as has been the practice of this administration, the deal was signed with minimal consultation or input from congress. in fact, countless attempts by this committee to attain information about various aspects of the negotiations and requirements to begin regularly scheduled commercial service to cuba have been stonewalled. despite having been briefed numerous times by components of the department prior to this hearing, i learned only yesterday from a press release that on may 5th deputy secretary alejandro mayorkas signed a memorandum of understanding with the cuban government that has far-reaching implications for the department of homeland security. the administration's lack of transparency on this issue is unacceptable and leads me to believe that the administration is either hiding something or, worse, simply negligent of the security concerns associated with this policy. immediately following the signing of the february 16th agreement, the department of transportation opened the application process for u.s. air carriers to bid on routes for regularly scheduled commercial air servic

how we will the administration use the authority it already has? ooking congress do to ensure this administration and future administrations have all the tools that they need? how can we and allies compel iran to change behavior? alec forward to hearing our witnesses thoughts on these areas and thank you for your service and testimony. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back quite pleased to be joined by very distinguished panel. >> i have a unanimous consent request. the iaea report on january of implementation. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> we are joined by minister stephen mull, and prior to his appointment the ambassador served as the ambassador to poland and executive secretary of the state department. we have mr. thomas countrymen. he is a career member of the senior foreign service, and he most recently served as the deputy assistant secretary for european affairs. mr. adam szubin is acting under secretary for the office of terrorism and financial intelligence at the department of the treasury. he previously served as the director of f

can you clarify the administration's position? that int we were told supportpport, iran's for terrorism, that we could slap additional sanctions on it and it would not violate the jcpoa. had launched missiles, ballistic missiles, and we wanted to penalize them, that that would not butt heads with the jcpoa. but now we hear differently. with the administration veto new non-nuclear sanctions against iran if the sanctions are not d-listed to re-enlist entities? with the imposition of nonnuclear sanctions violate our obligations under the jcpoa? mr. szubin: i would offer wants tor mull if he provide his view from the state department. our view has not been no new sanctions since implementation day. to the contrary, leasing the administration announced multiple rounds of new sanctions designations in asap we the areas you are talking about. iran's support for terrorism, hezbollah -- we have been knockuing on our path to out the key proxies these companies are using to procure materials and move money. we have been very consistent on tha

there is nothing the administration can do about that. that will not happen in every case and i think the understanding is, as we heard from some of our callers, there is not a ton of sympathy for the business community and employers. they say, we would like you to pay workers a living wage in one way or another. there are a lot of businesses that will try to find ways around it and it will probably not help the workers by the state cutting their hours. host: a real inside congress question, in the enabling legislation -- allow for inflation increases? what is enabling legislation? guest: let's be clear about this, the role does allow for an inflation increase, which means every three years it would be the salary -- the salary level would be adjusted and it is based on the lower -- lowest paid region in the country. it will not keep track with inflation, necessarily, but there is an adjustment built into the rule here is the business community believes that is an overreach on the part of the administration and it is probably going to sue o

audience member: i do not blame you or the administration. perhaps the fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves. audience member" it's a pleasure to hear you speak this evening. i may not agree with you always but you are an interesting individual and influenced our world in many ways. the war on drugs was issued under nixon. we have more people in prison. 70% of prisoners are nonviolent. do you think the war on drugs was worth it and you think it should be continued in the 21st century and we should continue it or look at it as a failure? or was it a victory? what do you think of that, the war on drugs and how it has affected the last 40 years? mark: the domestic policy matter. audience member: it was under nixon. dr. kessinger: i don't think any statement i can make on the war on drugs -- [laughter] [applause] dr. kessinger: i want to make one other point. my observations are directed at the american audience. i have great sympathy for the vietnamese who are in this audience. and of course, their perspective has to be different. and i am

not the first time the administration has done it or mr. rhodes, i think he did it on the benghazi issue when he said in the now famous talking points which became the catalyst for the formation, the reason the house of representatives and the speaker formed the committee when he created this false choice between it's not a failure of policy it's rooted in a video. straight from the talking points. and so, again, a pattern with the administration, what appears to be a pattern with mr. rhodes himself. when he's given the ask to come testify, doesn't have the courtesy to show up. mr. chairman, i yield back my four seconds. >> thank the gentleman. recognize the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman, and thank you to the panel. i have to -- i can't let this go. earlier mr. duran said if only the president had been up front with withdrawing from the middle east. i have to say that, you know, the president was clearly during his campaign, going back to 2007, 2008, i mean ad nauseam at the time the pres

there are many reports from every year of the administration. this is why this hearing befuddles me. 2010 from "the economist." mr. obama says the various components of his policy should not be seen in isolation. first he tried to engage iran early and directly. not because he was naive about the regime, but in order to make clear to the world that america was not the aggressor, and he was willing to work with iran if it behaved reasonably. 2011 from "the atlantic." quote, in three occasions in as many years u.s. diplomats sat down -- this is 2011 -- with high-level iranian officials to discuss confidence-building measures as part of a six-party -- six-party body negotiating issue. 2012, all of this is before 2013. united states and iran have agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations from iran's nuclear program. now, you are supposed to be experts. some other experts not invited here have said that it is nonsense, that only after regime change did the president begin to negotiate. the president of plowshares fund called it

we heard that from the administration. no new sanctions even if they are outside the scope of the deal. so can you clarify the administration's position, because i thought we were told in their support, iran's support for terrorism, that we could stop additional sanctions on it, t would not violate the jcpoa? missiles, launched ballistic missiles and we wanted to penalize them, that they with the butt heads jcpoa, but now we hear differently. would the administration veto new nonnuclear sanctions against iran if a new sanctions are not intended to relist -- delist entities? mr. szubin: thank you, ranking member engel. mr. engel: sorry. let me also say when you give me the position, nonnuclear sanctions violate our agreements under the jcpoa? mr. szubin: i would offer ambassador mull if he wants to come in when i conclude to offer his view from the state department. our view has not been no new sanctions since implementation day. you've seen the administration announce multiple rounds of new sanction implementation. iran's s

>> what i remember in the administration is that dr. rice, in her capacity as advisor did testify. >> on talking about you. you were named by the senate intelligence committee by name and singled out for your refusal to make yourself available to that committee when it was doing its work. was there less gravity to the issue at hand 10 years ago involving you then there is today involving mr. rhodes? >> issues were grave in both cases, i think. mr. rhodes has been willing to talk about all of these issues so openly and with such contempt for so many people. >> well, we are glad to have you here as well. colleagues -- y >> expired -- >> aggressive white house counsels deserve each other, chairman. the gentleman's time has expired. >> we recognize which gentleman from florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would think that ben rhodes would be falling all over himself to come here. he seems to think he so much smarter than everybody, educate everybody. tell us how we were wrong. show us what we were missing. educate the american people. it w

now we hear about another person in the obama administration. mr. rhoades comes along and he is given a title. the single most influential voice-shaping policy. things are starting to sound familiar. he creates a false narrative as well. he talks about this echo chamber and deceiving the press and his division for the american voter. what's the line? they literally know nothing was one of the lines that mr. rhoades used in his piece. you talked about this false choice they think in your opening statement that mr. rhoades set up and used this echo chamber of folks who know nothing to further this message to the american people. this binary choice either is the deal or it's war. that's what he said. the thing that strikes me, and i won't take my full time here. i wanted to make this point. so this is not the first time this administration on a big policy decision has deceived the american people. but maybe more importantly, it's not my judgment the first time mr. rhoades on a big concern to the american people has tried to deceive them. you are getting

what the administration has tried to do is provide, at the request of school administrators, practical, real-world advice they can use in their school communities to address this challenge. that is the practical offering the we have put forward here. it is a lot different than the argument that others are making. for example, is the texas attorney general suggesting that it would be practical to station a law-enforcement officer outside of every public bathroom in an educational facility, and check people's birth certificates on the way in? that does not sound like a practical application to me. and it also does not sound like small government, to me. that sounds like government intrusion, to me. what exactly is the practical argument or suggestion that they are making? i recognize that they have some sharp political arguments that were honed over years of morning drive time radio in houston. but school administrators don't have the benefit of just talking. they have a functional responsibility to protect the safety and dignity of every student at their school. vast majority of school

a pentagon study conducted during the bush administration, the bush administration pentagon concludedims do not hate our freedom, but but rather they hate our policies. it identifies, this is a pentagon study under bush, american direct intervention in the muslim world through the united states one-sided support in favor of israel. support for islamic tyrannical regimes in egypt and saudi arabia, and primarily the american occupation of iraq and afghanistan. these policies, these policies, which are rationalized about terrorism, paradoxically support islamic radicals. becker and shane sounded an alarm about the ramification of drone strikes in the future of u.s. relations with muslim countries. they noted, obama focus on strikes have made it impossible to forge, for now, a new relationship with the muslim world that he had envisioned. but pakistan and yemen are arguably less stable and more hostile to the united states than when mr. obama became president. justly or not, jones jones have become a provocative symbol of american power running roughshod over national sovereignty and kill

and the early years of the obama administration. told me president obama promised him there wouldn't be any significant changes in the military budget for a while. overall, did he keep to his word? >> well, i think that began to fray, fray may be too gentle a word. >> before too long, gates found himself cutting hundreds of billions from the defense budget. and that was only the start. gates was informed the president wanted to announce even more cuts. >> over the last two years, secretary bob gates has courageously taken on wasteful spending, saving $400 billion in current and future spending. i believe we can do that again. >> what was your reaction? >> well, i guess i'd have to say i felt double crossed. after all those years in washington, i was naive. >> to many, the cuts weren't about economic efficiency so much as a strategic change in the role of the military. you told president obama staffers that the defense cuts send a big strategic message abroad. the united states is going home, cut a deal with iran and china while you

the court does seem to think there would be some negotiation between the parties, the administration and these groups that have been objecting to this. at the same time, time, the court made it clear that it expected the law to be fulfilled so that women got this coverage. in fact fact it said that with the parties in this case, which range from the diocese of pittsburgh, two small colleges across the country to a group of nuns called the little sisters of the poor, it says that the government can go ahead and take this as notification that these groups object to providing this coverage and that government can then go ahead and try to find a way to provide it on its own. >> robert burns covers this up in court and writes about the court for the washington post, you can read more at washington post.com apollo's reporting on twitter@scotus reporter. thank you for joining us. >> you are very welcome. thank you. >> the supreme court sent challenges back to the lower courts on the healthcare law nt

the u.s. had an accord with iran. a deal a top administrator said it was manipulation with the public and news media. they report, that claim is being walked back. >> reporter: in a lengthy new york times sunday magazine profile, a writer portrayed the deputy security adviser as uniquely powerful in shaping president obama's foreign policy. and down right deceptive in selling the iran nuclear deal. >> there is no evidence that ever occurred. what i encourage you and other critics to do is look at the facts. >> reporter: samuels accused rhodes -- writing on medium.com, rhodes said the fact there were discreet channels in 2012 is something we confirmed publicly. that's not true. the talks were under way for eight months at the time of this exchange. >> there have been reportshat intermitt taantly, the obama administration or members of it, conducted direct, secret bilateral talks with iran. is that true or false? >> with regard to the kind of thing you are talking about on a government to government level, no. >> reporter: rhodes appears to have

. >> and new rules from the obama administration making millions more americans eligible for overtime pay. around the table tonight, dan balz, chief correspondent for "the washington post." lisa lerer national politics reporter for a.p. the legal editor for reuters and alexis simendinger, white house correspondent for real clear politics. >> award-winning reporting and analysis. covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital. this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding is provided by -- once again, live from washington sitting in for gwen ifill this week, john harwood of cnbc. >> good evening. the republican party has wrestled with bitter divisions for months. donald trump on one side. the stop trump movement on the other. but suddenly it's the democratic race that's awash in bitterness as bernie sanders keeps trying to spark a political revolution and democratic leaders want him to back off so front-runner hillary clinton can focus on november. tensions between the two campaigns erupted in a ballroom brawl at the democratic convention in nevada last w

that's part of the responsibility of the administration. but the opponents also have to understand that if they achieve their objectives by undermining all confidence in government, that, of course, no strategy could succeed. >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you. my name is jean, a vietnamese american. dr. kissinger it is -- you have agreed to avenge for china to take over the island in 1974, on whose behalf did you do so, and even the current south china sea situation and all the concerns in asia and pacific ocean, what at vade size would you with president xi, president obama, and secretary kerry. thank you. >> i'm not sure i fully understood the question. it's a question that we tacitly agreed in 1974 that china could take over south -- >> i'm not quite sure i understand that. restate the question. >> it was understood that the u.s. and your supervisor, the security adviser, had arranged so that china would take over the islands in 1974, so that we don't lose that area to russia. now, today, what would you suggest us do on behalf of the national s

>> well, look, the administration is strongly committed to assisting the 9/11 families. and there are a variety of ways in which this administration has gone to bat for 9/11 families and those who did such important work around ground zero to recover and rebuild in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. i have in mind, of course, the legislation that for, on a number of occasions, got bottled up in the congress to insure that those who performed so heroically at ground zero were able to the get access to health care. so the administration's commitment to our nation's national security and to those who lost the most on 9/11 is steadfast. and our commitment to those principles will not change. finish but we have to acknowledge the significant unintended consequences of moving forward with a piece of legislation like this. and this is a concern that's not just expressed by the democratic administration. there are republicans in congress who have also expressed concerns about this in the past. so this is a sensitive issue and i would acknowledge that the politics are tough. but f

never mind the previous administration over there. t, these are not moderate human beings who have the best interests of the region, certainly ours at heart. harris: that is not what ben rhodes said. he said this would be the moderate regime. >> i don't know how appropriate it is for our guys to be on their knees. it is not appropriate. the revolutionary guard got medals and built a statue with our guys on their niece. >> like jane fonda apologizing to iran and iran doing right thing. thanks, guys. >> i'm speechless. i wish we would get the details right now. i don't think we should wait a year. i think the american public deserve to know what happens to our sailors over there. how did iran -- sandra: forbes goes beyond. i see clearly there were violations international maritime law here. he goes beyond that to say, listen we wanted our white house, president, secretary of state to stand up to say this is wrong. this is wrong treatment. somebody should be held accountable and to even discuss laws that were broken here, judge. >> sure.

not because of any action the administration and which i involved in. it is a historic tragedy that america found it'salso divided, and could not solve it still messed up -- domestic debates. they could not come on the war would on asult which bipartisan basis, that's a >> we should learn from. you have major mark on history. what will history say about henry kissinger? dr. kissinger: i have no objection about this. i have had the good fortune of being able to come to the united peoplewhen many of the germany. i grew up in i have always been deeply grateful to this country, and i know what it represents to the peace in the world. lucky at being able as my profession. involved in order to written about me. there is an extensive record, judged, people will be although i must say the way the mass of material, in the surenet age, i'm not too you can say will come to fruition. i try to do the best i could. that's all i can say. [applause] >> we are not only grateful to you, dr. kissinger, for being our honored guests but for in worldour country war ii. out th

earnest: look, the administration is strongly committed to assisting the 9/11 families. and there are a variety of ways that this administration has gone to bat for 9/11 families and those who did important work around ground zero to recover and rebuild. i have the legislation that for on a number of occasions got bottled up in the congress to ensure that those who performed . ground zero got health care lost the moft on 9/11 steadfast and our commitment to those principles will not change. the have to acknowledge significant, unintended consequence of moving forward. this is not just an expression but republicans in the senate have expressed concerns. the politics are tough. substance, on the we need to make sure that this the we don't overlook potential unintended consequences of a bill that put the united states at risk. that is a dangerous proposition and one as the commander in chief is concerned about. reporter: there is zero opposition on this bill. they are sending a message to the white house and aren't as important and what is your response to that? mr. earnest:

the u.s. had an accord with iran. a deal a top administratord it was manipulation with the public and news media. they report, that claim is being walked back. >> reporter: in a lengthy new york times sunday magazine profile, a writer portrayed the deputy security adviser as uniquely powerful in shaping president obama's foreign policy. and down right deceptive in selling the iran nuclear deal. >> there is no evidence that ever occurred. what i encourage you and other critics to do is look at the facts. >> reporter: samuels accused rhodes -- writing on medium.com, rhodes said the fact there were discreet channels in 2012 is something we confirmed publicly. that's not true. the talks were under way for eight months at the time of this exchange. >> there have been reports that intermitt taantly, the obama administration or members of it, conducted direct, secret bilateral talks with iran. is that true or false? >> with regard to the kind of thing you are talking about on a government to government level, no. >> reporter: rhodes appears to have mi

those conditions were maintained for the rest of the johnson administration. and they were the principal obstacle to the failure of the negotiations in the next administration, until the vietnamese were defeated in the sequel to the tet offensive, where johnson mentioned, because the one thing that the next administration would not concede, it said that we would overthrow and allied governments that had supported the united states in reliance on promises made by a other presidents. and as soon as the north vietnamese agreed that the existing government could stay, which was at the very end of the nixon administration, a settlement was achieved. you cannot prove true when you make them. they depend on a judgment, and you can always come up with a counterfactual argument. a person who has a great influence on our thinking, and i believe also some extent, on president johnson's thinking was the prime minister from singapore. one of the great men i have met. he inherited a sand bar with a per capita income of $60. -- $600. and turned it in 20 years to a significant

from are many reports every year of the administration. this is why this hearing befuddles me. 2010 from "the economist." mr. obama says the various components of as policy should not be seen in isolation. first he tried to engage iran noty and it directly, because he was naive about the regime but in order to make clear to the world that america was not the aggressor and he was willing to work with iran if it reasonably. 2011 from "the atlantic." this is 2011. fixed -- six-party body negotiating issue. 2012. all of this is before 2013. you are supposed to be experts. some of experts not invited here has said that it is nonsense tha after regime change did the president begin to negotiate . the president of plowshares fund called the other nonsense -- nonsense.utter claim oflaim -- official deception were never substantiated. , so we these experts could have a bounced picture, or call your. unfortunately by not invite these experts we are getting a very one-sided authority. i yield to the chairman. democrats always have an opportunity to in

no go powless sandy will go to the administrative hearing. >> after the hearing said jed had not ruled because administrative judges are like that lot. >> i just finished a quartet the supreme court about this. >> and guess what? the client got their license back. we said we will file it next week. >> so it goes back to the original famous case of marbury various matters and where -- madison and but it is an order by the court to given to the judge that when did he realize you were in the right in the we're giving you a hard time as we sought to slow things down without formally doing anything in this case there were supposed to be clear and they stated every day you don't get a license like that. >> but many people don't have the fortitude and the resources to fight it in court they say please tell me whenever we have to do to keep my business going so there is dozens of cases the people that never see the light of day that suffer and that is a great example the you cannot just carry out. and that doesn't fit the priorities of this government. >> forgot to mention. >> but then if you

the administration talks about stakeholder involvement, public involvement. they denied the shores off of south carolina, georgia, north carolina and virginia in the next five-year drilling plan for energy development so that our states can play a part in the energy renaissance and energy security and they touted the fact that they talked to stakeholders. when 78% of south carolinians that were polled wanted to see our areas opened up to stakeholders they talked to were a small group of environmentalists. here we have the administration wanting to fulfill a campaign promise and want to bring terrorists. these are not criminals. they are terrorists backed by the organizations i mentioned earlier, two states in violation of the ndaa which is a bilateral ndaa that goes back several congresses. bring these terrorists to south carolina, kansas or maybe another state without any correspondence with the governor? the governor represents 4.8 million people in south carolina. the general assembly, 124 in the house, 46 in the house represent a combined total of 4.8 mill

right now on "first look," the obama administration will issue a directive to america's public schools on transgender bathroom access. >>> what came out of that much hyped donald trump meeting with the gop leaders including republican wiseman james baker. >>> one brave woman takes on two armed carjackers at gunpoint. >>> plus, a survivor story involving that plane and 17 sky divers who walked away. that and much more. "first look" starts right now. good morning, everyone. i'm dara brown. today the obama administration will issue new directives to all public schools across the country on the use of bathrooms when it comes to transgender students and those guidelines are expected to tell schools, they have to treat students consistent with their student identity. edward lawrence is in washington with more. good morning to you, edward. >> reporter: good morning. this affects all public schools and most colleges and universities. there will be strong language in the letter sent to those educational institutions, warning them if they don't comply federal funds will be cut off. this means th

the administration, whatever the administration is, the white house in this case, the obama administration has the ability to set rules that if congress gives them the authority to do so. in this particular case, congress gave the administration the authority to set the standard by which people were eligible for overtime. they did this a long time ago, decades ago. this is a final rule, that means unless there is a lawsuit or action on behalf of of congress to stop it, it will go into affect in december. as we were talking earlier about the minimum wage, that is a different set. the administration does not have the authority to set the minimum wage, that is something only congress can do on a federal level and the state can do. under this statute, the stick -- the fair labor standards act, it is the administration's call. they write that the administration is rushing this rule and others out now because they hope to get ahead of the 60 day legislation provision that -- in the congressional review. once a new role is made final, the congressional review act gives congress 60 legislative day

the administration request of $1.9 billion was for several years. we, in this bill and the earlier transfer of funds from the ebola nfectious disease fund, we put money on the problem now. and i urge my colleagues to i reserve.. 5243 and the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, in february, the world health organization declared zika a public health emergency of international concerns and the president called for $1.9 billion to respond to the impending crisis and prevent the spread in our very own communities. according to the national governors association, the nation is on the threshold of a public health emergency. in a separate letter the u.s. conference of mayors, national leagues of cities, national association of county officials wrote to congress to provide emergency supplemental money for zika rather than repurpose money from other h

lew: i speak for the administration based on the administration, based on the policy of this administration, echoing policies that have been consistent u.s. policies for quite a long time. you know, i think that we have watched over the last couple years where the u.s. economy's relative strength compared to other economies has led to a stronger dollar. the answer is for other economies to strengthen. it's for regions like europe, countries like china and japan to take the steps that they need to take to have their economies producing enough demand and enough economic activity so that the exchange rates naturally equilibrate through market mechanisms. we have urged -- and "urged" is a soft word -- we have exhorted countries to adhere to the commitments that we have made in the g-7 and the g-20, because if other countries start moving towards competitive devaluation, it will start a chain reaction, and if country a does it, country b will do it, country c will do it, and pretty soon you are in a battle over shares of a shrinking global pie. that will not help the global economy. it will not

the administration request of $1.9 billion was for several years. we, in this bill and the earlier transfer of funds from the ebola nfectious disease fund, we put money on the problem now. and i urge my colleagues to i reserve.. 5243 and the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, in february, the world health organization declared zika a public health emergency of international concerns and the president called for $1.9 billion to respond to the impending crisis and prevent the spread in our very own communities. according to the national governors association, the nation is on the threshold of a public health emergency. in a separate letter the u.s. conference of mayors, national leagues of cities, national association of county officials wrote to congress to provide emergency supplemental money for zika rather than repurpose money from other h

we want to continue to work with the administration. we have demonstrated in the past, willing to fund n.i.h. and c.d.c. above administration recommended levels. responded quickly during the ebola emergency. we think this is the appropriate way to go. the senate is moving a vehicle as we all know. at some point if we pass this, i think we will, we'll sit down with our friends and we'll hammer out a common response, but again, do remember nothing is not being done for lack of money. everything the administration has wanted to do to date has had the resources 20 do -- to do and we'll continue to make sure it does. at the end of the day we think they ought to be paid for since we have the ability to do that and that's what we are trying to accomplish. keep debt off the back of the american taxpayer if we possibly can. in this case we can and should. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma riffs his time. the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings, is recognized. mr. hastin

and what the administration has tried to do is to provide at the request of school administrators practical real-world advice that they can use in their school communities to address this challenge. those are -- that's the practical offering that we have put forward here. that's a lot different than what -- than the argument that others are making, for example, is the texas attorney general suggesting somehow that it would be practical to station a law enforcement officer outside of every public bathroom in an educational facility and check people's birth certificates on the way in? that doesn't sound like a practical application. it sounds like intrusion. what exactly is the practical argument or suggestion that they are making? i understand that they have sharp political arguments that were over years of morning drive time radio in houston. but school administrators don't have the benefit of just talking, they should have a functional responsibility to protect the safety and dignity of every student of their school and the vast majority take that respobled quite seriously. okay. move arou

earnest: the administration is still committed, the u.s. government is still committed to supporting prime minister abadi's efforts to reform the political system and to govern that country in an inclusive way. that's the going to be critical to the ability of iraq to secure their country and to face down the threat that is posed by isil. that is the approach that prime minister abadi has pursued, even under unquestionably challenging circumstances. the united states will continue to strongly support prime minister abadi and the iraqi people as they work to unite their country to face down the threat from isil. reporter: do you believe that the political crisis -- i'm sorry, does the white house believe that the political crisis is adding to this insecurity that we're seeing on the streets of baghdad? mr. earnest: there's no denying that what we see is a chaotic situation in iraq. i suspect that the direction of influence, though, is a little more along the lines of what the laid out which is that instability around the security situation i

cambodia told the johnson administration that he would in a way welcome the bombing. and when we didn't actually did it, he said in the press conference i don't know what goes on in the part of my country in which no cambodians live and which is occupied by the vietnamese. if any cambodian is killed or even a -- gets killed, i will protest. he never protested. >> toward the end of his life, robert mcnamara stood on the stage after publishing a book and expressed regret over the war and how the war was waged. he said that the war the future al and that his conduct was wrong, terribly wrong. have you any regrets on any of the actions that you took in vietnam? >> no. we took -- you always make tactical mistakes. i believe that the american preside presidents and those of us who worked with them were acting on the basis of their best judgment at the time. iin he was a raphaeally good friend mine and i have huge regard for him but one should not tell -- one should stand by one's decisions. >> what is the biggest lesson we should learn from vietnam, dr. kissinger? >> the bi

the administration should make clear to the communist leaders that the further expansion of trade andity partnerships, the lifting of the arms embargo, is unacceptable until there is significant and irreversible improvements in human rights. unfortunately for the past seven-plus years, the administration has failed to deliver such messages to victims of abuse anywhere. no tough message was delivered in cuba, for example, despite an escalation of arrests and abuse. the administration seems eager to proceed with lucrative trade and to lift the bag on el lyle -- the ban on leave arms sales to vietnam without imposing any real conditions. that would be a colossal mistake. the administration will surely justify extending these benefits by arguing that lifting the trade barriers and expanding diplomatic engagement with vietnam will bring about human rights and other positive advances. such arguments have long been discredited, however. in china, or more recently in bahrain, and there's evidence arguments failed miserably in vietnam, as well. in 2007 after the united states lifted its long-s

while the administration requested $743 million for c.d.c.'s public health activities, the house bill provides only $120 million. 84% below the request. who are we kidding? this is going to put millions of pregnant women in danger. according to the c.d.c., pregnant women are already facing unacceptably long delays in learning zika test results. physicians are advising women not to get pregnant. pregnant women are scared to death about what is going to happen to the child that they are carrying. and director said experts estimate a single child with birth defects can cost $10 million to care for. we need to prevent this. and the amount of money that the majority has talked about is inadequate to prevent it. and if each child takes $10 million to care for, and we take a look at $622 million, we're going to look at our ability to take care of 62 children who might be affected with microcephaly. this says nothing about what the child's quality of life is. the delays in learning to speak, to walk, can i -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's

these are numbers actually from the administration, other administrations. this just looks at recent economic growth, the last 50 years, starting with president kennedy's administration, but as my colleague from south dakota said, you know, the average growth for the united states in our 200-plus-year history has been about 3.7% g.d.p. growth. so you look at this chart -- and this is very bipartisan, of course. almost 4% g.d.p. growth. the average for the country is really what's made us great, strong. you look at this chart. it shows the ups and downs. this red line here is 3% g.d.p. growth, which is considered pretty good, not great, but pretty good. we certainly should be targeting that. look at the obama administration right here in the corner. it's never even hit 3% g.d.p. growth. not once. not even in one-quarter ever. what you're seeing right here in the almost ten years of president obama relative to any other administration, democrat or republican, johnson, nixon, even carter, reagan, clinton, real strong growth there, the obama administration has be

obviously, the administration has a much different interpretation of the current u.n. resolutions than iran, but they also appear to have completely inflexible interpretation of what the agreement actually says. march of this year, just a few weeks ago, the department of justice unsealed an indictment of iranians who carried on cyber attacks against critical infrastructure and the financial sector of the united states with the knowledge of the iranian government. now, what does critical infrastructure mean? critical infrastructure means the utilities, it means the transportation network, it means the things that we have to rely on every day to provide the infrastructure the country needs to function. also financial sector pretty obvious but the iranians with the knowledge of the iranian government continue to attack that as well. the indictment notes that one of the hackers -- quote -- received credit for his computer intrusion work from the iranian government toward completion of his mandatory military service in iran. now, i don't know any way to interpret that but w

without approval from the assistant administrator of the office of administration and resources management. this policy addresses the need for stronger oversight. chairman chaffetz said this hearing will focus on 20 cases closed. mr. sullivan says quote, it is important to note most of the misconduct occurred at least two years ago end of quote. in some cases, the misconduct is egregious and such behavior requires a swift and appropriate agency response. but none of these cases is currently pending. they are all closed. i want to be clear. i don't see anything wrong with looking back. i think sometimes you have to look back so you can look effectively and efficiently move forward. we can learn from things that have happened. so i don't have a problem with that. according to the epa and the ig, all of this cases received coordinated processes and i hope you, mr. sullivan, will address the difference you are seeing and the impact and i am sure you have your recommendations. mr. saulven states the new coordination process should serve as quote a best-practices model for the federal government

so i stand with the administration opposing the north carolina law. i stand with americans, all americans, against the shameful bullying. and most of all, i stand with the transgender people of north carolina and our country who are the targets of state-sponsored discrimination. my heart goes out to them. this is not how a great nation should operate. we're better than this. i look forward to the day, and it's coming soon, when this hateful law is struck down. mr. president, i would ask that the following statement i am going to give appear at a separate place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: yesterday the supreme court chose not to rule on the merits of zubik vs. burwell, a case brought by religiously affiliated nonprofit employers challenging contraceptive coverage provision. instead the court remanded the case to lower courts for further proceedings. the good news is the order doesn't stop women who rely on the scape a.c.a. for -- on the affordable care act for contraceptive coverage. this includes contraceptive co

the stories of the obama administration has been an untrammeled expansion of the administrative state, the agencies, the federal government this whole only look at the media we see signs of here and there will and lots of cases are collected in this book with the role story is how large the government has grown. read my sitting cases like the obamacare statute in me might see it in the bailouts but it's a story that's in every subject area where the federal government acts. >> host: how did you decide it would be. >> we go tried to look at each major agency and the federal regulatory power and take people who we thought were heavily involved in these agencies or have been the heads of those agencies over example criminal law where you are the expert in not me. we picked michael mckay c. attorney general. >> host: attorney general. >> guest: and former federal prosecutor. or for gun rights. in a second amend it we asked bob r a former congressman and former libertarian party candidate. >> host: you talked about strong executives and we discussed how the founding fathers debated. one pe