ail gin the questions, and mrs. lowey and i both came in with the question we want to ask first and that concerns president abbas' actions yesterday. as you know the provisions of u.s. law that restrict funding if the palestinians obtain member status at the u.n. and its agencies such as unesco outside an agreement with israel, as i said in my opening statement, it's unclear the ramifications now because of what they have done. but please give us your interpretation of what happened, and why it happened. and explain the impact on the peace process and where the palestinians action also trig' cutoff of aid to any u.s. agencies or economic aid for the palestinians. >> thank you for that question. we are all completely seized with this issue and i think you have heard secretary kerry speak to it already. let me say just a few things. first, as i said in my opening statement and as we discussed privately as well, the united states opposes all unilateral actions, any where they may occur in the international system, including

mrs. lowey: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to thank our distinguished chairman, mr. culberson, and the distinguished subcommittee ranking member, mr. bishop, who really have done an extraordinary job on this bill. and since it is the first bill coming to the floor, i share the pride expressed by big chairman, chairman rogers, this is regular order. this is an outstanding bill. and we can be very proud of the work. so thank you again chairman culberson, ranking member bishop for this very, very important bill. this is the first of the 12 spending bills that the house will consider for f.y. 2015. and as i mentioned, i'm so pleased that we are beginning the process with a bill as reported out of committee that includes reasonable spending levels and is devoid of controversial riders. i hope this is a sign of what is to follow. despite fiscal constraints, the military construction and veterans' affairs bill would meet the needs of service men and women and continue to support our veterans. i'm particularly pleased with the emphasis on the increased need for prosthetics f

and now i'd like to recognize the ranking member of the full committee, mrs. lowey. >> thank you very much, mr. chair, and welcome. i'd like to certainly thank chairman crenshaw, ranking member serrano for holding this hearing and it's a delight. welcome. chair mary jo white for testifying before us today, and we thank you for your agreeing to serve this great country of ours. we know how important the responsibility you have is. madam chair, you come before us with a budget request for fiscal year 2015 of $1.7 billion, which would support the s.e.c.'s responsibilities as well as the hiring of an additional 639 employees. these additional positions, which would help the s.e.c. to examine investment advisors, enhance its core investigate keeping up with the changing markets. year after year the s.e.c.'s budget authority has been kept below what is needed to meet demand and the needs of our increasingly global economy. in fact, the republican majority kept the s.e.c. budget at more than $300 million below the president's request in f.y. 2014. this approach is nonsense

mr. secretary we look forward to hearing your testimony. welcome to the committee. >> thank you. i'd like now to recognize miss lowey who is the ranking member of the full committee for any opening statement she might have. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i'd like to thank you, and ranking member serrano, for holding this hearing, and to my friend, secretary lew, thank you for joining us today. we are, indeed, fortunate to have a person of wisdom and talent in your position today. mr. secretary your fiscal 2015 budget requests $13.8 billion to support the department of treasury. as you note in your testimony, businesses have added more than 8.9 million jobs over the last 49 months. and the economy and housing markets continue to improve. and yet, much more must be done to provide access to capital and get people back to work. taxpayers need clarity in the tax code and responsiveness there the irs. the budget would address the funding shortfalls at the irs, which amazingly have resulted in 39% of phone calls going unanswered in fy-2013. this is unacceptable, the american people deserve better, i am pleased that your

mr. secretary we look forward to hearing your testimony. welcome to the committee. >> thank you. i'd like now to recognize miss lowey who is the ranking member of the full committee for any opening statement she might have. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i'd like to thank you, and ranking member serrano, for holding this hearing, and to my friend, secretary lew, thank you for joining us today. we are, indeed, fortunate to have a person of wisdom and talent in your position today. mr. secretary your fiscal 2015 budget requests $13.8 billion to support the department of treasury. as you note in your testimony, businesses have added more than 8.9 million jobs over the last 49 months. and the economy and housing markets continue to improve. and yet, much more must be done to provide access to capital and get people back to work. taxpayers need clarity in the tax code and responsiveness there the irs. the budget would address the funding shortfalls at the irs, which amazingly have resulted in 39% of phone calls going unanswered in fy-2013. this is unacceptable, the american people deserve better, i am pleased that your

lowey. i want to welcome congressman judge carter who represented the area of fort hood. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i am joined by my colleagues roger williams and he also represented fort hood and i am appreciating the fact the chair allowed him to sit in on this hearing. the incredible fort hood family, and i say that because they are incredible, have endured not one but two horrific shootings. the loss of life is more than we can bear and more than this or any other community deserves to bear. we cannot threat worst of humanity wield a gun in a mad rage against soldiers and defeat the best of humanity that is always on display at fort hood. sadly we are dealing with another tragic shooting at fort hood almost in the same place where 13 americans lost their lives in november of 2009. the death of three soldiers that left 16 others is a reminder of the threat our military members are dealing with on a daily bases. each of these shooting strike at the soul of the american military. one of the things we sometimes don't know, many americans don't know or forget, is that the reason a soldie