nick thune, once again.kend. hope to see you next week. bye bye. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> announcer: from 30 rockefeller plaza in new york it's "late night with seth meyers." tonight -- andy cohen. the kratt brothers. jeff

and nobody is quite sure about that john thune has one idea. bill nelson has another idea and -- you yeah, okay. and that i think that we want to continue this. we want to make this a continuing surge of this oversight committee. we have jurisdiction over sports. all sports. and we have the ability to subpoena. we have the ability to -- we've created a special investigations unit. we're very into this subject. i personally am. i think our members are. and so this is the part of the process here. so, i'm going to have some tough questions for our panel. the ncaa and its member schools is it simple a little legal cartel, have college sports become a multibillion dollar commercial enterprise which is no different than other corporate witnesses who have appeared before this information? and is the ncaa in fact have the best interests of college athletes. large questions and important to be answered. i turn now to my very distinguished ranking member, senator john thune from the state of minnesota. >> thank you mr. chairman, for holding the hearing

i will start and senator thune will follow them senator coats. according to your web site, and i'm just going back to some basic stuff, student-athletes health, safety and well-being remain our top priorities. yet in current papers filed with the lawsuit in which a family sued the ncaa after their son died from a brain injury suffered in a preseason football practice, the ncaa asserted that quote the ncaa denies it has a legal duty to protect student-athletes. ". i find that extraordinary. i know what you're just going to be and that's going to upset me but the question is how do you reconcile your web site's publicly stated priority of providing health and safety within the private legal arguments which you will declare somehow are different that the ncaa doesn't have a legal duty to protect student-athletes. either you do or you don't. >> i will not quibble about the language. i think i was at the very least a terrible choice of words. created by legal counsel to make a legal argument. i'm not a lawyer and i'm not going to defend or deny what a

and nobody is quite sure about that, john thune has one idea. bill nelson has another idea and -- you, yeah, okay. and that i think that we want to continue this. we want to make this a continuing surge of this oversight committee. we have jurisdiction over sports. all sports. and we have the ability to subpoena. we have the ability to -- we've created a special investigations unit. we're very into this subject. i personally am. i think our members are. and so, this is the part of the process here. so, i'm going to have some tough questions for our panel. the ncaa and its member schools, is it simple a little legal cartel, have college sports become a multibillion dollar commercial enterprise which is no different than other corporate witnesses who have appeared before this information? and is the ncaa in fact have the best interests of college athletes. large questions and important to be answered. i turn now to my very distinguished ranking member, senator john thune from the state of minnesota. >> thank you, mr. chairman, for holding the hear

i turn to ranking member thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you indicated that you have taken the initiative to form some of these division i subcommittees to address needed changes. i'm wondering if you can discuss what you hope to accomplish in this initiative. >> thank you, senator, first of all, i mentioned, within a month, we'll see, i hope the board passes a completely new decision-making structure because of the challenges of the past 24 hour months of making decisions around a very aggressive reform agenda. the leadership of the 65 leading universities have said we simply have to find better way to make progress. they have identified as their agenda many of the items that i just addressed and a hand. of others, so there is a very keen interest in finding, first of all, ways to provide greater support for student athletes. we've passed twice over the past 36 months a proposal to allow universities to give student athletes as a bear miscellaneous experiences. i believer the universities will approve a proposal to do something just like t

. >> now to give definition to what senator thune from south dakota said, we need to drill more. that's right. go to the bottom line. we've got to drill more. that's what they want. look, energy independence is certainly important for our country but there are no guarantees if we pump out more oil out of our soil that it's going to affect geopolitical situation in ukraine dealing with putin. the united states providing europe's energy needs is not the answer. it's not a guarantee. it's not just republicans talking about more exports, the united states energy. this morning senator tim kaine of virginia came up with the same line, same argument as thune. >> we need to be targeting their energy sector and we need to be helping europe develop their own energy resources, potentially shipment of potential gas from the united states to help them break reliance on russian energy and finding other energy suppliers. algeria wants to build a new energy pipeline under the mediterranean that can help supply europe. we need to be working to sanction russian energy sector and move europe away f

thune's question. >> very good. senator thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you and senator hatch for holding this important hearing. thank you, all, for making time to share your expertise with us. i suspect there are significant differences about how we improve the u.s. tax code, differences of opinion among members here in the finance committee and probably in the senate and the congress. but i think that all of us agree that we want american companies to be competitive. we want to for them to be able to compete and win in the global marketplace. i think unfortunately, we ask them to do it with one hand tied behind their back because we actually make the rules they play by. when you make bad rules, you get bad outcomes. there are economic signals right now that are driving a lot of the decision making that our businesses are following. so i think some of this inflammatory rhetoric and accusing them of not being economic patriots is really not helpful. and i would hope that we could focus on not just the symptoms but actually the cause for t

thune's question. >> very good. senator thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you and senator hatch for holding this important hearing. thank you, all, for making time to share your expertise with us. i suspect there are significant differences about how we improve the u.s. tax code, differences of opinion among members here in the finance committee and probably in the senate and the congress. but i think that all of us agree that we want american companies to be competitive. we want to for them to be able to compete and win in the global marketplace. i think unfortunately, we ask them to do it with one hand tied behind their back because we actually make the rules they play by. when you make bad rules, you get bad outcomes. there are economic signals right now that are driving a lot of the decision making that our businesses are following. so i think some of this inflammatory rhetoric and accusing them of not being economic patriots is really not helpful. and i would hope that we could focus on not just the symptoms but actually the cause for t

thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. thune omr.une: i ask consento speak for up to ten minutes and it not be counted on the the minority's time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: last week the president was i said by almost y measure we are better off than what i took office. that's quite a statement. by almost every measure, we are better off than when i took office. i know a lot of americans struggling with high health care bills who might disagree with that, because the truth is, mr. president, very few americans are better off than they were five and a half years ago. household income has plummeted more than $3,300 since the president took office. meanwhile, the price of everything from milk to the refrigerator to store it in has prison. gas prices have nearly doubled since the president took office. college costs have soared and, of course, family health insurance premiums have increased by nearly $3,000 per family. combinecombine reduced income wh higher prices, you get a reduced living standard. americans

with us here from capitol hill, republican senator john thune from south dakota.his morning and we want to get you on the record. we have these reports coming out of ukraine about the two downed military planes, assumed to be shot down by the pro-russian separatists. your reaction to that? >> it demonstrates i think some of the capabilities that the separatists have and how important it is that we get the arms flow stopped that's coming from russia into ukraine, but more evidence again that these folks have bad designs and capability to carry out these types of attacks. >> well, it demonstrates their capabilities for sure, but also just either utter chaos or an intensified plan on the part of vladimir putin to keep going and to get that part of eastern ukraine that he wants. >> well, it does, mika. i think, again, all these things, all signs point back to putin. obviously i think that we've got to make the case, the argument publicly with the europeans that assigns responsibility for the shooting down of the commercial airliner as well, but it's very clear the pat

and now, senator thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and allow me to add my birthday wishes. happy birthday to you. i'm sorry you're stuck spending it with us. >> no, i'm not. i'm not at all. >> mr. chairman, i want to thank you for today's -- thank you for holding the hearing, and thank today's witnesses for appearing before the committee. according to world health organization, there are more than 1 billion smokers in the world. sadly, in one year alone, more than 5 million of those people will die prematurely due to tobacco use. in 1976, professor michael russell, a leading expert on cigarette addiction, wrote, and i quote, "people smoke for nicotine, but they die from the tar." the introduction of cigarettes with making presents challenges for the public-health community. it is a new opportunity for increased public health to the extent that these new products may help reduce the number of individuals who smoke combustible tobacco cigarettes. dr. david abrams and the american legacy foundation, a nonprofit organization, funded by payments from the master summit between st

i apologize to my ranking member, senator thune. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. myers, assuming all agree that chile should not be able to purchase these products, what's your view on whether e-cigarettes have the potential to reduce harm if the current adult smokers of combustible tobacco cigarettes switch to them? >> as i said, if properly regulated in terms of quantity of nicotine, how it's delivered it, the man is delivered and it's targeted to a current smoker who couldn't otherwise quit, with levels of nicotine export -- i don't think there's any doubt there would be a reduction in harm. >> what's your general view with regard to the science around e-cigarettes? do you view it as settled? >> no. science is not settled and the signs couldn't be settled because the product itself is changing. unfortunately, we haven't had this kind of rigorous science for this that we require for any other product under the regulation of the fda. our organization, i think all the other public health groups, would welcome rigorous science so that if e-cigarettes has the potent

to tod today, i'm the author of the legislation with our colleague from south dakota, senator thu thune, of the permanent internet tax freedom extension. and i will just say to colleagues, i would like nothing more -- nothing more -- than to be able to stand here today to see this enormously valuable piece of legislation made permanent now. the reality, however, is -- and we've seen it and heard about it -- there are objections on both sides at this point to seeing the bill that i wrote with senator thune, as senator cruz correctly notes, with more than half the senate as cosponsors, we have objections to seeing that bill moved today. so the best thing that can be done now for the hundreds of millions of american internet users and the economy for which the internet is a lifeline, is to extend the current ban until it's possible to lock in a path to pass a permanent extension. this isn't a political issue. that point has been made. there are a number of democrats and republicans who join myself and senator thune in supporting the permanent moratorium. there are a number of republicans a

nick thune will be here tomorrow night. nick thune. >> steve: come on!>> jimmy: thank you notes will be tomorrow. it's going to be a good show. you gotta watch it tomorrow. then, i'm very excited about this. tuesday of next week, okay? chronixx will be here. yeah, exactly, yeah. [ cheers and applause ] you know chronixx? no, no, not that type of chronic. no, no. he's a reggae singer. i was in jamaica -- i was on vacation at this awesome place called goldeneye, super james bond. yeah, the raddest place ever. yeah, i feel like james bond when i go there, yeah. but i'm so not. but anyways, i go there and they play reggae music through the whole resort and stuff. and they're playing the song and it's like -- ♪ here comes trouble here come the dangers ♪ and i was like, this is the best song. i wasn't dancing like that, but i was like -- [ laughter ] yeah, i was. i was dancing like that. >> steve: yeah, you were. you were like that. >> jimmy: i was. i was dancing like that. but anyways, you weren't there, so i can just make it up. but anyways, i said, "who is

thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i raise today to speak in opposition to the legislation before the senate, the so-called bring jobs home act. i oppose this bill because it is a political stunt designed as an election-year campaign ploy that will have no meaningful impact on jobs creation or economic growth. this bill is a carbon copy of a bill that the senate rejected two years ago when it was offered by another democratic senator who just happened to also be up for leaks. simply put, if there is a democratic bill on the senate floor supposedly about outsourcing, you can rest assured it must be an election season. the bill before us purports to deal with the problem of companies relocating companies from the united states to foreign countries by denying the deduction associated with doing so. this must be the tax benefit for shipping jobs overseas that we heard so much about from the become campaign in 2008 and again in 2012. there's only one problem with repealin

tonight, join jimmy and his guests -- dan aykroyd, chaz ebert, comedian nick thune,

and along with our colleague from south dakota, senator thune, and 52 bipartisan cosponsors, i'm the author of the pending bill that would make that protection permanent. i believe if we were able to hold a vote on our bill today, it would pass with overwhelming support. unfortunately, that is not a political reality, and yet the clock keeps ticking towards expiration. protecting the internet and every internet user in our country ought to be a matter that takes precedence over politics and partisanship. the senate can move this short-term extension today while the senate works on a bipartisan basis to deal with the issues raised by those who believe that allowing localities to collect taxes across the country is more important than a ban on discriminatory taxation. so i hope that the senate will join me in supporting the temporary extension of the internet tax freedom act as a bridge to permanent legislation. and to just reflect very briefly for a minute, mr. president, we thought that this law would work well 16 years ago, and to just describe what really triggered my interest is 1

thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr.thune: i'd like to echo what my colleagues, senator mcconnell, our leader, senator graham senator ayotte and appreciate senator mcconnell's leadership in making sure what is at stake here, pushing hard to make sure the united states senate is doing its job in support of israel, making sure they are able to defend themselves and funding for the iron dome which has been so effective as a defense mechanism against these rocket attacks is funded in a way that allows them to continue to use it and that capability. as you look at the situation in gaza mr. president, i want to start by taking a step back and looking at this conflict in both its historic and regional context. in israel, we have the only, the only functioning democracy in the middle east. israel is a nation that emphasizes human rights and tolerance. its population includes religious, ethnic and cultural diversity. in jerusalem, you can hear the muslim call to the prayer, the bells from catholic and greek orthodox churches and

thune: mr. president, i appreciate the comments of the senator from oklahoma who, like the senator from wyoming who is on the floor here with us today, has heard from many of his constituents about the impact that obamacare is having on them, the real-world economic impacts. i've received countless letters from my constituents in south dakota telling me about the challenges that they're facing because of obamacare. and those challenges really consist of the economic costs associated with the new health care law. higher premiums, higher deductibles, higher co-pays, the loss of the doctors that they liked, the burden that the law is placing on their businesses if they're an employer. and less control and less freedom, which is something that is important to so many americans, particularly when it comes to their health care. so i wanted to take a few moments, mr. president, to highlight some of the stories that constituents of mine shared with me. i know the senator from wyoming is here to do the s

thune: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted and that i be allowed to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: madam president, americans might have noticed a trend in obamacare headlines over the past two days. there was sunday's political story and it basically had this title -- why liberals are abandoning the obamacare employer mandate. and there was an associated press story entitled senate democrats try to pull focus from obamacare. then on monday, politico published a story called obamacare's next threat, a september surprise, which is about the white house's efforts to prepare democrats to meet september rate hike announcements. madam president, all these stories amount to one thing -- democrats are running scared from obamacare. these three articles are just a few of the many pieces to be published about democrats' efforts to distance themselves from obamacare in preparation for the november election. madam president, it's not surprising that they're worried. obamacare is democrats and the white ho

i was really struck, she went way back to 2002, john thune, who later got elected against tim johnson and says he stole it on the indian reservations. i covered that race. the indian reservations always report late and always give a big margin to the democrats. so maybe she figured mcdaniel could relate to it if she said another election was stolen when it wasn't. >> the point that she was making was, the people who lost in these stolen elections, as she called them, they did not contest that election. they didn't fight it out the way mcdaniel, is then they went on to successful political careers because they didn't sour voters in their states by fighting beyond the point where they could succeed. >> right. her example number one was richard nixon who could have complained about stolen votes in illinois and texas. it's still not clear who would have won, but he had a case to make and he didn't make it. >> and eight years later became president. >> correct. the problem for mcdaniel now is i think it's a little too late to suddenly be grace tful. i don't see how he backs out of these ch

and so all in favor of what senator -- you've got to trust senator thune. >> mr.hairman, i would move that we consider the agenda, consideration of the agenda. and that being said, we have 13 -- okay. >> 13. >> i move that the substitute amendment as modified to agenda eye them number 1, senator bill, the substitute amen ga to senate bill 1893, the substitute amendment to agenda item three, senate bill 2030, the national c grant college program amendments act, item four, senate bill 2094, the vessel incidental discharge act as amended by wicker amendments one, two and three and substitute amendment to agenda five, the travel promotion enhancement modernization act, be adopted and reported as modified with amendments in the nature of substitute as previously noted. >> superbly and exquisitely done. therefore, all in favor will say aye. all those opposes will say nay. >> i want to make sure that i'm voted no on s-094. >> it -- s-2094. >> it is going to be a nay. >> nay or no. it is your choice. >> okay. >> so that's it. we -- the executive session is adjourned and i

thune: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: madam president, we're here on another day in the senate facing another political gimmick. that's the way things -- things seem to work in the democrat senate, and that's what's happening yet again this week. yesterday democrats introduced their latest designed-to-fail, the bring jobs home act. it is a bill that they know is not going to pass. the reason i say the bill is only designed to fail is because it has already failed. it's been voted on here before in the previous congress. but that's not stopping the democrats. the bring jobs home act would supposedly encourage american companies to bring jobs back home to the united states and to discourage companies from sending jobs sending overseas. but the bill completely ignores the real problem and the reason american companies are sending jobs overseas: america's broken tax code and our sky-high tax rate on business. america is one of the highest corporate tax rates in the develope

they are south dakota's tim johnson and john thune.way, congratulations to no one, we stumped you. and by the way, we'll be right back. can i get my actual credit report... like, the one the bank sees? [ male voice ] sheesh, i feel like i'm being interrogated over here. [ male voice ] she's onto us. dump her. [ pay phone rings ] hello? oh, man. that never gets old. no, it does not. [ female announcer ] not all credit report sites are equal. experian.com members get personalized help and a real credit report. join now at experian.com with enrollment in experian credit tracker. if your denture moves, it can irritate your gums. try fixodent plus gum care. it helps stop denture movement and prevents gum irritation. fixodent. and forget it. and our luggage was immediately... taken to... stolen from... our room. the hotel manager was clearly behind it. he was such a... kind man. con man. my husband wanted to... hug him. strangle him. and to this day we're still in contact with... the manager. the police. i wish we could do that vacation all

senator claire mccaskill chairs the subcommittee, while senator john thune serves as the ranking member. we're expecting mr. feinberg to appear first.

. >>> peter thune wants to do to gun violence what he did to dirty water.nts to get rid of it. he helped people get access to safe water by ethos. now the social entrepreneur is trying to reduce gun violence in america by recycling illegal guns into jewelry. joining us here at post 9 this morning, peter is the founder and ceo at liberty united and fondray 47. thank you for being with us. this is a fascinating business. how do you source your material, so to speak? >> well, liberty united functions a lot like ethos water, at least in the way that we address consumers. we make something that people already buy, but we make, in this case, we make it out of gunmetal that we get from police departments in american cities. we make it into jewelry. and then the purchase of those pieces then funds programs back into those same cities to reduce gun violence. >> you brought some samples. they're here on the desk. >> that's right. >> you change the metallurgy, so to speak, the chemistry of the metal? >> so actually, we smelt down the bullets and the illegal guns into

senator john thune is the chairman of the senate republican congress.u hear the president say. >> "the washington post" fact checker basically busted the president on his statement, gave him three i mosquito yoas which means this is a big whopper he has been telling. if you look at the facts they tell a didn't story. there are 284 bills that passed the house of representatives and 40 of those bills are jobs bills. the republican house of representatives passed four times as many bills as the democrat-led senate. if you look at the number of bills signed into law, only a quarter of those originated in the democrat-controlled congress. he has a problem on capitol hill but it's with his party be the democrats. eric: when he says republicans you think he could insert harry reid? >> he could. harry reid has turned the floor of the senate into a polite calculate circus. he tries to give them a political advantage going into the fall campaigns. nip serious or meaningful legislation has been shelved. in the last year since july a year ago there have only been 1

senator claire mccaskill chairs the subcommittee, while senator john thune serves as the ranking member. we're expecting mr. feinberg to appear first. >>> all right, this hearing will come to order. today we revisit the tragic management failures at general motors that killed people. first i want to acknowledge in my opening remarks then from my viewpoint the ceo of general motors, mary barra, has stepped up and with courage and conviction has confronted head on the problem and the corporate culture that caused it. some see the record number of recalls at general motors as a problem. i see it as a good sign. second, i want to briefly say that i think i speak on behalf of all members of congress who have asked very difficult questions surrounding these tragic events that while we are asking tough questions, we have great respect for the workers of general motors. i would like to take this moment to thank the workers at general motors. you are terrific. you build good cars. and you are also the victims of outrageously incompetent management. management was the problem here, not the worker

thune: mr. president, i rise today to talk about the disturbing leadership failure that we're seeing out of the white house. over the past year the president and his administration have seemed increasingly out of touch with the many challenges facing our country at home and abroad. two weeks ago the president's spokesman told reporters -- and i quote -- "i think there have been a number of situations in which you've seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way that has substantially furthered american interests and substantially improved the tranquillity of the global community" -- end quote. let me repeat that, madam president. substantially improve the tranquillity of the global community. madam president, fighting is going on right now in israel and the gaza strip. russia is actively involved in a war in ukraine and played a role in bringing down an airline with 298 people on board. iraq is under the control of a terrorist organization considered by al qaeda to be two extreme. those

place for sportsmen's issues to be brought up u second, i offered an amendment with senators lee and thune to ensure that those traveling with a properly secured knife cannot prosecuted under local or state laws which ban certain knives. this amendment is necessary because there is a broad patchwork of state and local laws regulating knife possession. for example, 36 states allow civilian possession of automatic knives to varying degrees, but no restrictions at all in 22 states. but in some states possession is a serious crime. this can be incidental, again just passing through state. the current situation sw knives is similar to the circumstances that exists for gun owners before the passage of firearm owners protection act in 1986. that law protects law-abiding gun owners from an instint consistent patchwork of laws and my amendment provides parity between knife and gun owners. this commonsense amendment uses language similar to that used in the 1986 law. i've also filed an amendment with senators barrasso, crapo, harchtion lee, murkowski and risch to require the department of interior t

senator thune. >> mr. myers, assuming we all agree that children should not be able to purchase these oducts what's your view if children purchase these products ? >> as i said, if properly regulated in terms of quantity of nicotine, how it's delivered and targeted to a current smoker that couldn't quit, they switched exclusively, i don't think there is any doubt there would be a reduction. >> what's your general view with regard to the science of e science? is it settled? the science couldn't be settled because the product itself is changing. we haven't had the required science. we would welcome science to help smokers quit, we make sure that the product we are selling to them would accomplish that goal. in the absence of regulation is seen products with nicotine levels, high enough to be of concern and sometimes, cases, so low that it makes it too easy for kids to start. and nicotine is harsh and we wouldn't like a perfect product. science should drive it with protecting our kids. >> there has been a lot

ground in 2002 where a libertarian candidate suspended his campaign and got enough votes that john thune couldn't could win a senate race so i understand. you know it's a challenge but is something that we factor in and it's incumbent upon us to model our research and polling accurately so that we can build election and political plans that allow us to win, and you know we would love to get their support even if they are libertarian or otherwise ideologically bent. we are going to try to talk to them in a way that we can get their support in making crossover and back to the republicans. you know if you look at the senate right now it's a very diverse group of folks and we have a lot of senators but also a lot of national leaders who can speak to a certain segments of the population that may not be whatever year -- word you want to do, classic establishment republican. so i think it's incumbent that we recognize the many voices in the senate to see where everyone fits in and put it to work. the good news about that is our senate is extremely engaged. that's been the one outcome with liesy

it was senator thune -- so i'm not going to bend on that. this is the closing statement and mr. emrid is free to answer in any form he wants. he can write every member of the congress committee a letter. anybody else want to say anything? >> i've spent the last 15 years of my professional career examining intercollegiate athletics. after this hearing today i, like yourself, am very disheartened because i'm not sure that we collectively are willing to take a cold, hard objective look informed by research and informed by data at the collegiate model of athletics athletics. >> all right. that being said, i want to thank everybody for this. this has been a long and interesting hearing. everything is the first step as neil armstrong said and we got a lot of steps to make and as others pointed out, the world is changing. you know, it's like that jackie robinson 42 movie. and the player comes in and he says -- i want to be traded. and then a couple of weeks later he comes back and says, i don't want to be traded. what about -- you willing to play with robinson? he said, the world is ch

." >> on "newmakers" john thune talks about the 2014 in 2016 elections. transportation, funding, the economy, and iraq. sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> in a 19-14 vote, the house oversight and government reform committee reject the white house 's claim. was subpoenaed by the committee to testify but did not show up. the same thing happened last week as well. houseetter to the white they said that he is immune to testify on matters related to his official duties and will not appear. this is about an hour now. -- an hour and a half. >> the committee will come to order. we are here to continuing hearing that began on july 16, 2014, called the house office of clinical affairs and supporting candidates and campaign fund raising and inappropriate use of government office. the purpose of the hearings to gather facts about the white house office of political and strategic outreach. i would like to note for the record mr. david simas, director of the office of political strategy and outreach is in fact not here today. he was invited to spe

senator thune, your next if i could finish these questions and then we will go right to you. the first deals with the implications of the versions on health care costs in america and the implications for the american consumers. i was struck by comments made in "the wall street journal" recently. he said he was concerned about the high prices that american consumers would have to pay if the proposed versions like his companies didn't go through. and i'm still trying to figure out how these savings are going to be passed on to consumers and of course the taxpayers who put up so much of the money that funds the medicare program. succumb and all three of the professors, explain to me how somehow these costs, particularly medical costs because so many of the insurgents thus far are medical. explain to me how if because you've done scholarship on this, how is this going to benefit the american consumer and the medicare program in particular? we will start with you. >> the broadway to think that the problem is to understand. it is who pays the corporate tax, and there are three sets

it was senator thune -- so i'm not going to bend on that. this is the closing statement and mr. emrid is free to answer in any form he wants. he can write every member of the congress committee a letter. anybody else want to say anything? >> i've spent the last 15 years of my professional career examining intercollegiate athletics. after this hearing today, i, like yourself, am very disheartened because i'm not sure that we collectively, are willing to take a cold, hard objective look informed by research and informed by data at the collegiate model of athleti athletics. >> all right. that being said, i want to thank everybody for this. this has been a long and interesting hearing. everything is the first step as neil armstrong said and we got a lot of steps to make and as others pointed out, the world is changing. you know, it's like that jackie robinson 42 movie. and the player comes in and he says -- i want to be traded. and then a couple of weeks later he comes back and says, i don't want to be traded. what about -- you willing to play with robinson? he said, the world is ch

let me join with senator john thune. we need an ambassador of romania this is a country that has great reason to feel imperiled by the russian aggression, and i appreciate some of the work that is being done to make sure that we need an ambassador. it's incumbent to those that have caused their plan to buildd a new nuclear technology that is transformational for the czech republic but also potentially for the united states should they win that big it is hard if we don't have an ambassador on the ground we have the chance to confirm that were a good one. this week, next week if the senate acts on that. when it comes to making sure that we are fully staffed the responsibilities both the administration to move faster than it has in bringing the ambassadors to us and for us to move faster than we have once you bring them to us. thank you both for your testimony. we will set up the second panel now. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] welcome to the second panel senator johnson is goi

senator thune, you're next. if i could just finish these two questions, we'll go right to you. the first deals with the implications of inversions on health care costs in america and the implications for the american consumer. i was struck by comments made in "the wall street journal" recently by the ceo of abbott, who said that he was concerned about the higher prices that american consumers would have to pay if proposed inversions like his an

that's why i join senator thune, vitter and barrasso in speaking out against it, and that's why we developed resolution of disapproval to block it. but the real key to our success here was the action of the american people themselves. they got our help, but they didn't sit back and wait. they let their outrage be known. they fought back against this brazen power grab. and thanks to all these efforts, the administration finally literally threw in the towel yesterday and certainly we were glad to see it. but look, the fact that the obama administration's e.p.a. even introduced this rule in the first place should concern all of us. it was truly outrageous. but it's also not surprising, because this is the same administration that just proposed a so-called waters of the u.s. regulation that would expand the government's authority so broadly that the agency could regulate and fine almost every pothole and ditch in our back yards. and this is the same administration that's been waging a costly war on coal jobs in my state through similarly ownous -- onerous and arbitrary regulations aimed at pleas

withoached the issue senator john thune. [video clip] want to keep a user fee based program, that is the most logical place that most folks would end up. senator corker and murphy came out with their proposal. indexing it would help, but you have more fuel-efficient cars. more hybrids on the road. it is not raising it the amount and has in the past. it is still something that highway users pay for. why that, ifsons you are looking at the different scenarios and options, if you have to raise revenue to do this, it is an option that is being discussed. there are other things being talked about as well. some republicans and democrats are talking about repatriating funds, multinational operations that have earnings that are part off shore -- parked offshore right now, getting them back here at a lower level. that would generate revenue for a time, but is not a permanent solution either. host: the www.c-span.org full interview any time at the fulln.org --host: interview any time at www.c-span.org. i think the thing we have missed