ms. edwards: thank you, madam chair. i rise in support of h.r. 626, the federal employees' paid parental leave act of 2009. i'd like to thank the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney, for her long-time leadership on this legislation and her ongoing efforts to ensure family-friendly workplaces and that must begin at least with the federal government. it is so tiresome and tedious to stand on this floor every day and listen to the demagoguing of federal employees people who get up and inspect our food and make sure we have clean water and do all the business they process social security checks, all the business of this government. it is so sad that even on offering a simple parental leave act that we have to demagogue federal employees in the process. the legislation provides four weeks of paid parental leave for new mothers and fathers for the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child. america's 1.8 million federal employees will benefit from this time to learn how to care for and bond with their new addition to the fam

ms. edwards: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. edwards: mr. speaker, the united states has the most expensive health care in the world. which is really a tremendous burden on the american family and businesses and threatens our economic future. the status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable and i applaud all the committees for their hard work on the draft proposal released last week. it's an important step forward to ensure that every american has access to quality, affordable health care. but i believe if we are to meet the stated goals of reform it's also critical that a robust public plan option be linked with the strength of medicare. it's a system we know. and in particular the existing health provider network so that public plan can truly compete in the private market and lower costs for all americans. mr. speaker, health care must be accessible in order to be accessible to americans living in both rural and urban areas, it must be b

ms. donna edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. edwards: it's with great sadness that i rise to honor the life and memory of stephen tyrone johns, a guard who protected the lives of others during yesterday's shooting at the holocaust museum. his quick action and sacrifice may indeed have saved the lives of the people at the holocaust museum yesterday and to his fellow officers to secure the museum. the armed assailant who had connections with the white supremacist organizations and a long history of anti-semitic and racist activities walked into the holocaust museum and opened fire. resulting in the tragic murder of officer stephen tyrone johns. this was a murder based on hate and malice and took the life of a good man. a security officer for six years at the holocaust memorial museum and resident of temple hills, maryland, which is the district in which i represent, officer johns was beloved by his family and friends. colleagues called officer johns big john. he was known as a gentle giant and remembered for his friendliness, soft

ms. edwards? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to follow up on this question because this has been a huge concern in the state of maryland. we managed to get a lot of projects in the pipeline but the question is whether the jobs that are created and the distribution of those contracts around our state really reflects where the need is for the jobs. even though our state enjoys us, 7.2% unemployment, we are grateful for that. there are pockets of our state, particularly the district i represent just outside the district of columbia that have higher pockets of unemployment where we have minority and other contractors who i don't believe have fully enjoyed the benefit of the recovery funds that have come into our state. i would love to hear from the administration, the department of transportation directly, you can go in whatever order you want. who has gotten those contracts, where do people come from? does that represent where the biggest pockets of unemployment are, in our various states? i am speaking from a state that has

ms. edwards: i rise today in strong favor and support of the american clean energy and security act of 2009. and i'm going to tell you, i was a reluctant comer but i commend chairman markey and chairman waxman for their work and dedication. this is a big step towards ensuring that our children live in a better and cleaner environment and protect our planet for future generations. the glaciers are melting and some may question the science, but i'm not one of them. by the time a child born today in 2009 reaches first grade, we will reach peak carbon and without a doubt, we must use every tool attainable to respond. this bill is one of those tools and perhaps our strongest yet. it's my hope that as we continue forward that we will increase our investment in renewables. that we will ensure that we preserve and protect our planet and reverse the warming of our earth. i want to thank the chairman. and despite my concern, i support this bill strongly and i urge my colleagues to join me. and the statements made earlier today questioning global warming underscores the importance of this legislation

ms. edwards: mr. speaker, i rise today to speak about the urgent need for health care reform. comprehensive health care reform is about addressing what i call the three c's, care, cost and continuity. americans deserve affordable, high-quality and portable care. now, some of our parents may have worked one job and had the same insurance plan for 40 years but that's not how we lead our lives now. we may have seven to 10 jobs over the course of our lifetime and health care reform must reflect how people lead their lives. people shouldn't feel trapped in a job because they fear they will lose health care. health care reform is about expanding coverage, creating competition and meaningful choice. and right here in congress we're working to create a uniquely american system of health care that provides for affordable, high-quality care to all americans. now, you've seen firsthand why we should reform the health care. we should lower costs and help all americans. doing nothing to reform the health care system is catastrophic and the status quo is unsustainable. i cannot stress enoug

ms. richardson. thank you mr. chairman and congresswoman edwards.i'd like to attest that i've had an opportunity to go to three events particularly with aviation of these recovery dollars in that sense, i've seen great progress and want to commend you. further you say and is a lifeline for americans having been hard hit by the recession. then on page 4, you talk about every newwçp project we obligat is a signal for states i read automatic of your presentations and i would say it was a little light. do you have any information on what new contracts were established? what new people were hired. not just to the companies that already have major contracts and already working to put them on the overtime. it was to give new p.m. the opportunity to come in. jo all of the money is to be put to new projects. that's not what i zd you. are new contractors coming in? are new p.m. getting jobs? >> i don't have data on that. what i can tell you is that significant effort for us is to work with the state department's of transportation to ensure that companies of a

edwards. >> no. >> mr. lewis. >> aye. >> mr. young. >> yes. >> ms. granger. >> aye. >> the votes are three ayes, five nays, the motion is not agreed to. is there another amendment? >> shouldn't we go to the senate side? rather -- i'm not sure all three of our members -- >> i think we had an understanding we would deliver -- the senator is shaking his head yes we had an understanding we would deal with house amendments first. >> if the senator is agreeing to leave themselves out of the discussion -- >> they're not being left out, they'll be able to bat cleanup. are there further amendments? why don't we just suspend the clerk's reading of the amendment and why don't you simply explain it. >> that is perfectly all right with me. mr. chairman and our colleague, this amendment is very simple. it says that the final report of the conference committee will not report less funding for our troops, less funding for the war on terror, less nunding in the defense part of the bill and the military construction part of the bill than was passed by the house. it tr

edward with. felten is professor of computer science at princeton university. next to mr. felten is ms. anne toth. she's the vice-president of policy and head of privacy for yahoo! miss napol wong is deputy general counsel responsible for privacy for google. mr. christopher r. kelly is the chief privacy officer at facebook. mr. jeffrey chester now is the executive director of the center for digital democracy. mr. charles d.corran is. that how you pronounce that? is executive director of network advertising initiative. and mr. scott cleland is the president of the precursor, llc. again we want to thank the witnesses for their patience and for their appearance before the subcommittee this morning. it is the practice of this subcommittee now that we will swear in all the witnesses. so will you please stand and raise your right hand? >> do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? >> let the record reflect that all the witnesses have in the affirmative. -- have responded in the affirmative. and now we ask the witnesses to enter into opening statements.