wyden: mr. president, to start, i just want to pay tribute to my two colleagues, senator casey and senator ayotte for their focus on human rights and particularly the rights of women wherever those women may live. i rise tonight to talk about the rights that are enshrined in our bill of rights. to that particular key concern of americans, i want to talk about the importance of reforming our domestic surveillance laws. and we, senator wyden and i, as we both enter this discussion, we have one general goal in mind and that is to find the proper balance of keeping our nation safe from terrorism while still protecting our cherished constitutional rights. senator wyden and i are both members of the senate intelligence committee, and we have argued for years that the government's domestic surveillance authorities need to be narrowed, and we're going to keep leading this fight in the days and weeks and months to come. as a part of this ongoing effort, we recently introduced comprehensive bipartisan leg

are you know and others who've been calling for reforms imagine how different would be if senator wyden with the chairman of the senate intelligence committee instead of senator feinstein who's so beholden to the words and wishes of the intelligence community yeah absolutely and you know there's the lies that are being told in the misinformation that's coming from the intelligence community to congress and then there's the misleading and blocking of information that's coming from the congressional intelligence committees to the rest of the members that have been alleged by members like alan grayson and parker griffith who they've tried to get these documents and they've been barred by those intelligence committees let's let's talk about some of these bills we have the feinstein fi's improvements act which is been pretty much panned as a giveaway to the n.s.a. but the usa freedom act by senator leahy and congressman jim sensenbrenner who wrote the patriot act has some people pleasantly surprised by how strong it is what do you make of it and what are the chances that it is the one that's

disclosures senators ron wyden mark you do. and barbara mikulski are pushing amendment that would force the director of intelligence this guy james clapper to give a report to congress in which he'd have to answer a number of critical questions about n.s.a. spying activities did the n.s.a. ever use provisions under the pfizer act to warrantless collect americans communications or another one did the n.s.a. why did the supreme court in the recent case of clapper very amnesty concerning warrantless wiretapping of american citizens and exactly how has the n.s.a. used cell phone location data to track americans those sort of questions the amendment will also require the attorney general to release any top secret pfizer court rulings that show instances of the n.s.a. breaking the law violating the constitution with its spying activities advise a court in the n.s.a. have already been compelled to hand over several previously classified documents the latest document dump was monday night when a secret court order giving the n.s.a. per

senator wyden has raised privacy protections for data collection. i was wondering what your read is. >> a lot of changes need to be made. we face a real problem if we do not ring this in. you find some support to rein some of this in. . we're going to see the american industry really hurt overseas if it is seen as an anonymous by. having said that, i get a little bit tired of hearing some of the complaints. i am shocked to find gambling going on. >> to the other countries spy on us? >> i think yes the do. countries spy on each other. they have the kind of relationship we have with written where we have a sharing of intelligence. there are very few examples of that. ,f we give the impression everyone of our technological advances are really in an shipment of our intelligence agency. >> they do not like it. we had one testifying the other day. i asked the question of how they felt. i asked if they had been under any court orders they are not allowed to talk about. he said i cannot answer that question. do you think national security would you heard? n

senator udall and senator wyden. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you. have helped to lead this effort because there was any real disclosure about some of the excesses that have been so dramatically revealed over the recent past. and as a colleague in this effort, i want to thank them for their relentless courage in blowing whistle -- the whistle, quite bluntly, telling america that there was something wrong even when they couldn't reveal exactly what was wrong, saying that the american people would be outraged if they knew, if only they could be told. and that kind of bravery and strength has given energy and momentum to this debate. i am chagrined that we will not be debating and acting on it in connection with the national defense authorization act if the present circumstances prevail and amendments are limited. i do believe it is past time to be talking about enacting on these issues, to move for greater accountability and transparency, one of the amendments that i have sponsored would call for a more adversarial process to

this is a doctor a loophole that ron wyden and warned about the fact the answer what is happening is that the nsa is allowed under the fine sentiments asked to go collapse huge amounts of communications of people were suspected to be foreigners overseas without any individual court because they are foreigners overseas. what ends up happening is the nse scoops up a lot of communications between people overseas and americans and also ends up scooping a lot of purely domestic communications of americans into that style as well these are all communications americans' communications that the nsa we needed individualized order court order or warrant to look at under ordinary circumstances but what they're doing is once they collect in under five seven and in fact they are saying that they can then go searching for the needs of americans. it is for but it's a backdoor way around the warrant requirement of the fourth and this is a normally it did under normal quarter she said they would have to target individuals that they're going for them to prove show evidence of whiners reasonable costs

creating a buzz about wanting to know what was going on here last year starting with center senator ron wyden and some members of the democratic party but we have to remember that t v p has been nafta on steroids so but on steroids so bush came under a lot of fire was all tamil. ultimately not passed by the congress but a lot of critics fear that some of the provisions and sopa will be snuck into regulations that are being drafted right now in the tepee p. and that the people in the congress won't be able to debate it when it comes to nafta we have to remember that a lot of democrats including candidate obama before he was elected was very critical of nafta and and the fact that many economists say that it killed tons of jobs here in the u.s. and it and had other very negative side effects he was a vocal critic as were many democrats so if it does turn out that a lot of the same instruments that were used in nafta are being used here in t p p there could be very politically damaging is there anything these congress people that are speaking up can do you know at this point to stop this from go

is a fairly new oversight committee the committee is expected to pose reforms however senator ron wyden has been critical of the executive branch's initiatives recently he said that the administration has shown quote little interest in real reform and that defenders of business as usual will try to codify the surveillance authorities reformers want to appeal into law why in another privacy advocates called this quote figure leaf legislation but to talk about this new board in the proposed reforms i was joined earlier by he mancini gum the founder of leading privacy advisory firm s.s.p. blue i first asked him to talk about the parts of the surveillance legislation that were being reviewed. but i have to tell you if even though they're supposed to target certain pieces of legislation and look at everything they are actually doing that they are looking from what it appears at everything i don't think there's anything on the table that's not up for grabs enough to review but that said there were a couple of things that came out one is whether or not the phone records capability tapping of p

acquired under the section seven o two of the members that this is the back door loophole that ron wyden had warned about exactly and so what has been happening is that the n.s.a. is allowed under the files and them its act to go collect huge amounts of communications of people who are suspected to be foreigners overseas without any individual warrant because they are foreigners overseas what ends up happening is the n.s.a. scoops up a lot of communications between people overseas and americans and also ends up scooping a lot of purely domestic communications of americans into that. as well these are all communications americans communications that the n.s.a. would need an individualized order a court order or warrant to look at under ordinary circumstances but what they're doing is once they collect it under the pfizer amendments act they are saying that they can then go search it for the names of americans and it's a sort of it's a backdoor way around the warrant requirement of the fourth amendment so so normally the under normal court as you said they would have to target the individu

minutes and with five to go dutch star i n robin doubled wirelessly keeping the ball at the keeper ron wyden fella for thomas moore less wistfully put it beyond any doubt any of those men extended their record unbeaten run to thirty eight league games. well let's return to the world cup and after delays and protests in next year's host nation brazil and claims of workers' rights abuses in cats are the gospel media is also focusing on twenty one thousand homes russia who are introducing new laws and policies to combat the prospect of racism or violence as rich and poor food reports. last month says come moscow's champions league defeat to munch to c.t. at him q. rina was marred by claims of racist abuse reported by city's ivory coast international yahya. the game wasn't stopped no public announcement to hold the chanting was made and serious cause board late to the night anything serious that happens two weeks later sponsored moscow also dismissed the shoe after some of their fans travelled to second to cheney for a cup time unveil the banner bearing a nazi swastika and clashed with riot poli

the congress this willing to say that it should be public other than maybe elizabeth warren and ron wyden and it's been a very little congressional support for this as peter maybe director of access to medicine and public citizen and james love director of knowledge ecology international thank you both. now on to afghanistan more than twelve years after the u.s. went to war in that country the situation is still very messy as american taxpayers spend enormous amounts of money paying contractors to rebuild the country a new report by the special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction shows that some of that money is flowing in the hands of those who wish to do harm to americans artie's perry and boring has more. u.s. taxpayer money that's supposed to go towards helping rebuild afghanistan and combat terrorism and actually ending up in the hands of terrorists themselves as according to a new report by the special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction or see who are the military watchdog found that the u.s. has awarded more than one hundred fifty million dollars to compa

the congress this willing to say that it should be public other than maybe elizabeth warren and ron wyden and it's been there been very little congressional support for this spearman maybe director of access to medicine and public citizen and james lowe director of knowledge ecology international thank you both moving out of this state in two thousand and one president george w. bush signed an executive order giving him the power to detain suspected terrorists and it should. to try them in military commissions this order pave the way for the prison facility at guantanamo bay it now open nearly twelve years and despite presidential promises high profile hunger strikes and growing discontent around the world that prison is still open and there are doubts if it will ever close artie's on a starter churkin it delivers her final report on what's really going on inside. her . for her when it comes to this president the numbers. since being set up after the attacks of nine eleven a total of seven hundred seventy nine hundred have been held at guantanamo today one hundred sixty four people remain

the congress this willing to say that it should be public other than maybe elizabeth warren and ron wyden i mean it's been there been very little congressional support for this as peter made director of access to medicine and public citizen and james love director of knowledge ecology international thank you both. according to the latest numbers coming to the philippines more than twenty three hundred people are dead after a massive typhoon tours of the nation last week that more than a thousand homes were destroyed and more than a half million people are homeless but assistance is starting to pour in there concern pace to contribute more than one billion dollars to relief efforts which could be the third highest total contribute for such an overseas disaster ever but is all that money really helping or jesus walt takes closer look five days after typhoon haiyan ripped through the philippines survivors are struggling to pick up the pieces it's considered one of the strongest typhoon avar in recorded history thousands are dead hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed millions hav

i think that is why you hear democrats like ma cull can i, democrats like ron wyden of oregon, get awaythe republican democrat. do what is right for the american people and fix this thing and fix it now. that pragmatic attitude is what you're hearing from democrats who are trying to be supportive. jon: all right. but republicans it should be pointed out didn't vote for the thing. juan williams, juan williams, charlie hirt, thank you both. >> you're welcome, jon. harris: well, president obama is heading to the home state of one of fiercest opponents of obamacare. white house is signaling a new course in response to texas governor rick perry's refusal to implement a key part of the president's signature health care law. >>> a heart-warming welcome for our heroes coming home from overseas. it is coming from passengers. at one of the nation's busiest airports. harris: "happening now," president obama is getting ready to visit dallas, texas to try to sell the affordable care act to try to prop up enrollment. but he is facing stiff opposition from governor rick perry who is no fan of the law

i am always interested to hear what senator wyden has to say. warren has senator to say. congress clearly made a judgment that a new agency needed to be created, that there is someone to stand on the side of the average consumer to make sure they are treated fairly in the marketplace. that is a big part of our role. we are concerned about every individual consumer to make sure they are treated fairly and that the market is working for average americans so they can understand pricing and risk and make judgments about their choices that they can live with over the long term. willis the work we continue to be doing over the next several years. you think we are safer now than we were in 2009 in terms of the mortgage products we use, student loans. have we made a fair amount of progress in protecting consumers from where we were four years ago? there is no question that the mortgage market will be safer and function better with our new rules that take effect january 10. they were designed to root out some of the most irresponsible crack since of the mortgage market -- responsi

. >> those were the projections of the rates, much like we heard senator wyden talk about the projections around medicare and -- make our -- medicare part d. >> the rates are going down? >> i did not say they were going down. i said they are lower than was predicted. millions of people in the market, they will actually for the first time ever have some financial help paying for their health insurance. >> we are going to have to move on here. >> one of the toughest public service jobs i ever had was the elected insurance commission of florida. one of the most doubling insurance markets was the individual insurance policies. peopleuld happen is would be enticed to come in to cheap health insurance and then over time, as the group got sicker, there was no control on the rates. it would go up, and they found limited health insurance. that is what the affordable care act is trying to address. we are talking about the individual insurance policies. not the group policies. case, we nowcular have no lifetime limits. we do not have pre-existing conditions. looking in your states and find many exam

proposals including the intelligence oversight and surveillance reform agent introduced by senator wyden, the usa freedom act introduced by chairman leahy and myself, and the fisa improvement act introduced by senator feinstein. mr. chairman, while positions on the bulk collection program may differ, many of us agree on the need for more transparency. that is why i urge support before this subcommittee today. we're talking about millions of americans calls collected by the nsa. americans should have access to some basic information regarding the amount of data collected and what's analyzed so that my constituents, your constituents determine for themselves whether this program is worthy to continue or not, and with that, again, thank you for the opportunity to sl me -- have me testify. mr. chairman, again, i repeat, thank you for your leadership on this issue. thank you. >> thank you for yours. senator heller, i'm looking forward to working together with you on this as we go through the process. you're excused, and your panel is adjourned. i'd like to introduce the second panel of witnes

the rates are lower, like we heard senator wyden talk about the projections around medicare part d, the rates came in lower. >> are you saying in the individual market, insurance rates are going down? >> i did not say they are going down. i said the rate are nowhere then was addicted -- lower than was predicted and they will have some financial help paying for their health insurance. to have to move on. >> mr. chairman, one of the toughest public service jobs i ever had was the elected insurance commissioner of florida. and one of the most bedeviling insurance markets was the individual insurance policy isause what would happen people would be enticed to come in to cheat health insurance and then, over time, as the group there wasand sicker, no control on the rates. they would go up and then they found limited, limited health insurance. now, that is what the affordable care act is trying to address. we are talking about the individual insurance policies, not the group policies. we in this particular case, now have no lifetime limits, we do not have pre-existing and you can each look in

that is democratic senator ron wyden pushing for laws that would limit the data collection programs. it would bring more transparency to intelligence gathering. there may be an opportunity for these members to attach their provisions to the annual pentagon policy measure, which will be considered in the sent -- in the senate. would createndment exclusion requirements, including public reports on the frequency of cell phone tracking and how many times the nsa itself violates its privacy walls and safeguards. and more on information gathering. this week on newsmakers, the with armedry budget an services committee chair wrap -- chair are presented of mac thornberry. >> now with what wiki leaks has will any of those allies ever again cooperate with -- united states the echo >> the united states? >> i don't know, if i were them you would have to wonder about it. we have very limited resources. key factor in our success has been working with others and cooperating and coordinating our efforts. anythingthink that they send to us is going to be leaked out in some ways. they're going to coope

ron wyden said it is 100 years old and it looks like it. it is obvious to me it is urgent. it is urgent and the corporate side, by the way, because we are losing people, capital, investment, and headquarters overseas. right now people are making the decisions because of our tax code which is not competitive. we will not do it in the next 18 legislative days but let's face it. this group will not do tax reform. but we could put together instructions for tax reform saying let's facilitate and next night the process. i know chairman baucus wants to do that. i am not sure white where the leadership is on this but i think is a group we couldn't say, we know, we can agree not to whether we should raise or cut taxes -- republicans probably will be for revenue neutral reform and democrat would want to raise revenue. that is not the debate we have to have now but we can put off the discussion until we do substantive tax reform. but let's say in the next three months we can do it. we have had dozens of the errands. we have a consensus, i believe, knowing about how to do this, grow th

should acknowledge that the russians ought to have left the austrians to crush serbia rather than wydene conflict, but i'm personally unpersuaded by it. a bizarre try -- triumph overtook on july, and after they had the wrong gesture the one noted everywhere beaming faces, people shaking hands in the corridors congratulating one another. russia had agented in accordance with the e vol deny evolved hopes, and the generals normally express fears france might decline to follow suit. this lack of apprehension about fighting, and the french knew that the german war plan required a swift, smashing defeat of their oven army before turning on russia. sure enough, berlin sent a message to paris saying that unless france surrendered as a guarantee, its neutrality would not be accepted. instead, inevitably, the french mobilized. as for britain, even at this very late hour, most of its government and people opposed involvement in europe's war. they had no sympathies for either serbia or russia. some, instead, had a real feeling towards germany and its government. in july, the first duke of wellingto

wyden. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. director, north, i think we know traditionally when you're trying to find a can insist for a conference like this come you look to the side in areas where they are on record as supporting changes good for example, chairman camp in the house and the president's treasury department have identified among the trillion dollars in tax expenditures that the tax treatment of derivatives is particularly inefficient and abusive. now you can't be in the business of advocating specific policies this morning and we'll get there. so let me just put this is the theory. is that correct to say that theoretically you could eliminate several of the most flagrant tax loopholes without compromising the broader tax reform agenda, just in theory? >> yes, senator, that sounds right to me. >> thank you for that. the only other thing i want to do, chairman ryan is vastly put into the record at this point a chart that director elmendorf since you a few weeks ago. the chart demonstrates for 2014 congress adhered

wyden: plapts, madam president, before he yields the floor i want to commend my colleague from connecticut in terms particularly -- and i'm going to go into some of the history with respect to this so-called zero tolerance, you know, policy, because i think when you look back over history there is a very big gap between the past pledges of zero tolerance for sexual assault and the realities of what we have seen. and i think that's one of the key points that the senator from connecticut has made, among many others, and i thank him for it. it was a very valuable presentation. madam president, i also want to commend the president of the senate for her extraordinary work on this. again and again she has outlined what i think is very constructive, and that is the areas where there is common ground here, common ground to try to address an issue that, as i just went through with senator blumenthal, we've heard past pledges about and that hasn't really come to be. and the president of the senate has done very fine work on this, senator gillibrand, senator mccaskill, senator ayotte, i know the best

. >> those were the projections of the rates, much like we heard senator wyden talk about the projections around medicare and -- make our -- medicare part d. >> the rates are going down? >> i did not say they were going down. i said they are lower than was predicted. millions of people in the market, they will actually for the first time ever have some financial help paying for their health insurance. >> we are going to have to move on here. >> one of the toughest public service jobs i ever had was the elected insurance commission of florida. one of the most doubling insurance markets was the individual insurance policies. peopleuld happen is would be enticed to come in to cheap health insurance and then over time, as the group got sicker, there was no control on the rates. it would go up, and they found limited health insurance. that is what the affordable care act is trying to address. we are talking about the individual insurance policies. not the group policies. case, we nowcular have no lifetime limits. we do not have pre-existing conditions. looking in your states and find many exam

we're seeing some other members like ron wyden, a democratic in oregon, one of the liberal members very outspoken with his concerns getting onboard with what patrick leahy is proposing. we're seeing interesting coalitions built. it's interesting to watch who gets the intelligence information, who gets the closed door briefings in congress. not everybody gets all the information, so in these hearings like the ones today, when it comes out, we get a conversation that's actually out in the open and we can hear what some of the sunshine adds to this conversation. >> libby, thank you very much. >> the republican congressman who pleaded guilty to taking drugs is taking a leave of office now. speaking out for the first time since his arrest, representative trey rid ex-l was sentenced to one year of probation on a misdemeanor charge. >> i'm sorry. i have no excuse for what i've done, and i'm not going to sit here and make excuses for what i've done. rad del said he will donate his salary to charity while he undergoes treatment. >> which retailers are looking at conditions overseas in their fact