chairman recommender stabenow members of the committee. my name is jeff hall and it was a year ago that i set up for this committee and i appreciate your confidence in appointing me and i appreciate the chance to come back as a member of the farm credit administration. farm credit administration is a regulator of the farm credit system and farmer mac printer agents examine system agents examine systems editions for safety and soundness in compliance with laws and regulations that fca exercise and increased oversight with institutions in a higher risk to the farm credit system was created to provide a permanent reliable source of credit to u.s. agriculture. when congress enacted the farm act in 1916 credit was not always available and affordable in some rural areas. many lenders avoided pharmaceutically inherent production and price risk of agriculture. the foundation of the farm credit system is the cooperative structure. agriculture is change many ways and will continue to change that the guiding principles of the cooperative model contin

chairman, ranking member stabenow and members of the committee. my name is jeff aldrich which is a little of a year ago i sat before this committee. i appreciate your confidence in the in appointing the unappreciative chance to come back as a board never of the farm credit administration. farm credit administration is an independent arms length regular to the farm credit system and from the back to our agency examines system institutions for the safety and soundness and compliance with laws and regulations. fca exercise increase oversight with institutions at a higher risk. the farm credit system was great to provide a permanent reliable source of credit to u.s. agriculture. when congress enacted the federal farm loan act in 1916, credit was not always available and affordable in some rural areas. many lenders avoided loans. the foundation of the farm credit system is its cooperative structure. agriculture changed in many ways and will continue to change by the guiding principles of the cooperative model continue to stand the test of time. member

senator stabenow. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and again thank you to all of you eye wonder if you might just expand a little bit because i'm sure we are going to hear more about similar entity authority and some of the high-profile cases that there have been concerns raised about. if you could expand a little bit on steps you've taken to address that and again how this mitigates risk from your perspective and any of you are welcome to answer that. mr. spearman? >> i will start senator, thank you. as i mentioned previously some of the steps that have been taken have been to raise or heighten if you will awareness that these types of loans made create controversy. the act does permit fees types of loans is a risk mitigator and the way that it does is that the system is a monoline lender if you will so they have two be there for agriculture in good times and bad. the guidelines that we have put out in our book letter is that the board needs to be more involved in these types of loans and the policies and procedures are exam

chairman, ranking member stabenow and members of the committee. my name's jeff haul, and it was -- jeff hall, and it was a little over a year ago i sat before this committee, and i appreciate the chance to come back today as a board member of the farm credit administration. farm credit administration is an independent regulator of farm per mac. our agency examines institutions for their safety and soundness and compliance with laws and regulates. fca exercises increased oversight with institutions at a higher risk. the farm credit system was created to provide a permanent, reliable source of credit to u.s. agriculture. when congress enacted the federal farm loan act in 1916, credit was not always available and affordable in some rural areas. many lenders avoided farm loans due to the inherent production and price risk of agriculture. the foundation of the farm credit system is its cooperative structure. agriculture has changed in many ways and will continue to change, but the guiding principles of the cooperative model continue to stand the test o

senator stabenow. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and again thank you to all of you eye wonder if you might just expand a little bit because i'm sure we are going to hear more about similar entity authority and some of the high-profile cases that there have been concerns raised about. if you could expand a little bit on steps you've taken to address that and again how this mitigates risk from your perspective and any of you are welcome to answer that. mr. spearman? >> i will start senator, thank you. as i mentioned previously some of the steps that have been taken have been to raise or heighten if you will awareness that these types of loans made create controversy. the act does permit fees types of loans is a risk mitigator and the way that it does is that the system is a monoline lender if you will so they have two be there for agriculture in good times and bad. the guidelines that we have put out in our book letter is that the board needs to be more involved in these types of loans and the policies and procedures are exam

. >> we are joined now by the senior citizen from michigan, hillary clinton reporter, debbie stabenowh us. >> good to be here. >> you heard a lot about senator sanders and a lot of talk, one of our key stories on msnbc, we look at this fracture within the democratic party, how do they unite democrats today and forward. >> first, we welcome bernie sanders as a senator into our democratic caucus. he's been a valuable part of our caucus. if we win back the majority like we hope we do he will be chairman of the budget committee, a very important role. i worked with both hillary clinton and bernie sanders, there is very little light between them in terms of their issues and voting. this is all about how do we get to where we want to go? how do we get to universal healthcare and how do we lower the cost of college and do away with student loans and grants and education like the republicans want to do. right now, it's tense. this is the way it always is. i remember eight years ago being for hillary, she won 7 out of the last 10 race, it was very intense. but people came back together when th

stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: mr. president, it has been 62 days now since judge garland's nomination. 62 days. and as we all know, our founding fathers entrusted all of us in the united states senate with the role of providing advice and consent to the president of the united states in relation to his appointments to the supreme court. we have the option of meeting -- in fact, i believe responsibility to meet with the nominee in person. we're responsible for holding hearings through the senate judiciary committee based on his responses to questions. we then have the opportunity to vote "yes" or "no" on the nomination. but we don't have the responsibility of doing nothing. we have to proceed to consider the nomination. unfortunately, senators in the majority are refusing to do that. they've said they will not hold hearings. no hearings. zero on a nominee for the united states supreme court. and too many have refused to even meet with the nominee, which is, i believe, a matter of respect to meet with the nominee. judge

members of congress are here including your outstanding senator, debbie stabenow. [applause] pres.bama: flint's own dan kildee is here. debbie dingell is here. brenda lawrence is here. john conyers is here. and sandy levin is here. an outstanding michigan delegation. we've got secretary sylvia burwell, who is the head of health and human services, works for me. and administrator gina mccarthy is here as well. i want to thank the superintendent and the principal for their hospitality, and i want to thank all of you for being here. now, not too long ago, i received a letter from a young lady, an eight-year-old girl named mari copeny. you may know her as "little miss flint." those of you who have seats, please feel free to sit down so folks can see behind you. if you don't have a seat, don't sit down. and like a lot of you, mari has been worried about what happened here in flint. she's worried about what it means for children like her. she's worried about the future of this city and this community. so, in the middle of a tragedy that should have never have happened here in the united

stabenow: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president, we're here just a few days before memorial day where all across the country, americans are going to go to parades to pay tribute to troops who made the ultimate sacrifice. they will invite friends and family over and fire up the grill. i think we all look forward to those family those family gatherings. or atea usually do over this holiday weekend. this year they might supersecond thoughts. i -- might have second thoughts. i know i'm getting asked by my family. not because of rain or something more frightening but since the beginning of the year, public health experts have been warning us about a severe threat to moms and babies. the zika virus. it causes severe damage to fetal brains causing birth defects and even death. zika is not just coming to the united states, it's already here. and people are concerned and they want us to act. there are already more than 150 pregnant women in the united states who have been infected and we're hearing more

manu raju, they talked to two democratic leadership members, chuck schumer, the leader and debbie stabenow both declined to comment. they didn't say she should leave or stay. >> not a vote of silence that can be very telling. why do you think donald trump last night went after the governor of new mexico, susan candiot candiotti. suzanne martinez. she's hispanic. latina. you would think he would step back and deal a little bit less assertively with her. >> what we've been talking about the last couple of times. loyalty, and kind of loyalty oath that donald trump expects from elected officials and if he doesn't get it, he lashes out and not thinking about the wisdom of doing that and not doing strategically, anybody who gets in his way, he'll lash out and doesn't feel like he needs her support. thinks he can do better among hispanics without her. and can call the people rioting out there thugs, outside the rally. so again, this is his instinct, which is carried him far but creates a lot of risk for his candida candidacy. >> is he going to maintain that strategy? so far, he is. >> he is. but

ranking member stabenow, members of the committee, i appreciate the opportunity to testify on behalf of the farm credit system. my name is doug stark and i am president and ceo of farm credit services of america and frontier farm credit headquartered in omaha, nebraska, and manhattan, kansas, respectively. mr. chairman, senator stabenow, thank you very much for being original co-sponsors of the congressional resolution congratulating farm credit on its 100th anniversary. we're very proud that so many of your colleagues on this committee are also resolution co-sponsors. as i turn the pages -- i got them stuck together -- we and our colleagues in the banking industry come before you today with good news. the commercial banking industry recently announced record profits and the farm credit system is as financially strong as it's ever been. given the challenges facing farmers and ranchers today and the extraordinary capital requirements of this industry, our nation's agricultural producers need the farm credit system and the commercial banking industry to be viable and strong. the farm c

members of congress are here including your outstanding senator, debbie stabenow. [applause] pres. obama: flint's own dan kildee is here. debbie dingell is here. brenda lawrence is here. john conyers is here. and sandy levin is here. an outstanding michigan delegation. we've got secretary sylvia burwell, who is the head of health and human services, works for me. and administrator gina mccarthy is here as well. i want to thank the superintendent and the principal for their hospitality, and i want to thank all of you for being here. now, not too long ago, i received a letter from a young lady, an eight-year-old girl named mari copeny. you may know her as "little miss flint."

michigan center debbie stabenow released a statement that says, i'm pleased the president has made ato the families of flint. he has worked closely with me and the delegation to bring relief to families who continue to be affected by the water crisis. i helped both countries with their constitutions, being sort of a facilitator of agreement on key issues among iraqis or afghans. your influence is considerable. ares of state or government very anxious to meet with you when you ask for a meeting. >> sunday night, the former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan discusses his my more, the envoy "the envoy.", >> although we corrected it toward the end of the period that i was there by reaching out to the sunnis and building of iraqi forces and establishing a , to bring about security, violence was way down. unfortunately when we left, arrival regional powers were pulling iraq apart and we have crisis now. >> sunday night on c-span's to a day -- q&a. >> coming up next, british prime minister david cameron appears before the liaison committee to answer questions ahead of next month's united kingd

host: >> michigan senator danny -- debbie stabenow offered a she was pleased that the president had made a commitment to the families of flint. "he has worked so closely with me and families to bring relief tothe families that continue be affected by the water crisis." the president speech gets underway at 4 p.m. eastern here on c-span. governor john kasich announcing this afternoon that he is dropping out of the presidential race. we will bring that live to you at 5 p.m. eastern and open the phone lines to get your reaction. right now, a segment from "the washington journal close with former presidential candidate ralph nader. we are back with consumer advocate and green party independent presidential candidate ralph nader. campaign 2016h and the results from the primaries last night. ,ernie sanders gets another win but then when you look at the the math still doesn't add up for the vermont independent senator. she has got super delegates almost to the number that she needs of 23 guest: -- who will be the democrat nominee? guest: we don't know what scandals will the fall hillary clinton

my friend, senator debbie stabenow, and i are proud to work with senator inhoffe and senator barbara boxer to include bipartisan measures that would provide emergency aid to address the contamination crisis in flint and provide assistance to our communities across our country facing similar infrastructure challenges. the flint aid package included in the bipartisan warda bill includes direct funding for water infrastructure emergencies and critical funding for programs to combat the health complications from lead exposure. this includes a drinking water lead exposure registry, and a lead exposure advisory committee to track and address long-term health effects. additionally, funding for a national childhood health efforts, such as the childhood lead poisoning prevention program would be increased in this bill. the water resources development act also includes funding for secured loans through the water infrastructure finance and innovation act or wifia program. this financing mechanism was created in a bipartisan effort by congress in 2014 to provide low interest financing for large-

revolution that's occurring and the mental health effort that the senator from michigan, senator stabenow and i were able to work on together a few years ago, about to produce at least eight states and hopefully more where at the right kind of facilities mental health will be treated like all other health. this congress is talking about doing the right things. we're making important steps in that direction. i want to talk today about another thing that really impacts families, in this case military families. i have this bill on my desk, the national defense authorization act. i notice it's only on the desk of half of the members of the senate. members on this side of the floor are ready to get to this bill and get this work done. maybe there's a message on the other side of the floor that this bill is not there because we had hoped to get to it this week. we haven't yet. but certainly we should get to it as soon as we return to our work after the end of this week. and in the national defense authorization act, i'm really glad that that bill includes the military family stability act, a me