mr. cummings: yes, mr. speaker. simpson-bowles commission in support of a bill, simpson-bowles commission was a comprehensive deficit reduction proposal that called for shared sacrifice from all groups of americans. i see only one group of americans being asked to sacrifice in this bill and that's federal employees. studies conducted by the congressional budget office, the american enterprise institute, and heritage foundation rely upon u.s. census bureaus current population survey which consists of self-reported data from surveys of households. this data is not as reliable as the data tracked by the bureau of labor and statistics which is used by the president's rm office to set federal pay and adjustments. i now yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from district of columbia, ms. norton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. norton: i thank my friend from maryland for yielding. a furtherance -- in furtherance of a point he was making you can cite different studies o

mr. chairman, ranking member cummings, members of the committee. i'm very pleased to be invited today to talk about gao's high risk of list update. we do this update as noted every two years with the beginning of each new congress in order to identify areas that we believe are the high pashtun highest risk of waste, fraud, and abuse on this mission oriented need a broad-based reform. i'm very pleased to report with this committee's help, and i appreciate your support, mr. chairman, mr. cummings, and committee members, of oversight since our last report and 2011, that notable progress has been made in the vast majority of there is on high risk list. this has been due in part to legislation passed by the congress. for example, the fda authorization act addressed many issues that gao had recommended for improvements, to oversight of medical products and devices. for example, the with drug shortages and also increased inspections, risk-based and foreign operations. congress also passed important legislation concerning the flood insurance program which

mr. horsford: thank you, representative cummings. i know under your leadership as the ranking member of the house committee on oversight and government reform, the issue of voting rights will continue to be a top priority in this congress. mr. cummings: absolutely right. thank you. mr. horsford: mr. president, i now -- excuse me, mr. speaker, i now yield to the distinguished member from maryland, our whip, mr. hoyer. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, steve and i were both in the senate and you have a president in the senate and that's where he's referring to you as mr. president. i am pleased to join marcia fudge, the chairman of the congressional black caucus, and my good friend, steve horsford, the gentleman from nevada, and i noticed that don payne is here, his father was a very close friend of mine, active some 45 years ago. it's good to see you don. two of our great new

mr. chairman, thank you for thoughtful testimony and now i'm pleased to welcome congressman cummings. >> thank you, it's my honor and privilege to be here this morning. i want to say to you, mr. chairman come you're absolutely right. we spent some time in the red zone, but america expects us to get in the end zone. i do believe and i was listening to you, senator coburn this morning on morning joe. i said to myself, we have to get this done with a reasonable guy like senator coburn and i believe we will. i really do. you know i'm also pleased to be here with my friend and colleague, chairman and he said in the postal service is a vital link that binds our nation together, delivering mail to more than 150 million addresses in operating 32,000 post offices nationwide for postal service connects families, friends and businesses across the vast distances of our great country. last year however the postal service reported losses of approximately $16 million. at last onebut $3 billion in the most recent quater. it is friday for a 50 alien dollars. it is authorized to borrow from the treasury an

mr. cummings.ltural research center dating back from the turn-of-the-century. 500 buildings of which there were 230 there need to be demolished or unusable. what stunned me is there's no plan for utilization of either the acreage for facility. do you know they planned or do we have any mechanism to even require an agency to have a plan to do with those assets? >> we've made recommendations along those lines. one day we found when we get the type of inspections are talking about doing, the data didn't match the database. >> is the first member of congress to go up there. nobody has a clue. i mean, there is an incredible asset sitting there. in fact, prohibitions have been put on doing anything, which is mind-boggling again from somebody who stilton real estate in the air. we are going to work with you to see if we can't get out of these agencies to plans to maximize those assets and utilized them. you point out in your report here lost $200 million since 2005. again, it's only a quarter of a billion

mr. chairman, thank you for thoughtful testimony and now i'm pleased to welcome congressman cummings. >> thank you, it's my honor and privilege to be here this morning. i want to say to you, mr. chairman come you're absolutely right. we spent some time in the red zone, but america expects us to get in the end zone. i do believe and i was listening to you, senator coburn this morning on morning joe. i said to myself, we have to get this done with a reasonable guy like senator coburn and i believe we will. i really do. you know, i'm also pleased to be here with my friend and colleague, chairman and he said in the postal service is a vital link that binds our nation together, delivering mail to more than 150 million addresses in operating 32,000 post offices nationwide for postal service connects families, friends and businesses across the vast distances of our great country. last year however the postal service reported losses of approximately $16 million. at last one but $3 billion in the most recent quarter. it is friday for a 50 alien dollars. it is authorized to borrow from the treasury

mr. cummings. number one, the high-risk program will remain a top priority as long as i'm comptroller general. my term goes to 2025. i made a commitment in my confirmation hearing that this would be a high priority. it will remain so. second point, i would say one of the things that could be done that this committee could talk about is assigning some of the high-risk areas either the subcommittees or individual members on the committee so that they can become well versed and deep in these issues, and we could work with them. that's been done in the past, and there was a high-risk caucus at one point in the congress when we first started the programs, and it had some good effect. and they could work, put more pressure on the agencies or understand the issues deeper. so i would say do that. third point, my last point, is that you can do some things to help us. we are at our lowest staffing level since 1935. now, obviously, the federal government is in a much different position now than it was in 1935

mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i rise today in opposition to the harmful spending cuts that will threaten our economy and vital services for children, seniors, small business, and men and women in uniform. i have just come from a hearing in the coast guard subcommittee where we learned that in tweer 2011 our already underfunded coast guard failed to meet 1/4 of its nonhomeland security missions, mission targets and more than half of its homeland security mission targets. the coast guard's ability to protect our homeland and ensure the safety of life at sea will not um prove with millions of dollars cut from the budget. sequestration will also reduce our mobility in disguise. if we do not act by friday, the vast majority of the f.a.a.'s 47,000 employees will face extensive furloughs. this will result in longer delays and disruptions at airports, canceled flights, and impeded commerce. with only three days left, our house republicans must act now to allow a vote on the democrats' balanced proposal to avert t

mr. cummings and i appreciate this opportunity to testify today and i think the committee members prayer i am damned their presidency of the national academy of public administration. the academy is a nationally recognized nonpartisan not-for-profit chartered by congress to to address and advise all levels of government on pressing issues of public administration. we are comprised of almost 750 fellows for selected by her membership for their significant contributions in the field of public administration. i ask consent that my entire written statement by except for the record and i'm pleased to summarize. >> without objection. speier hearing today is timely and helps key of many management issues for congress and administration should tackle to solve some of the most pressing problems in government. the government has become increasingly complex and actions on the federal level resume that the state and local level. .. private investors provide funding to help achieve a specific result in the government only pays if the goal is achieved. using a third-party approach allows us to partner

mr. cummings and mr.ssa -- there was a press conference they held before that hearing and one of the points they made was we need a sorting out of roles and responsibilities, or at least consideration of roles and responsibilities between levels of government for disaster responsibilities. that was an issue we had seen on the high risk list and one reason the financial risk of climate was on the list. the other deals with weather satellites, which is related to the climate issue. in this case, there is a potential gap do to delays. that could start as early as 2014 and last as long as 53 months. we need to make sure that noaa has contingency plans in place. we are not going to go dark, but there will be gaps in the information. how would they fill the gap and how are they making sure that integrates into the climate models? that is the risk associated with weather satellites. host: chris mihm with the government accounting the lady -- accountability office. lee. georgia. republican. lee, are you with us?

mr. cummings for questions as well. >> thank you for organizing this hearing on a very important issue. thank all of you for your powerful testimony, spelling out in great detail what the consequences are of allowing this so-called sequester to take place in eight days would be. it is important that the american people understand the consequences that you spoken about and as mr. andrews pointed it the alternatives that are in front of us. so they will be able to decide if the alternatives we proposed are better for the country than the massive job losses that we heard about and the terrible consequences for kids, workers in the aerospace and other industries and for the american public at large. that's why we have spelled out an alternative. when i say we, i'm referring to the democrats in the house also the democrats in the senate. we would like to see our republican colleagues spell out an alternative. since the new congress began, they have not put forward one proposal to oppose -- to prevent the across the board sequester. we have asked repeatedly for a vote on an alternative that w

mr. cummings of maryland, mr. delaney of maryland. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. in february, we celebrate national recreational therapy month. leading a healthy life means not only the absence of illness but a level of physical, cognitive, emotional, social and leisure well-being which is the reason for recreational therapy. they touch the lives of individuals facing life-changing disease and disability all across the nation. these professionals help individuals navigate these challenges, achieve healthy incomes -- outcomes and ultimately an overall better quality of life. having worked in this profession for 28 years i witnessed firsthand how the services profession made significant differences in the lives of so many. these s

mr. cummings for questions as well. >> thank you for organizing this hearing on a very important issue. thank all of you for your powerful testimony, spelling out in great detail what the consequences are of allowing this so-called sequester to take place in eight days would be. it is important that the american people understand the consequences that you spoken about and as mr. andrews pointed it the alternatives that are in front of us. so they will be able to decide if the alternatives we proposed are better for the country than the massive job losses that we heard about and the terrible consequences for kids, workers in the aerospace and other industries and for the american public at large. that's why we have spelled out an alternative. when i say we, i'm referring to the democrats in the house also the democrats in the senate. we would like to see our republican colleagues spell out an alternative. since the new congress began, they have not put forward one proposal to oppose -- to prevent the across the board sequester. we have asked repeatedly for a vote on an alternative that w

mr. president, it is really time for us to wake up. in the private sector, the insurance and utility industries are facing the threat. congress must now act responsibly. house oversight committee ranking people elijah cummings asked the g.a.o. comptroller general if it was and i quote g.a.o.'s opinion that regardless of the outcome of global negotiations to reduce carbon emissions, the united states government should take immediate action to mitigate the risk posed by climate change. comptroller general responded with a simple and unequivocal yes. in the high-risk list, g.a.o. states that despite any possible future reduction of emissions and i'll quote greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere will continue altering the climate system for many decades end quote. that's the way the laws of physics and chemistry work. damage with lasting consequences is already done, but many effects of climate change can be mitigated, and it's the responsibility of this congress to help our nation prepare and adapt. some federal efforts are under way. in 2003, the u.s. department of transportation initiated a study of climate risks to gulf coast transportation and it's now cooperating in that study with the south alabama r

graduated magna cum laude from both am hers college -- amherst college and hazard university where he served as a member of the law school's law review. after graduating from law school, mr. kayatta clerked for the chief judge of the u.s. court of appeals for the first circuit, frank coffin. it is a wonderful symmetry that he now is -- assuming the confirmation goes well this afternoon, will be joining the court for which he clerked many years ago. in 1980, he joined the prestigious law firm of pierce atwood in portland, maine, where over the subsequent 32 years, bill has specialized in complex civil litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. bill kayatta has served as chairman of both the maine professional ethics commission and the maine board of bar examiners and as president of the maine bar association. in 2002, mr. kayatta was inducted into the american college of trial lawyers, and in 2010, he was elected by his peers to the college's board of regents. mr. kayatta has simultaneously maintained a very substantial pro bono practice. in the year 2010, he received the maine bar foundation's howard dana award for career-long pro bono service on behalf of low-in

mr. chairman, thank you for thoughtful testimony and now i'm pleased to welcome congressman cummings. >> thank you, it's my honor and privilege to be here this morning. i want to say to you, mr. chairman come you're absolutely right. we spent some time in the red zone, but america expects us to get in the end zone. i do believe and i was listening to you, senator coburn this morning on morning joe. i said to myself, we have to get this done with a reasonable guy like senator coburn and i believe we will. i really do. you know, i'm also pleased to be here with my friend and colleague, chairman and he said in the postal service is a vital link that binds our nation together, delivering mail to more than 150 million addresses in operating 32,000 post offices nationwide for postal service connects families, friends and businesses across the vast distances of our great country. last year however the postal service reported losses of approximately $16 million. at last one but $3 billion in the most recent quarter. it is friday for a 50 alien dollars. it is authorized to borrow from the treasury