rule. using your authority like a hammer. robbing communities of their rightful say in zoning laws. this has caused great concern throughout my district and is what i believe one of the grossest current examples of government overreach. i would like to take a few moments if we could to examine this rule and how in the eyes of your department is equipped. which area of the budget does your department plan to utilize researching, gathering the opinions of local stakeholders? >> are you referring to the work that we've already done or the work that's going to be done as part of each community's assessment of fair housing as it's rolled out now? >> yes, going forward, where in the budget do you have that pl

mr. chairman. we have taken the food out of the poor children's mouth. there is money for this bill to the balanced. those of you need that report. this amendment is just another example of the attitude of the majority. it ought to all the user fees. you don't get the benefit from and why should we pay for it? how that sounds pretty good on roads, but talk about healthcare permanent. if you get sick while you are on your own we don't care. we don't want everybody to have health insurance. over 20 million previously uninsured americans have gotten coverage under the aca. that is 12.7 million americans enrolled in the marketplace plan, 83 percent are consumers who qualify for tax credits and value to around 300 month. anyone who knows anything about the insurance market knows the average family of four cannot go out and buy health insurance. and that is why the credits are there. this provision and budget that tears out those credits is simply making way, coverage for millions of people because they