mr. welch: thank you, mr. chairman, mr. gowdy, mr. cummings, thank you for organizing this hearing. i think all of us should leave this hearing with some significant amount of humility. as i see it, the federal government primarily has to be a partner to the local communities that are doing all the front line work. when i look at what you've done here in baltimore, just the training of the number of people who are capable of administering lifesaving medication, the kind of all-in approach that the city has taken, and also johns hopkins has taken as well, our role as i see it is to try to get resources back to the communities so you can do your job because this appears to me fundamentally an issue that can only be addressed at the very local institutional individual level. sorry, dr. wen, about your 24-year-old patient was -- really says it all. i want to thank you and really, dr. alexander and mr. baum, thank you for your work. we're going to have a tough time in congress on money. you need mor

mr. welch: you're looking at where the dollars we appropriated are going. are they going to the mission or vanishing in thin air? number three, i have major questions about our policy. and i thought mr. duncan had an excellent quote. this is not about our military. i have been to afghanistan four times. and it's extraordinary, extraordinary to me to see what our soldiers are accomplishing under extraordinary, extraordinary circumstances. it's our job to give them the policy that gives them a shot at success. it's our job. when mr. russell is there as a soldier, he has to carry out the mission but we're the ones that have to give it to him. looking back at all the sigar reports, our dollars are being wasted in pretty gross ways starting with shrinked wrapped of pallets of cash being flown out of the airbase starting with contracts to deliver water to our soldiers in forward operating bases that ve to go up through pakistan and where their firefights are being used as ploys by warlords that want

mr. welch: thank you. mr. chairman, i'm speaking to my chairman, i accept your commitment and your leadership on ensuring children -- insuring children. but i'm speaking to you because i reject the argument that in order to fund the health insurance program that all of us support, we have to compromise health programs that benefit many other people, including in vermont. let me just give an example. the prevention program in vermont, mr. chairman, is really helping people stay well. we had $922,000 that was spent on immunization programs for our kids. we had $377,000 for lead poisoning prevention. lead poisoning is brutal. we had $372,000 for heart disease prevention and control. and we had over $209,000 for diabetes and prevention control. so i acknowledge your commitment. i only have a minute and a half. i'm sorry. i acknowledge the urgency with which your side and our side supports chip. but why is it that if we support it, we don't pay for it and instead of paying for it directly, coming up with ways to el

mr. welch: thank you. mr. chairman, i'm speaking to my chairman, i accept your commitment and your leadership on ensuring children -- insuring children. but i'm speaking to you because i reject the argument that in order to fund the health insurance program that all of us support, we have to compromise health programs that benefit many other people, including in vermont. let me just give an example. the prevention program in vermont, mr. chairman, is really helping people stay well. we had $922,000 that was spent on immunization programs for our kids. we had $377,000 for lead poisoning prevention. lead poisoning is brutal. we had $372,000 for heart disease prevention and control. and we had over $209,000 for diabetes and prevention control. so i acknowledge your commitment. i only have a minute and a half. i'm sorry. i acknowledge the urgency with which your side and our side supports chip. but why is it that if we support it, we don't pay for it and instead of paying for it directly, coming up with ways to el

mr. welch: thank you. mr. chairman, i'm speaking to my chairman, i accept your commitment and your leadership on ensuring children -- insuring children. but i'm speaking to you because i reject the argument that in order to fund the health insurance program that all of us support, we have to compromise health programs that benefit many other people, including in vermont. let me just give an example. the prevention program in vermont, mr. chairman, is really helping people stay well. we had $922,000 that was spent on immunization programs for our kids. we had $377,000 for lead poisoning prevention. lead poisoning is brutal. we had $372,000 for heart disease prevention and control. and we had over $209,000 for diabetes and prevention control. so i acknowledge your commitment. i only have a minute and a half. i'm sorry. i acknowledge the urgency with which your side and our side supports chip. but why is it that if we support it, we don't pay for it and instead of paying for it directly, coming up with ways to el

unanimous consent that it included in the record. >> without objection. >> the chair recognizes mr. welch for five minutes. >> i'm sorry, mr. russell is not here because i too would like to pay respect for his service. i want to say that your office has been an approach to what's happening with taxpayer dollars. i believe it has allowed that those who believe the policy is the right policy, basic information about how so much of our spending has evaporated or been transferred to swiss bank accounts by corrupt officials in afghanistan. mr. chairman, i really want to thank you for this hearing because this office is absolutely essential, whether you take the point of view of mr. russell or mr. duncan about what's the right policy. second, the questions about what our policy should be are not the responsibility of our office. i just want to acknowledge that. >> that's correct. >> you are looking at where the dollars we've appropriated are going. are they going to the mission or vanishing in thin air? >> number three, i have major questions about our policy and i thought mr. duncan had an exc

davis is here, mr. welch, mr. levin, mr. neal, mr. kind and myself are all here is because we haven't had the opportunity to have a hearing and have expert witnesses. have you had any expert witness snr mr. thompson: there has been no hearings on this bill and no expert witnesses. the only help that we have gotten are from the outside organizations and the universities that crunch these numbers to be able to give us some glimpse of what is going to happen and the benefit of some analysis from the joint tax staff. there have been no hearings, no experts, nobody from our district who lives and breathes this, no one from our districts who will be impacted by this. this was done from the top down nd crammed through in the most bass tarredized system that i have ever seen here. >> it's a point that all of us here on the ways and means committee under the leadership of mr. neal. mr. kind: doing tax reform right is tough. there are a lot of moving pieces to it and there are a lot of tended d unin consequences. not taking the time to listen t

the chair now recognizes mr. welch for five minutes. >> and i'm sorry mr. russell is not here because i too would like to pay respect to his service. but i want to say to sigar, that your office has been just the facts, ma'am, approach to what's happening to taxpayer dollars and i believe that it has allowed those who believe the policy in afghanistan is the right direction but it's not necessarily being implemented right and those who question it the wisdom of the policy, basic information about how so much of our spending essentially has evaporated, or been transferred to swiss bank accounts by corrupt officials in afghanistan. so, mr. chairman, i really want to thank you for this hearing. because this office is absolutely essential whether you take the point of view of mr. russell or mr. duncan about what's the right policy. second, the questions about what our policy should be are not the responsibility of your office. so i just want to acknowledge that. >> that's correct, sir. >> you're looking at where it dollars we've appropriated are going. are they

mr. welch: mr. speaker, i have a few questions for the authors of this bill. what do you have against students? you're imposing an opportunity tax. a young vermonter who wants a certificate in welding or a degree from community college and gets tuition assistance from an employer have to pay taxes on that. if they borrow money from the vermont student assistance corporation they have to pay more because they can't deduct that interest. and by the way the vermont student assistance corporation has to charge higher interest because we're eliminating private activity bonds and they don't get the benefit of the municipal bond rates. and another question, what have you got against teachers? they reach in their pocket at the beginning of school to buy school supplies and they lose the deduction. and another question, what do you have against people who have a loved one with alzheimer's they can't deduct the cost of medical care. that was the retirement they were hoping to send on. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair.

this is why i requested this past june and again with my colleague, mr. welch that the oversight committee hold a hearing for afghanistan and iraq. regrettably the president recently announced plan for afghanistan fell far short in providing the details necessary. he said nothing about how many more forces needed or how success would be measured. they need clear guidance from their leaders. mr. chairman, without a clear strategy and plan to carry it out, it becomes difficult to measure success in our current mission to train the afghans has been extremely difficult to gauge. for numbers i've been seeking numbers of how many have been trained and for years they've had had difficulty in getting those figures. this is because it was set up without much metrics and they are still not in place today. a lack of information keeps us from conducting oversight from knowing what we're doing right and need improve. i would urge the president to bring to congress a clear strategy on how he intends to get this done. the recent decision to retroactively classify certain secu

. >> the chair recognizes mr. welch for five minutes. missed allry, russell is not here. i too would like to pay respect for his service. that your office has been just the facts man, approach to the -- what is happening with taxpayer dollars. i believe it has allowed those who believe the policy in afghanistan is the right direction, but not necessarily being implemented right, and those who question the wisdom of the policy, the basic information about how so much of our spending essentially has evaporated or been transferred to swiss bank accounts by corrupt officials in afghanistan. want torman, i really thank you for this hearing. office is absolutely essential, whether you take the point of view of mr. russell or mr. duncan about what is the right policy. the questions about what are not thehould be responsibility of your office. i would like to it knowledge that. theare looking at where dollars we have appropriated are going. are they going to the mission or are they vanishing into thin air? three, i have major questions about our policy. i thought mr. duncan had a

mr. welch: you're looking at where the dollars we appropriated are going. are they going to the mission or vanishing in thin air? number three, i have major questions about our policy. and i thought mr. duncan had an excellent quote. this is not about our military. i have been to afghanistan four times. and it's extraordinary, extraordinary to me to see what our soldiers are accomplishing under extraordinary, extraordinary circumstances. it's our job to give them the policy that gives them a shot at success. it's our job. when mr. russell is there as a soldier, he has to carry out the mission but we're the ones that have to give it to him. so

mr. welch, leader pelosi, and ms. brooks. and, again, members of the committee are welcome to provide their testimony from their seated position on the dais, or from the witness table, whichever is your preference. and mr. johnson, i'll recognize you for three minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate this discussion about an issue that is so vitally important. it is no secret that america is in the midst of an opioid crisis. last year in my home state of ohio alone, about 86% of overdose deaths involved an opioid. this epidemic can be felt in virtually every community across the country. and today i want to share a story that will shed some light on some of the good work being done by people in my district to help combat the opioid epidemic, and to perhaps let everyone know about some of the positive things that are taking place. recently i had the honor of visiting field of hope, a faith-based nonprofit treatment facility in southeastern ohio that assists area families ravaged by pove

mr. welch: i thank -- pardon me. i thank the issue here about medicare, that is one where there is universal support in this body passedt program that was by bipartisan vote. it's a lifeline for many of our seniors, for all of our seniors. and it's a program where everybody pays, everybody benefits and gives all of us confidence that our parents or ourselves will have access to good health care. but we have a challenge. the cost of health care in this country is far too expensive. and it is for a variety of reasons that our country spends twice as much on health care as most industrialized countries in the rest of the world and we don't get better results for that. so the challenge for us if we want to save health care, particularly medicare is to start focusing on reforms that bring the cost of health care down and don't compromise quality. the affordable care act extended access to health care for millions of americans but it also included some steps that began bending the cost curve. the rate of growth in the medi

mr. welch: i thank the gentleman. i have a question to my colleagues, what do you have against students? this tax bill means if an tuition provides assistance, they are going to have to pay income tax on that, the student will. students who borrow money to go to school have to pay interest on the loan. students who want to get low interest rates are going to have to pay higher interest rates because of the elimination of the private activity bond. the second question i have is this. what do you have against democracy? this bill was written in secret. there were no public hearings on this bill. nobody had a chance to have any input. that is why if you asked 435 members of that is why if you asked 435 members of congress do they want to raise taxes on students the answer from 435 members would be no. but you have rigged this bill so that we have literally no opportunity to offer a single amendment. that is wrong. this bill was written by and for the donor class. let's defeat this bill and stand up for the middle class.

each ceo successfully whether it is welch and now mr. flannery have undone its predecessor.r >> it is fair. it is a function largely of the hand that was dealt to that new ceo. i think jeff came in and the stock was at a high and entering or just about into a recession we had a lot of things that's not going in his favor so i do think it is fair to look at flannery as trying to go back and if not undo severe adjustments to the way the company has been running the last 15 years. the market response tells you that the downgrade profit expectations that flannery announced was a little bit for the street to prepare for. i think when he talks about patients in terms of three to five years plan, the street here, dead money or we are going to have to get some pain before the gain, so this is a liquidation process that some investors don't want to stick around >> you said earlier that the real trick is the courage of mr. flannery's conviction. does he have the stamina to do the hard things that this kind of turnaround will take. how much harder will it become when you realize it is

mr. flannery understand that is x axis is not the same as jeff in melts or jeff welch's?come across yesterday? >> i think so. it sounded very clearly that they are going to take something and a half a billion cost out of power. the board is going to go from 12 to 18 as of next april with five new members within the last year. clearly accountability for capital allocation is paramount. tom: how many bodies are going to go out the door? can you figure out of $20 billion how many exit? >> 295,000? i wouldn't be surprised if 50 are not part of the company by the time pairing is done. a smaller company will be clearly more profitable. francine: how much time is the market going to give the new ceo? >> i don't think a lot. he has to walk in. i asked yesterday are we going to have a december meeting. he said, we will probably have one in march. by that time he will have a few things on the table to market and exit of these assets. orse proceeds could equal exceed the 17 billion in free cash flow that is expected at 18 and 19. he has to demonstrate can create value. francine: if