kent, judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas, for high crimes and misdemeanors. resolved, that samuel b. kent, a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the senate. articles of impeachment exhibited by the house of representatives of the united states of america in the name of itself and all of the people of the united states of america, against samuel b. kent, a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. article i. incident to his position as united states district court judge, samuel b. kent has engaged in conduct with respect to employees associated with the court that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him as a judge as follows: one, judge kent is a united states district judge in the southern district of texas. from 1990 to 2008, he was assigned to the g

united states of america against samuel b. kent, a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas in maintenance andpport of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. article 1, incident to his position as united states district court judge, samuel b. kent has engaged in conduct with respect to employees associated with the court that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him as a judge as follows: number one, judge kent is the u.s. district court judge in the southern district of texas from 1990 to 2008, he was assigned to the galveston division of the southern court and his quarters was in the united states post office and courthouse in galveston, texas. number two, cathy mcbroom was an employee in the office of the clerk of the court for the southern district of texas and served as a deputy clerk in the galveston division assigned to judge kent's courtroom. number three, on one or more occasions with -- 2003 and 2007 judge kent assaulted miss mcbroom and caused her to engage in a sexual act with him. whereby samuel b. kent is guilty of high crimes and misdeme

. >> a lot of it flows through central america into mexico and then into the united states. southern command has issue needed a very close relationship with northern command. they have liaison officers and they share a joint operating area with the task force out and they have had talks and they continue that dialogue on a routine basis. i know the admiral had a close working relationship there. i anticipate, if confirmed, i look forward to continuing and building on the relationships that admiral stavridis has done. >> thank you all for your comments today. >> i also want to compliment you on your careers and i think you are excellent choices for the jobs you are about to take on. to general fraser, along the lines of what was just as, if you have not had a chance to evaluate it, can you give me an opinion on whether or not this since we are building on the u.s.-mexican border is helping, in terms of drugs and illegal immigration? >> i do not have a view on that. i have not studied that. r> can you@@@@'%rr i am not sure of their current role. >> i think they are not. i think u.s. ar

request for funding, authorization for construction of a new permanent headquarters for the united states southern command that is located in the congressional district that i'm honored to represent. currently, the department of defense is leasing the land for socom from a private individual. the funds authorized by this bill will be used to build a new headquarters on land adjacent to the current location and leased from the state of florida. for the grand sum of $1 per year. this provision is extremely important to my community because socom personnel and supporting services have contributed over $1.2 billion and over 20,000 jobs to south florida's economy. mr. speaker, while i support the underlying legislation, i have deep reservations about the majority's decision to block full restoration of missile defense funding. this comes as north korea's demented despot continues to mock global condemnation of his nuclear program and threatens the united states and our friends and allies with mass destruction. just today, an official from the north korean central news agency, a mouthpiece for the dicta

kent of the united states district court for the southern district of texas has already pled guilty to obstruction of justice and has entered in and is residing in a federal prison at this moment. the judiciary committee's independent investigation conducted admirably by a special task force established for that purpose and led by the gentleman from california, mr. schiff, has concluded that the charge underlying that guilty plea is overwhelmingly borne out by the evidence. as are the related charges of repeated sexual assault against various court employees under his supervision. judge kent's conduct is described in greater detail and the -- in the report filed by our committee which voted unanimously 29-0 to recommend four articles of impeachment to the house. the court documents and other materials are available on the committee's website. of the three branches of government devised by the framers of oour constitution, only the judicial branch is insulated from the accountability of standing for election. this is by design. the other two branches, the legislative, the executive are

both sides of the aisle that the united states needs a coordinated comprehensive strategy for sudan which balances the united states' imperatives in darfur and in southern sudan. this amendment simply goes one step further by giving the current administration the opportunity to resolve any outstanding issues with regard to the united states' policy towards sudan by formulating such a strategy and reporting this strategy back to the united states congress. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. does anyone seek time? for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. berman: mr. chairman, i rise to take the opposition even though i do not oppose the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: mr. chairman, the gentleman's amendment encourages the administration to create a comprehensive interagency strategy and implementation plan for sudan. i have spoken with mr. mccaul about his proposal and agree that developing a coherent approach to this situation in sudan is critical. the united states must make every effort to address the ongoing and interrelated crises in sud

2, 2009, addressed to the president saying i hereby resign from my position as united states district judge for the southern district of texas effective june 1, 2010. a year away. a res. ignition that could be with-- a resignation that could be withdrawn at anytime before it became effective. now, we heard testimony from the witnesses that this judge was particularly manipulative and that's how he was able to continue the nonconsensual sexual assaults over and over because he was so manipulative. they were afraid of losing their jobs, and it was clear that he had said i'm the king and it's good to be king. it's good to be king unless you're committing crimes and misusing the office to which you were entrusted. but the resignation letter would just be a resignation if it were sincere, but then we got another letter before our final hearing for the committee asking that it be taken into consideration that he had these problems and he needed his salary and his medical and he was trying to pay medical bills of his late wife. ironically he wasn't quite as concerned for his late wife when he was groping and manip

in my role there, it is the basic defense in defending the southern approaches to the united states. i think the big thing within the region is an international an interagency approach. the issues require us to take that approach, and so if i am confirmed, that is my goal, to continue what admiral stavridis has done and that is engaged with the military in the region and in gays in the interagency is an internationally -- and engaged in de interagency spent internationally. >> thank you. i know you did spend your young life in that area, and for me, being knowledgeable of the culture of these areas makes a difference in the command their. general mcchrystal, according to secretary gates, the goal in iraq is to have a soldier in their medical facility within one hour of being wounded, in afghanistan, the response time has been closer to two hours. i applaud the initiative of secretary gates and his defense budget to improve the medical evacuation capability and afghanistan. general, what is your current assessment of the medical evacuation issues in afghanistan? >> senator, thank you.

had never encountered the kind of grassroots anti-catholicism that you find in the southern part of the united states in terms of being in massachusetts it was not a disadvantage to be roman catholic in 1960. what he did he'd been surrounded himself with very smart people, and he spent a lot of time doing a listening tour off the record of leading anti-catholic protestants around the country saying you're a democrat, you like my policies but you are going to vote against it because i'm a catholic. help you understand that because that's confusing to me. so he applied tremendous assets personally in terms of the campaign to work through and develop strategy, a flexible strategy on religion as a campaign unfolded. i think the same can be said about president obama. he went into the race with some weaknesses with certain religious groups in the united states. and unlike some democrats who run for president in recent years he wasn't afraid to parse the problem, to hire people come to think through and read and talk to the fold, the principals who were involved. so he may have felt some anxiety about reli

in the international community and remains a particular problem for us and our southern border with mexico. the united states became a party to the united nations smuggling protocol in 2005, continues to work with other governments committing substantial resources to end human smuggling and providing victims from the par louis journeys -- par less journeys, protecting victims from the par ilous journeys involved in this enterprise. some 112 countries are now party to the smuggling protocol. mr. chairman, in order to more effectively tackle the growing and worrisome problems of human smuggling and trafficking, i support the gentleman's amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? ms. ros-lehtinen: claiming time in opposition. although the amendment urges the executive branch to undertake assessments that i hope are already going into the administration's policymaking, i do not oppose this amendment. all of us are, of course, opposed to alien smuggling, trafficking persons and terrorists entry -- entering the united states and believe that u

southern pacific. perhaps you have been down there as well. great training opportunities. it is going to take a little while to get there. we have the flag of the united states flying over guam. as we develop it, we will have more forces down there. it will be a training center for us, and we can move folks. granted, there will have to get on a ship or an airplane to get where they are going. we have a few of those. i think it is a strategic imperative for us, and i believe in time, we will find the money, and get the infrastructure upgrades, improved to the point where we will be happy once we are down there. our marine corps has said he will walk every marine goes there to say when they are done with the to to not want to leave, and guys who are outside to want to go. we are hopeful. yes, sir. >> thanks for coming, admiral. i have a question. you mentioned the nuclear posture of view a little bit earlier, and i was curious about how you see that playing out in your area of responsibility, the defeat given the call of the president for a world free of nuclear weapons. in particular, dealing with japan and the question of launch cruise missiles and how you s

southern illinois. it was once our maximum security prison in the united states before the super maximum facility was opened at florence colorado. it was interesting as i met with the corrections officer in the lockup of the mary and federal prison, and after a little bit of a tour i asked what do you think of this notion that we hear from senators on the floor like senator kyl and senator mcconnell that we cannot safely incarcerate guantanamo detainees in the presence of the united states? the one corrections officer said senator, in salted by the comment. at this facility we are now incarcerating members of colombian drug terrorist gangs and have had serial murderers and we have incarcerated john gotti, we've incarcerated some of the most dangerous people convicted, brought into the country from overseas where the opposing a threat to america and the united states we brought them here. we know how to handle these prisoners. we are up to this task. we've proven it over and over again. this very senators questioning whether or not we can safely incarcerate our prisoners in our maximum and super max faciliti

to negotiate and implement the darfur peace agreement, the united states also was at the forefront of efforts to resolve the conflict in southern sudan, a conflict which has left over two million people dead and another four million displaced. today, there's universal acknowledgment that if the comprehensive peace agreement between the north and south fails there can be little help -- hope for darfur. unfortunately, the terms of this peace agreement have not yet been fully implemented and observers consistently warn that it could fail at any time. with the national elections due this year and reports of deadly conflict within and among various armed groups on the rise, the stakes cannot be higher. during the presidential campaign, each of the candidates assured voters that sudan would be a major priority for their administrations and spoke of robust actions that would need to be taken in order to resolve sudan's multiple conflicts. while serving in the united states senate, president barack obama called for oil sanctions and the imposition of a no-fly zone over darfur. while working for the brookings institution, u.s. ambassado

united states. 1891 when missouri sought statehood, the question was whether missouri would be admitted to the union as a slave or free state. this set off an intense debate between northern and southern legislators. missouri's ratification would upset this delicate balance between slave and free states in the senate. in order to keep the already tenuous balance, henry clay worked out a compromise consisting of three parts. maine would separate from massachusetts. movement would enter the union as a slave state. the remaining territories of the louisiana purchase would be closed off to slavery. unrest around the practice of slavery continued until further compromises came forward. additionally, compromise outlawed the slave trade but not slavery in the district of columbia, where we are today, was enacted. while enacted a stricter fugitive slave law for the retrieval of slaves who had run away to the north, this compromise did little to satisfy the antislavery movement. it did preserve the union in what many refer to as the calm before the storm. then my state enters. as the united states continued to expand the very fabric of our nation was about to be torn in two regarding the peopl

harlig, spiritual leader of chabad of southern nevada, las vegas, nevada, the guest chaplain: almighty god, the members of this prestigious body, the united states senate, convene here in the spirit of one of the seven noahide laws which were set forth by you as an eternal universal code of ethics for all mankind. that every society be governed by just laws, based in the recognition of you god as the sovereign ruler. we proudly proclaim this commitment to justice in our pledge of allegiance, one nation under god with liberty and justice for all. grant us almighty god that those assembled here today be aware of your presence and conduct their deliberations accordingly. bless them with good health, wisdom, compassion and good fellowship. on this 25th day of june, 2009, which corresponds to the third day of the hebrew month of tammuz, we are 15 years -- to the day -- from the physical passing of our esteemed spiritual leader, the lubavitcher rebbe, rabbi menachem mendel schneerson, of blessed memory, who consistently extolled the virtues of this great land as a "nation of kindness." i beseech you, almighty god, to grant renewed strength and fortitu

in conjunction with the united states special operations command to help the armed forces in the philippines in their struggle against violent extremism principally in the southern reaches of philippine country. we'd been there for about six years now, in some number. we've got -- i'll just say several hundred special operators there right now, tom, as you probably know. been there for a while. critical mission. helping significantly the armed forces of the philippines and our view go backs to the metrics question incidents of violence while there are still kidnappings we're not entirely sure they are terrorists. a little bit of a blurry line in some areas in the philippines between criminal activity and terrorist activity. i was able to go with ambassador christie kinney who's a real dynamo and a great ambassador for our country on a trip to visit our personnel about a year ago. we flew down, helicoptered down, drove over -- it wasn't interstate 95 for better and worse it wasn't interstate 95. a little bit bumpy and about a four or five car convoy. escorted and followed by armed forces of the philippines and the marines. so we took this trip into the jungle and

united nations -- starting with the organization of the american states, the organization of people of the caribbean, many of whom are good friends of honduras. the organizations of the country's of all southern america who have expressed their voices unanimously condemning the barbarity that a small group of people have sought to inflict upon our country. the rio group in return, which brings together all at american countries, yet today adopted the same resolution -- yesterday adopted the same resolution. countries affiliated through the central american bloc of countries, salvador, costa rica, panama -- at a significant meeting served the country. they to eductive this resolution condemning, rejecting, and calling for respect for the democratic decisions taken in honduras. they too have come to the floor for the organization of central american and caribbean countries. so has central america. this includes mexico and colombia. they too have used the same terms and their institutions have expressed their view. europe, by the european union, and through the prime minister and his majesty, they too outlined a same firm position with regard to any movement of aggression attacking the democrati

units composed of loyalists. the idea, in fact, was that the british regulars would come in and conquer the continental army, flush the continental army out of those southern states with the help of the loyalist, and then the loyalist would be left to pacify that area. and actually succeeded in doing that in georgia. torture was the first colony, or state to be invaded by britain just after christmas of 1778. savanna was taken, and the british reinstated the royal governor of virginia and a loyalist legislative was elected that would repeal all of the legislation that had been passed by the revolutionary state assembly since 1776. it was the only state in which something like that happened. and 18 months later, the british invaded south carolina and conquer charleston in may of 1780. and this is the point following the collapse of charleston that the civil war really begins in the south. and in fact, i argued in the book that i think the revolutionary war was actually one in the south in 1780 and 1781. it is one in two ways. wants the british take charleston, they move out into the interior of south carolina and establish about a dozen posts in the backcountry of

united states. memphis has been a medical certainty for years with st. jude children's research hospital, the finest research hospital for children illnesses, catastrophic illness, and cancer. for southern college of optometry. the from the bonner children's hospital. for cam be blesclinic and orthopedics and other -- for campbells clinic and orthopedics and others. we are sorry mr. jobs had a liver transplant but we are happy he came to memphis and chose the best. it shouldn't be only the wealthy can come to memphis with the best medical care. we need to let every american have the opportunity to get the best medical attention available and come to memphis to receive it. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina rise? ms. foxx: thank permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. democrats are the ones with no new ideas. they always turn to their worn out idea of tax, tax, tax. the american people don't want a national energy tax. they want energy independence. the house republican plan is the comprehensive energy solution this coun

southern command. admiral timothy keating discussnary's nuclear test and missile launches and the threats they may pose to the asian pacific region from the atlantic council of the united states, this is about an hour. >> this is terrific. more stars and bars in this room than we usually have. ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the atlantic council i'm fred kemp president and ceo and welcome to this evening's commander series with the commander of the united states pacific command admiral timothy keating. i know many of you have attended our commander series on a regular basis. let me just say a couple of words about what this series has been about. we have created with this and i must say it's one of the most popular things we have introduced a public platform for senior u.s. and global leaders to share their views with the washington audience. the programs become an authoritative opportunity for military leaders to shape the security debate in washington and beyond. since the beginning of this series, we've had the commanders of uconm, northcom and two of the most recent commanders in afghanistan. it's a flagship program for the atlantic council and i want to think saab, ab a

southern soil will -- sovereign soil will become even more sensitive. between 2001 and 2010 one-third of permanent overseas military personnel are planned to return to the continental united states, and when those bases and those folks go away, american presence cannot go away with it. and it will go from a land-based presence to a maritime-based presence. all of this and our strategy and operations, the growing trends and the importance of the maritime option will affect the shape and structure of our force. what i want to do is just pop up a slide here. while the dots appear to be fairly large, it's just a representation of where our ships are today. each one of those dots represents a ship, the cluster the submarines because we never show where those submarines are. but if you look at that, there are about 142 of them there, and that's a pretty good spread, but you can also see the global reach that that fleet provides the nation. but if you look at the yellow dots, those are areas where combatant commanders have asked for more capacity, for more numbers, and we simply do not have the force structure to provide that. so it will be increasingly important that as we move forwar

united states congress. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. waxman: madam speaker, i'm pleased at this point to yield to my good friend and colleague from southern california, mrs. capps, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: madam speaker, i rise with great pride to support the american clean energy and security act. we built a record on energy and climate policy that indicates that the time for action is now. america is ready. the world is watching. we must transition to clean energy economy and jobs so that we can create jobs, achieve energy independence and protect our planet. we have before us a powerful and thorough and effective bill. it includes a nationwide renewable electricity standard. it contains critical investments in energy efficiency. it requires immediate significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that are harming the health of our people and our planet. the bill also makes substantial investments in domestic, international, natural resource and public health adaptations that are crucial to the continuing prosperity of our nation and our world. mad

kent a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas, and maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and zpheerns, article 1, incident to his position as united states district court judge, samuel b. kent has engaged in conduct with respect to employees associated with the court that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him as a judge as follows. one, judge kent is a united states district judge in the southern district of texas from 1990 to 2008, he was assigned to the galveston division of the southern district and his chambers and courtroom were located in the united states post office and courthouse in gal verseton, texas. two, kathy mcbroome was an employee of the office of the clerk of the court for the southern district of texas and served as a deputy clerk in the galveston division assigned to judge kent's courtroom. three, on one or more occasions between 2003 and 2007, judge kent sexually assaulted kathy mcbroom by touching her private areas directly and through her clothing against her will and by

kent, judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas for high crimes and misdemeanors. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2847. and that i may include tabular material in the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. pursuant to house resolution 552 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of the bill h.r. 2847. will the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, kindly take the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 2847 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the departments of commerce and justice and science and related agencies for the fiscal year ending s

kent, a judge of the united states district court for the southern district of texas. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the resolution? without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. capuano, mr. defazzo, mr. fattah today after 1:00 p.m., mr. kanjorski of pennsylvania for today after 12:00 noon, mr. shadegg of arizona for today, and mr. welch of vermont after 2:00 p.m. today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the personal requests are granted. does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i do. mr. speaker, i ask to address the house for one minute for purposes about inquiring next week's schedule. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, for the purpose of announcing next week's sch