mr. smith's? >> congressman, last weekend i met with the 40 person congress who represents retired players. they talk about the toughness of the game but they also talk about the lifelong injuries that they sustained, the loss of their ability to keep a train of thought. when you talk to the chair of the wise organization, they will take you a story about players who are unable to move on monday and tuesday's. when i watched brian dawkins walked down the steps who is a safety for the denver broncos, gingerly walked down the steps on a monday afternoon, and while i shook his hand and went to embrace him, he put up his hand end user hey, well, i don't think there's anyone who plays football today who doesn't believe this is a very, very tough game. no, we are not looking to legislate hitting out of the game. but in the same way that this congress has stepped in historically, whether it was ncaa almost 40 years ago, or whether it was other issues in professional sports to ensure the safety of players

mr. smith to cut his microphone off over there? thank you. i am also a big nfl football fan and certainly observed the change that has taken place in attitude about this issue. i am a big carolina panther fan and observed the dante wesley hit that got him suspended and knew in my own mind that several years ago the response to that would have been a 15-yard penalty, and that would have been the end of it. so i understand that there is a change of attitude taking place here. the one thing that i try to discern out of hearings of this kind is what kind of public policy direction we might take. so i'm extremely pierre tiff to the last two witnesses for their balance on that, because after all these years, we still haven't taken any steps to outlaw or ban boxing, and i don't think we are likely to take any steps to outlaw or ban football. so we have to look at what the possible adjustments are short of that, that may be made either within the sport or from a public policy perspective. the one thing

mr. smith. it regards, first of all, the problem that has been very well described by everyone on this panel today in terms of the risk of these head injuries and the fact that this is something that starts becoming a problem at a very young age in junior high school, high school, up through college and long before they get to the nfl. there are a number of good ideas that have been expressed. mr. hodge had some very good ideas regarding nuregal exs and with regard to -- neurological exangeses. >> one of the problems is getting the information out. i'm not sure that given the wide variety and changing opinions that this is suitable for legislation from the congress. but i'm wondering, does the nfl during games use public service announcements, for example, to educate young people and their parents about the risks of head injuries and things that could be done on a practical basis to avoid them in little league play and in high school, and so on? >> the answer to that question is i believe we ha

thank you. >> thank you very much mr. smith. and did jim brown -- of cleveland come in yet? out of the -- of the natural generosity of my heart, i'm going to allow three people to make two minute statements. miss baldwin and mr. quigley and hank johnson. if you agree to that, you'll be recognized. so we'll start off with -- with tammy baldwin. >> thank you. >> i want to thank you for holding this important hearing, as well as extend my thanks to our many witnesses who have taken the time to be with us this morning. and i also want to acknowledge the presence of mr. willy wood, a retired nfl player from the green bay packers. as a proud packer fan, i will -- would like to boast for a moment about mr. woods. he made the all pro team nine times in his 12-year career and played in both super bowl number one in 1967 and super bowl number two the following year. and thanks in no small part to mr. wood's impressive work as a starting free safety for the packers, green bay won both of those super bowls. he finished his 12 nfl seasons with 48 interception which is he returned for 699

she's just an unbelievable politician, somebody we haven't seen for it -- remember that movie mr. smith does to washington? while this is mrs. palin goes to washington. >> i know it, if there's something wrong inside the beltway, what is wrong? >> well, i think we need to get rid of these, what you call them, these long-term politician is. the ones that have been there 30, 40 years. they get entranced with that kind of mentality. and they are corrupt. every time you turn on booktv there's another corrupt politician for an ethics charge. the main thing, they don't listen to us anymore. they don't listen to us out in the heartland. they'll listen to us. she does. >> there's something you missed same? >> yes, i want to say she's a woman with strong values and a woman with impeccable integrity and a very strong faith in god. and she's not ashamed to let that show. >> i think that's fantastic and i agree with her 100%. >> doer words and we believe and not, perfect. set perfectly. >> so you are all here very early? why are you here so early for this? >> so we would have a chance to meet her

. >> thank you very much mr. smith. and did jim brown -- of cleveland come in yet? out of the -- of the natural generosity of my heart, i'm going to allow three people to make two minute statements. miss baldwin and mr. quigley and hank johnson. if you agree to that, you'll be recognized. so we'll start off with -- with tammy baldwin. >> thank you. >> i want to thank you for holding this important hearing, as well as extend my thanks to our many witnesses who have taken the time to be with us this morning. and i also want to acknowledge the presence of mr. willy wood, a retired nfl player from the green bay packers. as a proud packer fan, i will -- would like to boast for a moment about mr. woods. he made the all pro team nine times in his 12-year career and played in both super bowl number one in 1967 and super bowl number two the following year. and thanks in no small part to mr. wood's impressive work as a starting free safety for the packers, green bay won both of those super bowls. he finished his 12 nfl seasons with 48 interception which is he returned for 699

remember the movie "mr. smith goes to washington"? of this is mrs. palin goes to washington. >> is something needs to be fixed, what is wrong? >> we need to get rid of the long term politicians in there 30 or 40 or 50 years to just get entrenched with that kind of mentality. every time you turn on a tv there is another corrupt politician for the ethics charge. they don't listen to us any more. they don't listen to was in the heartland. she does. >> there is something you wanted to say? >> she is a woman with strong values but impeccable integrity and a very strong faith in god and not ashamed to let that show. >> we believe. >> you are here very early. why are you here so early? >> we wanted a chance to get an. [laughter] exactly. >> do you remember when you first learned about sarah palin and what your reaction was when you learned about her? >> my reaction was i went to the republican national office and started making phone calls for the campaign as soon as i heard that she signed on and i heard her speech that night. >> great inspiration. >> what

bennett quotes mr. smith and his book. feca is a bad law. they did their best to try to enforce that law because they had taken a note when they became commissioners to uphold the law. the claim that all of the votes that they make on the commission or partyline votes is also demonstrably false. if you take a look at the history of voting on the fec since the agency first came in 30 years ago, you will find that enforcement cases, cases where they are deciding whether someone has violated a law, the number of split votes and remembers a six member commission, three republicans three democrats on there, the number of split votes where they can't make a decision is less than 1% of all cases. in fact, most of the cases are unanimous. so in terms of enforcing the law on a nonpartisan basis, whether the% of them is a democrat or republican, libertarian, they don't vote on a partyline basis and the history of pc shows that. now where the split those have occurred, and there were split those when i was there, it is invariably been in areas of polic

you know, i was going to ask the general -- he was asked by mr. smithdid you ever try to get into the prisons, if he never answered that question, and i think the question was also asked of you -- did you ever try to get into the prisons, and he never answered that question. i would like to ask you that question, and if so, were you allowed to see the prisoners, and if you did not ask to go to see them, i would like to know why you did not, because that is one thing we have been concerned about for a long time. cuba is considered a terrorist state, and i think that we ought to keep that in consideration until there is a reversal of that. if you would answer the question, i would appreciate it. >> thank you, mr. burton. if there is time, i will respond to what you said about the hotels and the taxi drivers. >> the one i want to know about is if you asked about the prisoners. >> no, i have never done that. i have advocated on behalf of prisoners of conscience. i have visited them and dissidents. >> really quickly, why did you not ask? >> part of a congres

you know i was going to ask general mccaffrey, he was asked by mr. smith, did you ever tried to get into the prisons and mr. mccaffrey never answered that question. i think the question was also asked of you, and after i finish my remarks i would like for you to answer that, have you ever ask to go in and seek political prisoners and itself were you allowed to go in and see the political prisoners and if you didn't ask to go in and see them, i would like to know why do you didn't because that is one of the major things we have been concerned about for a long time. .. why didn't you ask -- >> and every single time i have gone to the congressional delegation i'm proud to say that the delegation has advocated in favor of human rights including specifically. >> why didn't you ask to go in and see the political prisoners? >> i've talked to dissidence -- >> the time of the gentleman -- >> -- on many occasions. >> the time of the gentleman is expired. i do want to remind everyone there is a hearing that is scheduled by the subcommittee on middle east and south as

bourn walker smith jr., the future titleholder spent his years in harlem and mixed his pugilistic career with the happenings of the harlem renaissance. mr. wil haygood recounts his connections to langston hughes, miles davis and lena horne, a generation who found success in their fields during the start of a broad civil rights movement. wil haygood discusses his book with dave zirin, sports columnist for the nation magazine and author of a people's history of sports in the united states. >> host: welcome to "after words." i am dave zirin, i am the sports editor for the nation magazine, and i'm absolutely thrilled to be interviewing a man who has written a tremendous biography about the greatest pound for pound boxer of the 20th century. that boxers name is walker smith, jr., better known as sugar ray robinson, and the author is wil haygood. how are you doing? >> guest: good, good to be here. >> host: it's great to have you. i do think this book is actually worthy of sugar ray robinson. it is a tremendous achievement so congratulations right away. >> guest: thank you. >> host: you are not a sports biographer by trade. why did you decide

mr. mayor, please thank you. [applause] the mayor, of course, of our home town and the district of columbia. joining us is also gail smith, special assistant to the president and senior director for development and democracy who is responsible for global health policy of the national security secretary, gail, where are you? i know i cited. [applause] the president's commitment to hiv/aids is demonstrated by the strong leadership of the team he has assembled within his administration and we are so fortunate today to be joined by some of the administration's top leaders of this area. anna hiv/aids and so first we're going to hear from secretary clinton then we will hear from secretary kathleen sibelius, she will be followed by the ambassador at large of the global aids coordinator, and i'm also pleased to welcome a special guest here who will be speaking after the doctor, who is the president-elect of the international aids society and finally you'll hear from geoffrey crowley, of course, the director of the white house office of national aids policy and senior adviser on disability policy and he will give the closing rema

remember the movie "mr. smith goes to washington" well, this is mrs. pail in goes to washington, we hope. >> if there is something wrong inside the beltway, what is wrong? >> well, i think we need to get rid of these what do you call them long-term politician, been there 30, 40, 50 years and get entrenched with that kind of mentality, and they are corrupt, every time you turn on tv there is another corrupt politician on an ethics charge and they... and the main thing, they dent listen to us any more -- don't listen to us any more in the heartland. they don't listen to us. she does. >> there is something you missed saying. >> yes, i wanted to say that she is a woman... like i said with strong values but a woman with impeccable integrity and strong faith in god and she's not ashamed to let this show. >> i think that is the test and i agree with you, 100%. >> your words, we believe in that, perfect. said perfectly. >> you are here early. why are you here so early for this... >> so we'd have a chance to... >> get into see her. exactly. >> do you remember w

next -- the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, is recognized for one minute. >> thank you.n 2001i offered amendment to the treasury appropriations bill to facilitate lifting the travel ban, but if and only if certain fundamental human rights conditions were met. one, release all political prisoners, and second, return to the united states of those murderers and felons joann a woman convicted and sentenced for the brutal execution-style murder of the new jersey state trooper werner foerster. .. dividing a means of attracting interest in their culture and in american dollars. i do not believe that tourism is a silver bullet that will reduce poverty, encourage democracy and restore social equality. however, there is value to opening the doors of tourism to cuba. tourism is a dialogue with the cuban people. it signals our openness to-- and i believe this will give hope to cubans wishing to return to their homeland so i look forward to hearing the testimony of our panelists. i want to thank you for the hearing mr. chairman. >> the time of the gentlelady has expired. the gentlema

. >> thank you very much mr. smith. and did jim brown -- of cleveland come in yet? t of the -- of the natural generosity of my heart, i'm going to allow three people to make two minute statements. miss baldwin and mr. quigley and hank johnson. if you agree to that, you'll be recognized. so we'll start off with -- with tammy baldwin. >> thank you. >> i want to thank you for holding this important hearing, as well as extend my thanks to our many witnesses who have taken the time to be with us this morning. and i also want to acknowledge the presence of mr. willy wood, a retired nfl player from the green bay packers. as a proud packer fan, i will -- would like to boast for a moment about mr. woods. he made the all pro team nine times in his 12-year career and played in both super bowl number one in 1967 and super bowl number two the following year. and thanks in no small part to mr. wood's impressive work as a starting free safety for the packers, green bay won both of those super bowls. he finished his 12 nfl seasons with 48 interception which is he returned for 699 ya