mr. berman. chairman mackl -- we share a lot of the same goals in the western hemisphere. we agree on a lot. we disagree in a few places. i would suggest that the idea that all of the countries are coming from the united states to mexico. there was a gao report -- as you drill down into the report, it's 90% of the guns that are traceable and it's only the u.s. guns that are traceable. so i think that has to be put on the record for people to understand. also, if we're worried about the guns going into mexico, that policy -- the fast and furious policy -- everyone in this room should be appalled by that policy. let me first start with -- in venezuela. is hugo chavez in control of his governmen government? >> i would answer the question this way, mr. chairman. virtually his entire government is unwilling to in my opinion make decisions without hearing what his view would be. to that extent he's clearly in control. if the question is, is everything that's going on in his government known to and controlled by him,

. >> deputies are not sure if the victims are the individuals who actually rob mr. mack. they are looking for any information on his whereabouts. there could be it is thousand dollars reward for information that leads to a conviction it could -- there could be to thousand dollars reward. >> the military post at the aberdeen proving garrard -- proving grounds has been given the all clear after reports of a suspicious person walking around with the rival. state police started a sweep of the area and they also questioned an internal contract employee, but nothing has been found. -- an environmental contract employee. >> david collins joins us live from the federal courthouse downtown. >> in the case against senator curry, prosecution witnesses revealed a legislative favor and a proposed sweetheart land deal. federal prosecutors called michael richard as a witness. through him, the government suggested senator ulysses currie use the power of his office to delay implementing aspects of an energy bill that benefited shoppers warehouse. back in 2004, the general assembly overrod

i have to say to my friend, mr. mack, we agree on a great deal. don't really think it matters whether -- i mentioned that president calderÓn said it was 90%, and in fact, in jamaica, the prime minister says it's more than 90% in his country. it doesn't matter whether it's 70% or 90%, i think what matters is that illegal guns are coming into this country and then going south of the border. we know that these people who set up gun shops on the texas-mexico border or gun shows or things like that to sell multi. -- multiple guns, we know where the guns are going. it's way beyond second amendment rights. if we are to identify terrorism in mexico as a threat as you say, if we are going to say that this is a real problem with the drug cartels, we have to do something to curve the illegal flow of guns coming from the united states and south of the border. let me quote secretary clinton in march of 2009. she said, quote, "we know very well that the drug traffickers are motivated by the demand of illegal drugs in the united states, and that they are armed b

i agree with the frustration of mr. mack. we are at a point where it representative of our government cannot say we believe in regime change with a mullah dictatorship that is building weapons undermine governments throughout the region and is engaged in hiring an assassin to commit an act of assassination here in our nation's capital. our government does not suggest that there should be a new regime there. of course that is seen as weakness. we are seen as weaklings. so what if we side emotionally with the people of syria? this administration had a tepid response to the brutal and murderous repression of their iranian people when they went into the streets to protest the stolen election. a stolen election means you have a group of people that are superimposing power over others illegitimately. this is not a legitimate government. we cannot say we believe in reaching change. i can see why they were announcing that we were so weak that they could go into conspiracies to sellout bonds in our nation's capital. all of these years

. >> earlier in the day, the suspect, mr. mack had been rocked in the 200 block of mayberry drive. he believed -- had been robbed. he believed that the victims were the individuals that had robbed him, so he went and shot them. >> police are not sure the victims' for the ones who actually robbed mac. they are still investigating that robbery. >> it is not what you think. you have to have some kind of secure evidence saying that these people did this. you cannot just think someone did this and go and retaliate. that is crazy. >> please think mack shot both of them in the upper torso. >> i pray for the victim that was heard, and i pray for the person that did it. i don't think this was necessary. it was senseless. >> michael mack remains on the loose. police are looking for any information on his whereabouts. >> his address is in aberdeen. we are encouraging anyone who sees him arno's his whereabouts to call harford county sheriff's office. >> you can always call 911 or contact the harford county sheriff's office directly. any information could lead to a to thousand dollars reward. k

and before i recognize mr. mack, i would like to tell the members of our committee that per a request from the secretary that mr. berman and i had agreed to, she would be departing after mr. mack's questions because that will bring her to her other duties. mr. mack is recognized, the subcommittee on western hemisphere chair. >> thank you, madam chair. and it's great to see you again, secretary. clinton. i'm going to switch gears a little bit as well. as you know, i serve as the chair of the western hemisphere subcommittee, and so there's a lot to talk about, um, but i wanted to, to talk a little bit about fast and furious. um, and specifically at what point did the state department learn of operation fast and furious? >> congressman, i don't know the exact time. um, i can tell you that based on our information from the part of the state department that would deal with this kind of issue we have no record of any request for coordination, we have no record of any kind of notice or heads up, and, you know, i -- my reco

. >> thank you, mr. mack. mr. deutch is recognized. >> thank you, madam chair. secretary sherman, let me start with a local issue for may, which is also the subject of this hearing. robert levenson is a constituent of mine missing for years. in conversations that had during the summer, there is some belief the suggested he was being held as an agent of the iranians. in light of the recent release of the hikers, we have to continue to press the iranians on this issue. any additional information you can provide for me or for mr. levenson's family? [inaudible] >> turn your microphone on, please. and congressman, as you know, the administration shares your concern. we will leave no stone unturned. i called mrs. levenson to talk with her personally to let her know if that our perseverance much as my predecessor did. i know that since this morning, there is an ap report about a meat -- our recent meeting between u.s. officials and the cubans. we've always said we would use of diplomatic channels to get alan gross home. we continue to call on the cuban government to re

mr. macke is recognized. >> thank you, madame chair. it is great to see you again, a secretary. -- secretary clinton. i am going to switch gears. i served as the chair of the western hemisphere subcommittee. there is a lot to talk about, but i wanted to talk a little bit about fast and furious. at what point did the state department learn of operation fast and furious? >> congressman, i do not know the exact time. i can tell you that based on our information from the part of the state department that would deal with this kind of issue, we have no record of any request for coordination. we have no record of any kind of notice or heads up. my recollection is that i learned about it from the press. that is my recollection. >> i think then i know the answer to this question -- did the state department issued the justice department a license for a written waiver in order to allow for the transfer of thousands of weapons across the u.s.-mexico border? >> congressman, this is the first time i have been asked this. based on the record of any ac

i want to thank chairwoman bono mack for the hearing, and thank the ranking member, mr. butterfield, for what he said in the opening statement, and i think there should be a robust debate, and maybe an additional hearing, but some point in time in this congress, i hope we can move 2366 or something similar to it, madam chairwoman, to allow everybody in america who who wishes to play poker in the states that allow it, to do so. in the bill i introduced, it's a state option. if the governor of the state says there's no poker to be played by the residentings of that state, did does not happen. in the states that think it's okay, we set up a regulatory scheme and a taxation seem -- scheme so there's a fair game and everybody has the equal chance in future president nixons and obama's can play on the internet for money and use the earnings to join us. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. >> i thank you, mr. barton. >> thank you for yielding, and i went to college in new york state in the 1980s, so i appreciate your service. i remember reading the new york meet ya i

mr. mica this article in "the new york times" congressman will run in florida. representative connie mackand former senator has decided to challenge senator bill nelson, a democrat, in the 2012 race. >> host: i think that connie mack will be a formidable candidate and will raise to the top of the pack to readjust by his name and his dad's name recognition, a very well-respected family, a great man in politics. it boosts him to the front of the race pretty quickly. we will have to see how he does financially but others are not as well known and he has an advantage. >> host: have you endorsed for president? >> guest: no i haven't. >> host: do you plan on it? >> guest: i don't know. i've got a couple of leaders in the party. i heard governor romney theater night and he did a great job. speaker gingrich and he is probably one of the selfish people on issues in the nation. i also have support in the past from governor harry when i ran for the ranking republican which led to my chairmanship of the committee. i don't know fifth cane, michele bachman, she said a few problems in relaunching. who e

mack, he joins us by phone. former deputy assistant secretary of state and now a scholar at the middle east institute in washington. mrador, thank you so much for joining us. i'm sure you heard the news here on cnn. start with iraq. we know americans were pulling out. we knew that that was going to happen but what does it mean to speed up this process at this point? >> oh, the process is moving ahead very, very rapidly already. it has been for some time and the physics of this are that you really -- it is very hard to stop such a logistic effort. so really, it was necessary to cut to the chase and make a final decision and that's what we have done. >> the service enforcement agreement that they couldn't come to terms with, that's what a source close to the administration says, what influence do you think it had on this process? >> well, look. don, it's possible for iraqi and u.s. street sfrat gists to keep a presence in the country for a year. most of of the senior iraqi military leadership and probably most of their political leadership wanted to have this presence remain but the politics of maliki's -- prime ministe

mr. mica this article in "the new york times." congressman will run in florida. representative connie mack, republican of florida and son of a former senator has decided to challenge senator bill nelson, a democrat in the 2012 race. >> guest: i think economy mark will be a formidable candidate. he will probably leap right to the top of the pack. just by his name and his dad's name recognition. a very well-respected family. a great name in politics. so, it's, it moves him to, i think the front of the race pretty quickly. we'll have to see how he does financially but the others are not as well-known and he has an advantage. >> host: have you endorsed for president yet? >> guest: no, i haven't. >> host: do you plan on it? >> guest: i don't know. you know, got a couple of leaders in the party. i heard governor romney the other night and he did a great job. speaker gingrich, he is probably one of the sharpest people on issues in the nation. i also had support in the past from governor perry when i ran for the ranking republican which led to my chairmanship of this committee. i don't know cain.

mr. whitfield: thank you very much. back in 2004, the d.c. federal court of appeals in a court decision invalidated the 2004 boiler macrules -- boiler mack rules promulgated by e.p. ample. in that decision, e.p.a. came to the court and said, we need additional time to come out with new rules. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house is not in order. will members please take your conversations off the floor. the gentleman is recognized. mr. whitfield: in that court decision, e.p.a. made the argument they needed additional time to come forth with a more balanced approach on a boilermac rule. our legislation, h r. 2250, does nothing that. p.a. did not ask the court to do as far as extending time. our legislation is a balanced approach, particularly at this time of a weakened economy and job, unemployment rate of 9.1% and our economy continues to struggle. it's imperative we have a balanced regulation that considers jobs, yes, but also considers health care and the benefits of the regulation and the impact that has on health care. we've had extensive hearings on this legislation. we've had representatives from hospitals, we'v

mack for having this hearing. i want to thank the ranking member, mr. butterfield, for what he said in his opening statement. think we should have a robust debate. perhaps there should even be an additional hearing, but at some point in time in this congress i hope we can move 2366 or something similar to it, madam chairwoman, to let everybody in america who wishes to play poker in states that allow it to do so. and a bill that i've introduced is a state option. if the governor of the state says there shall be no internet poker played by residents of that state, it does not happen. happen. so weird are not preempting the states, but in passionate if the state thinks it's okay we set up a regulatory scheme and a taxation scheme so that we have a fair game and everybody has an equal chance and future president nixon's and obama's can play on the internet for money and use those earnings to join us. with that, madam chairwoman mac, i'd yield back the balance of my time spent i think mr. barton. >> thank you, madam chairwoman for yielding. i went to college in the state in 19 any sort appreciate your service. i'