mr. pitts would have been written -- referred to would have been written by myself and my colleagues in support of his application. it is always a bit disappointing when one of the really important committees like the shelter monitoring committee, is not fulfilling all of its responsibilities. we heard that the committee has fallen short on a number of occasions in fulfilling its monitoring obligations, so the local homeless for relies on committees to report the condition of shelters in our role as both an advocate of the shelter as well as a monitor of that kind of activity. it really helps us to get accurate and consistent input, and when that does not happen, we are not able to fully exercise our responsibilities. mr. pitts has been absolutely consistent in his attendance both at the local homeless coordinating board and the shelter monitoring committee. he has provided passionate and insightful and put into the services there. as someone who is absolutely available and has experienced many

i would now recognize the chairman of the subcommittee for five minutes, mr. pitts. >> thank you, mr. chairman. right now, states across the nation are struggling to ounce budgets without sacrificing the quality of care for their current medicaid enrollees. many states have already made deep cuts trying to achieve balanced budgets, but under the meat and fat for provisions and obamacare, the state takes any action that makes eligibility for medicaid were restricted, then the standards in effect put the state's program as of march 23, 2010, that they could lose all federal funding. if states can change the eligibility criteria, governors are left with little flexibility and few choices but to cut payments to providers or cut other parts of the state budget, for instance education and transportation, in order to maintain federal medicaid spending. what does this look like for my home state of pennsylvania? in an op-ed on "usa today".com come pennsylvania governor tom corbett today wrote quote, pennsylvania's medicaid program, for example, has been steady and sustainab

the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts. mr. pitts: i ask the guests in the gallery to join nuss saying the pledge of allegiance. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all pledge indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15-minute one-minute requests on each side. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mckinley: thank you, mr. speaker. in 1987 president ronald reagan declared march as national disabilities month. he called upon our nation to provide encouragement and opportunities to help persons with developmental disabilities, lead productive and fulfilling lives. there are currently over seven million americans who experience developmental disabilities. disabilities have no boundaries. they can cut across all lines of racial, ethnic, educational, social and economic backgrounds and can occur in any family. as an individual with significant hea

now, mr. pittsjust mentioned that february, the deficit in this country was $223 billion for one month. the shortest month of the year. this is as good as it's going to get. what happen when is you have those subsidies in the exchanges that subsidize middle class purchase of health insurance in this country for the first time? that's a high pressure tap into the federal treasury. it's really wrong and has to stop. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable, the speaker, house of representatives, sir, this is to notify you formally, pursuant to rule 8 of the rules of the house of representatives, that i have been served with a civil subpoena issued before the evidentry panel for the state bar of texas for documents. after consultation with the office of general counsel, i have determined that the compliance for the subpoena is inconsistent with the precedence and privileges o

mr. pitts: mr. speaker, this week 13 coptic christians in egypt were killed in clashes with muslims. recently a church was burned to the ground leading many christians to flea -- flee the village. this comes only two months after 24 christians were killed in a church bombing. for thousands of years coptic christians have lived and worshiped in egypt, but some extremists want to use the chaos in the country today to drive them out of their homes and places of worship. egypt is in the process of developing a democratic government, one in which all the egyptian people will have a say. these attacks undermine freedom and democracy. democracy without protection of minority rights is mob rule and not true freedom. i invite all my colleagues to join me on a letter of the chief of the egyptian armed forces calling on him to protect the egyptian citizens during this critical period in his nation. we are glad to see the egyptian people building a better government and we must remind them that fundamental resp

at this time, i recommend the gentleman mr. pitts. >> you said it should remain part of our strategy? >> yes. >> in light of this, the administration has eliminated the office of civilian radioactive waste management, a waste -- to an office within the department of energy, especially created by statute. the administration has also shut down the yucca mountain repository program. there are concerns about the status of spent nuclear sleet -- fuel rods that have been in storage at the japanese nuclear plants effected by the recent earthquake. in light of the defense in japan, and does the decision to eliminate the office of radioactive rays -- waste deserve consideration from the president? >> we should not confuse what is happening in japan with the need to have a long-term repository there are stages, once the fuel plotted -- respiratory. there are stages once the fuel rod is pulled. finally, you look for disposition. technology is changing. again, i do not want to preempt what the blue ribbon commission will say, but there could be

i would now recognize the chairman of the health subcommittee for five minutes, mr. pitts. >> thank you, mr. chairman. right now states across the nation are struggling to balance their budget and reduce cost without sacrificing the quality of care. many states have already made deep cuts trying to achieve balanced budgets. under the maintenance of effort provisions in obamacare, if a state takes any action that makes eligibility for medicaid more restrictive than the standards that affect for the states program as of march 23rd, 2010, that state could lose all federal funding. if states can't change the eligibility, governors are left with little flexibility and few choices but to cut payments to providers, or cut other parts of the state budget. for example, education and transportation in order to maintain federal medicaid spending. what does this look like from my home state of pennsylvania? on "usa today".com tom wrote, pennsylvania's medicaid program, for example, has seen steady unsustainable number of increases in the number of people it serves and the cost of our

the woman was in a predictment, like brad pitt, in "mr. and mrs. on to the hood of a speeding car. >> by the tips of my fingers and my ankles. >> reporter: her attempt was heroic, throwing herself on the family minivan, she says to stop her troubled husband, from getting behind the wheel while he was on a dangerous drug binge. >> i know it was the stupidest thing i've ever done. i jumped on the hood of the van. he backed out quickly. when he did that, it turned me. and i got stuck. >> reporter: stuck, lying on her back. with one hand under a wiper blade. the other gripping a wheel well, as her husband was driving more than 100 miles per hour. lights off, in the dark, racing across bay area interstates and highways, for an unbelievable 35 miles. police got a 911 call, and another, as a citizen was in pursuit. >> that car said he stayed with the van. and they were going about 100 miles per hour. >> reporter: a dangerous move on this busy interstate. but local police say this is one time they are grateful an ordinary citizen was able to follow at terr

i think you are refreshing, and i look forward to working with you can >> thank you, sir pitt >> thank you, mr. davis. -- >> thank you, sir. >> thank you, mr. davis. at this time, i want to thank our panelists. thank you for being here. we will have the clerk setup for the next panel. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [unintelligible chatter] [unintelligible chatter] >> i, committee back to order. mr. sampey. seated to my left is the executive vice president. mr. sackler is the quorum needed for the 21st century -- coordinator for the 20% to postal service. mr. rolando is the president. gentleman, lsd to be sworn in. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> thank you. a the record reflect that all witnesses answered in the affirmative. please limit your testimony to five minutes. your written testimony has been entered into the record. with that, i will start with mr. sampey. you're recognized. >> chairman ross, ranking

mr. blum, for three minutes. >> thank you chairman pitts, and a much welcome secretary sebelius. in these tough economic times i recognize how difficult a budgetary and spending decisions are for the president and congress. i commend the president for his responsible budget. i would hope we can work together to move this country forward to create jobs and to foster economic growth. i want to commend secretary sebelius for your agencies hard work this past year to implement the affordable care act. i will continue to fight against the republican effort to defunded this important landmark law. i can't agree more with president obama that as we continue to work our way out of the recession for the thriving economy that offers economic opportunities for all americans, that we must out-innovate, not educate and out build the rest of the world, and to do that i blew the federal government has a vital role to play. at the core of innovation is research and development. it is r&d that propels the signs, the businesses health care. in fact, a recent report shows health care r&d support 21

palestinian leaders have per pitt pet waited this dangerous myth while israelis by contrast have embraced their arab neighbors as complete an equal citizens since 1948. mr. speaker, the palestinians must not be allowed to cleanse the west bank of all jewish life before they will accept the peace agreement with israel. the world community must call on them to condemn these horrific attacks and immediately return to the negotiating table which they have avoided for far too long. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> i rise to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, the ninth congressional district of virginia and the law enforcement community suffered a terrible loss yesterday. i was deeply saddened to learn that two deputies were killed and two others were seriously injured in the line of duty in van sant, virginia. my condolences to g to the families of deputy william ezra still in her and deputy cameron neil justice who lost