one thing we are seeing isyou'ra making week provider and them a 45 hour week provider. working sodel is that our specialists, psychiatrists, can support primary care providers to deliver more behavioral health to the primary care channel. when the psychiatrist is in a primary care physician's office, we're helping that primary care provider management will health better. unless you can find a way to grow a doctor tree or in nurse practitioner tree, you will not solve the supply issue, but we can try to expand the box we are in. ms. grave: thank you. we have heard videoconferencing, cell phones,. what do you think might be the next disruption of technology to help support telemedicine? is there any news on sensors or other technology that may be helping the process? wave of innovation happening on the hardware side where more and more you're able competing power into small devices, some of them in your home -- phone. the cameras in your phone are so powerful today that you can hold them up to your throat and the doctor can have an image of your tonsils as good as in pers

guest: the fcc does not have authority over edge providers. those are regulated by the federal trade commission. as far as i know, there have not been complaints filed with the fcc. websites have pretty broad discretion, as evidenced by the wide range of things out there for people to do essentially what they want. host: what was the ruling this week? 2016, the d c circuit approved the obama administration that neutrality rules here than they spent almost a year deciding whether to rehear the case. the entire court decided that we will not because we believe these rules are legal. secondly, we do not think it makes sense to do so given the throwhe fcc is about to out part of the rules or maybe all of them. there was one interesting dissent on the d.c. circuit by a judge who said he thought it violated the first amendment rights of companies like at&t and verizon. he argued that these providers have the first amendment right to do what they want, to block sites, throttle sites, you know. it is an interesting argument, saying they are the equiva

the dulles greenway is one of our biggest donors and every year the donation they provide helps us provide all of our core services free of charge to victims who come through our doors, including free legal assistance and counseling. >> so, you really depend on these funds. >> absolutely. >> you get donations, but i guess you can't make it on those. >> no, i mean we rely on donations and grant funds, but this particular donation and all of the riders who come through who pay the toll that date help our crisis intervention funds this year? at the clinic? >> so, we're able to provide patient care visits for less than $100 a visit. its cost to the clinic. so, if you were to dedivide that by roughly what we get every year, we can serve 300 to 400 patients with this. that's a third . patients we see. again, without this donation that would be very difficult to not be able to serve those patients. >> so, the services that you provide from them -- for them are provided at a nominal fee to the patients? >> yes. so, we provide the actual patient care services at no charge, things like test strips,

with that, we'll provide to vote on the item. the item is adopted with editorial privileges as granted. thank you to the staff of the bureau. madam secretary, if you could please announce the next item on the agenda. >> the seventh and final item on your agenda will also be presented by the wire line bureau. again, chris monteith, acting chief of the bureau, will give the introduction. >> thank you, madam secretary. ms. monteith, feel free to proceed. >> mr. chairman and commissioners, the wire line competition bureau is pleased to present for your consideration a notice of proposed rule making and order, revisiting whether the rule adopted in 2011 requiring rule telephone companies to recover a minimum dollar amount for voice services from their customers commonly referred to as the rate floor continues to further our statutory obligation to ensure quality services available at just reasonable and affordable rates. the accompanying order would freeze the rate floor for two years unless or until further actions are taken in this

a basic provider from our side of the table but as soon as a provider becomes part of that existing team for the patient, it's in the getting to provide up to speed on the existing quality standards. when we're talking to our clinics the paradigm we use is it to be as if this provider were there in person. any united states can any requirements, any oversight that you're doing to a provider would be to on-site treating patients hold our doctors to the same standard. >> so we do a few things i wish our clinical often it would answers because he would do a much better job. but the first thing we do is we ask every patient after their video visit to rate us on a scale of one to five and give comments on the interaction with the doctor. that in and of itself is willfully in the industry we can provide immediate feedback to the provider about that interaction. perhaps they would have a 4.8 average rating and is something our doctors love. at the end of each visit they get to read that, they get to see that, they get that instant feedback from the patient asked to how it went for them. fo

it provides $2 billion to the national institutes of health, it provides a solution to this crisis that's impacting our citrus growers in south texas and other parts. it provides funding for 10 additional immigration judges and their support staff to help cut down the backlog of over half a million cases that we have, on top of the 55 ingration judges we added last year. as the chairman said a few minutes ago, chairman carter, $1.5 billion to improve the nation's border security, without funding the medieval wall that we have. so, again, i want to thank all my colleagues for working in a bipartisan way and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: the chairman is pleased to recognize mr. calvert, chairman of the sbeer yore appropriations committee, for two -- interior appropriationses committee for two minutes -- appropriations committee for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. calvert: i rise in support of this

we should be more supportive to community health centers especially for those who provide health care for those in difficult circumstances. we should help them to create larger pools so they can negotiate for better premiums. we need to utilize health savings accounts. we need to support medical research. if we can find the cure for cancer, the delay of onset of alzheimer's, we can save billions of dollars in the health care system as well as saving lives and improving the quality of life for those who are suffer from those diseases. we need to address prescription drug costs. how do we make certain that no drug company corners the market or utilize our current laws to extend the life of the patent and stop generic prescriptions from coming in. we need to look at wellness and diet probably give us the biggest bang for our buck and don't need to be a government program, but people need to work at living healthier -- healthier lives and prevent diseases from occurring in the first place. we need additional physicians and other health care providers, nurses and others, and we have not pu

one of the biggest content providers in america. the thinking on these big vertical mergers is that companies like verizon and at&t don't want to be that dumb pipes , the companies that send traffic or video through, because ultimately those companies could be disrupted. but if you control the content as well as the pipes, maybe you can leverage that into more targeted advertising or somehow drive more revenue. there is a lot of interest in vertical mergers. but there are protections in place. there was in the comcast merger, to ensure everybody gets treated equally. host: content is king? darrell is in new jersey. he is on the independent line. caller: hello. it seems to me that the part of the government should play should be to level the playing field and protect consumers. and with these new rules, it seems as if the government is sort of absolving themselves and leaving it up to individuals to fight for their rights against corporations. i wonder what your guest thinks about that. guest: you make a really good point in that, un

the army has been able to maintain current warfare and flexibility provided and the funding provided by our government. the market decrease of our funding level forced the army of long-term investments for r the benefit of near term readiness. like wise, not fully represented on this chart, large contingency have been smaller and oco is reducing -- as clearly portrayed on this chart. the funding level of 17 budget in this 18 based requests are consistent with the administration goals of the u.s. army to rebuild readiness and prepare for future challenges. with this fy 18 president budget submission, the following are some of the main highlights of our requests. first and for most, the budget have been form mated to command the best train and ready land force that is we can generate. to do that, you must fully fund the counter terrorism and competencies and necessary for current fight while building decisive -- consistent with the threats that's -- the budget ari quests further sustained 1,018,000 soldiers across total army isra realistic and specialized training and best maintained e

to their home is provided by coal-fired energy. somehow that goes unnoticed. host: congressman bill johnson, appreciate the time for joining us today. stop by our studio when you're back in th d.c. guest: i would love to. host: we will hear from vivian stockton. she is the director of the environment >> it is all coal miners around here. you got coal mines, coal mines, out that way is coal mines, a of people. a bunch. ost: what do people do when they are out of jobs? steel mill. have a the coal mine from .he coal mine host: you think it is hard for to find a different job, they want to leave the mining business? so.o, i don't think ike me, i was 800 feet in the ground. i'm 100 below ground. above ground. difference, i made it, anybody can make it. host: for somebody that has been 800 feet below ground, what is it like? >> beautiful. you are under ground once you are accustomed to it. it is dark. up to your your hand nose and not feel it, you can the heat.eel you can't feel nothing. the flicker of light, cufeel a light, i would say

and seem to be driving out and discouraging small providers in particular. i'm worried about the direction we're heading in this area. i'm hopeful that my colleagues on the subcommittee, the full ways and means committee and this congress can work together with the new administration to not only spur innovation but reduce regulatory burdens across the medicare program. with that i'd like to introduce today's witness, mark miller, the executive director of the medicare payment advisory commission, medpac. welcome back, mr. miller. before i recognize ranking member levin for an opening statement, i'd ask unanimous consent that all members' written statements be included in the record. without objection. i recognize mr. levin. mr. levin: thank you very much, mr. chairman. it's a pleasure for us to work with you and to your colleagues. and to you, dr. miller, thanks for joining us today. and for the important role that medpac plays in informing medicare policy. we've had a chance to look at your report, maybe not read each page along one but an excellent executi

will any of the open internet i rules provide this rule-making? i am doubtful given both the tenor of the questioning and the fact that the rulemaking is proposed seems to get rid of the only authority that would underpin strong open internet rules. tellingly the majority does not propose any provision of law to underpin any of the open internet rules on which it seeks comment. in fact, it's propose to reinterpret the one provision that has served as the basis of even limited rock band regulation. of course i'm talking about section 706 of theab telecommissions act of 1996. while paying lipservice to the idea that we should ground open internet rules and other forms of statutory authority like section 230b which the comcast court rejected, i am also concerned at the proposal to reinterpret section 706 as merely port authority. we have litigated the statutory history and the courts have upheld section 706 as a grant of authority. walking down the stationau particular in a world where we do not have title ii is sure open internet rule. while the maj

five-year budgeting cycles could provide congress specifics while providing new insights into newly authorized project maintenance. 333 waivermlined the process. much of that science takes a year or more to complete. guidance requires that the waivers be held until the projects are completed. it adds up to a year to the project. five, reduce or eliminate the .xternal peer reviews the court has qualified professionals capable of sound engineering and program delivery. on educatinguses consultants on the why rather delayingd engineering further implementation. we agree we must modern is that modernize our ports. as deepened and why didn't -- online,channels become we need to take a longer view towards a budgeting and identifying her grim savings by reducing bureaucracy. the alabama state port authority .hanks this committee i appreciate this opportunity and am happy to address any questions. .> thank you, director lyons mr. humphries? and not, it is a pleasure to be here today -- , itrman senator inhofe is a pleasure to be here today. our families had a history on lake eufaula, we have been ther

the second aspect is to provide the encouragement through providing a positive incentive to those systems that are interested in securing an srf loan, to be able to reward them for having made positive steps in advancing and adopting the processes at their local community. to reinforce through positive rewards, if you will, the ability to work with the agencies and secure loans so that there is a recognition that advancing these practices leads to good things. >> do you believe you have sufficiently objective criteria to measure that progress? >> i think there are ways to measure that. and we would be interested in working with the panel here to identify those specific things to show measurable progress. >> thank you very much. with that, i yield back. >> gentleman yields back his time. >> chair? i know we are rushing off to the bracing for house members. i just wanted to offer this observation that everyone is indicating that we need more federal dollars to address what is a basic core of infrastructure that speaks to our needs. but if we can find it in our means to provide for $70 billi

it provides $2 billion to the national institutes of health, it provides a solution to this crisis that's impacting our citrus growers in south texas and other parts. it provides funding for 10 additional immigration judges and their support staff to help cut down the backlog of over half a million cases that we have, on top of the 55 ingration judges we added last year. as the chairman said a few minutes ago, chairman carter, $1.5 billion to improve the nation's border security, without funding the medieval wall that we have. so, again, i want to thank all my colleagues for working in a bipartisan way and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: the chairman is pleased to recognize mr. calvert, chairman of the sbeer yore appropriations committee, for two -- interior appropriationses committee for two minutes -- appropriations committee for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. calvert: i rise in support of this

and the assured positioning navigation and timing can provide these capabilities. in the area of electronic warfare i covered praises roy spoke about the procurement portion of our portfolio, but in the area of electronic warfare and in response to use army, europe's operational needs will provide planning capabilities to coordinate, manage and deconflict the use of electronic, electromagnetic spectrum and synchronized spectrum operations. the newly established rapid capabilities office is working with program managers and other stakeholders to rapidly deliver an integrated electronic warfare capability to the tactical force and accelerate the development of the capabilities as well to enable ground maneuver in a gps denied environment. defensive cyber operations enables global, regional and local cyberspace defenders to conduct mission planning and protection measures in the area cyber are -- sitter on the persistent cyber training environment program that supports cyber training ranges for both initial and unit level training proficiency and certification. in thi

as part of ann ta greated delivery system, we worked very closely r with world class providers to provide other beneficiaries and other plan members to access to affordable innovative plan products. our model finances -- aligns financial incentives between payer promote and to provide higher quality outcomes at lower cost. it gives us unik incite into care modalities and payment mow dats. with more than 3 million covered lives, we offer a wide range of services. since our creation in 2003, special needs plans have fasd uncertainty in the form of contrary authorization. they are specifically designed to serve the most frail. medicare complex and medicare beneficiaries by ensure that each plan member receives an accessed care plan and tail lorz services than she or he would otherwise have. while congress has recognized the value of these plans as part of medicare, they need to integrate efforts for these beneficiaries. they cover 23,000 dual beneficiaries were we are the second large e69 four-star dual plan in the country and we're positioned to begin in january of the coordination with med

rural providers, it is about targeting, not duplicating, not supporting two providers next door to each other may be in effect, not covering fixed costs, subsidize both of them. in the ambulance situation we took one of the add ons targeted to redistribute and targeted to counties that had low population density. you end up covering 70%, 75% of the same areas but they can provide a larger subsidy. and removing subsidy away from places that are near metropolitan areas giving it more truly to the isolated areas and in our opinion, people disagree, making the dollar go further. >> i yield back. >> mister higgins, recognized for five minutes. >> the new york times on monday reported the united healthcare among the largest health insurance companies in america is being sued for defrauding the american people and medicare program under the medicare advantage program estimated to be between billions of dollars each year out of the past decade, the article went on to name four other private insurance companies that participate in the medicare advantage for defrauding federal government and medi

another provision of what we are proposing would provide better care planning services provided on the directing gao to submit a report to congress to promote the development of a payment code for comprehensive care planning. this is an issue i had working on since my tenure in the senate, goes back to my time as governor. my mom had alzheimer's for 10 years, did not speak for nine of those 10 years. trying to get that right and make sure we no longer have the distinction of being the only industrial nation in the world that has not had a national conversation about that part of life. it's something that i think we take a step in his chronic care working group to getting done. perfect, these initiatives moves medicare systems for better coordination, better quality, better cost-effectiveness, and except towards moving medicare in the 21st century. on behalf ofnk senator isakson both the chairman and ranking member for helping us for on this. sen. hatch: thank you. we appreciate all the work and we appreciate both of you at this table. opportunity tohe hear from 4 other witnesses that w

legal advice, but i will also provide them with my judgment. so sometimes things are legal, as you know. with respect to ensuring the committee is aware, i have a legal obligation under the national security act to make sure that this committee is informed of the legal bases that underpin any of the cia's intelligence activities, and i would fully and timely provide that legal advice -- legal basis. >> and how would you propose to do that? for example, would it be through a congressional notification? how can we as a committee expect you will reach out to us and notify and inform us of those decisions? >> there are a couple of different things. one is any time the committee requests information with respect to the legal basis, i have an obligation to respond. and then, secondly, there is a new provision within the national security act that requires a notification to the committee of any sort of novel or significant legal interpretation under the law, and i would obviously comply with that as well. >> and so let's talk a bit about what we -- i

i'm glad that they -- the government is providing that. but you know, i had 20 years in a factory in michigan and they shut it down, shipped the business to foreign countries to manufacture their stuff cheaper. and no didn't somebody step forward to help me with my benefits. >> thank you for the call. congressman johnson? >> he made a comment about coal not being good for the atmosphere. we have come a long, long way, a long way, some of the cleanest coal fired power plants in the world are right here along the ohio river. the cardinal plant not too far from here at one point was considered the cleanest burning coal fired power plant in the world. and so, i would -- i would disagree that coal fired energy is bad for the atmosphere. i mean, i'm certain that you can use it irresponsibly as the chinese do. they don't go to the extremes that we do here in america to make sure that our atmosphere is clean. by the way, nobody cares more about the air that we breathe and the water that we drink than those here along the ohio river and coal countr

they provide comfort and support for al qaeda. they have a relationship with the taliban that destabilizes afghanistan. military -- the heads of the plot escape to iran. >> this is not the behavior of a country that wants others to treat them with respect. this is the state sponsor of isrorism who deservedly sanctioned by the international community for this behavior. if i ran wants to be on a normal country and others to treat it like a normal country has to act in accord with international law the values and the rules of the international system that has existed for centuries. we welcome and i ran that is open to the world and lives in peace with its neighbors. we welcome around that doesn't interfere in the affairs of other countries. this is not the iran we see. the we think about reelection? we want to cede deeds, not words. we will continue to judge iran based on its deeds and base our policy based on iran's deeds. if i may say something about that wehe perception is are fighting in yemen for a reason, or that we have no obj

they need to provide another $250 million in funding or so per year.ow is that looking over the fcc? [laughter] shirley bloomfield: fingers crossed. it is a tough time. everybody is assessing where we are apt, but i look at that and think, $250 million a year to ensure what the fcc has in place , we canfully funded quantify how many more people we can reach and what higher speeds we can actually provide for them. i think, wow, the farthest part of our country to make sure all americans including rural americans, have access? it is a pretty small price to pay. it is like they have built this car, it is great but not enough gas in the tank. the $250 million you are referencing would go a long way to making sure that works. and the high cost program does not have which the universal no cost have is there of living adjustment. they had been frozen. i think, we are talking about broadband, how do we make sure you get the great equalizer out there? i would be hopeful. we have a commission that is .ural empathetic it was an interesting election. rural america

seventh he will consider a notice of proposed rulemaking with a rule requiring service providers read and write me getting support with higher minimum monthly rates on their customers than those paid by the counterparts or otherwise you support -- whose support the commission will consider a related order to freeze the current rate this is your agenda for today please note the consent agenda has been deleted from today's agenda first the acting chief of the public's safety home in security bureau with the presentation on the final report of the investigation into the 911 outage at&t mobility experience 2017. >> please proceed if you're ready. >> good morning mr. chairman , and commissioner -- commissioners on the fundamental responsibilities is to promote the safety of life and property through communications services assuring the public has access to 911 the central to the mission. that is where understanding the causes of the 91 outages to mitigate the effects of future outages is one of the commission's most important tasks. march 8, 2017 at&t mobility experience in nationwide 911

provider or an edge provider, you know, the inability to look at the universe as a whole.in, same kind of thing, i think. if people can sit down and share some principles, i think we've got a good opportunity to do it. it's, you know, again, it kind of goes back to your earlier questions. congress has a lot on their plate right now x net neutrality as we have seen takes a lot of oxygen. so the question is can you clear up enough so that folks can really focus on some of those issues, or will they want to. but i do see it as a cornerstone, potentially, of some kind of a communications act rewrite. >> i imagine a lot of our viewers out there are not in rural areas. some are, but a lot are in suburban and urban areas. why should they care about all this talk about rural broadband? because they're paying into this fund as the universal service fund or paying taxes for other programs potentially in infrastructure. why should they, why should they worry so much about rural broadband? >> guest: so aside from the fact that rural is cool, the other reason they should really care ab

the american health care act provides states with options for how to use funds, including providing financial assistance or high-cost individuals incentivizing insurance participation in the those markets, reducing the cost of insurance, promoting access to preventive service, and reducing out-of-pocket costs for patients. the congressional budget office estimates the combination of the stability fund and other pro-consumer changes would reduce premiums by 10% below current projections of 2026. we want patients to have access to high quality, affordably priced health coverage. the patient and state stability fund can help states lower costs and can increase access to high quality health care for their citizens. in addition to supporting the insurance markets, the american health care act creates needed reforms through the medicaid program itself. without any changes the medicaid -- current medicaid expansion is expected to cost $1 trillion in 10 years' time. $1 trillion a year in 10 years' time. medicaid needs reform so that states can continue to provide coverage to children, people with dis

what is that mean for providers? guest: 20 were looking at is the overall problem, the framework of obamacare is not functional. going back to when i started, you focus on reducing costs or access. by putting people into an already broken system the numbers, it's just a math problem, they don't add up. you will see more folks leaving the exchanges and these providers and too often people are going to be stuck in counties that have one or no choices for health care providers. host: really? you taken a bus to an appointment?" guest: this happens. it's a problem when people are getting different -- medicare and medicaid. folks on these programs, if it on a transportation, often ambulances get arranged for them to go. is not a cost-effective way to use resources. host: tracy in new jersey, good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for mr. brandon. two questions. they are related. has he himself never lived in europe and experienced the health care there? i have. is he aware of the programs that are run all ov

it provides flexibility to cities and states. in fact, it was requested by the states and local officials. so this is pretty common sense. in fact, it's the kind of proposal that democrats and republicans have agreed on for several years. and as much as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle may not like to recall now, many of them have been on the record previously supporting just these kinds of efforts. but really it's not hard to understand why. as i have said, it is very clear who president trump and republicans are standing with on this and working families across our country are seeing clearly that on any chance to move forward -- the ball forward for them and their retirements, republicans are now standing in the way and choosing instead to put the interests of wall street first. mr. president, this is a critical vote. families are watching. if you say you stand with working families, you vote against this resolution. and if you want to meaningfully address our retirement crisis, vote against this resolution. i urge

especially when, for so many decades, it has provided a good living. coal miners make good money for places away from these metro areas. aboutmanuel quinones guests the coal industry, its impacts, and its regulation. joining us now from powhatan whose sixill johnson, district runs along ohio. i want to ask you about coal miners health benefits. we are coming off a week in which the on the this spending bill-- omnibus spending included provisions on health benefits. wisely government involved in health benefits for coal miners -- why is the government involved in health benefits for coal miners? guest: we have to be. these were benefits promised to call miners. the coal industry, as you heard mr. murray talk about, has kept the lights on and heating in the winter and air-conditioning in the summer. it's the least we can do to make sure they can get the benefits they have earned from the career that they put into in the coal mining industry. the coal miners protection a ct, very important legislation, and i was glad to see we got that done. we kept about

you pay you provider, comcast, at&t or whoever it is. you want to access the entire internet. if if your experience is altered. if the site is blocked or slowed doup down or other things going on, as the consumer, you don't know where that is happening in the process, the last mile or the point of connection to you. all of that should be included there to protect the consumer and their ability to access the entire internet. >> watch "the communicators" tonight at 8:00 eastern on cspan2. >>> >>> the senate armed services committee recently held a hearing on u.s. special operations command. general raymond thomas and c teresa way laland, talk about several issues on going counter isis operations and threats posed by russian and north korean aggression. this is just under two hours. >>> good morning. the senate armed services committee meets to receive testimony on the posture of u.s. special operations command known as so comcom. i would like to welcome mystery sa weyland representing the office for special operations and general tony thomas, the commander of socom. i thank our

while providing new insights into newly authorized project maintenance. four, streamline the 333 rule waiver process. complex studies require necessary science to comply with nepa and much of that science takes a year or more to complete. corps guidance requires waivers be held until it's tentatively selected plan is completed, adding up to a year to the project. streamline the process and delegate the waiver decision authority to the division commander. five, reduce or eliminate the external peer reviews. the corps has qualified professionals capable of sound engineering and program delivery. many external experts do not understand corps processes or mandates. the corps focuses on education -- educating consultants on the why rather than sound engineering, further delaying implementation. we agree we must modernize our ports and it will cost billions of dollars. as deepened and widened channed widened channels come online, there will be additional demands on the harbor maintenance trust fund, which eased significant gains and asset management for risk ba

small providers in particular. i'm worried about the direction we're head ng this area. i'm hopeful my colleagues on the subcommittee, the full ways and means committee of this congress with work together with the new administration to not only spur innovation, but reduce regula toigs burdens across the medicare program. with that, i'd like to introduce today's witness, mark miller, the executive director of the payment commission, welcome back. and before i recognize ranking member levin for an opening statement, i ask unanimous consent that all members statement's be included in the record. with that, i recognize ranking member mr. levin. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman and it's a pleasure for us to work with you. and your colleagues and to you, dr. miller, thanks for joining us today. and for the important role that med pack plays in informing medicare policy. we've had a chance to look at your report. maybe not read each page the long one b, but an excellent executive summary. and unfortunately, as mr. tea

they provide comfort and support for al qaeda. they have a relationship with the taliban that destabilizes afghanistan. military -- the heads of the plot escape to iran. >> this is not the behavior of a country that wants others to treat them with respect. this is the state sponsor of isrorism who deservedly sanctioned by the international community for this behavior. if i ran wants to be on a normal country and others to treat it like a normal country has to act in accord with international law the values and the rules of the international system that has existed for centuries. we welcome and i ran that is open to the world and lives in peace with its neighbors. we welcome around that doesn't interfere in the affairs of other countries. this is not the iran we see. the we think about reelection? we want to cede deeds, not words. we will continue to judge iran based on its deeds and base our policy based on iran's deeds. if i may say something about that wehe perception is are fighting in yemen for a reason, or that we have no obj

we can provide data. any information on crop production, any crop production practices, how pesticides are used. we are always available to provide that information, but we do not have a role, a formal role in consultation. >> do you think you should have a formal role in consultation? >> i think it would be extremely helpful, extremely helpful, to have a voice at the table on behalf of our agricultural producers. >> i do, too. >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you so much, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. i can anticipate a hien camp amendment to our re-authorization process. senator james, i'm going to recognize you and senator purdue has yielded twice. do you want to go for a third time? that's the record, by the way. >> i like records. i'll yield again, mr. chairman. [ laughter ] >> senator james? >> well, i'm grateful for senator purdue. thank you. mr. chairman, thank you for holding the hearing today and i want to thank this committee for providing perspective and expertise in this critical issue. i repre

its purpose is to protect investors and provide oversight of these companies. it sets leverage, limits, outlines, record keeping requirements and describes how securities may be redeemed. this matter sounds technical, but they provide fundamental protections to most u.s. investors. i say most because due to a historical artifact, all funds located in and sold only to residents of u.s. territories are exempted. the reason in 1940, territories like puerto rico were considered to be too distant from washington, d.c. obviously modern air travel made this a nonissue today as regulators routinely travel to hawaii and alaska to conduct oversight. in addition, many of these financial products are now traded electronically, truly eliminating the need to visit in person. the consequence of exemption falls squarely on the residents of the u.s. territories. investment companies can sell products to them without important oversight, disclosure and conflict of interest requirements to which mainland companies are subject. as a result, many investors and retirees have been su

wicker will provide his statement first and then be followed by senator schatz. please proceed with your remarks and then we will take senator schatz next. sen. wicker: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, ranking member wyden, and my distinguished colleagues. thank you for allowing me to share what we already know in my home state of mississippi, telehealth works. i'm glad to be here to discuss the promise of telehealth and celebrate the progress your committee is making with the act, which i have enthusiastically cosponsored. i would like to commend the leadership of the senate finance committee for their years of work to address the cost and quality of chronic care in america. today is a testimony to your efforts. i am pleased to be here today with my friend senator brian schatz. he and i are on the commerce subcommittee on communications, technology, innovation, and the internet. in the commerce committee, we have worked tirelessly to promote innovation by removing barriers to connectivity and expanding access to rural broadband. it was during a 2015 hearing o

our people are behind every mission success and provide the direct support we provide to the cadet and commands, their service and functional components and deployed tactical units. the integral work force is not just dedicated to mission but empowered to innovate. we instill a culture of innovation and risk tolerance in everything we do. invasion comes in many forms including using existing capabilities differently, developing new apps for our space and ground systems, and developing the new capabilities critical to closing intelligence gaps. we're also working with our mission partners to make sure we fully leverage capabilities. the nro is a flat organization fully capable of successfully delivering an increasingly capable, integrated, resilient and affordable architecture. we have control of every function required for the rnd that enables us to stay ahead of targets and threats to the acquisition of new space and ground capability to the adaptations used to respond to capabilities to respond to new and changing mission imperatives in the field. we're performing extremely well. all

providing those services is good business and always has been. before we impose this common carrier public withdrew tilt regulatory scream on the whole enterprise, there ought to be evidence of an actual problem, and there's not. >> guest: i'm enjoying this. we cannot forget, and i said it before and and i'll say it again, the history of net neutrality. it was not finish the network was not unregulated over the course of that history. whether it was the attempt to enforce the powell doctrine as you called it, which were not rules, but principles attempted to be enforced. whether it was the 2010 rules or the 2015 rules, there's always been the threat of the fcc acts when net neutrality was violated. and because of that, we've gotten to this consensus where the companies have always agreed that maintaining an open internet be through net neutrality rules is a good thing. partly because there's a threat from the agency. so you can go through the different ways that it's been regulated, but there's always been an understanding in the marketplace that

not only do we provide the technology that serves our own markets here and in the nordic, but wheat provide technology to 90 markets around the world. and we are the number one provider of trade surveillance technology around the world, what we are the market infrastructure player. we are the premiere infrastructure player for the capital market. every market is looking to become more advanced. they are look at shoring up their post-trade capabilities, they are look at developing out of market data business and index business. they want to make sure they have the best ptocols to bring in international investment. and they are look at infrastructure and what they should grow in-house and what they should look for partners to build for them. demand is terrific. it does dovetail into our strategy as well. maria: how does your strategy differ from your predecessor? >> it's a natural extension and expansion of the strategy we had, to be a critical infrastructure market provider to the world. whether it's here or in the nordic countries. and we look at how we can serve the markets worldwide with

needs to provide more accountability for its employees. it's almost impossible to fire or really discipline an employee guilty of misconduct or poor performance. this is something the v.a. as atary has identified problem. can'tample, he decided he fire v.a. employee which spent 60 days in jail. of v.a.e other stories employees committing similar crimes and whether it's armed robber in puerto rico. the current law does not allow fired for aes to be lot of misconduct. that is unfortunating. changed.s to be if you don't have accountability in the system, there's not an incentive to do the right thing and disincentive to do the wrong thing. host: let me share with you some of the reforms the department is at.ing it's called the veterans choice program. attendw veterans to non-v.a. medical facilities. the current v.a. medical facility cannot schedule you eif it's more than 40-miles from your home and if you have excessive travel burdens. reform that -- reform part of the you're talking about? guest: we thought that was a step in the right direc