mr. sarbanes: i haven't heard the president express concerns. > was michael cohen qualified? mr. sarbanes: that is something we know - sand san that michael cohen millions of dollars and peddling the dollars to america's largest corporation. is the president ashamed of that? >> it would be up to those individuals to hire someone, the same way that the contest that you work for to determine whether or not that you are decision to serve in a and has nothing to do with the white house. appreciate it. do you know whether mr. cohen approached the white house of any of those companies ap the president was aware of those payments and whether he was aware that cohen was marketing himself? > i would refer you to outside couple. >> michael cohen and his ersonal attorney was selling assets. >> i haven't spoken with the president. >> you are the press secretary, based on what you know, what has been revealed, does the president think it was appropriate that the personal attorney was selling assets? >> and i would refer to you to the outside coal that has to deal with michael cohen or others.

mr. sarbanes: thank you, senator. good afternoon, everybody. this place behind us, the capitol, where the house and senate is located, this is an institution that our public wants to work, people want this place to work. but they lack confidence anymore that it will work for them because they see the influence that special interests have, that big money has, that lobbyists have. and they worry that this institution, this democratic institution, that our government works for somebody else. and not for them. and they know what happens when a culture of corruption takes hold. they understand the consequence of special interests ruling the roost. and taking hostage their governmental institutions. when wall street calls the shots on tax policy, it has a consequence in the everyday lives of americans out there. when scott pruitt is carrying polluted water for the oil and gas industry and the chemical industry, it makes a difference to the daily lives of americans all across this country. people understand this. they feel it viscerally. and they rese

mr. sarbanes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. sarbanes: thank you, smars. i thank the gentleman for yielding. no matter what you think of s. 2155, one of the underlying bills being considered today, it is not what a clear majority of americans want congress to be doing. madam speaker, nobody's coming up to us in town halls and asking congress it deregulate large financial institutions. we're not going to fish fries and hearing from people that they want to dismantle important consumer protections. and nobody at v.f.w. halls, rotary clubs, and p.t.a. meetings thinks this bill should be congress' priority. the reason this bill is on the floor is the powerbrokers on wall street want it on the floor. it's their bill. not the people's bill. our broken campaign finance system lays at the heart of this warped political system where big money calls the shots in washington. for starters, in this system this broken system, too many good candidates without access to big money are effectively barred from running all ogether. those who make it

mr. sarbanes. mr. sarbanes votes no. >> clerk will report. >> on this vote 22 ayes and 15 nos. >> motion to table passes. we will now, i want to thank all the members on both sides for coming. we will rue assume with our questioning of the witness until votes are called and we're over here. so, give me one second. gentleman from illinois is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning mr. gore. many individual citizens as well as non-citizens including legal permanent residents are fearful about giving their personal data to the government particularly in the current political climate. these fears were escalated recently by the doj's request to include the citizenship question on the 2020 census. that is why i think it is so critical today for us to remind individuals that title 13 protects the confidentiality of their census responses and prohibits the government from sharing data with other government agencies. mr. gore, will you confirm here today that the department of justice will follow th