mr. cohen or ms. tavner? >> the only person within cms that has authority to change the contract in a manner that increases the government's obligation is the contracting officer. >> who was that? >> the contracting -- >> sorry? >> who was that? >> i don't have the name right at my fingertips. >> what i'm wondering here is do you know if -- what the problems of the website, it took longer to develop it. security wasn't a question. people had problems signing up. and with inconsistent or absent oversight so in some cases you're saying there were actions taken without authorization. several dozen of these? >> right. >> so people were making change orders an that was leaving problems? but there was also absent oversight so some people in charge were not meeting or pay attention or monitoring this monitoring this contract or monitoring some things and making the wrong decisions? was it both or one or the other? >> combination of things. there are a number of people with different roles to play. the

mr. cohen is no longer a cms i would very much like to see that. >> it's my understanding we recently sent it so if you don't receive it i will follow-up with your office and make sure that you have it. >> very well and i was just thinking a year ago really right now that your boss maryland taffeta was here and we talked about the upcoming launch of healthcare.gov. of course it was a little less than a month after the unilateral decision by the president to delay the employer mandate. i remember asking her about what she involved in that decision and she asserted wished -- she was not a master how she felt -- found out about it and she said her chief of staff told her which i found astonishing. and if my chief of staff gave me information like that i would be curious as to where that came from but she seemed to lack curiosity about how the decision was reached. let me ask you this. we are a year later and the employer mandate was supposed to kick in a week after election day day in november. is

mr. cohen is no longer at cms, i would like to see that. >> we sent -- we recently sent it, so if you don't receive it, i'll follow up with your office and make sure that you have it. >> very well. it is kind of -- i was thinking, it was a year ago really right now that your boss, marilyn tavenner was here and we talked about the upcoming launch of healthcare.gov. but, of course, it was just a little less than a month after the unilateral decision by the president to delay the employer mandate. i remember asking mrs. tavenner about was she involved in that destination and she asserted she was not. i asked her how she found out about it, she said her chief of staff told her, which i found rather astonishing, if my chief of staff came and gave me information like that, i would be curious where that came from. she seemed to lack curiosity about how that decision was reached. but let me ask you this. a year later, employer mandate is supposed to kick in about a week and a half after election day, i

mr. cohen know that? >> i don't know that. >> but either through lack of oversight, he should have known it, or he knew it and reported this committee under oath that everything was fine on august 1, it was going to be ready for launch. what you're telling us is there's ample evidence in what's reviewed that people within hhs knew it was not ready and people under oath told this committee something entirely different. >> i don't know what specific individuals knew or did not know, but we saw evidence in the files that we reviewed that there was knowledge within the agency that the operational readiness was in jeopardy. >> thank you. i'm over time. >> this is an important issue. so you're saying people within the agency knew that the website was not ready, correct? yes or no. >> we saw -- >> you saw it that people -- do you think that people in the agency knew that the website would collapse on october 1st? yes or no. >> i can't speak to that. >> you don't have any, do you have indication from t

mr. gary cohen. he said unambiguously that on october 1st, americans would be able to go on line, would be able to see premium net of subsidy and would be able to sign up. we all know now that those assertions were fact challenged. the center for medicare and medicaid services undertook this mammoth project without effectively planning for its development or its oversight. this has led to hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted. again, gary cohen, other hhs officials told us time and again that the website was working. that was factually incorrect. it was not working and it still may not be working because the back end systems, those systems that are responsible for actually paying providers, have not been built. consumers may believe the website is fixed because some of the front end problems have been addressed. but there is no way to verify inaccuracies about things like citizenship and income level or ensure that the correct subsidies are being paid for insurance premiums. thanks to

mr. cohen, good to have you with us.ask you, what does reverse this very long troubling trend that is out there? i mean, i know there's a political party that's doing everything to dismantle worker rights but getting them to understand it is in their favor is also part of the favor, is it not? >> absolutely. i think what we would say is we need to make those issues part after broader democracy movement. rights at work with getting big money out of politics, with voter registration and voter suppression issues. with continuing to work to get senate to function. so that when we do have a landslide election like 2008, we can actually move in and make the changes that people voted for. and those, wh we call democracy blocks, big money in politics, the way the senate operates, voter suppression, 20 million immigrants not able to vote, what these things add up to is victories for koch brothers that prevents workers rights from ever being on the national agenda. as working people, whether we have a union or not, we need to use

mr. gary cohen. he said unambiguously that on october 1st, americans would be able to go on line, would be able to see premium net of subsidy and would be able to sign up. we all know now that those assertions were fact challenged. the center for medicare and medicaid services undertook this mammoth project without effectively planning for its development or its oversight. this has led to hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted. again, gary cohen, other hhs officials told us time and again that the website was working. that was factually incorrect. it was not working and it still may not be working because the back end systems, those systems that are responsible for actually paying providers, have not been built. consumers may believe the website is fixed because some of the front end problems have been addressed. but there is no way to verify inaccuracies about things like citizenship and income level or ensure that the correct subsidies are being paid for insurance premiums. thanks to

and when mr. cohenmcast was questioned at the may 8th hearing in washington, d.c., his only answer for why they dropped rfd tv was comcast is primarily an urban clustered cable company. that really set off a firestorm not only in rural america but with a lot of rural senators and congressmen. >> you mentioned mr. cohen. he's the chief lobbyist for comcast. he has suggested and others have suggested that you're speaking out against the merger or raising concerns about the merger so that comcast will take your channel more seriously and add it to more of its channel lineups throughout the country. is that the case? >> well, as an independent channel we always struggle with getting the attention of the big cable companies. this merger has given us a chance to raise the aware nsz of rural programming and, again, it's really the audience that's concerned and the actions of comcast that bring it about. this merger is a reminder that the industry is consolidated. a handful of companies like comcast get to deci

slavitt, mr. cohen also was asked in his last appearance here in january about the issue on the risk hoarders and the risk sharing.the the question came up about whatt if there is not enough money in the risk order to actually premi cover the premium shortfalls that the insurance companies ar experiencing? and would he look to -- that was mr. cohen -- would he look to supplementing those funds from k general revenue of the treasuryf of the united states? couldn' he couldn't answer the questionf i asked him if he could provide us with a legal memorandum upon which he relied to obtain the ability to get funding from other sources if the internal funding was not enough to cover the cost of the risk corridors. that was january. i'm still waiting.that was i would like to know if i'm illa going to receive an answer to that question, and if so, when n that answer might be forthcoming. fact of the matter is, both ther department of health and human services and the white house failed to heed internal and extern

so there's enough time to fix it. >> when miss tavener or mr. cohen came before this committee within days of the launch and said everything would be fine by october 1, what you're saying to this committee is, there was ample evidence to say that was not true? >> we saw

in that manner, mr. cohen, will this motivate the union base of america to do the foot soldiering that's going to be needed to win the house? >> yeah. absolutely. and to defend the majority in the senate, right, we have 55. the koch brothers and grover norquist, they're on the attack. this is a major part of their agenda, to wipe out any voice that has any ability to fund something different than what they believe in. i'm hoping working americans, whether we have a union or not, understand what we do when we're under attack is stand up, fight back and work for a voice in our workplace, in our communities. >> all right. mr. cobe good to have you with us tonight. president of the communication workers of tamerica. now, the executive director of wisconsin jobs now. good to have you with us. we've seen the attack on labor in the state of wisconsin and there have been court rulings favorable to support the public employees losing their voice in the workplace and their power. is the gop attack on the nlrb political?

. >> thank you, mr. cohen. mr. south -- or dr. south? >> it is a privilege to provide you with my views of forest and wildfires. foresters know there are many examples how human activity affects both the total number and size of wildfires. policymakers who halt active forest management and kill green harvesting jobs really end up contributing to the buildup of fuels in the forest. this eventually increases the risk of catastrophic wildfires. to attribute this human-caused increase in fire risk to carbon dioxide emissions is simply unscientific. in today's world of climate alarmism, accuracy doesn't seem to matter. i am, therefore, not surprised to see many journalists spreading the idea carbon emissions cause large wildfires. there is a well-known point called the serenity prayer. it states, god grant me the serenity to change the things i can, the courage to accept the things i cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference. now that i'm 65, i realize that i can't change the behavior of the media. i can't change the weather. early in my

the gentlemen from tennessee mr. cohen. >> these issues affect my voter. second chance opportunity for employment is one i hear most from voters. someone had a conviction and can't get a job. a continuing cycle. but more fundamental is the loss of right to vote. and i don't know if this has been addressed extensively, but do either of you know the history of that particular law? i was reading about civil death or however it is called and that seemed to take away your right to vote and everything else. and being described as barbarous and condemned by justice and reason and morality. but we have these laws, does maryland have a law like that, mr. heck? ... >> i have my own thoughts. i don't know but i'll tell you this, by the history of disenfranchisement, by the time i get back to new york this afternoon i will know and i will get that to you. >> i think the history goes back to jim crow. and i think is kind of a sudden thing. and if you look at the -- southern thing. if you look at the states had those lost their general the same states that justice rober

mr. copley asked -- connolly asked unanimous consent that gentleman from tennessee, will cohen, be allowed to participate on this panel. without objection, so ordered. and we're also joined by mr. davis who will be recognized after mr. connolly because he is on the committee but not the subcommittee, and then we'll go in alphabetical order, and we'll hear from mr. blumenauer. mr. connolly, you're up. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for holding this hearing. to examine the federal response to state marijuana laws. i want to be clear from the outset, i'm not unsympathetic to the concerns raised by skeptics on decriminalization. as a child of the '60s, i witnessed firsthand the ravages of drug abuse among so many friends and so many idols my generation had in both hollywood and in the music scene. i count myself, frankly, a skeptic. further, as a former senior professional staff member in the senate foreign relations committee, one of my jobs was the authorization of the international narcotics matter bureau of the state department, and i traveled the world looking at production and

i recognize the gentleman from maine, mr. cohen, for three minutes. >> i would like to direct my attention to the final sentence of this paragraph. the president attempted to prejudice the constitutional rights of the adusd a fair trial. several days ago the gentleman from new jersey made a statement we must view the totality of the evidence. i have to agree. he's correct. only by viewing all of the evidence can we trace the threads of attitude and action that we have a pattern of spirit and conduct that's the very basis of our investigation. i want to call your attention to the september 15, '72, conversation between the president mr. haldeman, mr. dean whereby mr. dean indicated, he's talking about edward been knit williams at which time the president said we're going after him. haldeman this is a guy we got ruin. i'm skipping on to page 10, i think we'll fix and i'm paraphrasing the s.o.b., believe me we're going to, we got to because he's a bad man. this statement is relevant with respect to the ellsberg matter because mr. cols

first i want to agree with the gentleman from maine, mr. cohen, that the approach to judge burn about possible employment as the new head of the fbi was certainly, highly improper. and to discuss with any judge in the progress of a trial, particularly the trifle major importance such as this -- trial of major importance such as this, possible promotion, if it was a promotion just seems to me so obviously inappropriate that i am surprised and disappointed that this was done. by a representative of the president, conversation which the president himself participated very briefly, not dealing with the actual subject of the appointment, but i'm also disappointed that judge burn would entertain such an approach in any degree. he did not, of course, declare a mistrial on that ground. he declared a mistrial when the government disclosed that there had been this invasion of dr. fieldings rights by the break-in. this information was furnished voluntarily, all be it reluctantly by the president after it became known to him upon the advice of council, i bel

cohen. supervisor farrell. supervisor kim. supervisor mar. supervisor tang. supervisor wiener. supervisor yee. mr. president, all members are present >> ladies and gentlemen, please join us in the pledge of allegiance. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. colleagues, we have meeting minutes from june 24th as well as june 23rd and 25th do i hear a motion to approve the minutes wksz those are approved >> madam clerk that any communications. >> none. >> consent are considered to be routine and may be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the commission. arrest roll call >> supervisor mar. supervisor tang. supervisor wiener. supervisor yee. supervisor avalos. supervisor breed. supervisor campos. supervisor chiu. supervisor cohen. supervisor farrell. supervisor kim. there are 11 i's >> those resolutions are adapted item 3. >> an ordinance to authorize the department of public health to enter into operating leases for equipment. >> colleagues, same house, same call? we'll take that without objection. >> item 4 the reoperate $23

cohen. supervisor farrell. supervisor kim. supervisor mar. supervisor tang. supervisor wiener. supervisor yee. mr. president, all members are

cohen. supervisor farrell. supervisor kim. supervisor mar. supervisor tang. supervisor wiener. supervisor yee. mr. president, all members are present >> ladies and gentlemen, please join us in the pledge of allegiance.

cohen did not reveal any injuries indicating mr.s had been in a struggle or physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. the preliminary and again i say preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that mr. williams life ended from asphyxia due to hanging. >> everyone from politicians to performers have paid tribute to the master of stage and screen. each of us has a favorite robin williams role, a favorite robin williams moment. he reached audiences across the world but the way he touched his fellow comedians cannot be overstated. friend and entertaining billy crystal said simply there are no words. one comedian reflected on her time doing stand-up in the late '80s, one late night set brought the unexpected break she needed. sitting in the audience was robin williams and had career had already taken off to epic proportions but just there to watch that night. he laughed the hardest in the crowd and approached the comic to tell her to keep going. that comedian joins me now, liz winst

cohen. supervisor farrell. supervisor kim. supervisor mar. supervisor tang. supervisor wiener. supervisor yee. mr. president, all members are present >> ladies and gentlemen, please join us in the pledge of allegiance. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. colleagues, we have meeting minutes from june 24th

mr. chairman, in this open session. thank you. >> secretary cohen. >> chairman menendez, ranking member corker, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for your invitation to appear before you today along with my colleague undersecretary sherman to discuss the extended joint plan of action. i will focus my oral testimony on efforts to maintain intense pressure on iran to help achieve a successful outcome in negotiations over its nuclear program and the ever-mounting pressure iran will continue to face during the extended joint plan of action, period, as the p 5 plus 1 seeks a parensive and long-term resolution to the international community's concerns over iran's nuclear program. when we announced the joint plan last november we said we did not expect the relief package in the jpoa to materially improve the iranian economy and it hasn't. the depths of iran's economic distress, distress that resulted in large measure from the collaborative efforts of congress, the administration, and our international partners, dwarfed the limited relief in

joseph cohen, which is the sheriff's office for marin county's chief forensic pathologist did not reveal any injuries indicating mr. williams had been in a struggle or a physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. the preliminary, and i again say, preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that mr. williams' life ended from asphyxia due to hanging. toxicology testing will be conducted to determine if mr. williams had any chemical substances in his system at the time of his death. toxicology results will be available -- excuse me, will not be available for approximately two to six weeks while the testing is being performed. please note that this is an active investigation into the cause, manner, and circumstances of mr. williams' death. the work of the coroner's office is not complete at this time. the final cause and manner of death will not be certified until a conclusion of the investigation, which is several weeks away. when the investigation is concluded, and our final results are ready for dissemination, a press conference will be scheduled at that time. a

joseph cohen, who is the sheriff's office for marin county chief forensic pathologist did not reveal any injuries indicating mr. williams had been in a struggle for physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. preliminary, and again i say preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that mr. williams's life ended from a a fix yaw due to hanging. -- a fix yaw. 69 toxicology testing will be conducted to determine if mr. williams had any chemical substances within his system at the time of his death. toxicology results will be available, excuse me, will not be available for approximately two to 60 weeks while the test something being performed. please note that this is an active investigation into the cause, manner and circumstances of mr. williams's death. the work of the coroner's office is not complete at this time. the final cause and manner of death will not be certified until the conclusion of the investigation which is several weeks away. when the investigation is concluded, and our final results are ready for dissemination, a press conference will be sche

joseph cohen, who's the sheriff's office's chief forensic pathologist, did not reveal any injuries indicating mr. williams had been in a struggle or a physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. the preliminary, and i again say preliminary, results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that mr. williams' life ended from asphyxia due to a hanging. toxicology testing will be conducted to determine if mr. williams had any chemical substances in his system at the time of his death. toxicology results will be available -- excuse me, will not be available for approximately two to six weeks while the testing is being performed. please note that this is an active investigation into the cause, manner, and circumstances of mr. williams' death. the work of the coroner's office is not complete at this time. the final cause and manner of death will not be certified until the conclusion of the investigation, which is several weeks away. when the investigation is concluded and our final results are ready for dissemination, a press conference will be scheduled at that time

joseph cohen, the sheriff's office for marin county chief forensic pathologist, did not reveal any injuries indicating mr. williams had been in a struggle or a physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. the preliminary and i again say preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that mr. williams' life ended from asphyxia due to hanging. toxicology testing will be conducted to determine if mr. williams had any chemical substances in his system at the time of his death. toxicology results will be available -- will not be available for approximately two to six weeks while the testing is being performed. please note that this is an active investigation into the cause, manner and circumstances of mr. williams' death. the work of the coroner's office is not complete at this time. the final cause and manner of death will not be certified until a conclusion of the investigation which is several weeks away. when the investigation is concluded, and our final results are ready for dissemination, a press conference will be scheduled at that time. additionally, i

joseph cohen, who is the sheriff's office for morin county chief forensic pathologist did not reveal any injuries indicating mr. williams had been in a struggle or a a physical altercation prior to him being located deceased. the preliminary and i again say preliminary results of the forensic examination revealed supporting physical signs that mr. williams' life ended ended from asphyxia e to hanging. toxicology testing will be conducted to determine if mr. williams had any chemical substances in his system at the time of his death toxicology results will not be available for approximately 2 to 6 weeks while the testing is being performed please note this is an investigation into the cause manner and circumstances plaintiff williams' death. the work of the coroner's office is not complete at this time. the final cause and manner of death will not be certified until conclusion of the investigation which is several weeks away. when the investigation is concluded, and our final results are ready for dissemination, a press conference will be scheduled at that time. additionally, i have received numerous requests f

cohen thank you. for being on the left or. when the obama supporters to the phones all but mr miller get rich. or that is politically correct that i'm correcting fox news is tucker carlson as usual fox news has been hard at work drumming up fear among the american public for the last few weeks the argument has been the network has been arguing that american born children aren't getting a good education why because of a flood of undocumented immigrant children in our nation's schools therefore they've been arguing taxpayer funds should not be used to educate undocumented immigrant children on monday fox so-called news's tucker carlson continue to echo those sentiments. you say they have an obligation it's of the federal law right the that they have to educate kids and show up here illegally but what about the rights of the kids who are born here the american citizens who presumably have a right to a decent education and aren't getting one because of this fact but here's the thing back in one nine hundred eighty one in the case of plier the doe the supreme court ruled that a texas state statute

mr. smika reported him as behaving erratically. they thought that he was using drugs and just kind of going downhill fast. we also interviewed another witness. jeff cohend of sid's. we learned from jeff that everybody had been up the night before into the early morning hours of august 1st. he told us that what was supposed to happen that evening or early morning was thayne was supposed to return some money to sid and in addition to paying the rent, was also going to give sid some additional money and some cocaine. jeff told us that his friend sid had been selling small amounts of cocaine in the previous months, and that sid had suspected that thayne smika was stealing cocaine from sid. it's our belief that thayne smika that night didn't have the cocaine or the money to give back to sidney wells. >> i'm the father of a college student, and i think it would be very naive to not think that your college-aged son might be trying recreational drugs. he might sell recreational drugs here or there. it's not a reason for someone to kill sid wells. it's not a reason for police not to investigate this case. sid wells was murdered in cold blood. that's what this c

mr. williams was transported to the scene to the morgue by the coroner division pending an investigation which was conducted prior to this press conference. the examination conducted by joseph cohen, the chief forensic p pat thhologist did not reveal a struggle. his life ended due to asphyxia due to hanging. toxicology tests will be conducted to determine if he had any chemical substances in his system at the time of his death. toxicology results will be available -- excuse me. will not be available for approximately two to six weeks while the testing is being performed. please note, this is an active investigation into the cause, manner, and circumstances of mr. williams' death. the work of the coroner's office is not complete at this time. the final cause and manner of death will not be certified until the conclusion of the investigation which is several weeks away. when the investigation is concluded and our final results are ready for dissemination, a press conference will be scheduled at that time. additionally, i have received numerous requests for copies of 911 and dispatch recordings as well as investigative reports. please note, each request will be handled in accordance