mr. larson. mr. mica? >> thank you. admiral, that's interesting, your last time salerno and my family sailed from there when they came to the united states and i'll be there on easter with some of them. i love the coast guard. they never come and will bey me. they -- with all the other federal folks earn, they never pick at me. there's just a -- they are wonderful folks to deal with and they're just so -- they do such a great job, i can't say enough about what you do. muster drill thing, you know, right now we're all dealing with anecdotal accounts and we'll hear some from the passengers and i think it's great that we bring them in. this is pretty big ship but they're even bigger ships out there. is the musterll

mr. larson. 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 organization ranked countries according to political corruption. and russia was pretty close -- not the bottom, but it was way down near the bottom. so i'd like to ask mr. allen and mr. pollett, any of you who wish to respond, what should be done about that from u.s. perspective, and does granting ntr help or hurt in that effort. mr. allen? >> from our perspective, we have been doing business for -- as indicated, for a long time, and have had a significant presence now in the last decade. and corruption is an issue there is no doubt that it exists. but there is 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 operati

mr. larson and the mr.taylor, any of you who wish to respond, what should be done about that from a u.s. perspective and a guide -- does pntr help or hurt in that effort? mr. allen? >> from our perspective, we have been doing business as indicated for a long time and it had a significant presence now in the last decade or grow corruption is an issue. there is no doubt that it exists but there is 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 condit guidelines and we assure that our operations run 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 effective. the plant that you've visited was built in nine months, nine months. that's hard to do anywhere in the world. people say you can be done in russia because of all of the corrupti

mr. larson? >> mr. chairman, i just noted to mr. young that in the future when he's ranking member, i'll be sure he's put on the timer. >> thank you, that won't happen for a while. >> okay. ms. brown, you're recognized. >> thank you. 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've given you a tremendous amount of responsibility and you all have come up to the challenge and can't -- every time i get a chance to thank you publicly for how you are responding after 9/11, i have to, because you all was the first branch that was there and protecting our country right after that tragedy so thank you. this is, no doubt, this accident in italy was a tragic and my thoughts and prayers go out to those that was killed and injured and we must take every chance necessary to protect the safety of the passengers. but we cani havely fie the induy because of one rogue employee who failed to follow the policy and protocol of his own company. as a member from the

mr. larson? >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. miller, probably couldn't have been in that chair, in that position, i was sitting down here at that time, 2002 and '03 and the military at the time was telling us in afghanistan we needed to train 70,000 folks in afghanistan. we were going to do 10,000 a year for seven years or 7,000 a year for ten years. somewhere along those lines. it's now up to 352,000. what can you tell me that's going to assure me that in july you aren't going to come back or even say after may in chicago, you aren't going to come back and say we meant 400,000. we went 450,000 security forces? >> mr. larson, there's in-depth analysis behind the number 352,000. i can't tell you it shouldn't be 351,000 or 353,000. very good analysis in terms of the requirement for the afghan national army and police. and other elements that could provide security. now, sir, i guess i would turn it around and say if we had a recommendation from general allen saying the numbers should be different, i would want to hear that from ge

mr. al larson, chairman of the board of transparency international usa. i must tell you mr. larson i enjoyed meeting with the president of transparency international russia in moscow last month. i think her name is elena. very, very impressive, sharp, intelligent lady. >> she is. >> and very compelling story to and didn't stay over in brussels. but thank you, all five of you very much for coming today. the usual practice, i'm sure you're aware, is just to you'll submit your statements for the record and then speak about five minutes. and i urge you to be very direct, forthcomin tell it like it is. okay? mr. allen, you're first. >> thank you, chairman baucus. senator kyl, distinguished members of the committee, my name is sam allen, chairman and ceo of deere company. on behalf of john deere and the business roundtable, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today on the importance of establishing permanent normal trade relations with russian to john deere and the u.s. business community. granting pntr is crucial for u.s. manufacturers, service providers, and agricu

mr. larson? well mr. and mrs. sharma, thank you for being here very much. it was very detailed and compelling and i'm sure very difficult, but it helps us to piece together what our mandate was for, getting a complete picture here, i think for myself and my colleagues, it again points to one individual whose incredible lack loss of judgment has resulted in a lot of anguish and much worse for others. so, we believe we will be following up with investigation as it continues but you're being here today was helpful. we thank you very much. we don't have any more questions so we are now going to take a brief adjournment to go to the third panel. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we will come back to order and recognize our third witness panel. first is christine duffy who is president and ceo of the cruise line international association, she is accompanied by the vice president president, michael crye and marine operations at princess cruises, mr. wright is accompanied by vicki ray, guest services at carnival cruise line and next is captain evans hoyt who is the ca

mr. larson. >> thank you. mr. chairman, gentlemen, back to some of the operational issues in south korea. probably for general thurman, but can you talk a little bit about the tour normalization, the decision to delay or to stop the tour normalization, a little about the cost estimates that you see, that you foresee and what that might mean in the future for normalization? >> congressman, first off, i was asked to go take a good review of the current policy of tour normalization. we are authorized 4,645 families and that was a cap put on the last national defense authorization act. what i determined when i got over there given the cost of bringing additional families that would be additional requirements and additional costs. i do not think under the current environment that that is feasible, so i am okay with leaving 4,645 families. when we built camp humphries which is part of the young sung relocation plan, that plan was based on the authorized families so i see staying at that right now is is what i would tell

mr. larson. >> senator kyl, you raise a very important point. it's not an easy one to be quite honest. i think that in my experience in diplomacy, it is important not to you let perfect be the enemy of good. i think my own personal view is that we should seize the opportunity that's created by pntr extend pntr and have russia be in the wto. but if we stop there, then we've only done part of the job. i think as i said in my oral remarks, i think this is something that the congress and the administration should work together. it should not be -- need not be a partisan issue. it's something that. >> let me just interrupt. this is not a partisan issue. >> i know. >> and yes, congress and the administration need to work together. my question goes to when we are most likely to get cooperation, which let's face, it has been very difficult coming. i want to ask mr. williams a question if i could here. >> can i just -- >> sure. >> one half sentence to finish. >> thank you sir. i do think it's a very important that congress sees the opportunity to ask the administration to come forward with a pl

mr. larson? >> thank you for your statement and testimony, and sorry about your experience. i am having nothing to do with it, i'm embarrassed by what happened. it's shocking what happened. were you at any time informed by anyone that a vessel had struck and was severely damaged any time? >> no, never. when we learned that we were in the u.s. embassy the next day, that is when we saw the picture of the ship completely submerged in water. >> a full 24 hours later, about? >> yes. >> at any time were you given any concise guidance about how to evacuate the ship, at any time? >> no. there was no time at all as long a as we were on the ship or on to the life boat that what to do, whatever, it was all a waste of time. the crucial time that they had on their hands. not one person from the crew or anybody had mentioned that what had happened and what to do in emergency. >> not even anni -- not even wh you were sitting at dinner or anything? >> not at all. >> you noted in your testimony that you spotted life jackets. you leave me with the interpretation that you were not told where t

mr. larson. >> thank you mr. chairman. hermelor, you probably could have been in that chair in that position. in 2002 and 2003, and the military at the time was in afghanistan and we need to train 70,000 folks in afghanistan and we are going to do 10,000 here in seven years or 7000 a year for 10 years or something along those lines. that number is clearly increased overtime to 253,000. what can you tell me that is going to assure me that in july you aren't going to come back or even say after me in chicago, you are not going to come back and say we may lose -- what we meant was 450,000 security forces we needed to train. >> mr. larson there is some pretty in-depth analysis between the number 253,000 i can tell you or shouldn't be 351 or 353,000 but very good analysis in terms of their requirements for the afghan national army and afghan national police and corresponding the afghan local police and other elements that can provide security. sir i guess i would turn it around and move forward to the secretary of defense and f

mr. alan larson, chairman of the board of transparency international usa. i enjoyed meeting with the director of transparency international in russia. she was a very interesting lady, and a compelling story to tell about why she is in russia. thank you for coming today. the usual process is for you to submit your statement to the record, and speak for five minutes. we urge you to be very direct and as forthcoming as you can't tell it like it is. mr. allen, you are first. >> thank you, chairman max baucus. on behalf option john deere and the business roundtable, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on the importance of establishing permanent normal trade relations with russia to john deere and the business community. granting a pntr is crucial for u.s. manufacturers and agricultural producers to receive the full benefits. it is essential to enable us to compete on a level playing field for russian customers. the reasons are clear. first, pntr will ensure equal treatment for u.s. companies doing business in russia. here is a concrete example. ru

mr. larson. >> mr.cord the statement from jeffrey simoni. >> without objection, so order ordered. >> ms. brown, mr. cummings, anything else? mr. farenthold from anything else? admiral, thank you very much. this was i think extremely helpful, and as we proceed, i would just like to emphasize a couple things as we close off this first panel. mr. mica made the request that we have this hearing over the tragedy with the costa concordia, that we, we also used this opportunity as the apple has pointed out and i think we'll hear additionally, that the u.s. cruise industry has been very proactive with the coast guard, which we will look forward to following up on, and highlight the reality as mr. cummings and ms. brown i think and play dead, but to make sure that we don't have collateral damage with u.s. citizens, with the cruise industry. because of our safety record is being so incredible. and that's do the proactive nature of the coast guard, and working with the industry. we will look forward to the results

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 who aren't affected by the authoring of medicare, social security, or medic

mr. chairman. >> congressman rick larson who is a member of the house coast guard and maritime subcommittee taking testimony from divia and samir sharma. they are survivors of the "costa concordia" disaster. they were telling the company that the entire company was saddened by the incident and already taking steps to ensure that the tragedy is not repeated this is "washington today" on c-span radio. >>> on wall street, the dow fell below 13,000 at 12,952, and the nasdaq down 19 and the s&p down six. the u.s. economy started the year off well with higher factory, jobs, and home sales. all 12 banks districts reported some growth in january and the first half of february. the manufacturing output rose in all districts, auto manufacturing reported strong growth. home sales increased in half of the district, and noting a little improvement from the last report in january. rules aimed at helping the drivers avoid unintentionally backing over children already overdue are delayed again following complaints of automakers that say requiring rearview mirror video cameras on vehicles would be too expensive. r