>> the amendment to the report offered by mr. welch of vermont. >> the gentleman's recognized to explain his amendment. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. my amendment which has -- has it been distributed? you want me to wait? you can do it and explain it as it's being distributed. the thrust of my amendment, mr. chairman goes to points that i was making earlier about the -- from my perspective, limited scope of the investigation that the committee has done that doesn't include as comprehensive an approach to what happened in the predecessor of gun walking and gunrunning operations with the bush administration with the mukasey administration and the justice department, and what this does is call on on the committee to postpone action on the contempt until that investigation is done. it would add language to the report that explains that proceeding to contempt at this time in my view as expressed in this amendment is unwarranted because we have not as a committee done the investigation that needs to be done in order to establish a cr

. >> i'll yield to my friend mr. welch. >> my amendment would be an amendment to the text of an amendment to the report to the house. it wouldn't stop the house from voting, but it would state in the report that committee on government reform has not had attorney general michael mukasey who testified before the committee or to meet with committee members informally to discuss the evolution of gun walking organizations in both sets and documents obtained during the investigation indicated that mr. mukasey was -- firearms interdictions. my request is to let that information be part of what's being presented to the full house so that members are aware of that. >> while i recognize and appreciate what my good friend the colleague on the other side at this point in time, i'm afraid that we may be going down a little bit of a red herring here, one more time. and i think it nids to go to the issue here, in which we have had substantial system regarding the concept of gun walking. and the thidistinction that occurred during the ti

mr. welch votes aye. mr. murphy votes aye. miss spear votes aye. >> the clerk will report. >> on that vote, mr. chairman, 15 ayes, 23 nos. >> the amendment is not agreed to. the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the lady from new york. miss maloney, in which the nos prevailed by voice and recorded vote was ordered. the clerk will call the role. >> mr. issa. >> no. >> mr. burton votes no. mr. my ka votes no. mr. plats votes no. mr. turner votes no. mr. mchenry votes no. mr. jordan votes no. mr. chaffetz. mr. chaffetz votes no. mr. mack votes no. mr. wahlberg votes no. mr. langford votes no. mr. move votes no. miss beshgle votes no. mr. labrador? mr. labrador votes no. mr. me shan votes no. mr. walsh votes no. mr. gowdy votes no. mr. ross votes no. mr. ginta votes no. mr. ferntholds votes no. mr. kelly votes no. mr. cummings. mr. cummings votes aye. miss maloney votes aye. miss norton. miss norton votes aye. mr. turneny votes aye. mr. claim votes aye. mr. lynch votes aye. mr. cooper votes aye. mr. done conly votes

mr. welch votes no. mr. murphy votes no. 23 ayes and 17noes.yes have it and a contempt report is ordered, order reported to the house of representatives. without objection the staff is authorized to make necessary technical corrections and conforming changes to the report. the committee stands adjourned. >>neil: as expected and along party lines the house oversight committee has voted to hold attorney general holder of the united states in contempt of congress. this would be loading to a full vote in the house of representatives. hardly a given but along party line. that would be in keeping with the republican majority. this would presumably go nowhere in the senate but republicans are going to make a powerful point here that key documentation needed on things like "fast and fewer identification," and what the administration knew be brought to the committee's attention and documents be fessed up and they said reviews would be necessary, the white house did, and nothing more than that and this has led to something republicans have likened to a w

. >> far be it for me to quarrel with mr. welch. he was my boss's boss's boss.ends to lay much, maybe most of the woes of american public education at the doorstep of the unions. is he right about that? >> i don't think there is any one cause for the problems we face in public education today. there are, quite frankly, a lot of opportunities. i have gone to battle with the unions myself on a lot of issues. we recently, just as an example, saw some really historic legislation in connecticut. where the unions actually allotted this legislation and we think it is a good start as well. we recently sent a letter to the heads of the -- of both national teach rs union saying you like this legislation. we like it, too. let's move it in other states. >> what are teacher unions afraid of? >> a lot of them are afraid of change. change is hard. when you are talking about movinging away from a system based on seniority, tenure and moving toward a system based on merit and effectiveness you will have people who don't know what that will look like and are scared by the change.

mr. welch votes aye. mr. murphy? ms. speer votes aye. >> mr. kucinich. >> am i recorded? >> i vote aye. >> you raare not, sir. mr. burton votes no. mr. mchenry votes no. >> does anyone else seek recognition? aye.. murhpphy votes >> the clerk will report. vote, 14thtate ayes and 23 nos. >> that vote is not agree -- that amendment is not agreed to. we know claall a vote on the lynch amendment. >> [calling roll vote] >> the clerk will report. >> on the vote, 15 ayes, 23 nos. >> the moment is not agreed to. the question occurs on the amendment offered by the lady from new york, in which the nos prevailed by a voice and a recorded vote was ordered. the clerk will calle the roll. >> [calling roll vote] >> that vote, 16 ay commites, 23 no's. >> the amendment is not agreed to. it will now proceed to the amendment previously passed by voice vote on which it recorded vote was asked for and delay. the clerk will call the roll on the gaudy amendment. >> [calling roll vote] >> ms. norton? >> it is really a good amendment -- [laughter] >> no. >> mr. towns votes no. ms. norton? you're n

>> i know this hurts you, mr. welch. >> i'll say it hurts. >> mr. chairman, as a point of personal privilege, i'd like to finish this. >> senator, i think it hurts you, too, sir. if there is a god in heaven it will do neither you nor your cause any good. i will not discuss it further. i will not ask mr. cohn any more witnesses. you, mr. chairman, may if you will, call the next witness. >> mccarthy never recovered. his tactics had been opposed from the outset by a handful of courageous republican senators, and now they pressed their case with renewed vigor. i was working that summer on capitol hill during my college break, and finagled myself into the senate chamber the very day one of them, senator ralph flanders of vermont, introduced a motion to censure joseph mccarthy. when it eventually passed 67 to 22, mccarthy was finished. he soon disappeared from the front pages, and three years later, he was dead. it all came back the other night, as congressman west summoned those foul spirits from the vasty deep. the ghost stepped out of the past. like mc

mr. welch? mr. well 67 votes no. mr.no. >> miss spear. >> no. >> miss spear votes no. >> the clerk will report. >> 23 is, 17 nos. >> the is have it. and a contempt report is ordered reported to the house. without objection the staff shall be authorized to make necessary and technical corrections and conforming changes to the report. >> mr. chairman, file. >> file. >> yes. >> there you have it. a strict party line vote. 23 yais, 17 nos, the attorney general according to this house oversight committee role call should be held in contempt of the u.s. congress. kate bolduan is watching it up on capitol hill. jessica yellin's watching it from the white house. first to you, kate, i take it this is no great surprise spriz e strictly along party lines because of the fast and furious documents that the obama administration is refusing to share with this committee, they are holding the attorney general in contempt even though the president of the united states today in his first time since taking office has cited -- has exerted hi

mr. welch: thank you, madam speaker. in 11 days the interest rate on the stafford student loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8%. it's unthinkable that congress would allow this to happen. but here we are only 11 days from the deadline and no closer to a solution than they -- we were month ago. this is only one of those only in washington situations. nearly every-r everyone agrees we can't let these rates double. doing so would be a real blow to the middle class and those trying to climb their way into the middle class. it would be bad for the economy and makes no practical sense. the federal government is borrowing at 1.6%. yet congress has been unable to extend the lower rate is now only 11 daysway. -- days away. take jesse who will be affected despite financial supports from scholarships and her family, she's graduating from nursing school with over $150,000 in student loan debt. at age 26, she worries that she'll not be able to start family or put a down payment object a home because of this debt. she worries if interes

mr. welch: to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognize. mr. welch: in three tcharkse interest rates on stafford student loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8%. one of the things we agree on in this congress is low interest rates should be extended. yet we've been unable to get across the goal line. congress needs to find the moral imagination and the will to get this done before july 1. every day we wait, we're imposing an immense amount of anxiety on students, parents, and the economy. take brian from grand aisle he has $100,000 in student loans. he has two daughter, each have $20,000 in defment his third daughter is in school with tuition costs up to $40,000. brian is working 65 hours a week but he can't keep up. he can't even begin to think about retirement. it's not an option. he's just trying to get from day to day and afford to keep his daughter in college. mr. speaker, this college has 23 days. we're running out of time. we

speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is recognized for two minutes. mr. welch: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. speaker, the investigation is being conducted by the committee on oversight and government reform is a legitimate investigation. but the recommendation to this house to hold the attorney general in contempt is reckless, irresponsible, unnecessary, and will actually get in the way of the pursuit of truth. why do i say that? if you're going to do an investigation, you have to begin at the beginning. in the beginning of fast and furious and gun walking began in the bush administration. there is no evidence that president bush was aware of it. there is some questions about what his attorney general knew what and when. but if you are sincerely interested in trying to find out what happened, how it happened, how in the world do you not begin at the beginning? and despite that fact, the request of many of us on the committee who s

mr. welch: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend.speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. welch: thank you. mr. speaker, the other day i received a letter from a constituent, lanea. she is concerned about the doubling of stafford student loan interest rates scheduled for july 1. this is very personal for her. she used the stafford loan to get a good education and start a career as a nurse. she's now contributing member of the community. she's also the granddaughter of former u.s. vermont representative and senator bob stafford for whom the stafford student loan program is named. here's what she had to say about her grandfather. i know my grandfather's intention for these loans wasls8 i understand that times are tough and people are looking everywhere but this is just not right. my grandfather was known as a gentle giant, but if he were alive today i think he would oppose this with force. mr. speaker, bob stafford knew that higher education was the clearest path to the middle class in this country and he wa

mr. welch: i thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, representative gardner of colorado and i offer this amendment, he's the lead sponsor but his plane is late and i'm standing in in his place as a co-sponsor. previous legislation by this congress required our governmental agencies to do an energy audit. and the reason behind that nverage audit was that it would lead to energy savings. there are firms that can do energy saving contracts at no expense to the taxpayer, no expense whatsoever to the federal government. the point of this amendment is to have the department of energy and other government agencies that have already been directed to do the energy audit to get on with it. and the reason we want to have it done yesterday is so that we can begin today achieving savings for the american taxpayer. there's a lot of debate in congress among us as to what makes a sensible energy policy. but there is immense consensus that whatever energy policy you favor, saving energy, using less rather than more, saving taxpayer dollars, is

mr. dharm. -- [ inaudible ] >> the gentle lady from the district of columbia is recognized for five minutes. >> i would like to speak to this amendment and i have to say it goes also to the welch amendment. mr. chairman, you and virtually everyone who has spoken have indicated that the point here is to find out why officer brian terry was killed. and i want to submit that that's all the public understands. all the discussion here about documents is meaningless to those who are watching us today. i am not saying they are meaningless in and of themselves. i'm saying that brian terry is all that counts here. my difficulty with the failure to call mr. melson so that we could haerl from him publicly, with the failure to call the attorney general, is that if we are interested in getting to the bottom of why brian terry was murdered, we cannot allow only a partial story to come forward, we cannot start at the -- in the middle when there was a new justice department, this is not about they did it too, it's about how did we get into this so we continue get into it again. there is no possibility of under standing how, why brian terry was killed, if we're only look at the back half or pa

mr. welch: transcripts of the grand jury. transcripts of wiretap applications which is not only a violation of the u.s. code but jeopardize law enforcement official it is that word got out. that is and irresponsible, overbroad subpoena. so bottom line, let the investigation continue, but let's acknowledge that the job that the committee needs to do before it asks for a vote of contempt has not been done. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida. . mr. nugent: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, judge poe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. poe: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, we are here today because of an ill-conceived, dangerous, illegal gun-running scheme called operation fast and furious. this operation has resulted in the death of at least one, maybe two federal agents and in the death of hundreds of mexican nationals. yet we still cannot get a straight answer from the justice department as to what happened

at the rules committee i offered an amendment along with mr. welch that would have established a national renewable energy standard. that amendment would have created wind and solar all across our country as a standard. that amendment was germane to this bill. and had no budgetary impact. but the republican majority refused to even allow us to debate an amendment so that members could have a chance to vote on an actual all-of-the-above package that wasn't just oil and gas. and president obama is about as good a president as you can have on that issue but wind and solar and biomass and geothermal and all of these technologies of the future. they refused to even allow the democrats to have a vote on that, on the house floor this afternoon. they're not all of the above, they are oil above all. they don't want wind and solar because the oil industry doesn't want it and the coal industry doesn't want it because it's real competition from the future. the renewable electricity standard that i would have offered would have created 300,000 new jobs and saved

gardner: this amendment which i'm offering along with my colleague, mr. welch from vermont, addresses an important issue relating to coast guard facilities. we have offered this same amendment to the two other appropriations bills this week and they passed by voice vote and while my colleague from vermont is not here, i commend him for his hard work on these energy-savings performance contracts in general. the passage sends a clear signal that congress understands the importance of saving energy and costs for the federal government. this amendment does one simple thing. it says that the coast guard should provide an inventory of ways to improve efficiencies in their buildings, which is already a directive under current law. energy savings performance contracts are provided as a mechanism for private companies to come into federal buildings and make energy efficiency upgrades. this results in savings to the federal government and creates well-paying private sector jobs at no cost to the taxpayers. reducing debt and creates jobs. the private sector company must g

we need somebody like a joseph welch in the mccarthy era to say, have you no sens of decency, mr. chairman? presidents have been invoking executive prevolog for years. ronald reagan did it six times. i didn't see them saying his epa should be held in contempt. this is a witch hunt of the first order. and democrats need to stand up and oppose it, and those who don't should be ashamed of themselves. >> bob, peter welsch told me he was surprised how many members of congress don't even have the facts in fast and furious and haven't been paying attention to this and they're ready tavote on contempt. >> a party that has trafficked in death panels, with the birthers, and issa is a clown in my view. he's a dangerous clown, but he's a clown. what he offered was not an opinion. it was a lie. the fact of the matter, jonathan is right. if you read that article, what is being alleged here is wrong. in terms of the nra, there was never any connection with this program with gun control. in fact, it started under the bush administration, all these kinds of programs, and that administration was no

mr. moran: this amendment which i am offering jointly with congress members welch and pingree, would ban sty reason products from our food services here in the house. mr. chairman, in 2011, the new republican majority in the house instituted the use of polysty reason -- polysty reason containers in our food service facilities. this amendment would prohibit upes of funds to purchase the products for use in the house cafeteria and eateries. removing it would show our concern for the health of our visitors and employees and for the fuhr of our environment. we should be using recyclable and biodegradable products and avoiding foam packaging. over 20 years ago mcdonald's and other for-profit fast food restaurants replaced the foam with paper board containers. the house of representatives is the only place within the capitol complex to revert back to styrofoam products. neither the senate, library of congress, nor the capitol visitors center food services use the foam products out of concern for the health of their patrons. we should be leading by example. and this amendment provides a way thro

mr. issa is starting out calling the attorney generjanet liar and and calling the obama administration the most corrupt in history, it defeats the goal. >> representative from vermont, peter welchny thanks for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> in this week's office politics, we talk with our own martin bashir about the tenor in the country right now and what he calls contempt of the president by the political o pent ents. i ask if immigration will be a game changer as we head towards november. >> i think it's huge. you have to compare the republican position, which is confused, multifact oral multiresolutional, they have different ideas, a dream act that marco rubio was sponsoring and boehner didn't like. you have others who suggest that any kind of resolution is a. amnes amnesty, there's a huge problem of the reality of demographics. what the president has done by offering what i think everybody would agree is a humane act. the statistics suggest in a recent poll that 63% of the population -- >> two thirds. >> welcome this as an action. i think it is important. having said that, i still think that this election is being defined by money and the power of it. i have a