mr. connolly: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this resolution and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. connolly: winston churchill was prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1950 to 1955, was one of the renowned leaders of the 20th century. he was renound for leading his nation through most of world war ii and in addition to his oratory skills, he was a talented writer and painter and the only british prime minister to receive the nobel prize in literature for his numerous works, including a six-volume set, "the second world war." he served in the british house of commons and as a cabinet minister in several posts before being selected prime minister in 1940. a great ally to the united states in world war ii, he was the architect of the grand alliance with the united states and the soviet union, he forged a strong relationship with president franklin delano roosevelt and the two had numerous meetings shaping the direction of the w

mr. connolly: thank you, mr. chairman. h.r. 3010 seductively titled the regulatory accountability act, would block every single new or pending federal regulation, including those regulations congress has already directed agencies to write. this bill would block tougher food safety oversight funding to last year's salmonella outbreak. it would gut public health law jeopardizing clean air, water and workplace safety. it would repeal 25 separate public health consumer protection and environmental laws congress has already passed. no wonder the statement of administration policy said the president would veto the bill if passed. with this legislation, the house republican leadership has attempted to pass more than 170 pieces of legislation, riders to amendments to attack public health and the environment. but h.r. 3010's impacts would not stop here. the consumer financial protection bureau and securities and exchange commission would not be able to implement consumer protections mandated by law, including commonsense rules like

mr. connolly: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this legislation. one year ago today, belarus president aleksandr lukashenka staged a fraudulent election. after tens of thousands of ordinary belarussians protested, he arrested hundreds of them, including those who dared to run against him. last may most were convicted and handed heavily sentences of up to six years in prison. since then the lukashenka regime has continued to harass members of opposite parties, suppress belarusans access to free information. when citizens of belarus gathered over several weeks to protest peacefully over lukashenka and his regime he had them arrested for simply clapping their hands. just last month, the government tightened restrictions in the ability of civil society groups to receive foreign grants and placed even greater restrictions on peaceful protests. the obama administration, to its credit, has led the strong international reaction to the fraudulent elections, postelection crackdown and further deterioration of the human rights situation in belarus. on februar

mr. connolly. >> thank you mr. chairman. found myself mostly in agreement with your opening statement. and i think to be intellectually honest if you are right. if the goal is to lessen reliance on foreign oil il especially from areas in the world that are problematic for lots of different reasons frankly everything's got to be on the table. doesn't mean we have to prove everything but it does mean intellectually to be honest everything is going to be examined forthrightly on its merits so i applaud you for that principle because i think that guides what we do and frankly with respect to me on the keystone pipeline isn't an ideological issue for me. in the spirit of being intellectually honest, a couple of points. does transcanada now have the determinants of vancouver? >> vancouver, yes. is there a line that ends in vancouver? i don't know whether transcanada has aligned. >> our tar sands product to the point of vancouver. i don't know. >> i have a map that says there is a pipeline that runs to the canadian west coast from

mr. connolly: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. chairman, i yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. fitzpatrick: i thank the chairman. over the past year i met with hundreds of businesses throughout the eighth district of pennsylvania, and from each of them i heard a common theme -- uncertainty from consent new government regulations is impeding their ability and willingness to invest in our economy. expand their businesses and to create new jobs. in fact last night during a town hall, one of my constituents lamented at the fact that new and burdensome regulations have driven small businesses and with them jobs from his bristol township in bucks county. this should come to no surprise to any of us. even president obama admitted on january 18 that his administration's rules have placed unnecessary strain on businesses and stifled innovation and stifled job growth. today, small businesses spend more than $10,000 per employee to

mr. connolly, for five minutes. mr. connolly: i thank the speaker. all of us join in our colleague in honoring that fallen hero. congressmen must act now to extend the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance, and domestic renewable energy tax incentives. the effects of the great recession continue to linger in this economy which is why a moreau bust recovery has not taken -- more robust recovery has not taken hold. the act last year provided what momentum we have, the official unemployment rate has not fallen to 8.6% as a result of 120,000 new jobs created just last month. that's the lowest level in more than two years and marks 21 incentive months of private sector job growth. . but these gains will be at risk if congress fails to extend the payroll tax cut before the end of this year. the payroll tax cut provides the average american worker $1,000 to spend or invest every year, having a positive impact throughout the economy. economic analysts at barkley's estimates that it will add another 1% to gross domestic product growth. $250 billion in econo

mr. connolly, for five minutes. mr. connolly: mr. speaker, once again we're presented with a false choice today. in the hours and wonderland world of the house, republicans oppose payroll tax cuts unless it can be used as a vehicle to cut unemployment benefits. according to the majority, it isn't worth passing a simple payroll tax cut without eviscerating -- payroll tax cut extensions must be accompanied by measures to punish federal employees and civil servants like border security agents and f.b.i. agents and, of course, the majority seems singularly incapable of writing any bill, especially this time of the year, christmas, that doesn't contain several special provisions to benefit the big oil and giveaways. sadly, this bill is consistent with republican pattern of extortion. on behalf of an extreme special interest agenda. furloughing f.a.a. employees, blocking appointment of the director of the environmental protection consumer bored. president obama sent a simple legislative package to congress -- extend the payroll tax cuts, s

mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. connolly: i thank my friend. mr. speaker, unrelated riders have received scores in the past. in 2008, now speaker boehner mentioned his strong distaste stating, attaching these riders is the sort of stunt that's made americans extremely cynical about washington. but when finally agreeing to a vote on a payroll cut for 160 million americans this bill is riddled with riders. preventive health care, for example, prevents illness and lowers cost. when getting free preventive service recipients enrolled. this bill cuts that. why? it's a rider. what does payroll tax cuts and oil have in common? one said we should debate the keystone pipeline and payroll tax cut separately. it's a rider in this bill. mercury, arsenic and other toxins, what does gutting the clean air act have to do with payroll tax cuts? nothing. it's a rider. i strongly support extending the payroll tax cut to help 160 million americans, but first we need to cut the partisan riders. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the g

mr. connolly is on his way and if he doesn't make it we are going to have to wrap up without him. all right. i want to thank the witness for his testimony. that was excellent. if there are no objections members will have five days to submit statements and questions for the record. if there is no further business before the committee we are adjourned. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> up next on c-span2 a former nhl hockey player who was abused as a child tells a pal more education is needed to combat sexual abuse of children. congressional leaders reached a deal thursday to fund the government through next fall and are now considering a short-term payroll tax cut extension and jobless benefits. the senate gavels in at 10:00 eastern. legislative work begins at noon. >> or watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs weekdays featuring live coverage of the u.s. senate. weeknights what the public policy events and every weekend the latest nonfiction authors and books on wikipedia--on booktv. you can join in the conversation on social media sites. >> now a senate panel exam

mr. connolly, for five minutes. >> you've testified that you were not an expert in all aspects of any business, no one really does. but help us understand your appreciation for the duty that fcm's have to maintain segregated accounts. wasn't something you are aware of? >> yes or spent was a summit in our position that when the report was prepared, the next morning after yesterday's close of business, that was out of whack, there jobless, and she down and show that you? did the issue of segregated funds rise in your mind's? >> if they were an outage it would be brought up, and exception. >> would that have been something yo you would have been made aware of or is that someone else in your organization? >> if there would have been an unreconciled circumstance, i believe it would have been raised to my attention. >> just trying to get a sense of how important mf global's team felt sucker your accounts were. that's the one area of this aspect that we are supposed to be paying attention to. in terms of tone from the top, many organizations take on the attitude of their leadership with respect to co

mr. connolly, which elect to make a statement? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the ranking member for his graciousness and ought to thank them for the opportunity to address national security issues is interrelated. given the promise of the debate about the keystone accel pipeline in the house pair of tax bill, like you mr. chairman of going to focus my comments on that issue appeared the international agency recently issued its world energy outlook, which contained one notable piece of good news. u.s. dependent on foreign and particularly middle eastern oil is projected to decline. in contrast to china, india and europe. according to the iaea the primary reason for the decline is the adoption of aggressive vehicle deficiency standards, which will increase corporate average fuel economy standards to 54.5 miles by the year 2025. they protect the increase also will make a contribution to reduce foreign oil dependence though according to the iaea, that could increase a much smaller impact than actual vehicle efficiency standards. proponents of the keystone

mr. connolly, for a purpose of a question. >> in serving his country a second time in making sure that taxpayers' investments are protected and assisting when many others might be daunted. i also want to say to our colleague, if he's still here, i guess mr. gowdy isn't here, but if mr. gowdy is serious about toughening up the criminal penalties, he will final allies on the side of the aisle. our subcommittee has pointed out there are every year 125 billion dollars in improper payments. now, sometimes it's innocent. mistaken billing. somebody gets paid or gets double paid. somebody what's not qualified to get a benefit gets a benefit. i know that u.s. attorneys' offices are consumed with medicare and medicaid fraud. the u.s. attorney's office in boston just announced a $3 billion recovery. that's one out of 99 u.s. attorneys' offices. so we now it's out there. if we eliminated improper payments, by the way, we could give a christmas gift to the supercommittee of $1.25 trillion over the next 10 years. without breaking a sweat, without affecting anyone's benefits, without having political drama --

mr. connolly: who are we kidding? the republican leadership is ignoring an 89-10 vote in the united states senate and they want us to believe they support the underlying bill of 12 months. that's not what they've said all year long. the speaker, who was just here a few minutes ago, dismissed the payroll tax itself as gimmick. the minority leader has said -- the majority leader said there are better ways to grow the economy. tell that to the 160 million americans whose taxes will increase in january 1. republicans consistently chipped away at medicare and managed to eliminate it completely in a voucher system with the ryan budget earlier this year. tell that to the 48 million seniors who are at risk if we don't take care of the doctors' bill through the s.g.r. and republicans have made no secret of their desire to gut unemployment insurance, despite the fact that it actually helps keep the economy moving during down times. more than 2.3 million americans will lose benefits if we don't pass this bill and millions more w

mr. connolly will be next followed by mr. scott. the committee stands in recess until the conclusion of these boats. please promptly returned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] what the hearing of the committee on agriculture for the mf global bankruptcy will come back into session. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. conoway. >> ms. sommers, mr. koback, thank you for being here. ms. sommers, when you get these daily reports, with respect to the segregated accounts, you never expect to get one that shows any breach of segregation. is that the norm? >> we do not normally get daily segregation records. >> but if you got them, you would normally see them to be clear that the segregated funds are there? >> absolutely. >> you're relying on the integrity of management and the employees of the fcm to report -- to prepare the reports properly? >> they are required to report to us if they are under segregation, and that has happened. >> so when