mr. cummings. by the way, slight detour. i mentioned that mostly chair is when i talked about these past investigations. the ranking member with dick cheney, i don't know if you quite see him as your sort of model, but i will say that -- >> i do. [laughter] >> i will remain silent on that one. >> anyway, i gave the iran-contra committee many examples going full speed ahead. at the other end, i decided the ad scam committee in my memo. and that was a committee which said we need to be extremely cautious. we don't want to get in the way we are going to asking for nerve center testimony at the heart, and so they held off. they had a discussion to talk about and he decided with the justice department to behaving properly and respectfully toward the committee, telling it what there was. they decided that they would wait until the trials were over. i mentioned that because that was an fbi informant investigation, because of the way abscam had been done. and just like the atf investigation, something important for congress to do. i

mr. chairman and ranking member cummings. i appreciate the opportunity for crs to be invited here to testify on behalf of that institution, we thank you for all of the work that you do for us, and we hope that we can continue top of service to the committee as we move forward. like my former colleague, mort rosenberg, i want to focus a little bit more on sort of the traditional history and sort of lay the groundwork for the congressional prerogative here and the constitutional basis sis for the power the committee is asserting to exercise. it's important to note, and i think our written testimonies do so note, that there is a long and consistent practice of legislative oversight of the other branches of government, be they either executive branches or in some cases judicial branch and oversight of the courts. that history goes all the way back to the british parliament and the parliament against the crown. it was connell firmed and practiced by the various clone call legislatures. the early congresses made no hesitation about

mr. cummings. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, i want to submit our letter for the record requesting the minority day of hearings. it's dated june 15th, today. >> thank you. i'm in receipt of your request. >> i'm asking that it be admitted into the record, mr. chairman. signed by members of -- >> certainly. without objection, so ordered. >> thank you very much. i want to say this to you, mr. weich. i'm sitting here listening to all this and i want you to take a message back. some kind of way, we've got to establish the majority has some concerns and i think many of them probably quite legitimate, and there has to be a balance here. i'm always concerned about people possibly dying as a result of something we might do in this committee. i'm concerned about murderers getting off. i spent a phenomenal amount of time trying to protect witnesses. i submitted legislation that has been held up in the senate side by the other side trying to protect witnesses. i believe in ultimate cooperation between law enforcement and public. i

mr. chairman, ranking member cummings -- >> please pull the mike a little closer and make sure that's on. >> is that better? mr. chairman, ranking member coming, other honorable members of this committee thank you. begin with my military service and continuing through today i'm proud to have spent my entire adult life in service to this country. to defend its constitution with my allegiance pledged to this republic. i spent the vast majority of my law enforcement career conducting criminal investigations with the particular focus on those involving the trafficking of narcotics and firearms. i have been involve in countless investigations and arrest from basic misdeamnors to complex conspiracies. many times as an undercover. i have made thousands of investigative stops and scores of arrest and testified many time in fed and state courts often as a qualified expert. do i not appear before you as some remote observer of these events casting a judgmental finger over the actions of other. acome bearing only my firsthand account. i've not the burdens of rendering judgment, determining responsib

mr. chaman, ranking member cummings -- >> please pull the mike a little oser and make sure that's on. >> is that better? mr. chairman, ranking member coming, other honorable members of this committee thank you. begin with my military service and continuing through today i'm proud to have spent my entire adult life in service to this country. to defend its constitution with my allegiance pledged to this public. i spent the vast majority of my law enforcement career conducting crimil investigations with the particular focus on those involving the trafficking of narcotics and firearms. i have been involve in countless investigations and arrest from basic misdeamnors to complex conspiracies. many times as an undercover. i have made thousands of investigative stops and scores of arrest and testified many time in fed and state courts often as a qualified expert. do i not appear before you as some remote observer of these events casting a judgmental finger over the actions of other. acome bearing only my firsthand account. i've not the burdens of rendering judgment, determining responsibility or

mr. chairman, ranking member cummings -- >> please pull the mike a little closer and make sure that's on.tter? mr. chairman, ranking member coming, other honorable members of this committee thank you. begin with my military service and continuing through today i'm proud to have spent my entire adult life in service to this country. to defend its constitution with my allegiance pledged to this republic. i spent the vast majority of my law enforcement career conducting criminal investigations with the particular focus on those involving the trafficking of narcotics and firearms. i have been involve in countless investigations and arrest from basic misdeamnors to complex conspiracies. many times as an undercover. i have made thousands of investigative stops and scores of arrest and testified many time in fed and state courts often as a qualified expert. do i not appear before you as some remote observer of these events casting a judgmental finger over the actions of other. acome bearing only my firsthand account. i've not the burdens of rendering judgment, determining responsibility or holdi

mr. chairman, ranking member cummings, >> please pull the mike closer. >> is that better? thisr hon. members of committee, i thank you. beginning with a military service and continuing through to this day, i am proud to spend nearly my entire adult life in service to this country under sworn oath to to vent its constitution with my allegiance always pledged to this republic. spent the vast majority of law enforcement career conducting criminal investigations with a focus on those involving the trafficking of narcotics and firearms. i have been involved in countless investigations from misdemeanors to conspiracies. many times as an undercover agent, i have made thousands of investigative arrest and testified many times in federal and state courts across the country. i do not appear before you as some remote observer of these events. i, as i have been asked to do bearing only my firsthand account. i do not have the burdens of rendering judgment, the turning responsibility, or holding others responsible. i yield of those to this committee. through this process, hopefully some result may

mr. cummings. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, i want to submit our letter for the record requesting the minority day of hearings. it's dated june 15th, today. >> thank you. i'm in receipt of your request. >> i'm asking that it be admitted into the record, mr. chairman. signed by members of -- >> certainly. without objection, so ordered. >> thank you very much. i want to say this to you, mr. weich. i'm sitting here listening to all this and i want you to take a message back. some kind of way, we've got to establish the majority has some concerns and i think many of them probably quite legitimate, and there has to be a balance here. i'm always concerned about people possibly dying as a result of something we might do in this committee. i'm concerned about murderers getting off. i spent a phenomenal amount of time trying to protect witnesses. i submitted legislation that has been held up in the senate side by the other side trying to protect witnesses. i believe in ultimate cooperation between law enforcement and public. i

mr. cummings. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, i want to submit our letter for the record requesting the minority day of hearings. it's dated june 15th, today. >> thank you. i'm in receipt of your request. >> i'm asking that it be admitted into the record, mr. chairman. signed by members of -- >> certainly. without objection, so ordered. >> thank you very much. i want to say this to you, mr. weich. i'm sitting here listening to all this and i want you to take a message back. some kind of way, we've got to establish the majority has some concerns and i think many of them probably quite legitimate, and there has to be a balance here. i'm always concerned about people possibly dying as a result of something we might do in this committee. i'm concerned about murderers getting off. i spent a phenomenal amount of time trying to protect witnesses. i submitted legislation that has been held up in the senate side by the other side trying to protect witnesses. i believe in ultimate cooperation between law enforcement and public. i

mr. kumming -- cummings while we wait for mr. kucinich. >> without question, the most lasting implications to general motors, hundreds of thousands of jobs saved and the hundreds of american communities spared in the further suffering. july 5th, 2009, the united states bankruptcy court for the 7th strict of new york issued a decision concluding that if the federal government had not come to gm's aid, the firm would have liquidated. there are no americaer partners, acquirers, or investors able and will be, other than the u.s. treasury and the credit agency. there are no lenders willing and able to finance gm's continued operation. end of quote. gm liquidation would have been a significant loss to the country and would have been devastating to every community that's home to a gm plant or a gm part supplier or a gm dealer. faced with this crisis, the bush administration extended $4 billion to gm in december 2008 and an additional $5.4 billion in 2009. when the obama administration took over, they required that gm and chrysler implem

after graduating suma cum laude from ucla, mr. simon attended harvard law school where he again graduated with honors cum laude. mr. simon began his legal career in the department of justice antitrust division where he served as trial attorney for five years. during his time working in washington, d.c., mr. simon also volunteered for and served as special u.s. attorney for the eastern district of virginia, and it was through his work at the antitrust division that mr. simon made one of his most notable contributions, and that was a contribution to strengthening consumer protection law, and as the distinguished president of the senate knows from his days in connecticut as attorney general how important it is that there be public advocates for consumer rights because so often this is a field that gets shortshrift. people say they are for the rights of consumers, but these cases can be hard and time consuming to bring and that's what michael simon did and did so well. working on behalf of the department of justice on the case of unite

after graduating summa cum laude from ucla, mr. simon attended harvard law school where he graduated cum laude. he began his legal career in the department of justice's antitrust division where he served as a trial attorney for five years. during this time, he also volunteered for and served as a special assistant u.s. attorney for the eastern district of virginia. mr. simon is currently a partner of perkins and kuhey where he worked since 1996 and earned a reputation as a legal star. he has engaged in pro bono work and volunteered for many nonprofit organizations. he has served as an adjunct faculty member at lewis and clarke law school teaching antitrust law and drawing on his earlier life experience. he has served as a pro tempore judge in a circuit court. in the courts, michael has made his name as a staunch defender of consumer protection, antitrust laws, and the first amendment. he has found the time to be deeply involved in his community displaying a commitment to volunteerism. for years michael has been a participant of the

mr. chairman, committee members, ranking member cummings. i appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today. while there have been numerous reports and studies completed in the -- in relation to the bp oil spill disaster, the reality continues to unfold and the intermediate and long-term obstacles and effects are just coming into focus. the experiences and lessons learned through the first year of the oil spill of the remaining years of the oil spill recovery. [inaudible] >> instances of those directly or indirectly impacted by the spill are directed by insights. my hope that the message delivered is not lost in the corporate world of spin marketing or the exposes designed to essentiallialize the event and without the attention it is warranted. insight 1 hold the responsible people more responsible. theories some things in our social disaster, if you make a mess, clean it up. there's been an ever present allowing in this disaster that allowing bp to make it right on their own terms not on the impact of states, communities, businesses and

mr. chairman, committee members, ranking members cummings, i appreciate the opportunity to speak with youhave been numerous reviews, reports, and studies completed in the -- in relation to the bp oil spill disaster, the reality of the impact continued to unfold and intermediate and long term obstacles and affects are just coming into focus. the experiences and lessons learned through the first year of the oil spill -- remaining years of the oil spill recovery. those directly and indirectly impacted by the spill are offered as just that, insights. my hope is that the message delivered is not lost in the corporate world of spin markets or spinoff media expose designed to sensationalize the event and leave the victims and the coast without the attention it is warranted. insight one, hold the responsible party accountable. there are a few axiums of our society that we learned. if you make a mess, clean it up. as simple as it sounds, there's been an allowance that allows bp to make it right on their own terms and not based on the impacted states, communities, businesses, and individuals. unlik

mr. chairman, committee members, ranking members cummings, i appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today. while there have been numerous reviews, reports, and studies completed in the -- in relation to the bp oil spill disaster, the reality of the impact continued to unfold and intermediate and long term obstacles and affects are just coming into focus. the eperiences and lessons learned through the first year of the oil spill -- remaining years of the oil spill recovery. those directly and indirectly impacted by the spill are offered as just that, insights. my hope is that the message delivered is not lost in the coorate world of spin markets or spinoff media expose designed to sensationalize the event and leave the victims and the coast without the attention it is warranted. insight one, hold the responsible party accountable. there are a few axiums of our society that we learned. ifyou make a mess clean it up. as simple as it sounds, there's been an allowance that allows bp to make it right on their own terms and not based on the impacted states, communities, businesses, and ind

mr. rusco. >> thank you. chairman issa, ranking member cummings, and members of the committee, i'm pleased to speak with you today about the department of interiors challenges associated with managing federal oil and gas in the aftermath of the macondo oil spill. interior leases federal lands and waters for oil and gas exploration, development, and production. these activities provide a domestic source of energy, create jobs, and raise revenues that are shared between federal, state, and tribal governments. revenue generated from oil and gas on federal lands and waters is one the largest nontax sources of federal government funds, totally billions of dollars annually. the deadly explosion on board the deepwater horizon and resulting oil spill emphasize the importance of interior permitting and inspection processes to ensure environmental safety. as found by the national commission on the bp deepwater horizon and offshore drill, it was a step of several missteps by bp, haliburton, and transocean, which government regulators lack the authority, necessary resources, and technical expertise to prevent. in recent year