the first presentation is by mr. hans and i'm sure i mangled your name and you can do the same with mine. hans is an international coordinator, a is you si did i of the dutch knowledge center on traffic and transport. it's a knowledge center for expertise on cycling and other subjects. it runs the website bicyclecouncil.org and has cycling ambassadors to spread the word on dutch policy cycling abroad. prior to joining the group, he was the project leader of a 10 million euro european project, the opt tum two which stopped the use of cars for commuting businesses and social and recreational activities by providing motorists attractive alternatives. i'm sure he has a huge amount of information to share with us. hans, please. and he needs a microphone. >> thank you. i'm very glad that i'm invited to be here which is my primary task because we are also -- the company is also the official government office to lend support to other countries to promote -- who want to promote bicycling which is booming, not only here, but worldw

yield now to the ranking democrat on the budget committee and one of the negotiators, chris van han. >> mr. clyburn i congratulated mr. president on the tone of the talks. the vice president wasn't there. but we let him know that the vice president was conducting these discussions in a very serious tone and we laid out the principles with which we come to the table. number one that nothing that we do to upset the fragile economy. we know that the american people are struggling with that fragile economy. we need to make sure that we focus on jobs and nothing should interfere with that. secondly you need to have a balanced approach. you need to make sure that as we put together a plan to reduce the deficit, we do not adopt the lopsided approach that the 34ru7bs did in their budget. what did they do? they essentially said we're going to terminate the medicare. we're going to slash medicare benefits. we're going to cut medicare benefits that help seniors in nurses homes while they allow to stay in place big subsidies for the oil economies and -- oil companies and while they have not asked the

mr. gravel and hamilton, they created a special opportunity to create the experiences and tell the stories first hanhe members of the committee. i'm here to tell you what we faced in the days and months in the deepwater oil spill. we cannot ignore the good intentions and herculean efforts by the federal and state response teams. even the responsible party that tried to do the best while facing the unique and global tragedy. however, as a lifelong florida resident and survival of 20 hurricanes, best efforts are not effort. the response is not just swift, but clear, organized, and collaborative for the communities impacted. there is no question that florida has the foremost disaster response team in our country and arguably the world. with hurricane season the last six months, 20 storms, florida can ill afford anything but to be the best. yet in the immediate aftermath of the deepwater horizon oil spill, or expert response teams were forced under the oil pollution act of 1990, rather than the tried and true federal stafford act. our emergency management was turned upsidedown, leaving the unified comma

mr. gravel and hamilton, they created a special opportunity to create the experiences and tell the stories first han to -- firsand to the members of the committee. i'm here to tell you what we faced in the days and months in the deepwater oil spill. we cannot ignore the good intentions and herculean efforts by the federal and state response teams. even the responsible party that tried to do the best while facing the unique and global tragedy. however, as a lifelong florida resident and survival of 20 hurricanes, best efforts are not effort. the response is not just swift, but clear, organized, and collaborative for the communities impacted. there is no question that florida has the foremost disaster response team in our country and arguablythe world. with hurricane season the last six months, 20 storms, florida can ill afford anything but to be the best. yet inhe immediate aftermath of the deepwater horizon oil spill, or expert response teams were forced under the oil pollution act of 1990, rather than the tried and true federal stafford act. our emergency management was turned upsidedown, leaving t