senator vitter? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to echo the comments that having made about the bipartisan work of this committee on infrastructure. last congress this committee on a completely bipartisan basis produced a really good water resources bill, water infrastructure bill that was very important for our ports and waterways, and that infrastructure, maritime, commerce, and as senator boxer mentioned, we put together a very good highway bill in this committee. now, we have an easy part, quite frankly, so i don't want to overstate it. we put together the transportation part of the highway bill, good bill, very bipartisan basis, but the financial committee has the hard part, which is the financing part. and i want to cut right to that. so let's cut to the chase. i agree, we need to get this done, we need to get it done on a medium to long-term basis, not another band-aid approach. my suggestion for all of us who truly want to do that is to cut right to the chase, and to really dive into those discussions about low we fi

i'm leland vitter. thank you for watching america's hq. >> terror in the capital city of denmark.was known to the country's intelligence agency and that he may have been inspired by what happened in france. we will have a live report. >>> as coalition forces launch fresh attacks against isis and syria and iraq, there is a battle now growing on capitol hill as lawmakers argue over whether the president's war powers request to fight the islamic state does too little or too much. >>> and blizzard warnings and whiteout

also as a result of congressional action led by senator vitter, the president's nominated a community banker to serve on the federal reserve board. there are also relief proposals i supported that did not cross the finish line last year. i'm pleased that senator moran and ginned by senator hidecamp will reintroduce that act. it had 75 senate sponsors. this is ready for action. we should move on it. there's no question that regulators in congress have been responsive to the concerns of small institutions. we've acted where legitimate problems have been identified and members and stakeholders have come together to find compromise. i thank the witnesses today for helping in that process. i do not believe, though, that every bill intended to provide regulatory relief to small institutions is a good idea. some proposals could threaten the safety and soundness of individual institutions. others could remove important consumer protections that all customers deserve no matter the size of the institution -- of the lending -- of the bank. we must not forget that more than 400 banks with less th

yesterday texas senator john cornyn said he won't support lynch, and last week david vitter and jeff sessions said they would oppose her as well. we'll be right back. you want i fix this mess? a mess? i don't think -- what's that? snapshot from progressive. plug it in and you can save on car insurance based on your good driving. you sell to me? no, it's free. you want to try? i try this if you try... not this. okay. da! ♪ reliability, is now an american thing. introducing the all new chrysler 200 america's import. ♪ >>> i know some in the media thinks conservatives don't care about the cities, but they're wrong. we believe that every american in every community mass the right to pursue happiness. they have the right to rise. >>> welcome back to "hardball." that was jeb bush yesterday in detroit testing his campaign message. it sounds a look like what his broker offered 15 years ago. he called it compassionate conservative. >> big government is not the answer, but the alternative bureaucracy is not indifference. it is to put conservative values and conservative ideas into the thick of

thank you. >> thank you, senator vitter. let me thank both senator boozman and senator cap-itto who have been very accommodating to their time to accommodate the others. thank you very much. senator carper. >> thanks, mr. chairman. miss mccabe welcome. it's very nice to see you and thanks for joining us today. thanks for your service. you have a tough job. we appreciate your willingness to do it. for those of us who live in states, and there's actually millions of people in states that are already seeing the impacts of climate change. epa's proposal to regulate our nation's largest sources of carbon pollution has been frankly a long time coming. however, with any substantial regulatory action there's always room for improvement. and while we strive for perfection, we know it's hard to achieve. i look forward to working with our colleagues on this committee in the senate and the house and working with the administration and other stakeholders trying to make sure that this regulation as good as it is becomes even better before

yesterday texas senator john cornyn said he won't support lynch, and last week david vitter and jeff sessions said they would oppose her as well. we'll be right back. good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. what's that thing? i moved our old security system out here to see if it could monitor the front yard. why don't you switch to xfinity home? i get live video monitoring and 24/7 professional monitoring that i can arm and disarm from anywhere. hear ye! the awkward teenage one has arrived!!!! don't be old fashioned. xfinity customers add xfinity home for $29.95 a month for 12 months. plus for a limited time, get a free security camera call 1800 xfinity or visit comcast.com/xfinityhome. >>> i know some in the media thinks conservatives don't care about the cities but they're wrong. we believe that every american in every community mass the right to pursue happiness. they have the right to rise. >>> welcome back to "hardball

i'm leland vitter. thank you for watching america's hq. >> terror in the capital city of denmark. he was known to the country's intelligence agency and that he may have been inspired by what happened in france. we will have a live report. >>> as coalition forces launch fresh attacks against isis and syria and iraq, there is a battle now growing on capitol hill as lawmakers argue over whether the president's war powers request to fight the islamic state does too little or too much. >>> and blizzard warnings and whiteout conditions as the winter-weary northeast gets smacked with its fourth blizzard in a month. between bone-chilling temperatures and six feet of snow residents are ready to wave the white flag. what's next for that region? janice steen is here with the forecast. >>> we begin in denmark where that country's spy chief says the gunman in two terror attacks there may have been inspired by last month's attacks in paris by islamic radicals. the head of the danish intelligence service also saying the suspect was known to the agency. that gunman was shot dead early this mornin

also as a result of congressional action led by senator vitter the president's nominated a community banker to serve on the federal reserve board. there are also relief proposals i supported that did not cross the finish line last year. i'm pleased that senator morean will reintroduce that act. it had 7 asenate sponsors. this is ready for action. we should move on it. there's no question regulateers in congress have been responsive to the concerns of small institutions. we've acted where legitimate problems have been identified and members and stakeholders have come together to find compromise. i thank the witnesses today for helping in that process. i do not believe though, that ovary bill intended to provide regulatory relief to small institutions is a good idea. some proposals could threaten the safety and soundness of individual institutions. others could remove important consumer protections that all customers deserve no matter the size of the institution -- of the lending -- of the bank. we must not forget that more than 400 banks with less than a billion dollars in assets fail

and i think senator vitter and i -- it is no secret we don't see eye to eye on much but we were able to get a good bill done through this committee. and i have to make a point, mr. chairman, we were the only committee to act last congress. no committee of the senate or house but this committee. and with your leadership, we will be working together here to get this done. i am going to ask consent to put my statement in the record and make four very brief points. first, we can do nothing more important for jobs, businesses and for this economy, for this middle class than passing a multi-year highway bill. that is the first point. secondally, we have a great record of bipartisan on the issue. so nothing should stop us. and again i point to last year when we acted with no other committee acted in the senate or the house. there was bipartisan paralysis except for us and this committee. and i am so proud of that. and we need to take the leadership again. and hopefully this time it will be mutilated. -- emulated. three, we have to have the courage in the senate and in the house to fund a mu

>> leland vitter will break down the plans to defeat isis before summer. leland? >> well, good morning, guys. officials from the u.s. central command briefed the reporters on the plan and it's clearly a totally different approach than what we typically see from the military and the pentagon. they normally keep battle plans secret. it asked reporters to keep what they know close to the vest, protect our troops. that said here we go. battle plan to take mosul, iraq and isis controls the plan with an estimated 2,000 fighters. they took it last year after an embarrassing defeat of the army. and come april or may, they will be part of a 25,000 strong force of iraqis to take the city of mosul. >> it's now become a matter of policy that this administration is going to announce war plans in advance. it only increases the risk. you have to wonder given the timing right after the summit on countering violent extremism if this administration is trying to get a pr win since they haven't done anything to counteract the islamic state. >> this briefer told reporters the u.s. hop

brendan: i know senators brown and vitter were completely on top of this two years in three years ago draw the attention of the small banks and bigger bank that it failed in congress. how do you turn this distinction into legislation? governor keating: if they can get it done, there is a lot a bipartisan support. if you make a mortgage loan, you as a community bank or any bank and you keep it in house, it is a portfolio loan, it is automatically a qualified mortgage loan. that would be good. that would have a lot more mortgage activity. in the dodd-frank space, there are arcane rules, for example, my twin brother, a utility maker, was chairman of the utility board in tulsa, and under the dodd-frank rule, if you had any relationship of any sort, you as a bank or municipality you cannot do that without taking a course with the fcc. i mean, it is very complex, very detailed, and simply -- olivia: trickle-down regulation. governor keating, you are staying with us. coming up, the ceo of costar is staying with us. this is "bloomberg surveillance." on bloomberg television, streaming on your

chairman. >> thank you, senator vitter. now senator coons. >> thanks for the opportunity to comment on both the exceptional nominee to serve as next attorney general of the united states and on the two bills related to human trafficking which i hope we will get to today. loretta lynch has been an exceptional u.s. attorney. as many of my calls have mentioned before me, it's also my view just been an exceptional nominee. she has endured in more than 110 day wait and it is my hope and expectation that this would be her last day before this committee before moving to the floor. she performed admirably at her daylong nominations hearing, offering substantive answer some questions that were appropriate to answer, across many many topics but declined to in a properly prejudge certain legal conclusions when given complex hypotheticals. hypotheticals. she's also afghanistan is great, answered 897 questions for the record, which must be some sort of record. this combination of pedigree and grace under fire convinced me she is the rig

senator vitter has had special interest and so has senator shelby. you mentioned in your opening statement, you gave a speech on income and wealth inequality and that is through a robust job-creating economy. what steps ruin corporating to incorporate that into monetary policy decisions? >> we are very committed to both parts of the dual mandates price stability and maximum employment. we have been running a very accommodating monetary policy in order to promote stronger conditions in the labor market. we have been monitoring a wide variety of indicators of labor market performance, not focusing on any single measure and in particular, for example, the large magnitude of part-time involuntary employment, workers who want full-time jobs. the decline in labor force participation, part of which we understand to be or believe to be cyclical. these are things that we're monitoring very closely. we're also looking at wage growth and the fact that wage growth is really not picked up very much during this recovery i take to be another signal that although th

vitter: thank you madam president. madam president, i rise in strong opposition to stripping off all of the house language from the homeland security funding bill and proceeding with a --quote, unquote -- clean bill. and i do that, madam president because i took a constitutional oath and i take that oath very seriously and that language which we're debating in the homeland security funding bill from the house goes directly to that oath, goes directly to that responsibility. it does so for two reasons. first of all this executive amnesty had five million illegal aliens getting a blanket significant amnesty because of the president's executive action is a big deal. it's a big deal in terms of policy. it's a big deal regarding his overreaching his legal and constitutional authority. first, madam president policy. you know, it's a fundamental rule of economics it's a fundamental rule of life that when you reward behavior, you get more of it. when you penalize certain behavior you get less of it. well an amnesty a blanket o

senator vitter. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you my colleagues for jumping ahead and i have another commitment in a few minutes. and i'll be brief. and i submitted requests for documents on these rules and development of these rules last congress. now epa is still producing some of those documents, but from what has been produced, there is a really dramatic pattern of very frequent detailed meetings and phone calls between epa and nrdc a leading outside environmental group. again, the number of these communications is pretty staggering and unprecedented as far as i can see. but in addition, there is some correspondence between epa and rdc that is not produced or posted to the docket. why is that sand will that -- and will that excluded correspondence and documentation be submitted? >> senator i'm not sure exactly of the answer to that question. i'll be glad to get back to you on that? >> if you could get back to us. and hopefully that will be corrected in terms of the docket but including that additional correspondence and

leland vitter has been on this story. one of the donations broke white house rules; is that correct? >> reporter: it is certainly the rule the clinton foundation agreed to. they had strict ethics guidelines against accepting money from foreign governments. this was agreed to before she became secretary of state. "the washington post" detailed seven countries whose donations totaled in the millions including approximately $500,000 from the country of algeria. at the same time the country of algeria was also trying to lobby the state department. the foundation issued a statement last night appearing to admit a major break to the rules calling what they called an unsolicited donation quote, the clinton foundation received earthquake relief. the entire amount of algeria's donation was distributed as haddadi in haiti -- as aid in haiti. the state department should have been formally informed. this raises more questions as mrs. clinton considers a run for the president. >> trouble for hillary on this thursday. >> what was she t

you also had your own senator david vitter a guy you have worked with in the past who is also comingruth is. i campaigned on the promise we were going to it will come out february 27th. they have a continuation budget. folks like to say if you're not growing fast enough you're cutting. they actually look at the reductions of the budget. it's going to be based on the oil revenue. there will be other tax increases. but we have thot raised taxes. we're going to do it again. the important thing is to continue to grow the economy. >> we're running out of time. gene robinson, i know bobby, i like bobby, he's a politician just like i have been a politician. you come on with your talking points, but he's said something that really struck me. we have been talking about how chris christie had eight credit down ratings in new jersey. bobby has just said eight upgrades. talk is cheap, talking points are talking points but you stack louisiana up to new jersey, that's pretty strong in a republican debate. >> that's very strong in a republican debate. you have a better credit rateing, so what does

senator vitter has had special interest and so has senator shelby. you mentioned in your opening statement, you gave a speech on income and wealth inequality and that is through a robust job-creating economy. what steps ruin corporating to incorporate that into monetary policy decisions? >> we are very committed to both parts of the dual mandates price stability and maximum employment. we have been running a very accommodating monetary policy in order to promote stronger conditions in the labor market. we have been monitoring a wide variety of indicators of labor market performance not focusing on any single measure and in particular for example, the large magnitude of part-time involuntary employment, workers who want full-time jobs. the decline in labor force participation, part of which we understand to be or believe to be cyclical. these are things that we're monitoring very closely. we're also looking at wage growth and the fact that wage growth is really not picked up very much during this recovery, i take to be another signal that although the

i think we have a bill that i've been supportive that senator david vitter introduced in the senate, brakes on common core. i think it is important that since the federal government through the obama administration's programs to provide all sorts of money for states to adopt common core, that we should cut off that mup and give the states the flexibility to seat money how they see fit, not how arne duncan sees fit. >> thank you senator. we really appreciate you being here today. we wish you the best of luck and god bless. >> thank you very much. god bless you all. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ america's heart they say our reputation needs a new coat of paint ♪ ♪ and a delicate melody but i said ♪ ♪ i like the bruises because the melody don't mean a thing ♪ ♪ if we don't have the strength to say ♪ ♪ i won't be made to ever feel ashame ed ashamed ♪ ♪ and i'm american made i got american parts ♪ ♪ i got american faith in america's heart ♪ ♪ go on raise the flag ♪ ♪ i got stars in my eyes ♪ ♪ i'm in love with her ♪ ♪ and i won't apologize ♪ ♪ they say that we need changing ♪ ♪ they seem to get it wrong ♪

join the conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on vitter >> veterans affairs secretary mcdonaldhe hill to talk about the budget request. the va is asking for $168 billion, that is a 7.8% increase over the last year. other officials and leaders from various veteran service organizations also testified before the house and veterans affairs committee. >> the hearing will come to order. we are here to discuss the president's fiscal year 2016 budget request for the affairs. mr. secretary, welcome to the committee. i understand that your testimony will be a little bit different today than what we are accustomed to with the arrest of the charts. to help us better understand what you're seeing in terms of the challenges that lay ahead and i would say that is indeed a welcome change. so too is the openness that you have had with me and members of this committee and this congress about your plans to change the culture at the va. as your testimony illustrates you've been active in visiting the facilities. i think it is well over 90 at this point talking with employees, veteran groups in yo

vitter: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i rise in strong support of moving to the homeland security appropriations bill, and i hope we do that with a vote today. this is very important in terms of governing, in terms of passing an appropriations bill for a vital part of government. it's also important to address and debate and vote head on on president obama's illegal executive amnesty which he announced last december that would give basically an amnesty to about five million illegal aliens with no basis whatsoever in statutory law. in fact, statutory law is opposed to that sort of executive action. now, mr. president i find it ironic the very same members the very same party and ideology that is constantly beating the drum about for god's sakes we can't shut down the government, we can't have that sort of showdown apparently are freepg vote against even -- are preparing to vote against even moving to this spending bill which is necessary to fund a vital part of government. that makes no sense. we need to move to

sanders: i would ask that the quorum call be vittered. the presiding officer: without objection. sandsand sand imr. sanders: i would ask unanimous consent to address the senate up to 20 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president as the ranking member of the budget committee, i want to discuss this afternoon an issue of very serious concern to tens of millions of americans and that is the republican effort to cut social security disability insurance benefits and perhaps benefits for social security retirees. in my view and in the view of seniors throughout the state of vermont, this is a very, very bad idea. as you know, on the very first day of the new congress, house republicans passed a rule later adopted by the full house which would prevent the common practice of rebalancing funds from the social security retirement program for the social security disability program. this rule adopted by the republicans in the house would lay the groundwork for a 19% cut in disability benefits next year year. president obama in his budget did exactly what ha