mr. wilson. do unions get special treatment in this bailout? yes or no? >> no. >> in your opinion sth. >> no. >> okay. in your opinion, did unions get special treatment in this bailout? >> yes, absolutely. >> okay. why do you think that? >> because we document in our paper, first, they were treated better with respect to their vbuz in the general motors cases than other unsecured creditors were treated. second, they were treated much better than employees typically are treated in bankruptcy cases. and they were allowed to retain wages that are frankly above market wages, above any other competitor's wages. and were there by preventing from having to do what tip ukly happens. and, third, there was really no justification for giving a billion dollars to the retirees of another company. ch which is what they did with respect to delphi. >> is he telling the truth or is he lying? >> i don't think he's lying. i think he's mistaken and woefully so. i think he has the facts wrong. >> explain to me in 15

mr. wilson, mr. feldman and mr. bloom were the government officials who were involved in the delphi pension decision and discussions. sig-t.a.r.p. does not have the ability to compel witness testimony. there is no valid reason for these former treasury officials to refuse to be interviewed. treasury suggested that sig-t.a.r.p.'s interviews are unnecessary because gao already determined treasury's role and because mr. wilson, mr. feldman were deposed and gm and delphi's bankruptcies. gao did not conduct interviews of treasury's role or whether there was any pressure by the auto team, instead deferring to sig-t.a.r.p. also, we read the depositions and still find it necessary to conduct the interviews. the refusal by these former+++o; always supporting sig-t.a.r.p. and i'm available to answer any questions that you have. >> thank you for your service to our government. mr. bloom, recognized for five minutes. >> mr. chairman and members of the committee, good morning. while i'm here today at your request in my capacity

mr. wilson, mr. feldman, thank you for your willingness to testify on the particular issue of this hearing and mr. bloom, we'll direct some questions to you to see if you'll be willing to submit some testimony for that. with that, miss clowers from the government accountability office, you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, chairman mchenry, ranking member quigley and members of the subcommittee. i appreciate you having me here today to speak about the termination of delphi's pension plans. in my comments today, i will discuss two issues. first, the key events leading to the termination of delphi's pension plans and two, the role of the department of treasury and those events. my comments are based on our recent reports on these issues. first, the termination of delphi's pension plans and the provision of retirement benefits supplements also called top-ups to some delphi employees but not others culminated from a complex series of events involving delphi, gm, various unions, treasury, pbgc

mr. wilson and mr. bloom for being here as private citizens today and for recognizing that there is a responsibility as private citizens to support ones country. professor, you referenced shenanigans which i thought was an interesting term. i could think of a lot of shenanigans that went on with wall street in particular goldman sachs without others, would you call those shenanigans? >> i -- i don't know those in detail. but i certainly -- if i looked at it, i'd be willing to call them shenanigans. it would be possible. i've not looked as those in much detail as i have with respect to these auto bankruptcies. >> well, with goldman sachs, they actually created a product for a specific individual who wanted to short them and then sold those products as if they were good out standing products. those, to me, that kind of conduct is shenanigans. i think a company going bankrupt is not actually shenanigans or trying to keep it alive is not necessarily shenanigans. let me ask you mr. wilson as you noted in you

mr. wilson? >> thank you, as well, congresswoman. i've had a few democrats and republicans, but thank me over time, but it's always nice to hear it. >> i think more of us some shh say it, thank you for your public service and you saved jobs and helped america and grew our economy. thank you. >> miss romero, i would like to thank you for bridging forth to light that these three gentlemen have refused to talk to you and for your bringing it to our attention that they are before us and get them to talk to us to commit to talk to you. we'll go through a ten-minute round of questions and my next question is to mr. feldman, and i do have a question for you, you said in your letter that you believed sig tarp believes that the auto task force played a role in the pension -- in the pension decision and these individuals' failure to speak is a significant article, right? >> you do believe that, right? that they played a role. >> yes. >> mr. feldman, we're going to spend a significant amount of time on the issue of what you did, what your role

mr. wilson, house mr. romney gotten it right nearly four years since he wrote those words is gm showing signs that it is guaranteed to fail? >> i'm going to try not to interject myself and the debate. >> i was very impressed. a lot of people don't realize this. you are an honor graduate of harvard, and in the business school at harvard. so we don't want anybody to think that he wore a light weight. that's why i'm asking you. >> i'm serious. i heard what they said about you, and i'm going to ask some questions about your background a little bit later, but you can go ahead and answer the question pity the >> i think the results congressman cummings speak for themselves. i think the of the most profitable year ever in its history in 2011. even though the sales still haven't recovered back to the normalized level and i think it has a cost structure and capital structure that has made it the largest and most profitable car maker in the world, so i think that as long as they keep on the same path and maintain th

mr. wilson decided -- the constituency that decided that mr. wilson chose the wrong side to fight for in the first world war and spent in mim as the sitting member of congress in jail. so it seems to me the history of those kinds of acts mean we have to update them. i am not for having an official secrets act like occurs in the united kingdom. but i am for revising standards for classification. and there ought to be some type of almost strict liability on someone who deliberately leaks something that he or she knows to be classified to somebody who does not have a security classification. and finally, and this is the question that i would like to ask, is -- and we'll start with you mr. wainstein. are there any circumstances where putting a reporter in jail for publisher a leak are per missible under the first amendment? >> i believe so. i believe actually you can look at the iconic case speaking of midway, where the chicago tribune actually published the fact we had broken the japanese code in 1942 which could have been did he have vevastating t

mr. wilson, mr. feldman and mr. bloom with the government officials involved in five decision and the discussions. sigtarp doesn't have the ability to compel witness testimony. there is no valid reason for the former treasury officials to refuse to be interviewed. treasury suggested sigtarp's interviews arnesen three because giglio already determined the land because mr. wilson and mr. feldman were opposed. gm and [inaudible] figures. geode not conduct interviews of the will or whether there was any pressure by the audit team featuring to sigtarp. also, we read the deposition and still find it necessary to conduct the interviews. the refusal by the treasury's to speak to sigtarp supposes a significant obstacle to complete the audit and to the taxpayers getting a full understanding of the discussions and considerations in the decisions. our need to speak with them is significant. that is but the fact that there is no hardship for these individuals to come talk with us. other important and very busy government officia

mr. wilson about it offline. >> i know that staff has been exploring different opportunities for renovating lincoln park golf course. what i would like to ask is what are we looking at putting that item before us in terms of changing the month-to-month lease to a more permanent lease? a more long term lease? along those lines, what are we doing in terms of addressing some of the renovations that have to occur there as regards to the irrigation of that course? i would like to know when we can expect to be dealing more addressing some of the issues related to that of course. >> we have tried to approach our golf course issues some was sequentially and we're still in the process of working through an expired lease at golden gate park. once that is resolved, in all likelihood, it would be the work plan for this coming fiscal year. i cannot tell you when we're going to move forward. i think it depends on other property management issues that we will be dealing with in the coming year, so i will keep you up-to-date. >> our projections up to this point -- >> between july -- that would be the time

and mrs. wilson, let me ask you, can you forgive these people? clearly, mrs. wilson, you had an idea of how you wanted your wedding to be and days before you're supposed to be walking down the aisle, you must have been crushed. >> yes, ma'am, i was, very crushed. i couldn't think straight. i couldn't even sleep right that night. >> it seems like you had a lot of support from other members of the congregation, those who you just heard who say that this never should have happened, that it's not a racist congregation. this was just a small group of people who made a terrible decision but having the reverend do this. what is it you want? do you plan to go back to that church? >> me, myself, ma'am, let me say this -- i'm sorry to interrupt my wife, but i have to say -- i listened to what you said about the congregation and all those people that were sorry. we're god fearing people. we love jesus. we are christians. my thing, what i would say to those people and everyone else listening to what we're talking about, why didn't those people stand up in the beginning. if

mr. wilson and his son came to my office in washington and said, "mr.s, i am one of the people that beat you. we forgive me? i apologize." his son had been encouraging his father to do this. the sun started crying. mr. wilson started crying. he hugged me. his son of me. i have them both back. all three of us stood there crying. that is what the movement is about, to be reconciled. >> when we hear about the voting rights, we do not hear about the struggles that you and so many others that you lead with 350 years ago. >> that is why it is so important for people to understand, to know that people suffered and struggled. some people bled and some died. it was for the right to participate. the vote is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society. it is precious. it is almost sacred. we have to use it or we will lose it. >> of years after that, two years after you had your head slammed in and so many others were beaten in montgomery, with the 1963 march on washington, dr. king spoke and you also spoke. i want to go to a clip of that mom

mr. wilson addressing the conference in washington, d.c.nday. >> everyone living with hiv must come out. we all must come out. living openly and proudly with hiv, not only confront hiv stigma -- [applause] but it also helps build demand for services. openly hiv-positive people serve as living, a compelling reminders of their knowing their hiv status. and it also communicates it is possible to live a full, healthy life with hiv, and that is important. [applause] when you come out about your hiv status, you not only save your life, but you say the other lives as well. >> that was the wilson of the black aids institute. dazon dixon diallo, i want us to bring -- bring us back to the south and the growing hiv infection rate of gay black men in the south and the significance of this and what is being done about it. >> absolutely. i just have to say, phill is one of my heroes, and absolute war year. being in this movement with people like mr. wilson have stood on the front line for people living with hiv as a gay black man living with hiv has been

he said in first grade every friday mrs. wilson would eat at the lunch table in the cafeteria with the class and if you were good all week you could sit next to her and was a great honor to be the first grader selected to sit next to mrs. wilson and was his turn. he got word friday morning that he was the winner and he would be sitting next to her in the cafeteria and he was excited to get to sit with his favorite lovely lady and then they they were serving chicken legs in the cafeteria and he sat and watched mrs. wilson polish off plate after plate after plate of chicken legs. that wasn't even the best part. he said she put the whole thing in her mouth, worked for a good five minutes and then spat out the bone. [laughter] he had a whole new appreciation of mrs. willson. [laughter] he is my age. we are 43. he's remember that for 40 some odd years. these stories tell me something. the tommy kids are watching us. they are watching everything we do and they are soaking it up. every little active care, support, kindness and love that y

mr. wilson? >> the disagreement was on another point, but with respect to the gao report, the flight school that it was focused on in those -- as of 2010 and before. what i was taking note of was that we had already fixed that problem. what we had not done and which is what the gao recommended was institutionalizing away with it memorandums of understanding. that is in process now. >> you were talking in regard to that one school, not across the flight school system? >> with respect to the flight school system. >> after your testimony, we reached out to jail. they said that is flatly not provable. -- we reached out to gao. they said that it is flatly not provable. >> what we had done is a practice that was not committed to writing. it is in the process of being drafted. >> that was not their observation. i would love to get at reconciled. it is disturbing. we are 10 years after 9/11 and we have evidence that, on a regular basis, people are in this country illegally and they can get a flight schoo

wilson: mr. speaker, obamacare was coined by the republicans to mark the wonderful affordable care act passed by congress in 2010 and signed into law by president obama. the recent supreme court decision proves that obamacare was the perfect nickname because president obama cares. he cares about you. he cares about me. he cares about my friends on the democratic side of the aisle and he cares about my friends on the republican side of the aisle. . he cares about all americans. president obama cares about us and he thinks that we should not have to worry about going broke just because someone in our family gets sick. because obama care, every american has the right to affordable health care, and yet the republicans hate it with every fiber of their being. why? don't republicans get sick, too? don't republicans worry about having to file for bankruptcy just because someone in their family gets sick? don't republicans go to the emergency room with no insurance? later this week the republicans will v

mr. wilson, are all members of the task force. thank yo mr. a professor of law at george mason university school of law. as you valvano, this -- as you all well know, this committee swears in witnesses. if you all please rise and raise your right hand, you will be sworn in before your testimony. raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? thank you. let the record reflect that the witness is answered in the affirmative. you are all well practiced at testifying before congress. as you well know, we have the light system here. green beans, as we know from traffic school, green beans go. yellow means hurry up. -- green means go. yellow means hurry up. red means stop. summarize or testimony to allow for discussion and questions afterward. we'll begin with ms. romero for five minutes. >> ranking member quigley, members of the committee, i am honored to be here before you today and very much want to thank you for holding this hearing. s

and he said in first grade every friday mrs. wilson would eat at the launched people at h cla n neohean gt mrilan w his turn he got word for the morning he was the winner and he would be sitting ne to ms. wilson in the cafeteria and he was so excited to ge wii riteadatey e inhi lin tean sa wed mrs. wilson polish plate after plate after plate of chicken legs and that wasn't the best pa hesd puthe ho th oe.sp o [laughter] he had a whole new appreciation of r.so. iaew r3 as emmhaoror sm ede ie tm something. they tell me kids arewatching us. they are wating everything we dond they're soaking it up. every act fsp, nen e oso thre watching us. remember that. rememberhat you are going to be remembered. thu goto be or hcken n meed. arn r ss trhohin n tsryiroe with them couched in the recses of their minds and in their heart long after they sat in their thrmembeu dyura hero t m feg ntdymethethoaes fft. mbhaenpit debate gets fiery. and remember that when the winds filylame and cricism blow most a r i gotoo by one but given the size of the screw w

mrs. wilson's science class, which seems only appropriate because what he's doing is cutting edge and untilry recently unthinkable. he can predict where the fire will be not tomorrow but in five days, ten days, even 21 days. the benefit is obvious. if you know where the fire is going, you can strategically place your forces to stop it. ing a years ago, he became part of a team to work with a computer program that would predict a fire's future. he's a self-professed fire nerd. >> because it's high-tech and it's cool, man. >> reporter: fires are propelled by three basic things, weather, fuel and topography. sounds simple but just one look at a computer map of winds interacting in the mountains and you can see how complicated it gets, which is why stratton doesn't work alone. there's julia rutherford, the incident meteorologist. she studies the weather, wind shifts kill fire crews and predicting them is her job. >> if i see anything on radar i'll let you know as well. have a very safe day out there. >> reporter: when did the fire burn through here? >> that was about four or five days ago. >> r

mr. wilson decided the constituency that decided that mr. wilson chose the wrong side to fight for and the firstowar and pent te as ig er itms me that the history of those acts mean that we ave to update that. i am not for having an offical secrets actlike it occurs in thun kindom,btvme clfionand ey're not to be some type of almost fix liability and the leak somethig that he or shows to be asedsmbyt doesn't have a security classification. finally, and this is the question that i would like to asked me and we will start with you, mr. wst are there anyicanse tg reer in jail for publishing a leak permissible under the first amendmt? >> idphe satchel you can get thicon cas idy heca rne" cull d fahat we've broken the japanese code in 1942 that could've been devastating and resulted in a loss of thousands of not tens of thousands more american lives under certain circumstances you can see that that if smebody ha donehith punity a leof eue haneahdad ubli ha shi i think would be worthy of prosecution and punishment. >> how about the constitution puni

mr. wilson decided, or the constituency that decided that mr. wilson chose the wrong side to fight for in the first world war, and he spent some time at the sitting member of congress in jail for sedition. so it seems to me that the history of those kinds of acts mean that we have to update them. i am not for having an official secrets act like occurs in the united kingdom, and for revising standards for classification. and there ought to be some type of almost strict liability on someone who deliberately leaks something that he or she knows to be classified, to someone who does not have a security classification. and, finally, and this is the question i would like to ask, is, and will start with you, mr. wainstein, are there any circumstances where putting a report in jail for publishing a link our permissible under the first amendment? >> i believe so. i believe actually you can look at the iconic case where the "chicago tribune" actually publish the fact that we've broken the japanese code in 1940 which could've been devastating to our war eff

mr. wilson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. mr. wilson: todd harrison, a defense analyst at the center of strategic and budgetary assessments warned the impacts that sequestration will have if action is not taken. civilian employees, quote, could see 10, 15 or higher percentage being laid off shortly after sequestration goes into effect, end of quote. over 200,000 jobs are at risk in the state of virginia alone. i support armed services committee chairman to protect our national security and also to protect up to one million jobs that will be destroyed as a result of sequestration. job loss could be as high as 2.14 million. with record unemployment rate now over 8% for over the past 41 months, the president and senate should adopt bills that have been passed by the house. in conclusion, we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and

mr. wilson, let's talk about jobs in mexico.are they experiencing a similar situation to what he was talking about? guest: unemployment did go up, but we're seeing that some key industries having growth and producing jobs, automobile industry in particular. aerospace industry. and mexican is growing into a middle class. it is a slower process, but there is change happening. to address the issue that the calller brought up more directly, i think one way to create jobs in the united states -- there are 6 million jobs is one estimate in the united states a link to trade with mexico, but the key issue is competitiveness, but not just for the united states but a regional issue. since the creation of nafta our countirries areur linked together competitively. and if we can compete, then weaken export, create jobs and increase manufacturing in the united states. it is about working with our partners in mexico to make goods in the most competitive way possibly. it means lowering barriers at the border so we do not have to pay extra cost

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, since the president took office, his administration has enacted over 400 new government regulations, limiting small business owners from creating new jobs. this year alone the federal register has published over 41,000 pages of regulations that would cost $56.6 billion and result in paperwork that would take over 114 million wasted hours to complete. with record unemployment it's sadly clear the president's new taxes and policies are failing american families and destroying jobs. house republicans are focused on putting americans back to work. as a result, we have passed over 30 job creation bills in the past year. sadly these bills remain stalled in the liberal controlled senate. this week in the house led by kevin brady will vote on the red tape reduction and small business act, and once again attempt to remove government red tape prohibiting america's job creators from achieving economic success and creating jobs. i hope we can work together to support this legislation. in

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, defense sequestration is a very real denger that will threaten our national security, put our brave men and women in uniformat risk and destroy up to one -- uniformat risk and destroy up to one million jobs. the president avoids action on this extremely important issue. house armed services committee chairman buck mckeon has said, quote, we are overdue from guidance on the administration on how they interpret the law and plan to interpret squeast ration mechanically, end of quote. last may house republicans voted to prevent sequestration by passing legislation which replaces these drastic defense cuts while maintaining a strong national defense. additionally, one week ago today, the house passed sequestration transparency act with an overwhelming bipartisan vote, 414-2, which holds the administration accountable to these cuts. i urge the president and senate to act before it's too late and hundreds of thousands of hardworking americans lose their jobs. in conclusion, god bles

mrs. wilson's science class which seems only appropriate because what stratton is doing is cutting edge. can predict where the fire will be, not tomorrow, but in five days, ten days, even 21 days. the benefit is obvious. if you know where the fire is going, then you can strategically place your limited resources to stop it. eight years ago stratton became part of a team that worked to come up with a computer program that would predict a fire's future. he's a self-pro fessed fire nerd. >> it's high tech and it's cool, man. >> reporter: fires are propelled by three basic things, weather and fuel and topography. you can see how complicated it gets, which is why stratton doesn't work alone. there's julia rujford, the meteorologist who studies the weather, wind shifts kill fire crews and predicting them is her job. >> if i see anything on the radar i'll let you know as well. have a safe take out there. >> reporter: when did the fire burn through? >> three or four days ago. >> reporter: rudy rodriguez is part of the team. he sets up remote automated weather stations on raws. even as the fire b

mr. wilson decided mr. wilson show choose the ong side to fight for in the first world war. mb jient ome time as atti itmsmhateto of those kind of acts mean we have to update that. i am not for having an official secrets act like occurs in the amorengtarf siti e t some time of almost strict liability on someone who deliberately leaks something that he or sheknows esasitcssifd tomdyo siti an finally, and this is te question i would like to, and we'lstart with you mr. wane seen. are there ccumance r publishing a leak per mbl under the first amendment. >> i believe so. i believe actuallyyou can look at theiconic caseere te bld fathwer inapeco in 1922 which would have been devastating to the war effort. it could have cost tonsof lives. you could see that somebody did meg w bwhy and knowled d of prosecution and punishment. >> how about prosecution and punishment for those who disclose seal team six went in and took out bin laden. is tha the sme thig? >>epen on eac coue i couldn't serve upon it. in retrospect i could see what it did to world world war ii. it's hard to know whether

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, the hill newspaper published its special report a few years -- weeks ago bringing more attention to the very real threat of defense sequestration. many people are under the false impression that defense spending represents a significantly larger portion of the federal budget than it truly does. the current budget of the department of defense represents 15.1% of the federal budget. this chart shows that the key fence spending has declined over the last 20 years. sequestration represents a $1.2 trillion cut. half of the $1.2 trillion comes from the defense budget. i do not believe that half of these cuts to come from 15.1% of the cugget. additionally, sequestration will affect all areas of our national economy. it is projected that sequestration could cost one million americans job, and cause the unemployment rate to rise by an entire percentage point. we should pass the bill by armed services committee chairman, buck mckeon, that addresses the issue without tax increases. it c

mr. wilson: mr. speaker in a recent opinion piece, jeffrey december, the acting director for the office of management and budget wrote, quote, as president barack obama has said many times, the see quester -- sequester wasn't meant to be implemented, it was designed to cut so deep just threatening them would force congress to meet and agree on big balance package of deficit reduction, end of quote. if the president actually believed the budget control act would destroy jobs and threaten our national security, why did he sign the legislation into law? additionally, if he believed the proposed cuts would frighten members of congress, why has he remained silent on this issue? house republicans have acted and passed bipartisan legislation several times replacing the see quester -- sequester with responsible reforms as well as calling for more government transparency, to stop the destruction of 200,000 jobs in virginia alone. i urge the president to support this bill to promote peace through strength. in