watson coleman. rep. watson-coleman: thank you, mr. chairman. one quick statement to administrator mccarthy. even in the state of new jersey we have issues with high lead content, and children are being exposed. i don't know what you are doing, but i hope that when i called back to new jersey, you all are doing something there. thank you. governor, how long have you worked with chief of staff? how long has he been your chief of staff? governor snyder: i have a relatively new chief of staff. rep. watson-coleman: the chief of staff that was in this position when this occurred? governor snyder: since january 2011. rep. watson-coleman: and before that did you have any relationship with this chief of staff? governor snyder: no. rep. watson-coleman: did you have any knowledge of the serious water problems in flint, michigan, the first time he knew? governor snyder: i can't answer that question, i don't know a specific date. rep. watson-coleman: d relay on your chief of us rely on hours most of our lives to give us heads up and make sure nothing confro

watson coleman: thank you, mr. speaker. for what feels like the first time this year, the house got to work on something that will help millions of americans, addressing the opioid crisis. my home state of new jersey is a perfect example of this epidemic in both reach and financial impact. for every four of every five new heroin users, started their drug abuse addictions with a prescription opioid. and by one estimate, new jersey 128,000ome to more than heroin addicts. in the past 10 years, heroin has claimed 5,000 lives in my state. and what we -- and we fall just short of the top 10 in the percent of health care costs, we use on those suffering with opioid addiction. both heroin and prescription painkillers are driving national crisis of lethal overdose with more than 60% of these deaths re attributed to opiate abuse. many have called many have called this an epidemic and they are absolutely right. it deserves our attention and i applaud the bipartisan work we've done this week. but while we've taken a few vital steps, th

watson coleman: thank you. i thank the gentlelady from indiana for her leadership and for her support of this initiative. let me close by adding this. we are considering a number of bills this week to curing the opiate and heroin epidemics ravaging so many american families. we need to consider two things, first, communities of color have unique meeds and deserve as much consideration. that's why i offered this amendment and it's a theme i hope to see continued in other legislation we'll debate. the second is that when we head back to our districts on friday after completing consideration of these bills, we should not wash our hands and walk away from this issue, we need to fund the programs. we need to look back with a critical eye the ways we criminalize addictions in the past and over those solutions that will allow them to re-enter society. or our work cannot stop there. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back he

us secretary of energy by watson coleman. a great need. >> the breakthrough in the space, the challenges we have, spewed into our air. the vulnerability. >> as a senator was jutting out i take the opportunity to ask him about being a possible vp ticket for hillary clinton. his response was quite comical. >> i'm already hillary clinton's vegan pal. >> thank you. >> you can tweet me at chasing ashley j. >> usually lose one sense and another becomes heightened. (sounds of birds whistling) ♪ music ♪ introducing new k-y touch gel crème. for massage and intimacy. every touch, gently intensified. a little touch is all it takes. k-y touch. bill: coming up next a dog runs a pony. >> is pretty fantastic. the video speaks fo ♪ >> take a look at this blind cat. usually lose one sense another becomes heightened. the place bets with the owner. so play fetch. >> in the world of the most unlikely of animal friends which are normally absolutely adorable a five -year-old jack russell terrier is quite the pair. actually rides. it's pretty fanta

watson coleman, you are recognized. mrs. watson coleman: thank you very much. and thank you gentlemen for being here. i want to ask one question, i think it was you, mr. brainard, who said there were only a handful of really bad administrative level people. a lot of others have left. you said there is only a handful. is that 10, 12, 5? mr. brainard: less than 20. i do not know the precise number. only the people i deal with in my world. i don't speak -- strictly as an operations. i don't speak for the office of law enforcement, global strategies, or human capital. there are some different divisions women the t.s.a. -- within t.s.a. i can only speak to what i know. operations has the largest piece of the pie. mrs. watson coleman: i'll pay better attention to your organizational chart because i'm confused where people are located. i will do that. dr. livingston, you wrote in a statement you submitted for the record today, and i quote, today t.s.a. lacks the senior leadership courage to make the necessary changes so that the agency can accomplish its mission. righ

watson coleman: there's only one vendor you work with other pre-check program. and that the $85 that one has to pay only covers the administrative expenses. are going to expand this opportunity to other vendors, do you think that will create competition and reduce the cost associated with that? so. really hope that was one of the things being built into the request proposal. to look for ways to reduce the fee. i think competition can do that. >> or, if not reduce the fee, allow that to be used to ensure that you have the resources you need to do the job that needs to be done. workat we look for ex

watson coleman: there's only one vendor you work with other pre-check program. and that the $85 that one has to pay only covers the administrative expenses. are going to expand this opportunity to other vendors, do you think that will create competition and reduce the cost associated with that? so. really hope that was one of the things being built into the request proposal. to look for ways to reduce the fee. i think competition can do that. >> or, if not reduce the fee, allow that to be used to ensure that you have the resources you need to do the job that needs to be done. workat we look for flexible options for how you would fund this in a different way. know that the part-time employment is something that you have a lot of turnover in because people need full-time jobs. i would like to know how much and incoming tso gets as a full-time employee? i don't want to get the number wrong off the top of my head. it depends on location to try and make it equivalent. let me get to the number for the record. aroundto say it's 30,000, but let me to the number. >> you

watson coleman for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you gentlemen.ll of these cases we are discussing were either resolved in 2014 or 2015. these are old cases, right? since then, we have had changes in our policies and practices at the epa that would at least, address allegations of misconduct that come before, in terms of resolving them, and as well as the administratively policy. is that not correct? >> yes, congresswoman. that is correct. in the last year we made considerable progress moving forward. i would agree with the ranking member that we can always do better, but we have made considerable progress with having better communication and clear policies on the use of administrative leave. >> can you explain briefly what specifically has changed. you informed the ranking file and the supervisors. what is the process for holding them accountable, aside from just interacting with the interaction -- we discussed with all of our employees the importance of first-line supervisors and their conduct and discipline cases. usedde sure this cannot be whe

watson-coleman. >> thank you for being here. a lot of these cases, all of the cases we are discussing were resolved in 2014 or 2015 so those are old cases; right? and since then we have had changes in our policies and practices at the epa that would at least address allegations of misconduct that come before in terms of resolving them as well as administrative leave policies. is that correct? >> that is correct. with we will like in the last year we made considerable progress moving forward. i would agree with the ranking member we can always do better but we feel we made progress with better communication of the office of the inspector general and clearer policy on administrative leave. >> can you explain briefly what specifically changed that you informed the rank and file and the supervisors and what the process for holding them accountable, aside from interacting with the oig? >> the interaction -- well, in many ways all are appeased. we discussed with all of our employees the importance of first line supervisors and their r

we now recognize miss watson coleman for five minutes. >> most of these cases were resolved in 2014.hese are old cases? since then, we have had changes in our policies and practices at the epa that would at least address allegations of misconduct that come before them in terms of resolving them and as well as administrative leave policies. is that not correct? mr. meiburg: that is correct. we feel like in the last year we have made considerable progress moving four. i would agree with the ranking member that we can do better. could you explain briefly -- what has changed that have informed the rank-and-file and the supervisors. mr. meiburg: the interaction, well, in so many ways, all of a piece. we discussed with all our employs important first-line supervisors. again, as i, mentioned on the administrative leave, made sure that this cannot be used and the use of administrative leave has been curtailed. but the interaction involving the inspector general has been tremendously important because we refer cases to the inspector with whom we have evidence of misconduct and asking the insp

watson coleman for five minutes.nk you mister chairman, good morning gentlemen, thank you for being here. a lot of these cases, all the cases we are discussing were either resolved in 2014 or 15 so these are kind of old cases, right? since then we've had changes in our policies and practices at the epa that would at least address allegations of misconduct that come before them in terms of resolving them and as well as administrative leave policies, is that not correct? >> yes congresswoman that's correct.we feel like in the last year we've made progress moving forward. i would agree with the ranking memberwe can always do better but we feel like we've made considerable progress in having better communications with the office of the inspector general and clearer policies on use of administratively . >> could you explain briefly what specifically has changed that you informed the rank-and-file and the supervisors and what's the process for holding them accountable? aside from just interacting with the oig? >> the inter

watson coleman for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, gentlemen. thank you for being here. a lot of these cases, all the cases we're discussing were either resolved in 2014 or 2015. so these are kind of old cases, right? and so since then, we've had changes in our policies and practices at the epa that would -- that would at least address allegations of miski misconduct that come before them in terms of resolving them as well as administrative leave policies, is that not correct? >> yes, that's correct. we feel leak in the last year we have made considerable progress moving forward. i would agree with the ranking member that we can always do better, but we made considerable progress with having better communication. >> could you explain sort of briefly what specifically has changed that you have informed the rank and file and the supervisors and what the process for holding them accountable, aside from just interacting with the oig? >> the interaction, well, in many ways, all of a piece. we have discussed with all of our employees the importance of

watson-coleman. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you, administrator neffenger. you have an incredibly difficult job and i'm glad you're the one that's in it. i'm very concerned about the wait times. i really do believe that the airlines by allowing people to carry two or three bags instead of one bag carrying them on the aircraft contributes to the wait -- the amount of time it takes to go through the lines. i know you need additional resources. i'm interested in knowing at some point the answer to mr. thompson's question about how many do you think that you need. i know it's uneven sometimes going through even the precheck lines where they're telling you take your shoes off and belt off. i'm like, i thought that's why i was in precheck, that i wouldn't have to do that. i'm happy that you have an academy and that you're training people now. i've got a question about this issue of partnerships. there have been a few instances where airports have threatened to privatize as alternative to federalized screeners, which i'm more comfortable with. there are articles an

watson coleman for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, gentlemen. thank you for being here. a lot of these case all the cases we are discussing were either resolved in 2014 or 2015. so these are kind of old cases. right? and so since then we have had changes in our policies and practices at the e.p.a. that would at least address allegations of misconduct that come before them in terms of resolving them and as well as administrative leave policies. is that not correct? >> yes, congresswoman, that is correct. we feel like in the last year we've made considerable progress moving forward. i would agree with the ranking member that we can always do better but we feel like we've made considerable progress in having better communication with the office of the inspector general and clearer policies on the use of administrative leave. >> could you explain sort of briefly what specifically has changed that you've informed the rank and file and the supervisors and what the process for holding them accountable, aside from just interacting with the oig. >> the i

watson coleman you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you very much. it is often said that congress writes their laws in the executive branch enforces them. in 2007 with similar allegations about the organizations they were made based on explosive video interviews the justice department would investigate. assistant attorney general robert, you sir thank you for being here responded to the request about the potential violations of the federal statute against fetal tissue sales. the department noted based upon their preliminary review of the records it appears the department had not received any information meeting our standards for triggering a formal investigation that the tissue has been sold for a profit, and i would ask unanimous consent a copy of that be entered into the record. mr. raben, can you explain what the standards for the formal investigation are and why the standards are necessary, and have the standards they met in this instance that we are debating now? with the standards are, why they should be met and are we there now. >> briefly, th

watson coleman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank administrator neffenger. you have an incredibly difficult job. i'm glad that you're the one that's in it. i'm very concerned about the wait times. i really do believe that the airlines by allowing people to carry two and three bags instead of one bag when they're carrying one to the -- on the aircraft contributes to the wait and the amount of time it takes to go through the lines. i know you need additional resources and i'm really interested in knowing at some point, the answer to mr. thompson's question, about how many do you think that you need. i know that it's uneven sometimes in going through even a precheck lines where they're telling you take your shoes off and take your belt off. i thought that's why i was in precheck. i wouldn't have to do that. so i'm happy you are training people now. and i've got an issue. i've got a question about this issue of partnerships. because there have been a few instances where airports have threaten to privatize as an alternative to federalized screeners which i'm more

watson coleman. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you administrator, you have an incredibly difficult job and i am glad that you are the one that is in it. i am very concerned about the wait times. i really do believe that the airlines and by allowing people to carry two or three bags instead of one bag went there caring one onto the aircraft contributes to the weight, the amount of time it takes to go through the lines. i know you need additional resources and i am really interested in knowing at some point the answer to mr. thompson's question about how many do you think that you need. i know that that it's uneven sometimes and going through the pre-check lines with her telling to take you to take your shoes and belt off and i thought that's why was in pre-checked i would have to do that. i'm. i'm happy that you are training people now. i have an issue in a question about this issue partnerships because there been a few incidents where airports have been to privatize as an alternative which i am more comfortable with. there h