blumenauer. -- mr. smith: at this point i'm pleased to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy for allowing me to speak on this, i'm pleased that this bill has been named after senator mccain. it was my privilege to work with him on one particular area, deal twheg people who worked with us , along istan and iraq with senator kennedy over the last 10 years. help ed to put these -- these peoples who worked with us as translators who have being left at the mercies of people with long memories like al qaeda and isis. we still have 17,000 applicants who want to have these visas to come to the united states to safety. i'm disappointed that we've been unable to be able to have the funding for additional visa allocations. i appreciate that due to an accounting convention, would be at the expense of other important things that we are fighting for. but i would hope that we're able to focus on what the cost would have been to us if we

mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from wyoming. ms. cheney: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and insert heir remarks and extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. cheney: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. cheney: mr. speaker, i rise in support of my resolution, h.res. 995, which expresses this house's commitment to providing the full, on-time funding our men and women in uniform need to defend our nation. this week and next, mr. speaker, we'll be spending time on this floor discussing the devastating impacts nine consecutive continuing resolutions have had on our military's readiness and on our ability to deter and defend against our adversaries. despite the fact that this house has consistently and normally in a bipartisan fashion completed our

the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, is recognized for five minutes. mr. smith: thank you, mr. chairman. americans deserve the facts objectively reported. they know media bias is pervasive. a recent poll found that only a quarter of voters now trust the media to tell them the truth. a record blow. the media savages the president and portrays his administration in the worst possible light. over 90% of his network news coverage has been negative. higher than any other president. the meeting of conservative voices by social media also has intensified. social media companies have repeatedly censored, removed, or shadow banned conservative journalists, news organizations, and media outlets that do not share their liberal political views. facebook's new algorithm for what users see on their time line has disproportionately hurt publishers. they are getting foreign leaders while their liberal counter parts vn been impacted to the same degree. recently google employees' easily convinced the company's management to cut ties to contracts with the military. and google has long faced criti

mr. smith: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 70 printed in house report 115-830, offered by mr. smith of missouri. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 996, the gentleman from missouri, mr. smith, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the entleman from missouri. mr. smith: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise today in support of my amendment. when federal agencies settle lawsuits without -- with outside advocacy groups behind closed doors, the outcome is pretty much what you would expect. costly new regulatory burdens with taxpayers picking up the tab. that's exactly how sue and settle works. federal agencies accept lawsuits from outside advocacy organizations and rather than defend themselves, proceed to settle. that lawsuit -- settle that lawsuit this a closed-door agreement, resulting in new and more costly regulations. it's bad enough that the taxpayer ultimately pays for these re

blumenauer. -- mr. smith: at this point i'm pleased to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy for allowing me to speak on this, i'm pleased that this bill has been named after senator mccain. it was my privilege to work with him on one particular area, deal twheg people who worked with us , along istan and iraq with senator kennedy over the last 10 years. help ed to put these -- these peoples who worked with us as translators who have being left at the mercies of people with long memories like al qaeda and isis. we still have 17,000 applicants who want to have these visas to come to the united states to safety. i'm disappointed that we've been unable to be able to have the funding for additional visa allocations. i appreciate that due to an accounting convention, would be at the expense of other important things that we are fighting for. but i would hope that we're able to focus on what the cost would have been to us if we

mrs. smith's pothole in front of her office even though the state senate has nothing to do with that but the call from the state senator to the city facilities manager will get that done very quickly and mrs. smith thinks that senator dunn was out there patching the pothole in front of her house, if we as democrats focus on that in marginal and deep red territory, we will be given the honor of being able to vote on these very critical issues that our two keynote speakers spoke about. it's true now and it's been true, frankly, forever. but it is oftentimes forgotten. and now that the internet has given a voice to some of the more fringe voices in both parties, they've become much more vocal as a result. we've lost sight of that particular essence of that. mrs. smith always voted for my re-election because she believed i was patching the pothole in front of her house. with that, noah, i want to go back to your question. and i understand any voice from california is immediately dismissed every othe

mr. smith will speak for half hour and there will be ten minutes of questions and if you could not sure if we have a mic in here or not but please step into the microphone and i will move it out so that your questions can be heard on c-span. after that and after the ten minutes i will be cut it off because it's a [inaudible] go out into the store and browse the books and kurt will sign it for you. let me introduce mr. smith. it is interesting to me specifically that we have a strange sort of connection and i was one of the original archivist at the george hws presidential library he was the speechwriter for the president and the first collection i worked on well over 20 years ago where the speech files. we have this unusual archivist records creator relationship. kurt is the author of seven books including the "the presidents and the pastime". he's a historian and presidential speed writer and read more of president and former presidents bush's speeches than any other person. he wrote among his

bill and sections 893 and 1604 of the senate amendment and modifications committed to conference, mr. smith of texas, lucas and ms. eddie bernice johnson of texas. or considerations of 811, 861, 863 and 280 of the house bill 6006 of ns, 1626 and the senate amendment and modifications committed to conference, mr. chabot, knight and velazquez. for sections 518, 554, 883, 1111, 049, 1050-b, 1095, 3528, 3529 and4, disks d of the house bill in ecretaries 153, 601, 1604, 3501, 3502. 7517 of the and senate amendment and modifications committed to conference. mrs. comstock and ms. brownley of california. from the committee on veterans affairs for considerations of 2844 n 547, 552, 1411 and of the house bill and section 721, 726 and modifications committed to conference mr. roe of tennessee, and walings. for consideration of 01 of the house bill and section 6201 of the senate amendment and modifications committed to conference mr. reichert, roskham and neal for considerations of 1076, 1079,6, 3 2, 2830-a, 3, 2822, 2830, 3549, 4810, 4837 division e and section 6101 1721, 4, 601, 1002, 2833, 2836 and

washington both have mr. smith go to washington feeling. so i know that i had to be chaotic.so tell us about that experienc experience. start us off. >> i had no legislative branch experience. and they were tremendously helpful it was a large class but make no mistake he was arguably the best member of that incoming freshman class. he was elvis pressley of that class and very gracious. [laughter] but i think he was the president of your freshman class if memory serves me correctly so back home that is a big deal. and i remember him declining the opportunity to run for freshman class president. that is how popular he was but he didn't run. and that is a curious strategy decision what better to go back home to say i am so popular even the members of the house like me he didn't do it and he took a different path. i started to watch him and then one night we had dinner in the basement of the capitol hill club and i said i told him you have earned every bit of political capital you have don't let anybody else spend that for you. >> my theory of mr. smith goes to washington actuall

david: mrs. smith. the mrs. ith story has never been confirmed that it was a personal relationship. i always thought one biography pointed out the best evidence we have that it was. stevens had a portrait painted of her. if she was only the mistress of his house as a servant, you don't get portraits painted of people like that. you get portraits painted of people you care about. i am inclined to credit it, although i agree the evidence is slim. that would have appalled johnson. he is a southerner. he knew that there was crossing of racial lines in personal relationships. there was a vice president from tennessee that took up with a black woman and lived with her openly. i think that was richard johnson. it would have annoyed him, it would have alienated him. but it was much more that they simply were political opposites. he recognized both that stevens was going to be against him on everything, and frankly that stevens was a formidable opponent. he could muster his troops in a way that others couldn't. brian: why

. >> mr. smith? mr. smith votes aye. >> isa, mr. king? mr. king votes aye. mr. jordan? mr. jordan votes yes. mr. -- mr. ma -- from gowdy? >> pass. >> mr. labrador? mr. collins? >> mr. -- mrde -- fwl buck? >> mr. rat cliff? -- mr. gates? mr. gates votes aye. mr. johnson of louisiana. mr. bigs. mr mr. -- mr. nadler? mr. nadler votes no. miss jackson lee? mr. cohn? is. >> -- johnson of georgia. no. mr. deutsch? mr. deutsch votes no. mr. gutierrez? miss bass? mr. richmond? votes no. mr. jeffreys? mr. cicilline? >> no. >> mr. cicilline votes no. >> swalwell. >> no. >> mr. -- miss demmings. >> the clerk of the oversight government reform committee will call the roll. >> mr. gaudy? >> pass. >> mr. gowdy passes. mr. done can? mr. duncan votes aye. >> mr. isa votes aye. >> jordan. mr. sanford. aye. >> mr. >> ms. fox. mr. massey. mr. meadows. mr. meadows votes aye. mr. desan tis. mr. ross. mr. walker? mr. walker votes aye. mr. blum. mr. blum. mr. russell. mr. russell votes aye. mr. -- mr. palmer. mr. comber. >> yes. >> mr. mitchell. mr. gianforte. votes yes. >> mr. cummings. mr. cumm

and mrs. smithwhat's more irresponsible than taking, you know, one of the biggest movie stars in the world and giving him a role that is utterly wordless and invisible with the expectation of three frames of film and that's kind of amazing. >> celine dion the same kind of deal? >> it really kind of resonated for her and she just when she since it, you can't help but just have tears fire out of your face. >> okay, and if you're keeping up with ryan and his wife blake lively trolling each other on instagram, you remember blake said this about her "a simple favor" co-star anna kendrick is the hotter female version of my husband. so, would it really count as cheating? you know, i had to ask about that. >>kendrick feels like she gave you "deadpool" so she should have your wife. >> oh, wow, she wants to take my wife. >> yes. >> i know a lot of guys that would be fine with that but not me. access denied. >> listen, ryan, black and anna should be a part of your instagram feed. it's that good. >>> we took a

host: mr. smith, go ahead. guest: i wanted to respond to .omething homan said he said we are arresting them and separating them from their children just like we do with every other citizen that is arrested. it is true that when someone is arrested for an offense they are taken and booked and separated from their families. on the other hand, their families know where they are. children can visit them wherever they are. it's a big difference. we are not punishing the children when we are arresting somebody in those circumstances. as for the viewer, there seems to be this notion that we had a flood of refugees coming across the border. the numbers are way down. those are the facts that you would get if you talk to border patrol or if you talked to the department of homeland security. the idea that these people are andging a foreign culture that it will be trouble for us, this would have applied over past years but not today where the numbers are very low. there's also quite a bit of exaggeration about the amount o

mr. smith: thank you, mr. chairman. first of all, i really want to thank congressman yoho. we worked together on this bill. we also worked together as co-chairs of the caucus for effective foreign assistance. this bill really shows the bipartisan support on the committee. certainly want to thank the chair and ranking member for their work as well. towards a very important goal and that is to make more effective use of u.s. foreign aid and foreign development. it is a crucial tool right now in the world. we need as many friends and as many partners as we can find in the world. development through u.s. aid and other agencies is a crucial way that we build the relationships. as has been mentioned by all three of the previous speakers, as importantly build the capacity of our partners to have a strong economy and to grow. what this bill does is it makes our foreign investment policy better, more cohesive and more robust. it enables that agency to invest in the projects that are necessary to help it be successful by expanding what it can do. by expanding its ability to work with

mr smith has apologised for telling the conservative party chairman, brandon lewis, to take part in apite a "pairing" agreement with a liberal democrat mp who was on maternity leave. mps have criticised the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, for failings around the disclosure of evidence in criminal trials. a number of rape trials collapsed last year, after it emerged vital evidence hadn't been given to defence lawyers. the report says at least 8111 cases were stopped because of disclosure failures in the past year. our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. last december, the rape case against liam allan collapsed. the last two years i've just spent worrying and not concentrating on anything, so it has ripped apart my normal personal life. text messages disclosed by the prosecution proved his alleged victim had pestered him for casual sex. it was the first of a series of recent high profile disclosure failures. concerning reviews by the police and crown prosecution service, and a national disclosure improvement plan has now been followed by a damning report

. >> mr. smith. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you, all, for taking time out of your busy schedule and being here. being a fourth generation owner of our family ranch, i relate to a lot of you. in these issues. mr. vanderwal, you spoke about several of the tariffs like the tariffs on soybeans. who put those tariffs on the soybeans? >> you mean -- >> was it the trump administration? or was it the chinese? >> the chinese have put the tariffs on the soybeans in retaliation for the tariffs that have been put on their products coming this way. >> that's the excuse that they said. but i want to point out that the trump administration did not put the 25% tariff on soybeans or cotton or corn or the other ag products. it was the chinese. and we can't lose that direction. we have a president -- and i think it's an important distinction that needs to be made by those of us on this committee. because farmers, ranchers, and workers in southern missouri have been on an uneven playing field for quite some time. president trump knows th

. >> mr. smith? >> aye. >> mr. chaffet. >> aye. >> mr. issa? mr. king? >> aye. >> mr. gomert. >> aye. >> mr. jordan. >> yes. >> mr. poe. >> yes. >> mr. gowdy? >> pass. >> mr. labrador? mr. collins? >> aye. >> mr. labrador votes aye. mr. collins? >> aye. >> mr. desantis? >> aye. >> mr. buck? >> mr. ratcliff? >> yes. >> ms. roby? mr. gates? >> aye. >> mr. johnson of louisiana? >> aye. >> mr. biggs? >> aye. >> mr. rutherford. >> aye. >> miss handle? >> yes. >> mr. nadler? >> no. >> miss lofgren? >> no. >> ms. jackson-lee? >> no. >> mr. cohen? >> no. >> mr. johnson of georgia? >> no. >> mr. deutsche? >> no. >> mr. gutierrez? >> no. >> miss bass? mr. richmond? >> no. >> mr. jeffries? >> mr. cicilline? >> no. >> mr. swallwell? >> no. >> mr. raskin. >> no. >> mr. schneider? >> no. >> miss demmings? >> no. >> the clerk of the oversight government reform committee will call the roll. >> mr. gowdy. >> pass. >> mr. duncan. >> aye. >> mr. issa. >> aye for both committees. >> mr. jordan. >> yes. >> mr. sanford. >> aye. >> mr. amash. mr. goeser. >> aye. >> mr. desjarlait. >> aye. >>

mr. chris smith of new jersey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me be clear on the record that after being unjustly jailed for three years, igor bitkoff and his wife and daughter, who spent three months for being unjustly jailed. igor got out on bail, but they're told they're not free. they're under house arrest, that -- on may 23 shd, i, on two days before my hearing, which was ns this room, the court ruled and allowed them out of jail this wasn't enough fofr seasig, however. he went back to the constitutional court and another action. >> this would be the third time the constitutional court rngt -- these are asylum seekers, a family that was escaping the impunity of vladimir putin and his cronies. article 5 makes it clear that theshl not become available for public scrutiny, and then it is clearly pointed out that producing a fraudulent travel or identity document. so the protocol couldn't be cleared, and anyone who doubts they were escaping a tyrannical outlook against them, just look at the record. it couldn't be more clear. and the consti

mr. chris smith of new jersey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me be clear on the record that after being unjustly jailed for three years, igor bitkoff and his wife and daughter, who spent three months for being unjustly jailed. igor got out on bail, but they're told they're not free. they're under house arrest, i just confirmed it again within the last couple minutes with their attorney, they are under house arrest. on may 23rd, i, on two days before my hearing, which was in this room, the court ruled and allowed them out of jail this wasn't enough for csig, however. on may 23rd csig went back to constitutional court and another action. >> this is the third time. >> there is a pattern here. on june 21st, the constitutional court -- we're talking about migrants. these are asylum seekers, a family that was escaping the impunity of vladimir putin and his cronies. article 5 makes it clear that they shall not become available for criminal prosecution for article 6 of the protocol and it's pointed out that producing a fraudulent travel or identity

chairman. >> thank you, mr. smith you are recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman for allowing me to be here today. thank you to our witnesses for sharing insights and expertise. you are practitioners in agriculture and not just economists saying how things ought to be or could be, but how things really are. i think it is important. i think this entire debate on trade has generated more discussion across our country. i think we can be better off for it. and makes a lot of us nervous and certainly as you reflect on that. meeting with some folks back home, a being company for company forean example. they have a great insight and are concerned about their situation, reflecting the concerns of the producers that they work with. i appreciate your testimony. certainly you how appreciate president trump's effort. i part of the concern is that this is all in the context that agriculture has not enjoyed the economic uptrend that perhaps other parts of our economy have. in that entire context, i think it is very important that we address these issues in a timely fas

mr. smith. and mr. chairman. thank you. being a fourth generation owner of our family ranch. i relate to a lot of you in these issues but mr. vanderwal, you spoke about several of the tariffs like the tariffs on soy beans. who put the tariffs on the soy beans ? was it the trump administration? or was it the chinese? >> the chinese have put the tariffs on the soy beans in retaliation for the tariffs that have been on their products coming this way. >> that's the excuse they said. but i want to point out that the trump administration did not put the 25% tariff on soy beans or cotton or corn or the other ag products. it was the chinese. and we can't lose that direction. we have a president and i think it's an important distinction that needs to be made by those of us on this committee. because farmers, ranchers, and workers in southern missouri have been on an uneven playing field for quite some time. president trump knows this. and that's why he's asked secretary ross to investigate and fight back against unfair trade practices. we know 95% of the world's consumers are outside

mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 6311, the increasing access to lower premium plans act and expanding health savings account act. this bill gives all americans the option to purchase a catastrophic plan if they so choose which under current law is restricted to a limited population. this bill will increase health insurance plan and pricing options as we continue our work to address the underlying problems of obamacare. nebraskans continue to tell me that they are desperate for more options to buy health insurance for their families. we are down to only one insurer in nebraska, in nebraska's exchange, and with premiums for a family which can exceed $0,000 before even factoring in four and five-figure deductibles, families need more options. nebraskans need more options. the way to create access to health care for more people is by understanding better this buyer-seller relationship. if you want to reduce costs through increasing participation, whoever is doing the selling must create products

. >> mr. smith?hat the state is asking for is a free pass to continue using an assembly map that's so extreme that it nullifies democracy. >> maybe we can talk about the constitution. where do we get authority to revise state legislative lines? >> in a wide variety of issues having to do with political parties and politics, the supreme court has stayed away from it. let's bump that to congress. that's the president's, the role of the political party. they have had hands off. >> the hard issue is are there standards manageable by a court, not by some group of social science computer experts. >> we have to be cautious about stepping in. >> i don't think there's anything unusual to regulate the abusive management of state elections by state government. that's what the -- >> where did one person one vote come from? >> the last couple cases that have gone to the united states supreme court have resulted in a very divided court. when you listen to the oral arguments, i think we're still going to have a div

mr smith has apologised for telling the conservative party chairman, brandon lewis, to take part in aave, which means brandon lewis shouldn't have voted. the new health and social care secretary has said he's horrified at the level of bullying reported by nhs staff. matt hancock said it was heartbreaking to hear how undervalued many staff feel. he made the comments in his first speech since being appointed, and also announced the latest tranche of funding to try to transform technology in the nhs. dominic hughes reports and then you have to wash your hands. isee, 0k. it's a clean start for the new health and social care secretary. for matt hancock, this is set to become a familiar ritual, meeting staff and getting an insight into the front line of the nhs. it is all part of his newjob and today he set out what his priorities in the role will be. more than £1180 million will be spent on technology to improve patient care and reduce medication mistakes. there will be a renewed emphasis on preventing ill health in the first place and a strong statement of support for the workforce, with

mr. smith: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. smith: mr. speaker, gallup recently polled americans on their perceptions of bias and accuracy and misinformation in news reporting. the survey found 62% said the news they read in newspapers, see on television, or hear on the radio is biased. 44% believe the news they read in newspapers, see on television or hear on the radio is inaccurate. more than 1/3 describe the news hey see in these channels as misinformation. false or inaccurate information that is presented as if it were true. in other words, fake news. the same poll found misinformation. eight out of 10 adults feel angry or bothered by seeing biased information. it's obvious that the news media have abandon objective, fact-based reporting and are instead promoting a liberal agenda. their news reports only tell one side of the story, their side.

. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i'll yield my time to my friend and colleague from texas, mr. ratcliffe. >> i thank my colleague for yielding. agent strzok, president trump fired fbi director jim comey. that same day you and fbi lawyer lisa page exchanged quite a few texts on the topic. at 8:14 p.m. on that day, you texted miss page and said, quote, and we need to open the case we've been waiting on now while andy is acting, end quote. first, is that andy mccabe, the former deputy director of the fbi who has since been fired and criminally referred by the inspector general? >> it is. >> all right. and what case are you referring to opening now that andy is the acting director of the fbi? >> sir, to get into that would relate to ongoing investigations, which consistent with the department's policy on ongoing investigations and based on the special counsel equity, i'm not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations. >> okay. let me see if i can give you a question you can answer. you sent four

. >> mr. smith. >> good afternoon, corey myth on san francisco housing coalition. i want to add recommendations. we are advocating eliminating the condition use requirement on home-sf requirements. when we get extra density we get affordable housing. what is that not necessary and desirable? homebuilders are taking risks. there needs to be a level of certainty. if there was no cu requirement maybe that went through with the remember. additional 30 something included in that. for home assessed projects both mixed income and 100% condition no requirements. there is a lot of conversation about how to get more people walking around in neighborhoods. we believe extra density is a tool the get us there. we are advocating for elimination of demolition controls. there are grounds for property with old units above. if we can unlock 60, 70 home was additional below market housing we should explore it. we understand there are risks and consequences. the state of california has best practices regarding moving fees and other things to make sure people are proprotected that is a

we share the concerns of mr. smith. committee will continue to work with the senate, the state department, the u.s. un on reforms that will preserve the essential functions while responded to legitimate criticisms. we go now to new jersey. >> thank you very much for holding this fall committee hearing on the western hemisphere. i think our panel that it's here today. thank you very much. i have this issue over the last few years that i have been on the western hemisphere committee that we do not focus enough on the western hemispheric caribbean. i think that while we sleep there are people out there prodding. basically amount their talk about china, russia, iran, who now has over a hundred schools throughout the area. and the signs are there. even in venezuela, you have 30,000 cubans basically run in the show and in cuba they started with the national assembly which basically destroyed also source of democracy. and then in venezuela you have the assembly which is basically the same that destroys any and then he go to ni

the chair rep recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, for 5 minutes. >> i would like to allow my time to my friend and colleague from texas, mr. ratcliff. >> president trump fired fbi director jim comey. that same day, you and lisa page exchanged quite a few text on the topic. at 8:14:00 p.m. that day, you texted miss paige and said "we need to open the case we've been waiting on now." is that the former deputy director of the fbi who has since been fired and criminally referred by the inspector general? >> it is. >> what case are you referring to opening now that auntie's acting director of the fbi? >> to get into that would relate to ongoing investigations which, consistent with the department's policy on investigations, i am not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. >> let me see if i can give you a question you can answer. you sent for car more text to ms. page and her first response to you is we need to lock-in and then there is a black mark wher, in a formal, chargeable way, soon, period. whose name has been blacked out?

the clerk: amendment number 70 printed in house report 115-830, offered by mr. smith of missouri. the chair: those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 215 the nays are 199, the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a record vote on amendment number 81 offered by mr. carbajal on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 81 printed in house report 115-830, offered by mr. carbajal of california. the chair: a recorded vote having been requested, those in support of the request for a re

we share the concerns of mr. smith. in committee will continue to work with the state department, u.s. u.n. on reforms to preserve the essential functions of cisg while responding to legitimate criticisms of overreach. >> thank you very much, >> thank you, chairman, for hosting this full committee hearing on the western hemisphere. and i want to thank our panel that's here today. thank you very much. i have this issue over the last few year that i've been on the western hemisphere committee that we don't focus numuch on t western hemisphere and the caribbean. i think that while we sleep, there are people out there plotting. basically i'm talking about china, i'm talking about russia, i'm talking even about iran, which started with a couple schools, now they have over a hundred schools throughout the area. the signs are there, even in venezuela. you have 30,000 cubans basically running the show there. in cuba, they started with the national assembly. which basically destroy all sorts of democracy or anything that was the

that's like a judge going "well, mr. smith, you murdered your neighbor, and i'm throwing you in jail because we cannot get the blood out of the carpet." ( laughter ) lemon juice? soda water? what do you do? i don't know-- oxyclean! oxyclean! also, she might not even really be fired. according to white house counselor and secret painting in the attic of claudia schiffer, kellyanne conway. ( laughter ) here she is today, talking about sadler's future at the white house. >> kelly sadler has been told that there are administration jobs that fit with her skill se. >> stephen: well, her only known skill is mocking john mccain, so... president? ( laughter ) ( boos ) of course, conway wasn't there just to talk about sadler. she also defended trump's recent criticisms of n.f.l. players, and listen to how she referred to the president. >> just so we're clear, and the problem with the president of the united states and the commander of cheese-- ( laughter ) >> stephen: that's right. you heard her right. "the commander of cheese." ( laugh

and mrs. smithof the biggest movie stars in the world and giving him a role that is utterly worldleutte utterly wordless and invisible. >> celine dion, the same kind of deal? >> part of that, the song was beautiful and it kind of resonated for her. when she sings it, you know, you can't help but just have tears fire out of your face. >> if you're keeping up with ryan and his wife, bliake livel trolling each other on instagram, you may remember blake said this. anna kendrick is the hotter femaler version of my husband, so would it really count as cheating. you know i had to ask about that. anna kendrick says she feels like she gave you deadpool, so she should have your wife. >> i know a lot of guys that would be fine with that, but not me. access denied. >> nope. >> not happening. listen, while ryan bogarts blake, is ashton letting mila kunis having her time in the spotlight. >> we were with mrs. kutcher this week celebrating her new movie, the spy who dumped me. mila opened up big-time about ashton

mr. smith, i'll call some more names. sean mitchell, lorraine nav arrow, john mitchell, amos gregory. >> good evening, commissioners. the most mind boggling thing to me is the fact that this has been in the works for 35 years, which is longer than i've been alive, which is comment on the san francisco development process outside of this project itself, but you know just brings up a whole other slew of questions. certainly out following community members that have been involved in this process for a really long time and hearing the people on the ground as being the ones to advocate. on the project itself, you know, high density housing, we would have preferred certainly a no car parking project, but it's got a low ratio, there's a lot of bike parking on-site, and listening to community members a great addition to the neighborhood, and we are absolutely in support and ask you to move forward with it today. thank you. >> president hillis: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, commissioners. my name is vinton frost, and i a

mr. lamar smith. while working on this bill, i heard from both students and professors on the importance of passing this legislation and what it would mean to their lives. one such student wrote, i feel religious liberty is such a vital part of the american exceptionalism that permeates worldly thought and the passing of this bill will only contribute to the commitment of our government to preserve that right. my family has paid excessive amounts for health care among other expenses that we do not use due to our reliance on the christian science healing for prayer. i do not believe christian scientists should feel they are being punished in some way for expressing their first amendment right. well, mr. speaker, i'm proud to stand up here today for their first amendment right. this legislation is about as straightforward as it gets. it promotes religious liberty and fairness and also saves the tax mears money. the congressional budget office estimated passing the each act would save taxpayers an additi

i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll yield my time to my friend and colleague from texas, mr. ratcliff. >> i thank my colleague for yielding. agent strzok, on may 9, 2017, president trump fired fbi director jim comey. that same day you and fbi lawyer lisa page exchanged quite a few texts on the topic. at 8:14 p.m. on that day you texted ms. page and said, quote, and we need to open the case we've been waiting on now while andy is acting, unquote. first, is that andy mccabe, the former deputy director of the fbi who has since been fired and criminally referred by the inspector general? >> it is. >> what case are you referring to now that andy is the acting director of the fbi? >> to get into that would relate to ongoing investigations. i'm not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations. >> okay, let me see if i can give you a question that you can answer. you sent four more texts to ms. page. her first response to you at the bottom of that page is, quote, we need to lo

i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll yield my time to my friend and colleague from texas, mr. ratcliff. >> i thank my colleague for yielding. agent strzok, on may 9, 2017, president trump fired fbi director jim comey. that same day you and fbi lawyer lisa page exchanged quite a few texts on the topic. at 8:14 p.m. on that day you texted ms. page and said, quote, and we need to open the case we've been waiting on now while andy is acting, unquote. first, is that andy mccabe, the former deputy director of the fbi who has since been fired and criminally referred by the inspector general? >> it is. >> what case are you referring to now that andy is the acting director of the fbi? >> to get into that would relate to ongoing investigations. i'm not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations. >> okay, let me see if i can give you a question that you can answer. you sent four more texts to ms. page. her first response to you at the bottom of that page is, quote, we need to lo

mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. smith: mr. speaker, when it comes to immigration policies, a recent poll shows that the american people are far closer to president trump than to the liberal media. the results of a harvard-harris poll by mark penn, a former hillary clinton strategist, came up with surprising results considering what you heard from the media. when asked, do you think the people who make it across the border illegally should be allowed to stay in the country or sent home? 64% said me should be sent home. when asked, do you think we need stricter or looser enforcement of our immigration laws? 70% said stricter. 60% support building a combination of a physical and electronic barrier across the u.s.-mexico border. when asked about sanctuary cities, 84% of respondents said cities should be required to notify imm

important note here is what's happening in a month by their money for the minister they want to talk to mr smith with his u.s. counterpart and with a green light also and now he's going to have on just announce that he's willing to her next so it's very clear very obvious that there is a push by the americans to have a new wave of dialogue between iran and the united states i believe that the staged show for the u.s. president during the press conference to say that he is willing to meet with the iranians is only part of that and i believe that the administration believes that the iranians will jump at such an opportune obviously the iranians are as we said just minutes ago that they have any experience with dealing with the americans and negotiating with the americans and therefore they are not expected to jump in full heartedly into this kind of offer if you if you will and there are no real hard. indications of what the u.s. in a situation would like to do also we know that iran has launched a complaint in the international court of justice so the situation is not ready for such a summit and