mr. larsen. if we pass legislation for pntr and nothing else, in other words we don't deal with jackson vanic, have we accomplished anything? >> senator, i think the way that we can accomplish something -- and what i -- >> this is real simple. to get the benefit of russia joining the wto. >> exactly. and that's why there is leverage. nobody here can say that the russians don't want repeal of jackson vanic, they do. this something the russian government wants desperately, it's something mr. putin talks about, and your comments reflect that. to there is leverage. there is leverage with regard to jackson vanic. >> that's not what i said. i want to make clear what i said. i said that putin and others' failure to repeal it as leverage. so if we repeal it, there's no longer leverage. >> the point is in deciding whether or not to repeal -- >> you want leverage to help -- >> mr. chairman, if you want to argue with me, they need jackson vanic repealed. they want it repealed desperately. that's beyond any

mr. larsen to answer the latter question. >> thank you senator mendez. what i have requested is that on the occasion of congressional consideration of pntr, that the administration should present a plan for tackling some of these corruption issues. one making sure that russia adheres to its obligations under the oecb anti-bribery convention which its just joined, two that there be serious cooperative effort to tackle the issue of corruption in customs and tax administration and the jew dash area and three that there be scope for civil society organizations to report on instances of suspected corruption. i think all of that is part of creating a strong rule of law framework for business. i also believe that the expansion is part of that rule of law frame work, but i think we should do both. >> i appreciate your leadership in this effort. i think we are all on our committee sympathetic to the russian federation and we held hearings recently on the subject of human rights and democracy here in russia. we're sort of talking past each other a little bit here.

mr. larsen. some american businessmen tell me they don't want to do business in russia. don't even try because of corruption. it's just not worth it. in fact i think i saw a study somewhere where an international organization ranked countries according to political corruption, not at the bottom, but way down near the bottom. so i would like to ask any of you who wish to respond, what should be done about that from the u.s. perspective and as granted pntr help or hurt in that effort. mr. allen? >> from our perspective we have had a -- there's no doubt it exists but there's corruption in a number of countries and it's the company and its business conduct that is the important part of this. and when we go to these countries, countries like russia, we establish strong conduct guidelines and we assure that our operations run themselves that way and we think that ends up being a promoter of improved conduct in the entire business community. i can tell you that when you establish a reputation there that way, you can be affected. the plant that you visited was built in nine mont

mr. larsen? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i don't know why it was so ingrained in me. i could have been watching at lo of television. this pop culture phrase certainly was ingrained in me going up is that the captain goes down with the ship. it's like the ultimate responsibility goes with the person in charge of the ship. and that lesson -- you can apply it anywhere. somebody has to be responsible when something is under way. and i think that's why for u.s. viewers of news on this particular case were in such shock hearing about the stories of this particular captain. it just runs counter to everything that many of us grew up as learning. and so that's one of the reasons why we're here today to try to understand not just what is behind that idea, but, you know, what we do, what you all do on a cruise vessel to ensure that the responsibility is distributed. folks know what their jobs are. ultimately, there is one person that knows what every job is -- that's the captain. but everyone is supposed to do their job. especially focusing on the training and so on that the cha

mr. larsen to answer the latter question i -- >> thank you, senator menendez. what i have recommended is that on the occasion of congressional consideration of pntr that the administration should present a plan for tackling some of these corruption issues. one, making sure that russia adheres to its obligations under the oecd anti-bribery convention, which has just joined. two, that there by serious cooperative effort to tackle the issue of corruption in customs and tax administration and the judiciary. and three, that there be scope for civil society organizations to report on instances of suspected corruption. >> i think all of that is part of creating a

mr. larsen. i'd like to ask, do you per steve ability of russia to eliminate the pervasive delauppings seems to affect all aspects of russian life, many companies have seen contracts broken and agreements altered by heavy-handed bureaucracy. will this solve all those problems? i'd like to get to those, quickly if we can, because i have about a minute left. >> my quick part, i would say at first, most people realize that or recognize india as a large democracy. we deal with every bit of corruption in india as in russia. so i think we certainly want to see that corruption changed. but the culture and continued movement forward is going to be a long process. it won't be an event-driven process. and on the -- >> and on the first part of my question, do you not see the nexus on the actions russia takes, the effect on your company? >> yes. i do see those actions. there is a timing issue that's also -- the part that i keep trying to reinforce is they are going to move into the wto, and we are going to l

mr. larsen. >> mr. chairman, thank you. allow me to express my prayers and thoughts to the women and men of the u.s. coast guard and their families, who have passed or missing in the recent accident. i thank you for scheduling a hearing to delve into the state your cruise vessels in light of the accident of the cruise ship costa concordia off the coast of italy. i like to extend my condolences to the families of the 25 passengers and crew members who died as a result of this and also, the seven other families for whom their loved ones remain unaccounted. i want to welcome the passengers who traveled to massachusetts on short notice to be with us today as well. mr. chairman, d.c. is beautiful and most often benign. nevertheless, it remains a relentless and ever-present threat to those who travel its debt at times. the costa concordia incident reminds us we cannot be complacent while at sea. the ocean is capable in a moment of the sibling and sinking even our most modern and technically advanced chips. i will be at least a ye

mr. larsen. >> mr. chairman, thank you and as well, allow me to express my prayers and thoughts to the women and men of the u.s. coast guard and families of the coast guard's men who passed or are missing in the recent, recent accident. i want to thank you for scheduling the morning's hearing to delve into safety of cruise vessels in light of the grounding of the costa concordia off the coast of italy. before i begin my remarks i would like to extend my condolences of the family and crewmembers that died because of extreme tragedy and for seven families where of the loved ones remain unaccounted. i want to welcome two passengers aboard the cost at that concordia who traveled from massachusetts on short notice to be with us today as well. mr. chairman, the sea is a beautiful and most often benign, nevertheless it remains relentless and ever present threat to those who travel over its depths at times. the coast at that concordia incident reminds us we can not be complacent while at sea. the ocean remains

mr. larsen. >> i just noted that mr. yong, in the future when he is a ranking member, i will be sure he is on a toddler. -- i will be sure he is on a timer pickwick let me take this opportunity to thank the u.s. coast guard for not just the work that you do in florida but throughout the country. we are giving you a tremendous amount of responsibility and you all have come up to the challenge. every time i get a chance to thank publicly for how you are responding after 9/11, i have to, because you were the first branch that was their peace and protecting our country right after that tragedy. so thank you. this is no doubt, this accident in italy was a tragedy. my hearts go out to those who were killed and injured, and we must take every chance necessary to protect the safety of the passengers. cannot vilify the entire industry because of the reckless action of one rogue employee who failed to follow the policy and protocol of his own company. as a member from the state of florida and a representative of the port of jackso

mr. larsen? >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr.r in that chair in that position i was seeing down here at the time in 2002 and 2003 military at that time stilling as in afghanistan we need to train 70,000 folks in afghanistan and deutsch and thousand year for seven years or 7,000 a year for ten years or something on those lines. those increases to 52,000 what can you tell me is going to ensure in july you aren't going to come back or even say after may in chicago to say we net 400,000. what we met was 450,000 security forces needed to train. >> mr. larsen there is pretty in-depth analysis behind the number three injured 52 zealous. i can't tell you that it shouldn't be 351 or 353,000, but very good analysis in terms of the requirement for the afghan police and of course it is also about the afghan local police and other elements that could provide security. i guess i would turn it around and say that if we had a recommendation from the general allan if we had analysis showing the number should be different i would want to hear that

mr. larsen. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. larsen: thank you, mr. speaker. -- mr. larson: thank you, mr. speaker. let me rise and thank mr. van hollen and the budget committee and rise in full support of their balanced and fair document that emphasizes shared sacrifice. let me say to my republican colleagues that this appears to us much like that great philosopher, said, deja vu all over again. franklin delano roosevelt in another difficult period of our history said that we need to prevail upon this country to come together and find the warm courage of national unity that comes from shared sacrifice. that would again demonstrate to the american people, especially the most frail amongst us, and those in the middle class and are impacted the most, that we have national unity because we have garne -- guaranteed that no longer will they be in a position where they have to suffer while others who would use government in a way to prosper and grow at the expense of the middle class. there isn't a member of this chamber who doesn't have friends or family w

mr. larsen for complying to conduct this hearing this morning. i thought the call committee was incumbent upon the committee to review both this incident and where we are with cruise ship safety in light of this. i must first also identify my remarks with the others today who have expressed their sympathy. we have learned the high praise that has been paid by the men and women that served as every day. incredibly, i am sad to hear of your loss. as mr. larsen said, led the same holds true for cruise ship passengers and others that were lost at the concordia tragedy. as far as trichet safety. it canu have a new one, swim or sink. there will be an investigation as to their responsibility. our response ability has to do it u.s. citizens. they have the safest experience possible. congress has provided an updated the balls, regulations. they make sure in the protections are in place. the cruise industry is one of the most incredible entrepreneurial achievements by the private sector that i have seen in my lifestyle. my great grandparents are by steerag

mr. chairman, ranking member larsen and members of the subcommittee, my name is george wright. i'm the senior vice president for marine operations for princess cruises. which is a subsidiary of the carnival corporation. on behalf of the entire carnival family, i want to say first of all that we are all deeply saddened by this tragic accident involving the costa concordia. our thoughts and our hearts are with the passengers, the crew, and their families. the safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority. and every day we strive to achieve high levels of safety, and we are committed to intensifying this effort as much as we can. prior to joining princess cruises, i served in the coast guard for 27 years. retiring in the rank of captain. my last assignment was the coast guard captain of the port los angeles/long beach. and we were responsible for all coast guard operations in southern california. my duties varied widely from field operations to headquarters, including serving as a member on the u.s. delegation to the international maritime organization where we were commi

mr. chairman. >> without objection, so ordered. >> i'd also like to note for the record the testimony of dennis young, which was placed into the record i believe by my colleague larsen that really focuses on making sure that there are hiring very qualified and trained longshore workers to perform the kind of handling of operations and loading and unloading operations, that they are particularly trained for since this entire hearing is about safety. i'd also like to note, mr. chairman, that while our testifiers unfortunately are not able to respond to the specific sets of questions that i have, suffice to say also that the cruise industry does have major protections that limit recovery. they are able to put into their contracts things that are called forum clauses that the u.s. supreme court has said are okay. and this has led to the cruise industry placing all kinds of other limitations on who people can sue, where they can sue, how much recovery, what they are entitled to recover. and that is very unlike many other industries where the larger panoply of remedies are available to them. thank you for allowing me to ask my questions. i yield back. >> mr. cummings? >>