mr. mcdermott. let's hope our next guest, chris reardon, with the california highway patrol, you are doing the investigation mr. mcdermott was talking about, perhaps you can shed more light that happened on the bridge that led the stupid to jump. >> caller: good evening. you guys pretty much have it all. there's nothing further i can shed on it. >> we heard rumors about this being some sort of dare that some of the other students may have been cheering or goading the student on. can you confirm or deny any of that? >> caller: i heard the same rumors and i cannot confirm or deny. >> can you give us an idea how high up the student was at the time he went over? we also heard he was very clear with paramedics saying the wasn't trying to kill himself. >> reporter: the span was 250 feet and he was slightly lower than that. >> this is obviously we're learning that the young man did not intend to kill himself. have others jumped at this location and died? >> caller: any time you jump from the bridge, you're

mr. mcdermott. mr. pena? >> i want to say that we do have to make sure they don't change what was interesting years ago, i was able to encourage congressman tancredo who was working in sudan to get a bill passed in the house that capital market sanctions were put in. in other words if you were doing business with it, you had to come out of wall street and we passed it in the house. that's where it ended. when a lobbyist ran over to the senate, even had the hat of every top -- mr. tan cray doe, who was great on sudan -- tancredo, we didn't have champagne when it passed, but we were very happy but it died by virtue of a lob gist say -- lobbyist say, you can't do that. hopefully we're able to push this through. i have comments from the international crisis group that would like to add their statement for the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> i'll conclude by again thanking you, i would like to ask, mr. pender grast, you may want to speak to this, the l.r.a. strategy, how well is it bei

mr. mcdermott is with us and i know it is a breech ach of the rules, but i would yield to him. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in 1987/'88, i lived in cko conchassa and i saw the beginning of the aids epidemic as well as the conflict that ultimately led to the leader leaving and followed by all that has followed. i have many friends out there, and the lucys are people i have known and a friend of mine from los angeles that i went to college with has been one of the big supporters of that organization and i have been there several times and i'm really came to listen today. so thank you. >> thank you right now and i would like to listen to the two distinguished witnesses and leaders in the field who have done much. ambassador yamamoto is no stranger to the committee having been before us many times in the past. he has served since 2009 as the principal dep si assistant secretary for the bureau of african affairs for the u.s. department of state and he has verved as u.s. ambassador to ethiopia from july of 2006 to 2009. and as deputy of secretary of state of the bureau of african affairs in 2008.

mr. mcdermott, for five minutes. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, four days ago a huge earthquake and tsunami hit japan. i was sort of surprised last night when we came in and there was no resolution recognizing the problems of the japanese people and the terror and the difficulties they are dealing with at this time. so i want to come today to rise in support of them as they cope with this tremendous tragedy and the challenges that both the earthquake and the tsunami have created for them. the last 10 years or so i have been the chair of the japanese caucus in the congress and i have gotten to know many members well. i was a member of this commission some years ago when kobe had a huge earthquake and devastation that took $100 billion to recover from. so i was sort of brought up short by what happened when i saw it on television and thought of my friends and i immediately started trying to call the

mr. mcdermott. any final thoughts? >> i just want to say that we do have to really make sure that they don't change, what was interesting years ago i was able to encourage congressman tancredo who was working with me on sudan to get a bill passed in the house that capital market sanctions were put in. in other words, if you were doing business with them, you had to come out of wall street. and we passed it in the house. that's where it ended. the lobbyists ran over to the senate, the head of every top -- mr. tancredo who was great on sudan, we didn't have champagne when it passed, but we were very happy. and it simply died by virtue of the lobbyists saying, you can't do that. so hopefully we will be able to push this through. i just have comments from the international crisis group that would like to add their statement for the record. mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i'll just conclude by thanking you. i would like to ask, mr. pendergrast, how well or poorly do you think it's being im

mr. mcdermott is with us and i know it is a breech ach of the rules, but i would yield to him. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in 1987/'88, i lived in cko conchassa and i saw the beginning of the aids epidemic as well as the conflict that ultimately led to the leader leaving and followed by all that has followed. i have many friends out there, and the lucys are people i have known and a friend of mine from los angeles that i went to college with has been one of the big supporters of that organization and i have been there several times and i'm really came to listen today. so thank you. >> thank you right now and i would like to listen to the two distinguished witnesses and leaders in the field who have done much. ambassador yamamoto is no stranger to the committee having been before us many times in the past. he has served since 2009 as the principal dep si assistant secretary for the bureau of african affairs for the u.s. department of state and he has verved as u.s. ambassador to ethiopia from july of 2006 to 2009. and as deputy of secretary of state of the bureau of african affairs in 2008.

mr. mcdermott. any final thoughts? >> i just want to say that we do have to really make sure that they don't change, what was interesting years ago i was able to encourage congressman tancredo who was working with me on sudan to get a bill passed in the house that capital market sanctions were put in. in other words, if you were doing business with them, you had to come out of wall street. and we passed it in the house. that's where it ended. the lobbyists ran over to the senate, the head of every top -- mr. tancredo who was great on sudan, we didn't have champagne when it passed, but we were very happy. and it simply died by virtue of the lobbyists saying, you can't do that. so hopefully we will be able to push this through. i just have comments from the international crisis group that would like to add their statement for the record. mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i'll just conclude by thanking you. i would like to ask, mr. pendergrast, how well or poorly do you think it's being im

mr. mcdermott, for five minutes. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. madam speaker, i'm here to report that the republican follies continue today. today we were scheduled to debate the republicans' proposal to terminate the president's foreclosure prevention program called hamp. but like last night, the republican leadership decided to postpone the debate until after returning from the recess. as the country faces a number of problems, including the serious housing crisis, the house republican leadership decided that today wasn't the best time to terminate a program that has helped more than a half a million homeowners stay in their homes. see, tomorrow the house will close up shop until march 28, and republicans recognizing that killing a foreclosure prevention program today will be bad politics. it would force republican members to go home and defend this fickless move for 10 straight days, for terminating a program, many of whom are struggling right now to keep their mortgage and kee

mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. madam speaker, the republican follies go on. the republicans have done nothing in 13 weeks in charge of the house to help americans get jobs. nothing to open markets. for businesses to expand. nothing to open up markets overseas for american workers and businesses to compete more fairly. while they hold the economy hostage, to their cultural war agenda, maybe we could do something to help the american people. i rise today in support of the effort to defeat the previous question so we can take a first step toward addressing the egregious balance towards china's currency and our own. for too long the chinese have been playing unfairly in the international trade arena and this congress has to send a clear message, china must become a responsible player in multilateral trade. the chinese export strategy is smart, but subsidizing it by suppressing their currency is an unfair way to do it. the effort we are doing here is a good step and we should follow up by working together with our tradi

mr. mcdermott, for five minutes. without objection. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, it's been two years, five months and 23 days since lehman brothers collapsed and the wall street dominos began to fall. it's been 2 1/2 years since wall street mortgage bond traders and their criminal management brought the world financial world to its knees. there hasn't been one person held accountable for it. not one conviction. the biggest scandal in american history and there's been no jail time for anyone. we democrats cleaned up the mess. we saved the country from riots in the streets, but no one was convicted. i think a lot of voters, tea party voters included, are seething with anger about the injustice. riding this wave of voter anger two weeks ago this house passed one of the worst bills ever considered in congress, h.r. 1, a bill the republicans called a budget that was nothing but an attack on children and working people in this country. i think all the people who voted for it should be ashamed. budgets are moral document. they say what a country's priorities are

mr. mcdermott for his role as one of the original authors of the congo conflict minerals provision that recently became law. this provision will help to curb sexual violence in the congo. this morning in buke abu close to 180,000 women marched in the streets advocating for their own rights. today being their day, international womens day. they march behind a banner that stated "we can stop violence," and they had slogans that included two key demands. the first being impunity for rapists must cease. and the second being that women must be included in all the political processes. as the sexual and gender-based violence adviser for catholic relief services i focus my efforts on the congo just because of the sheer mag touched the problem there and in this capacity i've had the privilege of working for and with many of the women that march this -- some of the women that marched this morning. in eastern congo today is a cry for women to no longer be used as a battleground. and here it is a call for us to even make greater efforts to help them. searez work next drc since 1961 partners with the local c

mr. mcdermott is with us, and i know it's a breach of rules, but i'd like to yield to him. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in 1987-88, i lived in -- i was a state political officer at the state department and saw the beginning of the aide epidemic as well as the conflict that led to him leaving and followed by all what has followed. there's many friends out there, people i've known, a friend of mine from los angeles that i went to college with was a big supporter of that organization, and i've been there several times, i really came to listen today, so thank you. >> thank you. i'd like to introduce the two distinguished witnesses, leaders in the field who have done much. ambassador is no stranger to this committee having been before us many times in the past. he served since 2009 as the secretary for the bureau of african affairs as the u.s. department of state and included serving as u.s. ambassador to ethiopia from november 2006 to july 2009, and as deputy assistant secretary of state of foreign affairs from 2003 to 2006, and we are also joined by the deputy assistant administrator of afric

mr. mcdermott for his role as one of the original auths of the congo conflict minerals provision that recently became law. this provision will help to curb sexual violence in the congo. this morning in buke abu close to 180,000 women marched in the streets advocating for their own rights. today being their day, international womens day. they march behind a banner that stated "we can stop violence," and they had slogans that included two key demands. the first being impunity for rapists must cease. and the second being that women must be included in all the political procses. as t sexual and gender-based violence adviser for catholic relief services i focus my efforts on the congo just because of the sheer mag touched the problem there and in this capacity i've had the privilege of working for and with many of the women that march this -- some of the women that marched this morning. in eastern congo today is a cry for women to no longer be used as a battleground. and here it is a call for us to even make greater efforts to help them. searez work next drc since 1961 partners with the local catho