mr. wheeler.director comey's family and in particular my fbi brethren for honoring the special day director comey and his family. thank you, everyone. we would ask you that you please remain seated as mr. president and the director in family enter the -- exit the building. thank you very much. [applause] >> president obama officially welcoming james comey on board. he was sworn in last month to placing director mueller. coming up shortly, live coverage of today's white house re-think with jay carney. set to begin at 12:45. running a little bit late. we will have it when it gets underway. the u.s. house is in today. members return for general speeches at 2:00 with both in speeches later. on the agenda, consideration of the number of bills dealing with veterans benefits. later this week, bills dealing with changes to the dodd frank regulations law. see live coverage of the house when members return at 2:00 eastern here on c-span with both at 6:30. coming up wednesday, health and human services direc

mr. wheeler, dejavu. >> what did you just say? >> nothing.ust had dejavu. >> in your judgment, does the fcc have the authority to otherwise regulate political speech? this is the one issue that in my opinion has the potential to derail your nomination. to the business of regulating political speech. >> i'm going to go ahead and thank the senate now for what i'm sure will be a speedy confirmation process. >> this new paradigm has been bet attested. >> one of the oldest definitions of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again. continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. >> a little dejavu. >> that's shocking. >> time to turn things around. >> dejavu all over again. ♪ guess whose back ♪ >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. there he is. canadian senator ted cruz of texas. now there seems to be a great deal of angst within the liberal community across america that we're just giving this guy too much publicity. we're talking about him too much. folks, i offer

mr. wheeler.r director comby's fbi y, and particularly my brethren for honoring this special day for director comby his family. thank you, everyone. we would ask that you please while the ed president and director comby and building, exits the thank you very much. >> the head of the centers for and medicaid services will testify tomorrow morning house ways and means committee about implementing the health care law and the website health care.gov. we'll have that live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. c-span 3 at 1:30 p.m. eastern, the house intelligence examine nsa l surveillance programs. the witnesses are scheduled to director of national intelligence, james clapper, and the al keith alexander, director of the national security agency and the head of u.s. cybercommand. next an update on the affordableion of the care act and the status of the website for signing up for health insurance. washington journal, this is 40 minutes. >> joining us for a discussion, serving as a rie senior correspondent.

mr. wheeler, dejavu. >> what did you just say? >> nothing.erwise regulate political speech? this is thon

mr. wheeler has founded important companies. he's cofounded the largest targeted news service and developed the telecommunications policy. president obama nominated tom wheeler as well as republican michael o'reilly to fill two vacant seats on the f.c.c. so what's stopping us from filling these vacancies with a bipartisan pair of nominees? listen to this. the senator from texas stalled the nomination because he owe boazs legislation proposed by democrats in congress that would require shadowy groups that spend millions on political advertising to disclose their donors. this next one is really a doozie , mr. president. the united states secretary of finance, treasury, i'm sorry, other countries it's called secretary of -- or minister of finance. extremely important job. this man is qualified. he's run the office of management and budget, he's been the present chief of staff, he's now secretary of treasury and what a fine, fine man jack lew. jack lew even though he is the secretary of treasury of this great country, he can't go to

take it to heart, and, you know, chairwoman clyburn and the new chairperson coming in, many tom wheeler -- mr. tom wheeler, testify a real challenge to create a framework for competitive policies. >> host: you said the word "hope" twice when referencing this. what makes you -- are you skeptical, and what makes you, you know, think that won't happen the way you'd like to see it happen? >> guest: well, you know, we just went through four years of pretty aggressive efforts to insure that we return the 700 megahertz to interoperability, and we're going to work very assiduously to make sure that the 600 is interoperable. and i believe the framework that i'm talking about is critical if you're going to have multiple choices in the marketplace for the consumer. and, you know, we -- it's a tough road to hoe. it's, you know, making sure that we have access to spectrum, making sure that there's a fair, responsible way to get access to the networks. this is ip transition. you know, i think commissioner ajit pai was quoted in his confirmation hearing as saying that there was no reason why the basic, unde

i'm confident once chairman wheeler gets there that's will have been. >> thank you. thank you, mr. dingell. >> account the lady yields back time to the job and his time is expired, at the chair now recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. great giving, i've learned a lot and i'm trying to say as long as i can because you hear the point-counterpoint which he never missed the opportunity to have a member -- >> let me address, and i always get concerned when i start agreeing with mr. waxman every now and again. i have to check the data file on that but i do agree we need to move on a test. we just need to move forward. and to his comments on google, probably out your listing, i would encourage them to come in because my guess it is 251, 252 is why they're not in the voice. that's what my guess is. if you have talked to them, mr. feld, and they've given you that data, but i think there's interconnection issues -- is very informative that they're not doing that and i think that's a lesson we should learn and find out. so having s

i'm confident once chairman wheeler gets there that will happen. >> thank you. thank you, mr. dingell. >> the lady yields back the gentleman whoas time is expliered. recognize the gentleman from illinois. >> thank you, great hearing. i love trying to stay as long as i can. you never miss the opportunity to hear a member bring up a personal story. so i'm -- i'm sure your staff prepared your the personal story -- if they didn't you might need to look for other staff members. [laughter] let me address, and i always get concerned when i start agreeing with mr. waxman every now and then. [laughter] i have to check the data file on that, but i do agree we need to move on a test. we need to move forward. and to his comments on google, i would probably out here or listening. i would encourage them to come in. my guess, it is 251/252 is why they're not in a voice. that's what my guess is. now, if you have talked to them, mr. feld, and they have given you data. i think there's interconnection issues -- it's very informative that they're not doing that, and i think that is a lesson we sh

wheeler gets there that is what will happen. >> thank you. >> the gentlelady yields that time to the gentleman and the chair recognizes mr. shimkus for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. i've learned a lot and i love trying to stay as long as i can because you really do hear the counterpoint. but you never miss the opportunity to hear a member bring a personal story. so i'm sure that your staff prepare you for that personal story. [laughter] if they didn't then -- let me address -- and i always get concerned when i agree with mr. waxman. but i do agree we need to move on a test. we need to move forward. to the comments on google, probably on here listening i would encourage them to come in because my guess it is 251 and 252 why they are not in the voice. that is what my guess is. if you talk to them and they've given you that data but i think there's interconnection issues, it's very informative that they are not doing that and i think that is a lesson that we should learn and find out. having said that, just a blanket statement and i know the fcc is looking into the drop calls in the areas are an issue and that tal

wheeler gets there that that is what will happen. >> thank you. >> the gentlelady yields back her time to the gentleman whose time has expired. and the chair now recognizes the mr shimkus, for 5 minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. great hearing. i have learned a lot. and i love trying to stay as long as i can because you really do hear the point- counterpoint. but you never miss the opportunity to hear a member bring up a personal story. mr. cicconi, i am sure your staff prepared you for that personal story, and if they didn't then you might need to look for other staff members. > but let me address, and i always get concerned when i mr. waxman every now and then. i have to check the data file on that. but i do agree we need to move on a test. we just need to move forward. and to his comments on google, they are probably out here or they are listening, i would encourage them to come in, because my guess it is 251/252, is why they are not into voice. that is what my guess is. now, if you have talked to them, mr. feld, and they have given you that data. but i think there is interconnection issues. it is very informative that they are not doing that, and i think

the clerk: nomination, thomas edgar wheeler of the district of columbia to be a member of the federal communications commission. mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of thomas edgar wheeler of the district of columbia, to be a member of the federal communications commission, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. mr. reid: aye. the presiding officer: all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar num