ms. clarke: as the member designated by ms. velazquez of new york, pursuant to h.r. 8, i inform the house that ms. velazquez will vote yes on s. 272. as the member designated by chairwoman maloney, pursuant to h.r. 8, i inform the house that mrs. maloney will vote yes on s. 272. as the member designated by ms. robin kelly of illinois, pursuant to h.r. 8, i inform the house that ms. kelly will vote yes on s. 272. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> thank you,. mary: as the member designated by mr. meeks -- thank you, madam speaker. as the member designated by mr. meeks, pursuant to h.r. 8, i inform the house that mr. meeks will vote yes on s. 272. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. jeffries: as the member designated by chairwoman johnson, pursuant to h.r. 8, i inform the house that chairwoman johnson will vote yea on s. 272. as the member designated by congresswoman grace meng, pursuant to h.r. 8, i inform th

ms. psaki: in about half of all states, 24 governors have made decisions to eliminate pandemic unemployment benefits. in the remaining 26 states, unemployment levels vary widely from 3% to 7% and half of these remaining states have unemployment rates less than 5%. there are differing needs in different states and governors are making decisions. what we're trying to do and what we announced about two weeks ago is our effort to put new tools in place to help states who choose to further extend unemployment benefits because of this needs. because they have higher rates of unemployment among african-americans or other groups that need additional assistance. the secretary of treasury and secretary of labor sent a letter underscoring and affirming the states can use their allocations of the $350 billion in relief funds included in the american rescue plan. the department of labor has also made $90 million in career grants available and $146 million in reemployment services and eligibility asses

ms. psaki: the president relies on guidance from the cdc. that continues to be eight months. if that guidance were to change for any group, he would abide by that. for those of you reporting out this, nothing has changed about the eight-month timeline as it relates to the boosters. reporter: why did the conversation change from eight to five? ms. psaki: i wasn't sitting in the meeting having a discussion with them on this. as israel has taken the step of doing six-month boosters and the president referenced advice that he had been given from the prime minister, obviously, we make our own assessments based on our own experts here in the united states and nothing has changed on that front. i think it was more likely a reference to that and we obviously have ongoing discussions with our health and medical experts. reporter: to afghanistan, i want to get an update on the president's plans if he has any -- ms. psaki: there has not been an announcement from the u.s. military about the timing of

ms. thompson: yes. ms. mace: did you fly a charter plane? ms. thompson: yes. ms. mace: do you need an i.d.? ms. thompson: yes. ms. mace: did you need an i.d. to get in the building here today? ms. thompson: yes. ms. mace: do you need an i.d. in texas to open a bank account? to cash your check if you're working. do you know, representative thompson, how many -- what percentage of blacks in texas, black and brown african-americans are registered to vote? ms. thompson: a huge percentage. ms. mace: 70%. do you know what percentage of black and brown texans have voted on average during the last election? mace: do you know how many whites are registered? 70 2% of whites in texas or representative boebert do know the percentage of whites who turned out to vote in recent elections? ms. thompson: over 50%. representative mace: 65%. you know what percentage of hispanics are registered to vote in texas? 63%. you know what percentage of texans -- hispanics voted in the last election? 53 percent. hispanics are not voting in as i of numbers as blacks and whites -- in as high of

ms. clark who will delve into the investigation findings. the independent investigation has concluded. governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and violated federal and state law. specifically, the investigation found that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed current and former new york state employees by engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women. the investigators independently corroborated and substantiated these facts through interviews and evidence, including contemporaneous notes and communications. this evidence will be made available to the public, along with the report. this investigation was started after a number of women publicly alleged that they had been sexually harassed by governor cuomo. and on march 1 of this year, the governor's office made a referral to my office, pursuant to state executive law 63.8 regarding these allegatio

ms. psaki: hi, everyone. okay, a couple of items for you at the top. the president has said that the challenges of our time -- the challenge of our time is to demonstrate that democracies can deliver by improving the lives of their own people and by addressing the greatest problems facing the wider world. in keeping with this commitment, this morning we announced that, in december, the president will bring together leaders from a diverse group of the world's democracies at a virtual summit for democracy to be followed in a -- in roughly a year's time by a second, in-person summit. the virtual summit, to take place on december 9th and 10th, will galvanize commitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights. following a year of consultation, coordination, and action, president biden will then invite world leaders to gather once more to showcase progress made on their commitments. i also wa

ms. clark and mr. ag james: good mo. i'm joined here today by anne clark and joon kim, the two lead attorneys who are designated as special deputies to the attorney general's office to announce the findings of their investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made against governor andrew cuomo. i'll make a brief statement, and then turn it over to ms. clark and to mr. kim, who will delve into the investigation's findings. the independent investigation has concluded that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, and in doing so violated federal and state law. specifically, the investigation found that governor andrew cuomo sexually harassed current and former new york state employees by engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women. the investigators independently corroborated and substantiated these facts through interviews and evidence, incl

ms.ker: i am telling the story of three amazing women who went to vietnam because women in that era were not considered capable. these three women went on their own, arrived in vietnam without jobs, without places to stay, without anything and they were told you do not belong here. host: we will have an opportunity to talk about each of their lives, but what are the names? ms. becker: catherine leroy, a french photojournalist, frances fitzgerald, an american reporter, lung for magazine -- long form magazine, and and kate webb. an australian combat reporter. host: your subtitle makes the case, how three women rewrote the story of the war. it makes the case that their work provided a counter narrative to the kinds of news the pentagon was serving up to journalists and the public and more conventional coverage. how did they do that? ms. becker: they did it by -- it is interesting you said counter because it was enlarging. they certainly were out covering the combat, but they enlarged what th

ms.mes: i had been looking at what was going on in the industry. tell is a visual -- television ratings had been lowering. people were watching netflix. i knew what i was watching. i knew what was exciting me and what felt like the excited programming. i also was looking for a certain kind of freedom. i had been making a very particular brand of television for abc. shondaland was a brand i was proud of but i wanted to spread my wings and do more. this was an opportunity to do so. david: when everybody -- when somebody is famous and they move in a baseball player or a football play or go to a different team or somebody tries something different, people are always saying this person isn't as good as the reputation. they are going to flop and there is a lot of i would say in hollywood people that do not like people who are too successful. there wishing secretly they will flop. you did not flop. you had an incredible hit. your first show, bridger 10, was the most successful opening show of an

ms. sewell, for a good bill. the voting rights act bill will fully, fully enforce the 15th amendment. i urge my colleagues to vote yes, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. johnson: madam speaker, i'm happy to yield two minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. bishop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bishop: madam speaker, to come to the correct conclusion, a law professor used to say, you've got to know the facts. and that's what the american people need here, the facts, not a motion. this bill would comprehensively transfer the power to govern elections from the sovereign states to the federal government. permanently and everywhere. so what is the factual premise for so fundamentally concentrating power here in washington and diminishing the states? what has happened to justify making pervasive and permanent what chief justice roberts explained was a drastic departure from bas

ms. resnick: yes. ms. stroul: yes. >> to pick up on senator murphy's question on and use and taking -- on and use - end can each ofu you gives is a recent examplee, of pursuing a credible report of a violation of what we thought was an end use requirement? ms. resnick: there are two ways to look at this. there is a violation of end use, meaning when the intended recipient is not the one doing it and senator murphy mentioned one of those cases. then there is the misuse of u.s. origin equipment. you will understand that is the consideration we used when we decided to suspend the tube munitions sales to saudi arabia, that we saw we did a risk assessment and that's what we are implementing now. we are implementing risk assessment for each of these transfers on a case-by-case basis and a risk assessment told us that those munitions could be used more likely than not to be used to result in civilian harm. that is why we suspended those two munitions sales. >> thank you, there is also the leahy law and that's a d

ms. ross. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ross: thank you, madam speaker. the rule before us provides for consideration of three landmark pieces of legislation. first and foremost, we are here to assure -- assume our duty to protect our american democracy. just this year alone 18 states have enacted 30 voter suppression laws. in response, the john r. lewis voting rights act will reinvig nate section 2 of the voting rights act d.-reinvigorate section 2 of the voting rights act. restore requirements eliminated in the shelby decision, and take other steps to block discriminatory voting measures before they are implemented. the history of the fight for voting rights in america is long and painful. but it is at crucial forks and different times members of this body from both parties have set politics aside and done the right thing. we are meeting here today at another pivotal juncture in the struggle for voting rights. and it's up to us to meet the urgency of the moment, live u

if not, maybe we can forward the four incumbent members, ms. williams, ms. leadbetter, ms. d'antonio and ms. friedenbach to the full board for recommendations. supervisors mandelman and chan. i see two thumbs up on that motion mr. clerk, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes, on that motion. [roll call vote] the motion passes without objection. >> supervisor peskin: next item please. >> clerk: next is item number three, ordinance amending the municipal elections code to require the department of of elections to expand use of vote-by-mail ballots at exclusively municipal elections and encourage further use of vote-by-mail ballots in all elections. >> supervisor safai: good morning supervisor chan, supervisor mandelman. i know we're joined by director john arts from our department o elections. i want to make some opening comments and then we can go to quick questions. i really appreciate the opportunity to get this on as quickly as possible. for me, the timing of this has a lot to do with america's democracy being challenged on a daily basis. more and more restrictive laws all ov

when ms. boylan was confronted with a number of complaints, she immediately and voluntarily tendered her resignation. she then sent an email throughout the chamber she was resigning. do you want to know what happened four days later? she called the governor's counsel and said she wanted her job back. the governor's office declined to give her her job back. she then reached out to the governor to personally intervene. she emailed his assistant, asked to speak with him. he didn't return her call after consulting with a number of people. why didn't the investigators put this in their report? particularly when two weeks after she started her campaign, she was leading the public to believe a false story that she left because of sexual harassment and a bad work environment when in fact she left after being confronted with a number of complaints and then really wanted her job back and they wouldn't give it back. the fact that this is not in the report goes to ms. boylan's credibility, and it goes to

as the member designated by ms. leger fernandez votes aye. as the member designated by ms. roybal-allard pursuant to h. res. 8, i inform the house that ms. roybal-allard will vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. babin: as the member designated by mr. duncan of south carolina pursuant to h. res. 8, i inform the house that mr. duncan will vote no on h.r. 4. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition?

ms. clarke: mr. speaker, as the member designated by chairwoman nydia velazquez, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that ms. velazquez will vote yes on h.res. 601. and as the member designated by chairwoman carolyn maloney, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mrs. maloney will vote yes on h.res. 601. and as the member designated by ms. robin kelly of illinois, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that ms. kelly will vote yes on h.res. 601.

and with respect to ms. clark, as an attorney her practice is focused on bringing sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits on behalf of employees. of course that colored how she viewed what complainants told her versus what other people told her. she could not -- that was the lens they brought to the case and those backgrounds certainly influenced how they went about the investigation and drafted this report. but what we do know is that report got facts wrong, it omitted favorable evidence that didn't support the narrative. there were 179 witness interviews and they only transcribed where we get the actual q and as, 41. so what did the other 138 say? because there are not 179 people mentioned in that report. so here is where we are. because of what has happened since august 3rd, with the press conference and a report that there is no question in my mind was designed and meant to devastate governor cuomo and his chamber. and for the last eight days it has been a pile-on with people judging facts when the

ms. matsui. ms. matsui: thank you very much, mr. chairman, for yielding to me. while we are still in the early stages of 5g deployment, the federal government must be a driving force in spectrum policy if we are to win the race to 5g and beyond. that is why i wrote then-president-elect biden four months ago, urging him to adopt a unified approach to spectrum policy and a clearly articulated process for resolving interagency disputes. over the past four years, significant conflicts between federal agencies caused costly delays in making new spectrum available, while also creating severe uncertainty for government and industry. moving forward, i look forward to seeing ntia resume its role as manager of the federal government's use of spectrum. we must also take steps to support a secure and diverse supply chain. as original cosponsor of the usa telecommunications act, i believe we need to fully fund the programs in that bill to support the development and deployment of open-ran. i think the

ms. and that was not just hurricane katrina. nfit has launched about $2.25 billion a year on average over the last 16 years pre-consider that $2.25 billion a year loss considered in the context of nfit's annual revenue last year of about $4.6 billion. nfit has averaged an annual loss represent about half its total annual revenue. in the real world, a private insurer that had this magnitude of losses year after year would certainly cease to exist. that brings me to an important point. the nfit should not be considered an insurance program at all. in many ways -- physically, nfit subsidizes the cost of living in buildings and flood prone areas. usually we subsidize activities because we want to encourage them. conversely, in the case of nfit, subsidies luke to -- lead to more building and rebuilding in areas of extreme risk of flooding, exacerbating the problem and development itself in these flood-prone areas tends to further increase flood risk and flood damage because it covers the absor

ms. garcia. ms. garcia: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. takano: thank you, mr. speaker, for yielding. i rise today to remember the life of a generous and fearless leader, chairman mike huong. he was a beloved member of the aaip community who had a sincere devotion to serving a variety of cause. he believed in the importance of asian persons being politically engaged. he exemplified the immigrant by dent of talent, persistence, and faith blazed a trail to success an

ms. congress at acted quickly in the office -- onset of the pandemic to help millions of vulnerable people keep access to this lifeline. the coronavirus response act boasted -- boosted wake funding. to help these vulnerable populations maintain access. they will continue to operate because of executive action. more appropriate last year, the facts on the ground are not the same. operation warp speed has done its job, life is returning to normal for most americans. it is time for congress to state statutory and regulatory system. with a government program, particularly one that cost tens of billions of dollars a year, one must carefully oz how to administer the program without exposing taxpayers to worse -- with waste. government programs encounter unnecessary hurdles. these families deserve the most experience. i look forward to hearing how conch risk and best strike -- congress can best strike the balance. help congress deliver on the promise of wic and cacsp. the federal government is o

ms. health and industry experts talked about the importance of the roofing -- of improving and expanding the program. >> committee on civil rights and human services will come to order. welcome everyone. our committee is meeting today to learn about food supply, young children and infants. the committee hearing room is officially closed. keep muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background noise. members and witnesses will be responsible for muting themselves when they are recognized to speak or wish to seek recognition. if a member or witness experiences technical difficulties during the hearing, make sure you are muted and use your phone to immediately call the company's i.t. -- >> members and witnesses are asked to wrap up promptly when their time is expired. pursuant to committee rule eight c, opening statements are limited to the chair and ranking member. i recognize myself. we are meeting to examine federal nutrition programs that support young children and discuss our oppor

ms. commisso was in the mansion that day. records from the mansion reflect that senior members of staff were present there on november 16th and the investigators did not ask -- they did not ask any of those people about what they saw or what they heard, what ms. commisso was doing that day? they don't match any of that up with the evidence, and the investigators didn't get that. now we are in a situation whereas of yesterday i read "the albany times union," and it says the governor groped her around november 25th is what she's saying. as i said before, my team has looked through the records for november and we're aware of no record indicating that brittany commisso was at the mansion on any other day than november 16th, and she has consistently said this occurred in november. why did the investigators not get the records and why did they not include them in the report? what else was so bothersome and hard for me to take as a lawyer for the governor is that the report suggests that the gov

ms. capitol police officers were swarmed, beaten, crushed between the door ways, tasered repeatedly. 140 officers were assaulted that day. 15 required hospitalization. seven people have lost their lives in connection with this attack. just this week, sadly, i read this story and i ached, two more police officers todd kim their own lives -- two more police officers took their own lives. this past six months have been the hardest in the history of the capitol police force. yet they still keep watch, they still stand guard. they do their jobs every single day with professionalism, excellence, and grace. awarding the congressional gold medal is a way to commemorate their sacrifice, make sure that the truth of january 6 is recognized and remembered forever. to our capitol and metropolitan police, thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do. this recognition is the very least you deserve. and once again i want to give real praise to my colleague from minnesota as i yield to her. she's d

[applause] ms. mcdaniel: nowhere is democratic extremism more evident than when it comes to our most fundamental right of all. the right to live. not long ago, democrats believe abortion should be safe, legal, and prayer. they support taxpayer-funded abortion on demand now up to and after the point of birth. whether it is on abortion, taxing the supreme court, open borders, defunding the police, a federal takeover of a elections, or ending the filibuster, joe biden is in lockstep with the radical left. this only motivates me more because i am confident as ever in our country's future. confident because of the leaders in our party and the work they are doing to improve the lives of every american and i get to see appear that republican leaders are showing americans with strong conservative leadership lurks like -- looks like. there is no contrast between the way republican governors and democratic governors have succeeded and failed. i am from the people's republic of michigan. whitmer, cuomo, and ne

in june of 2020, ms. bennett told the staff of the conversations of a sexual nature that were so uncomfortable she no longer wanted to interact with the governor, and she was transferred within days. two weeks later the chief of staff and a special counsel spoke with mrs. bennett that detailed the actions of the governor that went back to 2019. the special staff and counsel both found her to be creditable. they decided they did not need to report this to the governor's office of employer relations or conduct any meaningful investigation. they simply moved ms. bennett and instituted a policy of not having a junior staffer be alone with the governor, and even that, they said, was to protect the governor. that response we find was a violation of the executive chamber's harassment policy that requires that all possible harassment be reported and investigated. six months later in december of 2020, when lindsay boylan tweeted she had been harassed by the governor, the chamber failed to report the issue, and alt

ms. lay jer fernandez: open your eyes to the experience of minority communities who face endless barriers to the ballot box. after latinos, native americans and black americans voted in historic numbers, state legislatures moved to restrict voting in state after state. we have a constitutional duty to act. we must pass h.r.4 to restore the promise and power of the voting rights act. i urge my republican colleagues to join us. taking away equal access to the polls and defending voter suppression is not partisan. it is un-american. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> madam speaker, i rise today to recognize an outstanding woman of god, ms. mary sue mix i don't know. ms. mix i don't know will celebrate her retirement as a distinguished sunday schoolteacher at the rock church. she has taught sunday school cla

ms. mr. chairman, ranking members, thank you for the opportunity to discuss skunk -- congress is constitutional power of the purse. the government -- strengthen this power. since the creation a century ago, gao has performed audits and investigations for congress in its oversight of executive spending. gao has been vested with statuary responsibilities [inaudible] for example, the impoundment control act. we must review any special messages the president submits -- and report to congress on a special messages improperly justified or not transmitted at all. we publish the redbook, is relied upon across the government. we teach a law course, it should be considered -- it's appropriations law matters. gao takes seriously its role, i would like to discuss several suggestions we have that will strengthen congress's power of the purse and provide increased transparency. first -- preclude the withholding of budget authority through its -- to ensure the obligation of appropriated budget authority