waxman: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. waxman: i want to put this bill in the perspective of what the house has been doing on the environment. the house has voted 136 times this congress to block action to address climate change, to halt efforts to reduce air and water pollution, to undermine protections for public lands and coastal areas and to weaning the protections of the environment in other ways as well. this is the most antienvironment congress in history. last month the house passed radical legislation to turn back 40 years of progress towards clean air. that bill would nullify pollution control requirements on power plants, the largest source of toxic mercury pollution in the country. and weaken our national clean air goals by basing them on corporate profits, not on public health. today the house continues its frontal assault on public health and the environment. the bills we'll consider this week are the next phase o

waxman: yes. mr. culberson: if there is any disproportionate impact the act will not go into effect. mr. waxman: will not have a disproportionate negative impact or adversely affect public health. it -- i think the language is clear enough for the president to make a finding and get guidance on it in order to determine whether this bill should be held up. so we may disagree but i don't think that the language is poorly drafted. i think it's pretty clearly drafted, and i would support the amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from wisconsin. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not -- ms. moore: madam chair, i would note that a quorum is not present and would ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from wisconsin will be postponed. for

waxman: i do, madam chairman. i have an amendment preprinted in the congressional record, amendment number 11 to h.r. 2250. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 11 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. waxman of california. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. mr. waxman: madam chair and my colleagues, i strongly oppose this bill on substantive grounds. it nullifies critical e.p.a. rules to cut toxic air pollution from solid waste incinerator and large industrial boilers. it threatens e.p.a.'s ability to issue new rules that actually protect public health by forcing it to set emission standards based on an industry wish list. and on top of that it allows polluters to avoid compliance with the new rules indefinitely. that is enough for me to vote no. i think this is a very bad bill. but this bill has another mark against it bus it does not comply with the republican leadership's policy for discretionary spending. some people

waxman. over 30 years ago, congress accepted the legal responsibility to protect the human health, conserve our natural resources, reduce waste, ensure that waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner. that's the underpinning of what this argument is about. now every year, america generates about 61 million metric tons of coal ash and slag. and about 17 million metric tons of coal sludge from utility and industrial boilers. now, mr. waxman mentioned what's in this sludge and slag. and that's why we're raising this argument because it contains all the chemicals that mr. waxman referred to, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, lead, mercury, it includes radioactive elements like thallium and radium. this is very toxic, this material. but we also know that coal ash slag and sludge have a number of beneficial reuses in concrete and roads and roofing. and e.p.a. is not trying to ban the beneficial reuse of coal ash. in fact e.p.a. proposed two separate possible regulations so that you could have a r

waxman of california. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. waxman: mr. chairman, yesterday republicans told us they aren't opposed to clean air, but we just can't afford it right now. and as their bills have no deadline for ever cleaning up toxic air pollution from these sources, it appears that they don't think we could ever afford clean air even in the future. the truth is we can't afford to wait for clean air any longer. and here's why. mercury is a potent neuro toxin. numerous scientific studies from around the world show that babies and children who are exposed to mercury may suffer damage to their developing nervous systems, hurting their ability to think, learn, and speak. e.p.a. has estimated that about 7% of women of childbearing age are exposed to mercury at a level capable of causing adverse effects in the developing fetus. that might not sound like a big number, but that translates into thousands and thousands of children who may never reach their full potential. toxic pollution can have tragic consequences, that's why republicans and democra

waxman and ms.s opening statement. >> both of us don't agree, so i'm asking -- regular order let's return to our witnesses and let me say to both of you, first of all, you are aware the committee is holding an investigative hearing and when doing so has had the practice of taking testimony under oath. do you have any objection to testifying in under oath? >> no sir. >> no search. >> okay. the chair then advises you under the rules of the house and the committee you are entitled to be advised by counsel; to you desire to be advised by counsel during your testimony today? >> nope. >> in that case, please raise your right hand and i will swear you win. do you swear the testimony that you are about to give is the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? you are now under oath and subject to the penalties set forth in title xviii sections 001 of the united states code. you may now give a five minute summary of your written statement. please begin. we will start with mr. grippo. >> transfer

waxman: i yield myself such time as i macon -- mr.ilner: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. filner: we know how banks foreclosed on military family the most notable case that of captain rowels and his family who testified movingly before our our -- before our committee. now we have news that some of the biggest banks and mortgage company have defrauded veterans by charging illegal fees in their home loans to add to their profits. i think some folks who kid that -- who did that did it knowingly, did it against the law and ought to be in jail today. when a service member separates from the armed services they need sufficient time to establish good economic footing to be successful. at times, military families have had a difficult time making a transition from the military to the civilian world. therefore, we ought to provide enough time for them to work with their lender, get a new loan if necessary or in worst case scenario, sell their home. a home is ofte

waxman and ms. degette surely have an opportunity to make any outrageous, outrageous because i don't have a problem with ms. degette's opening statement. >> i think both of us don't agree, so i am dutch that regular order. let's return to our witnesses, and let me say to both of you, first of all, you're unaware that the committee is holding an investigative hearing. and in doing so it has a practice of taking testimony under oath. do you have any objection to testifying under oath? >> knows her. >> okay. the chair then advises you that under the rules of the house and the rules of the committee you are entitled to be advised by counsel. do you advise to be advised by counsel during your testimony today? >> no. .. in the department of energy loan guarantee program. my name is carrie grippo, assistant sec attorney for a government policy joined here by gary berger, the cfo of the federal financing bank and he reports to me in the treasury. i submitted a written statement for the record. i am not goin

waxman: mr. chairman, i yield myself five minutes. today is the today that's going to seem awfully familiar to anyone that's been paying attention. today's the day will remind us of the bill we passed in april to block any requirements to control carbon pollution. the bill we passed in june to loosen pollution controls on oil companies. and the bill we passed in september to gut the clean air act and block pollution controls on power plants. and the bill we debated yesterday to ensure cement kilns don't have to clean up their toxic air pollution. in total the house has voted 146 times this congress to block action to change climate change, to halt efforts to reduce air and water pollution, to undermine protections for public lands and coastal areas, and to weaken the protection of the environment in our ways. this is the most anti-environment congress in history. today the house continues its frontal assault on public health and the environment. the bill we consider today would nullify and indefi

waxman of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 167, the nays are 243. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is a request for a recorded vote on amendment number 6 printed in the congressional record by the gentleman from illinois, mr. rush, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. rush of illi

waxman to come back here. we will have a decision on unanimous consent by the ranking member we will let mr. waxman, who has to be on the floor offer his five-minute question . >> i will have to be on the floor after these series of votes. i want to take the opportunity to ask you questions. who has the legal authority to make decisions on the issue of subordination. is it the treasury department or the department of energy? >> certainly not the treasury department. >> department of energy? >> i am not sure if it is the department of energy or the department of justice -- >> they heard from you, your department that there were concerns about the subordination issue. is that correct? >> i think we raise the issue of whether they could compromise the claim to government debt not specifically whether there was subordination, to be clear about the concern raised. >> there was no legal decision or memorandum? >> no, we did not have or render a legal judgment. we were flagging an issue for them to consider. >> you f

congressman waxman blasted republicans for not allowing the energy department to testify and ing the- blocking the release of a memo outlying the legal basis for its decision to restructure the loan. solyndra laid off more than 1,000 employees. >>> occupying a speech. the media mogul who had trouble finishing any sentence during a san francisco gathering this morning. >>> and the wait is over, let the stampede begin. an an apple legend chimes in after getting the new iphone >>> rupert murdoch delivered the keynote address this morning at an education conference this morning in san francisco. but there was one hitch. members of the occupy wall street movement repeatedly interrupted murdoch's speech while dozens protested outside. as for the speech, murdoch claimed the standards for american schools are lower than the standards for his fox show "american idol." he backed up his claim with statistics if a college testing service. >> three quarters of american students who graduate from high school are not ready to do college morning. three quarters. these are the kids who are going to co

waxman and now commissioner wayne is a practice -- >> commissioner wynns is correct. you need a form. >> are you speaking of the city college school district? we had a quorum of the body but not the sandford cisco unified board -- of san francisco unified board. we heard a presentation, which is lovely, and i appreciated there was a student and teacher and principal, and it was a nice presentation, so that is my report. >> should we have the presentation done to the full board of some point? >> i think it would be worthwhile. it is about all the efforts being made in some of those neighborhoods, and there are some wonderful improvements being made. >> maybe we can check and see if there is a milestone point where they can come and present to one of our board meetings. commissioner fewer on budget? >> it was a lovely meeting except that we have our report on the budget but was not about lovely, and i blame the deputy superintendent on fivethat. we did have an interesting reports. gjust to give you an overview that the educational placement center where it is funded, so

waxman grossman -- rex grossman throws it into coverage. three interceptions. then let us go for four. the redskins is scrambling. he gets into trouble again. what was he thinking? who was he throwing it to? it was intercepted. grossman gets benched. beck somes in. he gets a touchdown. here is the ball game here. just under two minutes to play. vick gets just enough on the first down and the redskins lose. a new quarterback controversy. >> if you watched the redskins game and felt sick -- saw pick after pick after pick from rex grossman. you're probably thinking the same thing as the media. >> there were many interceptions. >> the first game out of a bye week grossman may be saying goodbye to a starting job. four interceptions and failing to convert on any third downs. >> the coaching staff does not. [unintelligible] >> shanahan lost faith in grossman in the fourth quarter. >> with 4 turnovers we thought it was time to make a change. >> there was one scoring drive. [applause] and displays of athleticism like this. this change could be permanent. >> i am rusty o

joining us to talk about this and other issues in los angeles, sharon waxman, editor-in-chief of therap.comric wepple, reporter and media critic for the "washington post." eric, i got a facebook message saying the reason i didn't talk about this on last week's program was my corporate overlords prohibited it. i wasn't sure it was that big a deal. were the media too slow to pick up on the sfloifts. >> right. i argue that they weren't. that a protest needs to prove itself. >> there are protests all the time. >> right. these protesters, happened to their credit, to be savvy on social networks. they're able to build their own protests. the media can come in. i don't see a huge problem the way keith olberman did and others did with the media blackout. i didn't see a huge problem with the protest, proves itself, generates headlines, doing thing that turns some heads. then the media can jump in. i think that's the system working, not the system broken. >> sharon when we come backman, i've read various manifestows that purport to describe what the protesters want. they're against corporate greed an

bush was in the white house and h henry waxman on every night and accusation of skull duggary and conspiraciesnd the rest, to democrats in the white house. we'll see, when eric holder walks out after news conference because he didn't like a question about fast and furious, that's an indication that at least some of the coverage is starting to get to them. >> ellen, would be appear to be a big story, fox news has covered this ten times as much as cnn. >> i thought that fox's article was the most balanced. the daily caller to the right. on talk radio stations i'm on and we do many hits a day. every single one of them, right, left and center has been asking me about this. >> you know, jim, cheryl akerson of cbs made some phone calls to the white house and got screamed the at, she says, because she was asking about fast and furious, here is what david of the baltimore sun had to say. the obama administration is in full campaign mode when it comes to answering questions about fast and furious and they prefer the media organization to come on bended knee, like nbc. do you think there's truth to that

congressman waxman blasted republicans for not allowing the energy department to testify and ing there-- blocking the release of a memo outlying the legal basis for its decision to restructure the loan. solyndra laid off more than 1,000 employees. >>> occupying a speech. the media mogul who had trouble finishing any sentence during a san francisco gathering this morning. >>> and the wait is over let the stampede begin. an an apple legend chimes in after getting the new iphone 4s. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> rupert murdoch delivered the keynote address this morning at an education conference this morning in san francisco. but there was one hitch. members of the occupy wall street movement repeatedly interrupted murdoch's speech while dozens protested outside. as for the speech murdoch claimed the standards for american schools are lower than the standards for his fox show "american idol." he backed up his claim with statistics if a college testing service. >> three quarters of american students who graduate from high school are not ready to do colleg

waxman. folks from that part of the country, as my colleague from florida said, will probably see direct flights no longer exist because if you start off from los angeles and fly to paris, it's going to cost you more money. so i con seed -- can see the airlines trying to save money by stopping in philadelphia or stopping in new york so they can decrease the tax that's going to be imposed upon them. and as mr. petri has said, they're imposing it on the air sky -- the air over america. if they want to impose a tax in europe on people doing business in europe, they have the ability to do that. but to do it and start it over american air space, over american departure, it's a wrong thing to do. and europeans know it, you already have the italians and the dutch are already saying they're questioning the wisdom of doing this so i think you're going to see people in europe starting to change their attitude and tonight is going to send a very, very strong signal to europe that america's not going to

bryson once called the waxman-markey cap-and-trade bill moderate. this was probably the most liberal of all the cap-and-trade bills that were there. i have to say this one thing. i understand i am eight last speaker tonight. what all the speakers who are in favor 6 this have in common is they are all supporting cap and trade with the exception of senator hutchison and she's a retiempleg standpointrd stop and think about it. boxer, feinstein, kerry, mccain, they're all strong supporters of cap and trade. that's what i'm going to talk about tonight because i know where john bryson is on cap and trade. he told some students at the university of california berkeley last year that -- and i'm going to quote now so i don't get it wrong. "cap-and-trade has the advantage politically at sort of hiding the fact that you have a major tax." now, to me, the fact that you're supporting something that's a major tax increase on american people is bad enough, but when you say one of the good things about cap and trade is you can hide the fact that it's a major tax in

. >> hinry waxman proposed $16 billion to create jobs. so now that's the code for more taxes. they are skipping -- they are lying through their teeth. they want more tax. >> the one thing about this -- the bill that created the super committee was that if they could not reefn a decision by the end of november, it would be brought up for a vote, automatic triggers would cut into the domestic and defense spending in 2013. that's real. you can't undo that. that's two-thirds vote. >> tell john mccain. >> you think this is enough to force them to get a deal done? >> defense is the one thing. it's domestic spending on the other side. but in particular, it's obamacare. so the democrats have -- incentive to protect that. on the defense thing tactually is quite bipartisan. we talked about this before -- is the number of defense bases, like d.o.d. bases in your district or your state. they will fight for those. that typically is not a partisan thing. >> you can hire them as the defense industry does, virtually every retired member of congress has a job. >> a lot of members are coming ou

now, we can debate about when he deserved it, but henry waxman preferred that and led him to trial. explaining to do about whether or not he was truthful to our committee. >> guys doping themselves in baseball is serious because it distorts because it ruins the game. thousands of mexicans are dead and many by these guns. >> thank you, congressman. >> thank you. >> as the scandal continues to wind its way all the way up the chain of command; there any precedent for what is taking place inside the justice department. we will take a look back at past controversies that may shed light on what happens next. straight ahead. >> bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firms, the atf, is at the center of the fast and furious scandal. but the organization is no stranger to controversy t goes back to the days of president clinton. but oddly, it may be the watergate scandals of the 1970s that is most similar to the events unfolding at the doj today. >> i know you are praying for me for a peaceful and quick conclusion to the events. >> the atf was involved in few clinton era controversies that have becom

. >> hinry waxman proposed $16 billion to create jobs. so now that's the code for more taxes.ping -- they are lying through their teeth. they want more tax. >> the one thing about this -- the bill that created the super committee was that if they could not reefn a decision by the end of november, it would be brought up for a vote, automatic triggers would cut into the domestic and defense spending in 2013. that's real. you can't undo that. that's two-thirds vote. >> tell john mccain. >> you think this is enough to force them to get a deal done? >> defense is the one thing. it's domestic spending on the other side. but in particular, it's obamacare. so the democrats have -- incentive to protect that. on the defense thing tactually is quite bipartisan. we talked about this before -- is the number of defense bases, like d.o.d. bases in your district or your state. they will fight for those. that typically is not a partisan thing. >> you can hire them as the defense industry does, virtually every retired member of congress has a job. >> a lot of members are coming out and hinting

now, we can debate about when he deserved it, but henry waxman preferred that and led him to trial.ly has some explaining to do about whether or not he was truthful to our committee. >> guys doping themselves in baseball is serious because it distorts because it ruins the game. thousands of mexicans are dead and many by these guns. >> thank you, congressman. >> thank you. >> as the scandal continues to wind its way all the way up the chain of command; there any precedent for what is taking place inside the justice department. wow! it's even bigger than i thought. welcome to progressive. do you guys insure airstreams? yep. everything from travel trailers to mega motor homes. and when your rv is covered, so is your pet. perfect. who wants a picture with flo? i do! i do! do you mind? got to make sure this is -- oh. uh... okay. everybody say "awkward." protecting your family fun. now, that's progressive. call or click today. and firms, the atf, is at the center of the fast and furious scandal. but the organization is no stranger to controversy t goes back to the days of president clinto

>> they were released by the democrats on the house energy and customers committee, led by henry waxmanhey are really shockers. we didn't know this was going on. they include e-mails from the people right around the president, valley jarrett, emmanuel, and ron, and they are discussing solyndra, what the chances are and whether it's a good idea to let the president go do a photo open on a factory that's paid for with a government lone and a a lot of people were saying this is dangerous. there was a person who invested in solyndra, a venture capitalist said this is a good deal for us but i don't know if it's a good deal for taxpayers. >> why did they release the e-mails to show it was not politically motivated? what it did so it is incompetent, and i think it's almost easier to cure someone being politically motivated than incompetence. what was the point in releasing the e-mails? >> they knew it would come out. the republicans on the committee have been investigating solyndra six, seven months now. they knew it would come out. does the majority decide when it comes out or the democrats?

and when you start manipulating it and, you know, waxman-markey at the end of the day by building in, by basically diminishing that price signal for the consumer, i mean, you talk about in this book over and over and over again -- >> guest: right. >> host: -- what changes people's habits is an increase in price. remember as a kid my mom saying to me, di that, we don't own psc and g, turn your light off. >> guest: yes, exactly. >> host: and that resonates. but that's a very hard political road to walk when people are -- >> guest: yeah. that's why, well, that's why if you sort of, i mean, that's right. i think right now the bad economy, jobs, you know, unemployment, these are the dominating questions, the concern about kind of the weakness of the global economy.

when you start manipulating it and waxman markey at the end of today by building in basically diminishingthe price signal for the consumer will need to talk about in this book over and over and over again what changes people's have it is an increase in price. i remember as a kid my mom saying to me we don't own p&g qtr your bedroom light off. that resonates, but it seems that that is a very hard political road to walk when it you were going to get angry -- >> guest: that's why if you sort of -- i think right now the bad economy jobs and unemployment, these are the dominating questions and concerns about the economy, and you approach energy issues because they are important differences than of the prime where there is a wealth affected and there is a fear factor at work and so that is what you do. that is why you go back and see no congressmen vote, no congressman is going to vote for gasoline tax to buy a more efficient car that is what happened in europe. the way that we do about it is behalf fuel efficiency standards as the way to do it and it's just it kind of reflects our culture. >>

waxman: a woman who may p die from her pregnancy, she's in for emergency service, a doctor can refuse to give her emergency services if his conscience would prohibit performing an abortion. this is a full-throttled assault on women's health and a woman's right to choose. it's not what the american people voted for last november. we should be focusing our attention on jobs, economic growth and the numerous pressing, important challenges we face as a nation. this is a shameless, just a shameless bill, i urge a no vote on h r. 358. i yield back the rest of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: i yield to the distinguished vice chairman of the subcommittee, dr. burgess, for one min. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: i thank the chairman, i just want to respond to what we just heard on the floor of the house. h.r. 358 does not change current law or any standard related to standard 167 of the social security act commonly referred to as emtala. it states a hospital must pr

waxman, i would say class dismissed, and then we need to work on canceling. i yield the balance of my time to mr. murphy of pennsylvania. >> thank you. you know, i've been concerned about the way this program doubles premiums as long term health insurance and the so-called savings of health care law. as far as back in march, i said if any insurance company began collecting premiums and spend before paying a single penny in benefits, they would be prosecuted as a ponzi scheme. what's of concern here is the lack of forthrightness on behalf of hhs and the administration concerning the insolvency of the program. throughout the debate of the health care bill, i and republicans and even democrats questioned the long term solvency of the program, but the administration insisted solvency was not in question and the program would significantly reduce the deficit. in fact, the original cbo score of the class act projected savings of $70 billioning thing for half of the toe -- total deduction. secretary says now it's totally insustainable and the promised savings evapor

waxman says it is too expensive. my premium is less than $100 per month. i do not what it would be in the class act, but the benefit would not be as substantial as the one i purchased in the private sector. i am not dependent upon the government to do the right thing. i did not have a 15-year exclusion on the policy that i bought. congress could do something to make it easier, letting me pay with that fre-tax dollars or my health savings account. these are things within our reach and i do not understand why we will not do that. he also referred to us as " opponents." i remember when the cossack first appeared in this hearing room, at the last minute for a place holder language that they brought to the marked up, never had a hearing on it, never called a witness on it, and we were just presented with this information and we would fill in the details later. now it is later and we are filling in those details and they do not look too encouraging. it looks like it was a budgetary deception to mask the actual cost. people are rightly asking now if we would have

for the democratic side of things, here's congressman henry waxman's perspective. >> i don't see evidenceng by government officials, just a bad investment decision. i don't want to minimize it. but this was a bad decision as far as we know made on the merits. >> reporter: we've heard several republicans make the suggestion that they believe the department of energy violated the law when the department of energy decided to pay back solyndra's investors over the taxpayers. jenna? jenna: more on this story as we get it, mike. thank you very much. gregg: and now more to politics and the election. republican presidential candidate herman cain on the campaign trail building momentum, to be sure, spreading his message now in a bus tour through tennessee. joining us now on the telephone from memphis, harris faulkner, who's traveling with the cain campaign. hi, harris. >> reporter: hey, gregg. you know, a lot of of people might be wondering why herman cain is not in a more traditional campaign route going through states like new hampshire, south carolina and iowa. and one of the things he's told m

a report led by henry waxman of california, a long-time member of the house, indicated last week that the house has voted 168 times to roll back regulations on clean air, clean water. these safeguards are important to have a healthier america, but the republican response has been cutting back environmental health safeguards. i guess helping a sicker, more polluted country is a better place to create jobs, and it's not. madam president, i'm going to talk a little bit today about the legislation that i moved to on monday dealing with, as i have indicated, maintaining jobs for teachers, firefighters and police officers. 75% of the americans support this legislation. this is not a poll that some democratic pollster did. it's a cnn hp gallup poll. -- it's a cnn/gallup poll. this week, my republican colleagues have rallied against teachers and first responders. that's our latest proposal to create hundreds of thousands of american jobs and save other jobs. republicans point to a stellar program with a proven track record of keeping 422,000 teachers in the classroom. that's important. and th

waxman: on that vote i request the yeas and nays. roll all vote. the speaker pro tempore: record the vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is order. members will record their votes by electronic device, this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 267. the nays are 144. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to remove myself as a co-sponsor of h.r. 13890. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. chabot: thank you. mr. speaker, i further ask unanimous consent that the committee on th

ranking member waxman and i have urged chairman stearns to do an investigation on the recent wisteriautbreak which is now killed 18 people, -- the listeria outbreak which has killed 18 people. i happen to think -- i have seen some new data that avian flu in china is on their rise again. i think it would be useful to have a hearing to see if we have enough of the vaccine to be able to protect our public if there is a flu outbreak. there is a lot that we could be doing pre going on a vendetta against planned parenthood because some people disagree with the fact that planned parenthood provides some of person -- some abortion services with private money, i think it is a social agenda that is inappropriate. host: how would you describe your relationship with chairman stearns? guest: we actually have an excellent relationship. when voters have a poor opinion of congress, chairman stearns and i can disagree on what the focus of the committee should be doing. we can have a robust debate. but we can still be friendly and i think we have a good personal relationship. host: ray is the first cal

government reform and oversight committee where dan burton was investigatingving, and then you had waxmanthing. now you talk about issa who has been far less ideological than those previous two. but still at this point, i am taking the investigation part of the process, is there just a collective exhaustion after 20 years of this yelling and screaming and americans and some of the press just, like, get out? >> yes. and they dismantled some of the machinery of scandal in the special prosecutors that in the clinton years were appointed for every kind of possible story whether it was a scandal or not. part of it is also whether it fits with what people perceive to be a pattern. >> right. >> so if -- you know, when bill clinton ran into trouble on sex, it was seen as part of the pattern -- >> right. >> -- and everyone when there were abuse-of-power questions under bush, it seemed like a pattern after 9/11, there doesn't seem to be that kind of pattern for obama and he's benefiting from it. he's got the other kinds of problems that will not necessarily get him re-elected, but i think it will h

under chairman henry waxman's leadership, the committee examined problems in the contract for logistical support. the contract with black water usa for security sources and the state department's billion dollar contract to build a united states embassy in baghdad. private security providers were involved in a massive racket to send u.s. taxpayer dollars into the hands of warlords in the taliban. our committee's oversight effort has resulted in significant changes. in iraq, the state department has dramatically increased its management of private security contractors and the use has plummeted. in afghanistan, general petraeus responded to the attorney general also investigation by issuing new contract and guidelines. in spite of these were the investigations, more must be done to prevent workers from occurring in the first place. the commission has given us a road map and a good one. , for reform that includes two recommendations for congress and the executive branch. these reforms require increasing competition, oversight, and enforcement. we cannot put in place the personnel to oversee

i want to thank our ranking members, waxman and he shall auto, and their staffs -- eshoos, and their staffs for working with us on this bill. because the ntiu and r.u.s. have awarded all $7 billion, the bill doesn't automatically revoke any money. to do so would not only be unfair to the grant and loan recipients that are abiding by their award terms, it would also likely cost the government more in legal fees than it would save. the vast majority of the money is yet to be spent by the awardees, however. so what h.r. 1343 does is clarify the responsibility of the ntia and the r.u.s. going forward to terminate failed or failing grants and loans and return to the u.s. freshry any rescinded or relinquished funds. the bill also improves oversight of the broadband programs. among other things, the bill requires the ntia and the r.u.s. either to terminate an award within 30 days of receiving information from their respected inspectors' general or the comptroller general noncompliance with award terms or explain to congress why they don't. it would require the ntia and r.u.s. to deobligate

if we were to pass any of these bills whether it go back and be the mccain-lieberman bill or the waxman-markey bill, these cap and trade bills that would be -- be giving us around a $300 billion to $400 billion of the tax increase, if that happened, would it reduce emissions? her answer was no. logically, you look at it. if we do it in the united states it's not going to change the emissions because this isn't where the problem is. the problem is in china and india and in mexico. anyway, the cost of these regulations are just unbearable for our economy, and here we are with over 9% unemployment, and we're very norton my state of oklahoma because we have diversified and our unemployment rate is down at 5.5%. nationally, it's a disaster. so regulations are a very important part of this and i just wanted to make sure, mr. president, that we say -- make it very clear it's not just the regulations that come from the environmental protection agency because this regulation that we're talking about is going to be for -- is going to be from the usda. with that, mr. president, i'll yield the floor unles