ms. maloney's bill? >> we'd certainly want to work with her on that bill. obviously, there are going to be some things we're going to want to work on. but i think that's certainly a good starting place. >> would the gentleman yield? i know we're out of time. i just want to make sure it's my bill and ms. maloney's bill. >> sorry. >> that will probably help the president like it even more. >> and we welcome your support. >> i thank all of the gentlemen and lady. with that, we go to one of the most experienced members of the committee, although a freshman, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. meehan, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. attorney general. i know i sent you a letter some time ago and i appreciate your coming to our committee. look, i'm going to try to do my best to work as we try to do with the facts that are before us, as limited as they are based on the discovery. but what i have been able to glean is everybody agrees that the tactics of the atf are not to be supported or condoned. but if you heard testimony that was gi

ms. maloney. >> sorry for the inarticulation. >> thank you very much. and welcome to the committee. >> thank you. >> i would find it very difficult to imagine an america that did not make its own cars. so i am pleased that the president was able to report in his state of the union the progress that the car industry has done -- achieved in america. i would like to quote one line and put his whole statement in the record with unanimous consent. he said, today general motors is back on top as world's number one automaker. and a report i read last week said that there are over 700,000 jobs created by the auto industry now in america. and i would like to put that report in the record. >> without objection. >> okay. i think that it's clear that this innovative car that gm has made has been caught up in the middle of politics. and some members appear more interested in making wild allegations for political purposes than in recognizing a promising technological breakthrough. and i would like to ask you, and give me a yes or no answer, is it true that the volt w

ms. maloney. >> well thank you for this report. it's good news. especially in the number of unemployed men rate dropping for five straight months. that's very good news. and we are trending in the right direction with 23 months of job gains, triggered 43,000 for this month alone. can you point out other bright spots in this report and any other good news the uzi that the country is trending in the right direction? >> well, the payroll employment this month is to and 40,000 is a sizable one compared to the payroll employment last year which averaged the monthly gain of 152,000. some of the gains this month in the private sector are widespread, notably we saw the large business services and the leisure and hospitality and health care employment and manufacturing which gained 50,000 jobs. and in construction which has been flat since 2008 but is now recorded a couple of increases totaling 52,000 in the nonresidential specialty trade contractors. >> often the january numbers don't show this kind of game. is this unusual for the january numbers? >> kno

ms. maloney. >> thank you. i'd like to respond to my good friend and colleague, mr. mchenry's, statement that the ag had not responded to agent terry's death. he responded immediately and has expressed his concern for the other agents that are being killed at a higher rate than ever in our history. >> in the gentlelady would yield -- >> no, i will not yield. i will not yield. and not only did he do that, he immediately took swift action to stop gun walking which did not happen in the prior administration and established reforms to prevent this type of flawed operation from ever happening again. he further called for, and we could all help him do this particularly the republican majority, to confirm a permanent atf director. that would help more than anything. he also called for a federal firearms trafficking statute. he called for appropriate funding for the atf to do its job and increased penalties for straw purchasing. so these are some of the concrete actions that he's taken in response to that tragic death. and once again today this investigation continues on its

ms. maloney? congresswoman maloney? >> i would just like to add what's wrong with this picture. a woman should have been at that table, and i would add all the tables in america. thank you for you courage, thank you for speaking out and for your testimony today. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> if we had gone to central casting to find a representative to speak for american women, we could not have done better than you here today. and you have performed another service that is an unintended consequence of this hearing. for the first time, those who have paid attention to this issue now know that the affordable health care act covers contraceptives so that women no longer have to pay extra for pills, devices or other means of contraception. thank you for helping us to get that word out, ms. fluke. >> well, thank you for -- >> i do believe that the visibility -- we almost ought to thank the chairman for the shall we say lack of judgment that he had to arouse the, to raise the awareness because it's been very hard over the years to convince people that the fight here has been about c

ms. maloney. >> first of all, congratulations on your interim appointment, and thank you for your many years of hard work for the joint economic committee and testimony. we welcome you. finally, we have continuing good news. for the fifth month, there has been a drop in the unemployment rate to 8.3%. for the 23rd month, we have been gaining jobs to 243,000 jobs, so i fail to understand the doomsday testimony of my good friend, mr. brady. with unemployment numbers falling and the number of jobs -- job growth gaining, that shows that we are making steady progress in recovering from the great recession. still, we have much more work to do, including extending the payroll tax cut through all of 2012, which is a priority of president obama and democrats. i am hopeful the house will approve that before the current extension expires at the end of the month. i look forward to your testimony, and i hope it contains even more good news and these very encouraging numbers in unemployment and job growth. i yield back. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and welcome to our committee and your staff. it goes withou

ms. maloney, you are saying there is no way of knowing who these people are or with these loans are.but the reality is, you go to any closing. i believe it anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000 and closing fees but yet i cannot understand how come you can say we do not know who owns the loans now. if that is the case, they should get free houses. if you do not know whose loan it is and you are so lackluster in your accounting -- there is no accountability at the top. guest: i agree, there should be a penalty, and it should, or early, not later. the story told is really a terrible story. right now the fbi is running ads on television saying to report when you see any illegal activities taking place or abuses that you feel are happening to you or anyone else. a report into the fbi. these ads are on television now. also, as a citizen of new york city, we have a very aggressive ig reporting system. if you see activities that you feel are illegal and wrong. law enforcement cannot act unless they know about it. we as citizens need to bring it to their attention. the majority of men and women wor

maloney and congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. we are gathered here today with a very special guest, ms. sandra fluke. first, i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women. in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to disappear -- to be before our committee. she was summoned before the paddle -- before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate l

ms. slaughter: i'm pleased now to yield time to my good friend and fellow new yorker, mrs. maloney. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and for her hard work on this issue and many others. mr. speaker, i am really very pleased that we are finally working to address the insider trading issue in this body and that it will finally be on the floor tomorrow. we should not have had to wait so long for a bill that has 270 co-sponsors. and i am proud to be one of them and i have been in past congresses. i want to thank my colleague from new york, louise slaughter, who has worked on this legislation for six long years, and my colleague from minnesota, mr. walz, for their excellent leadership, perseverance on this issue. mr. speaker, i have said it before, elected officials must be like caesar's wife in avoiding the appearance of impropriety. the need to expressly prohibit this activity in statute cannot be overstated. insider trading is illegal on wall street and it should be illegal on capitol hill. the stock act is bipartisan, commonsense legislation to prohibit federally ele

maloney and congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. we are gathered here today with a very special guest, ms. sandra fluke. first, i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women? in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to be before our committee. she was summoned before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate leader for young women and all women a

maloney and congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. we are gathered here today with a very special guest, ms. sandra fluke., i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women. in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to disappear -- to be before our committee. she was summoned before the paddle -- before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate leader