mr. chairman. >> chair now recognizes gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. madam chair, i want to just start off by welcoming you and congratulating you. i wish for your every success in your, for us, a new position. i do have a couple of questions. recently there's a fair amount of attention that's been paid to the commodities activities of some of our bank holding companies. for many years, american law and our regulatory framework recognized there should be a healthy separation between banking and commerce to ensure that we have the safety and soundness of banks, to ensure fair, inequitable credit flows to economically beneficial activity and also to prevent excessive concentration of power and wealth in the financial sector. however, over the last 15 years, this wall between banking and commerce has begun to crumble with serious negative consequences. in july of last year, the global risk manager for miller coors testified before the senate banking committee that the commodity activities of banks cost

mr. reid: now, i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment of. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i now is have a second-degree amendment desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: is noter from nevada, mr. reid, proposes amendment numbered 2766 to amendment number 2747. mr. reid: i have a motion, cloture in nature, at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloavment. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on amendment number 2747 to s. 1982, the comprehensive veterans health benefits and military retirement pay restoration act signed by 17 senators as follows: mr. reid: mr. president, with your permission, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i have a motion to commit s. 1982. it has instruc

mal belgian senator supporter of fellow lounge euthanasia for minors a good to have you back out mr now so just to precise there won't be any age restrictions in this law. if there are restrictions that are not connected to each tied to the understanding that the child or the teenager may have the situation that's why we kept as a criterion the capacity for the sermon now the words we have to ask a psychologist psychiatry sed it was not connected to the situation to assess the but if there was a quest that was made by this miner that he saw that repeatedly suffering from an incurable disease after treatments that have become unnecessary if that request of it was made with fool understanding that is there were i repeat that we found that the maturity of the children who are this suffering the maturity of children facing disease facing death he's often greater than that of many adults so it's really the psychologists who decides on whether a child is in the right condition to decide on their own life right. exact that will don't exactly that's how it is written in the law. that's a person

in today's big deal i'm joined by the one the only mr. now i want to talk about today we're talking about convenient pricey cleanliness for your bottom your bottom now what we're start off with we're bringing you this idea of comfort of an exclusive penthouse lou right to the streets of manhattan well we aren't but one company is now when you're out in public and parks. concerts a toilet it looks like this check it out yeah that looks pretty much like a concert. sometimes when you're out roughing it looks like this all that's pretty . good let's hope not totally like that but for the vast majority of us the toilet it looks like that there you go that's what i think of when i think of the toilet yet in manhattan finding a public bathroom is a challenge never fear though caution still and go offers luxury comfort and convenience but at a price it all. starts at twenty four dollars for a three day pass plus a fifteen dollar annual membership fee sam can you give us an explanation for why these toilets exist in the first place so who does the com

mr. yoho. we go now to mr. collins of georgia. >> thank you, mr.chairman, i appreciate the opportunity. thanks for answering a multitude of questions today. i want to turn back a little bit about what was asked earlier about the elections. and really from serving in iraq back in '08 as my colleague has as well, the understanding the relationship between sunni and shia is something that, i think there's a huge mistrust that goes back generations. this is multiple issues there. and it looks like the current government has done little to relate with that or work on that relationship. talking about al-qaeda in iraq, increasingly building the alliances with sunni tribal leaders and has adjusted his message in 2013 to try and earn more sunni political support. how would that translate into the next round of iraq elections? can we really see a move from shia to sunni, and what does that mean for the region? answer that, and we'll talk about iran's possible influence there as well. just speak to the elections at this point. >> thank you. first, congressman

mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 568. mr. president, we have to move to executive session. i'm sorry about that. i ask that that be part of the agreement. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed to executive session. all in favor say aye. all opposed, say nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: the judiciary, pedro delgado hernandez of puerto rico to be united states district judge for the district of puerto rico. mr. reid: mr. president, there is a cloture motion at the desk that i ask to be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of pedro a. delgado hernandez of puerto rico to be united states district judge for the district of puerto rico, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. reid: i ask unanimous

mr. chairman. >> chair now recognizes gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. madam chair, i want to just start off by welcoming you and congratulating you. i wish for your every success in your, for us, a new position. i do have a couple of questions. recently there's a fair amount of attention that's been paid to the commodities activities of some of our bank holding companies. for many years, american law and our regulatory framework recognized there should be a healthy separation between banking and commerce to ensure that we have the safety and soundness of banks, to ensure fair, inequitable credit flows to economically beneficial activity and also to prevent excessive concentration of power and wealth in the financial sector. however, over the last 15 years, this wall between banking and commerce has begun to crumble with serious negative consequences. in july of last year, the global risk manager for miller coors testified before the senate banking committee that the commodity activities of banks cost

that's making waves in the financial industry a little crafts be where coming up in all starts right now. mr crabtree news this is my choose to the come to cyclones. maggie smith what a wonderful lady. that was downton abbey and i truly do love that show now downton depicts the lives in a room of in a risk to credit family and their servants and post a war to an error england and before i get started i want to make it very very clear that this is a fictional television show about the lives of upper class crawley family and the british social hierarchy that surrounds them now just yesterday former treasury secretary larry summers wrote an editorial in the financial times a british publication just warning that the u.s. is headed the way of downton abbey with the economy and social inequalities to match now some are says the solution to avoid this must involve raising incomes of the middle class and the poor and reforming tax codes tax codes that let a big share of the wealthy income escape taxation now summers writes quote a current tax code the current tax code is so badly designed that it i

it mystically mr supposed to be allies here and we see that the united states is trying to maneuver between them and decide which of them should be are and which of them should be done now it clearly in mind to mind. that as well as the united states is. concerned mr gets is their man whereas it would seem that mr klitschko is not to the extent to which only the mr gets and you almost go in for are in control of the situation is of course a moot point now can i just deal with something that was said by another speaker of course the ukraine has a government it has an elected president it has a government which functions at the moment and with which the european union and the united states deals with mr nuland meets mr yanik overage now to say that there is no government in the ukraine is simply not true of course there is a government in the ukraine of course there is a conspiracy could i come in here ok you made your point alexander a fair time for everyone terrace in new york please go ahead yeah we have to we have to understand this in the context of any any any country giving financial assistance to another country there's no such thing as a free lunch when russia ga

mr. chair. >> chair now recognizes the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, the ranking member of the monetary policy and trade subcommittee for three minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome, chairman yellen. as you report to this committee for the first time in your new position, and chairman yellen, i want you to know that like you, i believe that the actions of the federal reserve should always consider the impact and well-being of main street, as well as wall street. that means actively pursuing the twin goals of full employment and controlling inflation, and it also means advancing the vital work of closing the income inequality gap, which is hurting so many working families, and threatening america's economic future. like you, a believe in fundamental financial reform and real transparency to protect american consumers. that includes maintaining a consumer financial protection bureau with real teeth and the authority to act swiftly against financial abuses. i strongly oppose the majority's efforts to cripple the consumer financial protection

mr. chairman, i am now happy to yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, mr. hurt, the vice chairman of our capital market and g.s.e. subcommittee. the chair: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for one minute. mr. hurt: i thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue. i thank him for yielding. mr. chairman, today i rise in support of the consumer financial protection in washington accountability act. as i travel across virginia, i hear about the impact of the cfpb. i heard from consumers, community banks and credit unions about how the unchecked authority of the cfpb is prestricting consumer choice, creating an atmosphere of economic uncertainty and increasing costs. real consumer protection requires that we shift power from washington bureaucrats to american consumers by providing access to competitive markets with choice, information and accountability. this bill would help achieve that goal by adding much-needed oversight and transparency to this far-reaching new government agency without weakening consumer protection. these bipartisan checks a

mr. chairman, i yield back. we go now to mr.ollins of georgia. >> i appreciate asking and answering the multitude of questions. the understanding relationship is something that i think is a mistrust that goes back generations and they've done very little to really relate or work on that relationship. we talk about al qaeda, the islamist state, and increasingly building alliances with sunni tribal leaders. and has adjusted in 2013 to win more sunni lyrical support. how would that translate into the next round of elections? can we see a move from shiite to sunni? what will it mean for the region? after that, we will talk about iran's possible influence. just be to the elections at this point. >> thank you for your service. it's a very important insightful question. this will be pivotally and also extremely interesting. the first national election, there were three main lists, shia, sunni, and a kurdish block. there was a little bit more choice, two shia blocs, a cross sectarian list, and the kurds. everything is really fractured.

you made it possible for me really to begin to brag legitimately (laughter) now, mr. mayor, mr. mayor craig surone-on-one was on the command staff when i was mayor i don't understand why he didn't have better control now but he's cheap (laughter) it has been frankly (laughter) eleanor had that responsibility (laughter) and this business one of the components of leadership is also making sure mr. mayor you have somebody to blame (laughter) and the one you select make sure they're a solid in foundation so they can take it and absorb it and keep on moving. many of you around this as i look around we thought, you know, two or 3 hundred people would show up and lvld there's a hell of a lot more people showing. there are a few chairs in a small place but we wanted to celebrate i didn't realize you didn't have nothing to do on a saturday morning and needed a cup of coffee. there was a great debate on the staff side presentation of this event said we better do a tent because it had rained in california in almost a year we need to do a tent because we don't want people to get wet etc. and

democracy that it was before the revolution well to discover that now joined by the former secretary general of the arab league amr moussa mr melissa thank you very much for your time thank you now three years ago you sided with the attacker a square protesters calling for political changes in egypt comparing the whole of syria have backed down both for him jeff and for the region as a whole what has happened since do you now feel proud disappointed or maybe both well the. one you'll call it the spring i believe the it is a misnomer it is a movement for change it is a revolution against the old order so we have entered to even be out of will be in the middle east. have entered already a new phase in the political life of this region that is definitely against dictatorship and privet of democracy now the egypt for example moving according to a road map with a constitution written and approved by the people by the majority of the people we are about to start another phase which is electing the new president elect could be part of them and then. putting an end to the transitional period and go and rebuilding the country. so it

you made it possible for me really to begin to brag legitimately (laughter) now, mr. mayor, mr. yor craig surone-on-one was on the command staff when i was mayor i don't understand why he didn't have better control now but he's cheap (laughter) it has been frankly

mr. comedy. >> and now, jay leno! >> reporter: the man of 1,000 monologues is down to the final cue cards. >> katy perry said when she was a young girl she prayed to god to have huge boobs, and so, atheists, your move! >> reporter: and jay leno departs the "tonight show" number one where he has been for years. admired. ♪ le me say that the jokes are funny ♪ >> by comedy cohorts. >> and he has done a tremendous job all of these years. >> reporter: and the long time friends who know another side of him. tell me something that we don't know about jay? >> he is sensitive. if there is anybody in bad health, is everybody okay? can i refer you to somebody? let me know. >> reporter: and a guy that many say has not changed a bit in his rise up the comedy ranks. if he ends up on top, it is a journey that begins pretty much at the bottom. >> if you look the humor is there, because who is going to hang out with this guy. >> the first time i met jay was in new york city, and it was a 44th street and 9th avenue where the original i

now. with. our lead story today mr john or zine and accountability now in march of two thousand and ten john kors on the former governor of new jersey and ousted head of goldman sachs announced he would become the new c. of m.f. global now as soon as corazon arrived he began radically revamping the company into a full service service brokerage firm one that would buy and sell stocks and bonds for clients as well as use its own money to help clients trade and to place its own bets however corps lines ambitious plans all came crashing down on october twenty seventh when moody's downgraded m.f. global to jump status this after a six point three billion dollar bet on the bonds of some of europe's most indebted nations left the forty billion dollar company bankrupt bankrupt now of course on try to sell off what was left of the firm but all that ended with all that all of that ended when accounts discovered that around six hundred million dollars worth of client money simply went missing yeah missing lost now fast forward to the present and a federal judge this week said that he will allow a lawsuit se

mr. ham, thank you for your now it's mr. nye's turn. >> looking around the room, i see just one bow tie. i'm telling you, there's two, that's great. i started wearing bow ties when i was young in high school. his father showed him and there's a story associated with this which i find remarkable. my grandfather was in the rotary and he attended a convention in philadelphia and even in those days at the turn of the last century, people rented tuxedos. the tuxedo came with an untied bowtie. he didn't know how to tie it. he took a chance, he went to the hotel room next door, knocked on the door, excuse me, can you help me tie my tie. the guy said sure, lie down on the bed. so, my grandfather wanted to have the tie on. he said to have laying on the bed, the guy tied a perfect bowtie knot. my grandfather said thank you. why did i have to lie down on the bed. guy said i'm an undertaker. that story was presented to me as a true story. it may or may not be. it gives you something to think about and certainly something to remember. he

mr. sweeny now the structure is in the way. the structure is in the way of implementing the shoring of installing the foundation and maybe in the way of properly providing drainage across the site. i believe what has to happen not only do we need a plan to show the surface what it is but we had approved a surface drainage plan but how they prop to sequence securing the cut with the structure in the way. that has to be happen and be reviewed by dbi and they may ask sack to go looked at it again. it has to happen quickly. it's going to rain and a seismically that structure fortunately it's a hard rock site but the reality it's sitting there and it's barely stable under static load we need to improve it with the potential of is an earthquake. i encourage this commission and i know if the physical investigations are completed. what hadn't been done in the writing of the reports. i i know that the engineers retained by city have been out there and their site plans are finished. i know that the dbi's studies open the site have been c

mr. crowley from new york controlling the balance of the time. now the gentleman from louisiana. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i want to respond to some of the comments that my friend on the other side made. there are three ongoing investigations that are incomplete. mr. boustany: there is the inspector general investigation still incomplete and ongoing and the i.g. and there is a third criminal investigation. so i ask first off the question, why -- why start regulating now when we don't have all the information? let's let all this go to conclusion and then institute the proper reforms. i want to point out on targeting the inspector general say that the i.r.s. and treasury have guidance on how to measure political activity, not what constitutes political activity, how to measure it. the proposed rule has been in development since 2011. internal i.r.s. emails between treasury and i.r.s. show they re developing the rule offplan. that means beyond the sunshine of disclosure and out in the open, off plan. what do they have to hide? why are they doing this?

but now, mrs.elosi is reneging. >> i know you're a woman of your word and i'm asking you if you are going to be honoring your commitment -- >> -- i didn't make any commitment to him. we were having a social conversation. in fact, it was at the white house. first time i ever saw him because i never see him on tv. [ laughter ] >> your husband was there next to you when you said you would do the show. >> this is open-ended. one of these days maybe i will. i was not pleased with the disrespect he showed to the president. so that wasn't like a warmer upper. >> what was disrespectful? >> it speaks for itself. >> talking points agrees with nancy pelosi, the interview does speak for itself. now, i asked mr. obama the questions that i believe are important to the country. i did so in a respectful way and he answered the way he wanted to. that's what an interview is supposed to be. unlike nancy pelosi, president obama honored his word to me. as i have stated, he did not have to do the interview. but he was m

mr. engel: thank you, madam speaker. i now yield four minutes to a very distinguished member of the foreign affairs committee, mr. cicilline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. cicilline: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in strong support of h.r. 447. as the tensions continue to rise in ukraine about the future direction of this country, we understand that the people of ukraine are hoping to secure basic democratic freedoms of association and speech for all citizens. i join my colleagues in stressing the importance of the adoption of democratic social norms in the ukraine and the region. over the past several years, we have seen impressive improvements in the areas of human rights. however the situation for lesbian, gay, transsexual and -- has not. ndividuals some individuals sought to introduce legislation to ban so-called homosexual propaganda which does nothing more than limit the fundamental freedoms of association and assembly for all ukrainians

last year now mr morsi you just mentioned saying i am voting on this new constitution which is indeed very beautiful many experts believe that you mentioned also your efforts to bring law and order to egypt but unfortunately the realities of what is happening in your country are not so all bright not so aspirational people are still being killed in violent clashes in egypt and not only in egypt they're also being killed in libya they're also being killed in syria in much greater numbers of course what i would like to ask is why do you think the arab societies were so ready to resort to violence and to why do they still rely on violence to settle that political scores yeah that this is a major mistake they are committing it is not a question of. opposition had it been just opposition was to peacefully didn't. there most rape and then make them sit in. it would have been a good performance and even more effective opposition but using violence makes it necessary under government under the state to protect the interests of people of students that driving it trying to study of people tryin

now it's time for in the margin. the margins time with the one the only mr harrison now every friday at harrison and i put you the viewer in the driver's seat letting you steer the show with your comments questions and concerns all sent to us through out the week via twitter you tube and facebook whatever social media all of them you know now our first comment is from. us lee i think that's a word i'm not sure. who wrote the response to thursday's episode with the honest verify office and my shylock he writes any improvement in the greek economy is a dead cat bounce recent lost their sovereignty and the euro has trapped their economy like a mouse in a cage this dead cat and mouse game is not amusing to the greek people please read the a.p. story greek seaside town highlights unemployment drama by nicholas fighting this fight is published this week greek labor costs in euro are much higher compared with turkey and what do you think about this comment i mean it's it's insightful it was thoughtful but i heard you on a saying the exact same thing basically he was saying that you know this is just wishful thinking on the par

mr. chairman. now madam chairman, should such a law address notification methods, content requirement and timeliness requirements, yes or no? >> yes. >> wouldn't work very well without it, would it? >> that's right. >> madam chairman, in the event of a data breach should comprehensive strategy and breach notification law require companies to provide free credit monitoring services to the effected consumers for a time concern, yes or no? >> yes, with limited exceptions. >> do you have authority to do that now? >> no. >> do you need it? >> i think it would be appropriate to have the requirement with limited exceptions. >> madam chairman, i note -- let's ask this question, should violation of such law be treated as a violation of a federal trade commission rule promulgated under the federal trade commission act, yes or no? >> yes. >> madam chairman, would you please submit some additional comments on that point for the record. >> absolutely. >> now madam chairman, should such a law be enforceable by state

now, mr. speaker, i'd like to ocus and turn my comments to sochi, russia, as the world focuses on that area of the world, let me talk about what's going on on the southern side of the caucus' mountain range. of georgia.ry small country but people have to understand the russian federation occupies two provinces of the country of georgia. actually with military troops. time, one long relatively recently. and that kind of changes the understanding of this great show that the russian federation is putting on with the treatment of their neighbors in occupying provinces. that would be like, you know, a country occupying one or two of ur states. and occupying georgia. mr. speaker, it's important to just remind the public of this, especially when the world's focus is in there. i want to specifically talk about what's happened because f the -- with the olympics and abkhazia region. they've used a buffer zone between abkhazia and georgia and pushing the cease-fire line established in 2008 seven miles fu

mrs. ludemeyer, thank you so much for joining me today. thank you so much. (cheers and applause) now mrs. ludemeyer, thank you so much for having the courage to speak with me today. i hear you have some damaging revelations about what david wildstein was like as a first grader. >> yes, stephen. he was an untrustworthy little ruffian. one time he said he needed to tink but once he was in the bathroom he just played with the soap dispenser. >> stephen: okay, did you also teach chris christie? >> christopher? (laughs) oh, he was a joy! kids like chrisy are why i teach! definitely presidential material. a born lead we are executive experience. (laughter and applause) mrs. ludemeyer, you're reading off of note cards. did chris christie's people get to you? >> yes. he closed off two lanes of the lunch line. (laughter) i wouldn't endorse him and a week later the class goldfish dropped dead! (audience reacts) i could be next! >> stephen: stay calm, mrs. ludemeyer. >> can i stay here tonight? >> stephen: of course you can! we'll be right back. (cheers and applause) ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announ

back now with more from mr david stockman now david i'm going to jump right in now ask you do you share ben bernanke and janet yellen deflationary fears. deflationary fears absolutely not that is just a canard that they constantly try it out when all else fails to justify continuing to run burning pres at these crazy rates even sixty five billion a month after all we're in the fifth year of this so-called recovery look at the last twelve thirteen years the c.p.i. is average two point four percent if you take the one they prefer you know the p.c. eat deflator less food energy assuming no one has had to eat their home or eat for twelve years but even then it's one point eight percent. the rates do bob all up and down a little bit by a month or quarter depending on what's going on in the world economy commodities oil a lot of other things but on trend there is absolutely no whiff of deflation in the air and besides that where was that ever written that if you don't make two percent inflation you're failing to help the economy i mean inflation is all for debtors and is a huge negative and h