--SUPERS--\n:00\nFriday\n\nNew York\n\n\nMaggie Lake\nCNN New York\n\n:20\nKeith Bliss\nPresident, Cuttone & Co.\n\nFebruary 9, 2018\n\n --LEAD IN--\n\nTHE STOCK MARKET IS TRYING TO AVOID ITS WORST WEEK SINCE 2008.\nMAGGIE LAKE SPOKE TO A TRADER WHO'S EXPERIENCING THIS TURMOIL FIRST HAND AND WHAT HE EXPECTS GOING FORWARD.\n\n\n --INTERVIEW--\nMaggie Lake, CNN New York: "And this has been one crazy week I think everybody thought a correction was coming but it's been so violent and intense?"\nKeith Bliss, President of Cuttone & Co.: "Well that is the real problem that investors are facing right now. They're confused by a lot of things and of course they don't have access to all the data and the internal information that we look at here as traders inside of the market or on the exchange. You're absolutely right it's the violent nature with which the market came back in which has everybody unsettled. And what we've seen this week it has really been feeding upon itself. Retail investors pull 24 billion dollars out of equity funds. 21 billion of that from the ETF Exchange Traded Funds and three billion from other mutual funds. And when that occurs when that kind of panic it's almost like a bank-run. The people who manage those funds when they get those redemption notices they have to go out sell stock to raise the money to return to the investor and that kind of feeds upon itself. But really the spark occurred a week ago in the jobs report and there was a little publicized data point in that and that was the wage increases year-on-year wage increases. The market was already thinking that we were going to move to wage pressures wage inflation higher inflation that number set everything in motion. The 10-year yield had already started to drop at the same time we had a technical formation inside of the market the Volatility Index or the VIX."\nMaggie Lake, CNN New York: "Yeah I want to ask you, when I see is that saying this goes back to the financial crisis. You know for those of us who reported throughout that that there were definitely fundamentals there is definitely the housing market there was a lot going on. But, you know derivatives as we all understand credit default swaps were. All of these things that people are investing in sort of you know really fed into that and contributed to some of the problems we saw in the financial system. Forget about the fundamentals. Is there anything like that going on? A lot of people talking about these ETP'S exchange rate products. I don't get too technical because instruments that are tied to things that you know a lot of ordinary people don't look at it maybe shouldn't be involved in. Is there some sort of dislocation happening in some of those more complex products that are feeding into the speed that we're seeing here?"\nKeith Bliss, President of Cuttone & Co.: "They're feeding into this speed but they're not feeding into the fundamental nature of the economy or corporate profits or anything else which underpins the valuation of the stock market. So let's go back. You're absolutely right the problem in 2007, 2008, 2009 was we had it economically fundamental problem. We had the housing market blow up the financial instruments that were created to bet against that also led to the speed with which the market sold off. We don't have that today. Nothing has changed from a week ago. In fact the U.S. economy and the world economy is doing quite well relative to the last 10 years. Corporations are still earning money this earning season has been excellent by all measures and both sales and bottom line profits. Financial conditions still remain ease even though the Fed is likely going to raise interest rates three times this year. In fact financial conditions just got easier for corporations with this massive tax cut that are going to realize in 2013 and beyond. So nothing has changed on that level. But when you have a market that is trading at all time highs it's already on tenterhooks. All it needs is that match to set the bonfire off and we've got it with the jobs number remarkably. So this is one of those odd situations where good economic news was bad for the equity market and brought everything in as a result that people are concerned about inflation. There's two things the stock market does not like inflation and bad corporate profits."\n -----CNN INFORMATION-----\n This could be the worst week for stocks since 2008\n By Matt Egan\n NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The stock market is trying to avoid its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.\n The Dow jumped more than 300 points at Friday's open, a modest bounce after an ugly few days. But then it gave back those gains and more. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also dropped slightly.\n Fears about inflation and soaring bond yields sent the Dow plunging 6.5% through the first four trading days of this week. That would have been the steepest decline in any week since October 2008. All three major indexes are down on the year.\n The selling on Wall Street spread to Asia overnight as stocks dropped in China and Japan. European stocks also retreated on Friday.\n "There has been extraordinary volatility throughout this week. The trigger has been the really fast rise in bond yields," said Evan Brown, director of asset allocation at UBS Asset Management.\n After losing a record 1,175 points on Monday, the Dow tumbled 1,033 points more on Thursday. It landed in a correction, a 10% decline from previous highs.\n The market turmoil follows a prolonged period of booming stock prices with virtually no sharp declines. Such a rapid rise is unusual, and market analysts long warned that a pullback was overdue. \n "The run-up on the market was amazing. We've all enjoyed it," said Rich Guerrini, CEO of PNC Investments.\n The S&P 500's market value surged $6 trillion between President Trump's election and the all-time high on January 26. The rout has erased $2.5 trillion in value from the S&P 500 and $5.2 trillion from global stocks, according to S&P Dow Jones Indexes.\n The jitters have been driven by the rapid rise in 10-year Treasury yields. Selling in the bond market led Wall Street to worry that inflation will force the Federal Reserve to speed up its rate hike plans. \n The 10-year Treasury yield, which touched a four-year high of 2.88% on Thursday, is trading around 2.85% on Friday.\n One new source of pressure on bonds is the budget deal that Trump signed on Friday. The bipartisan agreement boosts federal spending limits by $300 billion over the next two years. The federal budget deficit could top $1 trillion in fiscal 2019, according to Bank of America.\n To pay for the spending spree, the Treasury Department will be forced to borrow even more money by selling additional bonds. Rates may have to go up to attract buyers for those bonds.\n The budget deal could stimulate the economy even more over the next 10 years than last year's tax cut, Brown said. Because the economy is already strong, that boost from Washington could speed up inflation.\n "You are at full employment, and the government is engaging in significant fiscal stimulus," Brown said. "There are concerns that this is not the ideal time to be increasing fiscal expansion. The market is pricing in potential for some overheating."\n Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, doesn't think the sell-off will end until bond yields fall sharply. \n "Too late to sell, too early to buy ... That feels like where we are," Colas wrote in a report. "Stocks won't bottom until long term Treasuries rally hard."\n Crude oil prices have also retreated during the market turmoil. Crude slumped 2% on Friday and slipped below $60 a barrel for the first time this year. Oil prices have now lost 10% of their value from the peak in late January.\n The ferocity of the selling has caught investors off guard. \n While the market turbulence can be alarming, analysts urged investors to stay calm because the economic backdrop is strong. The unemployment rate is 4.1%, a 17-year low, and economic growth is expected to gain steam in 2018.\n "The last thing anybody should do is overreact to traditional volatility," Guerrini said. \n Despite the heavy losses this week, the Dow remains up 36% since Trump's election. \n "The outlook for the economy is extremely positive, the strongest in a long, long time," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. \n "Based on fundamentals, this is a buying opportunity," he said. \n\n --KEYWORD TAGS--\nDOW JONES STOCKS EXCHANGE NEW YORK\n\n

AP-APTN-0930: US RIM Saturday, 30 June 2012 STORY:US RIM- RIM, makers of the Blackberry, to cut 5,000 jobs, delay new phones LENGTH: 02:05 FIRST RUN: 2030 RESTRICTIONS: AP Clients Only TYPE: Eng/Natsound SOURCE: AP TELEVISION STORY NUMBER: 747999 DATELINE: New York - 29 June 2012/File LENGTH: 02:05 SHOTLIST June 29, 2012 1. Pull out from Blackberry smartphone 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Moorman, S&P Capital IQ equities analyst "I think the problem is probably what they should do and what they are going to do might be two different things right now. Given what's going on with the further delay of BlackBerry 10, it seems a lot more like they probably should just go ahead and sell the company and they're having problems, if there is somebody that would like to purchase them." 3. Cutaway Blackberry smartphone 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Moorman, S&P Capital IQ equities analyst "I think that they are committed to seeing BlackBerry 10 out into the marketplace but now that won't happen until 2013 and now you've got basically a bigger divide that they've got to cover with an aging handset now going into the really tough and competitive holiday selling seasons." ++FILE++ April 19, 2011 5. Cutaway Blackberry Playbook June 29, 2012 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Moorman, S&P Capital IQ equities analyst "They've definitely been moving into the consumer market, particularly even in the emerging markets. But I think especially as they are introducing a high-end handset with the BB 10, I think there's a lot of interest in not just getting into business but also into consumers as well." ++FILE++ April 19, 2011 7. Cutaway Blackberry Playbook June 29, 2012 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Moorman, S&P Capital IQ equities analyst "There are a lot of operating systems and there are a lot of carriers that are already using multiple operating systems and I will note that RIM has tried this before, where they've licensed parts of their system, of their OS out and it hasn't really done that well. But with BB 10 we'll have to see." 9. Cutaway Blackberry smartphone 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Moorman, S&P Capital IQ equities analyst "They do have a fair amount of cash. But the concern is when you're laying off this many people as they are, how much cash do you have to pay out to them? And then, if they continue to operate at an operating loss, how much cash will that take away from the business?" ++FILE++ April 19, 2011 11. Cutaway Blackberry Playbook STORYLINE Struggling BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Limited said it will delay the launch of new phones deemed critical to the company's survival and revealed its business is crumbling faster than thought. The Canadian company posted results on Thursday for its latest quarter that were worse than analysts had expected. RIM is cutting 5-thousand jobs and delaying the launch of its new phone operating system, BlackBerry 10, until after the holiday shopping season. Analyst Jim Moorman of Standard & Poor's Capital IQ said on Friday that the company's only option might be to sell itself off. After several delays, the first phone with BlackBerry 10 was expected later this year. It will be delayed even longer, to the first quarter of next year, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said. The news comes as North Americans are abandoning BlackBerrys for iPhones and Android phones. Other analysts have long said the new BlackBerrys will come out too late to reverse RIM's fortunes. Moorman doubts that their existing product line will do much to sustain them and they'll likely operate purely on cash. "But the concern is when you're laying off this many people as they are, how much cash do you have to pay out to them? And then, if they continue to operate at an operating loss, how much cash will that take away from the business?" said Moorman. The jobs cuts are part of a previously announced initiative to cut 1 (b) billion US dollars in annual costs this year. They represent about 30 percent of RIM's workforce of about 16,500. RIM shares tumbled 1.27 US dollars, or 14 percent, to 7.86 US dollars in extended trading, after the release of the results. If they hold that level into regular trading on Friday, they will set a nine-year low. RIM previously said it hired a team of bankers to help it weigh its options as it loses market share and its business erodes. RIM said it shipped just 7.8 (m) million BlackBerry smartphones in the quarter, down 41 percent from 13.2 (m) million a year earlier. Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: infoaparchive.com (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. APTN (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV 06-30-12 0542EDT

4K Footage Time lapse Low angle of tall corporate buildings skyscraper with reflection of clouds among high buildings and glass elevator in building center in London, England, United Kingdom

Late this afternoon the House passed another slightly modified "limited" continuing resolution similar the one passed by the senate that provides funding for Veterans benefits, welfare recipients and money to keep services in D.C. running.

<p><b>--SUPERS</b>--</p>\n<p>File</p>\n<p><b>--VIDEO SHOWS</b>--</p>\n<p>Lady Gaga singing and playing piano, Geoge and Amal Clooney interview, Kerry Washington on red carpet, Jon Batiste and wife Suleika Jaouad at the White House</p>\n<p><b>--LEAD IN</b>--</p>\n<p>PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS NAMED </p>\n<p><b>--VO SCRIPT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p></p>\n<p>WH: Biden appoints Lady Gaga, George Clooney and others to the President's Committee on the Arts & Humanities</p>\n<p>From DJ Judd</p>\n<p>President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a slew of luminaries to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, including musicians Lady Gaga and Jon Batiste, actors George Clooney, Troy Kotsur and Kerry Washington, and former Congressman Steve Israel.</p>\n<p>In 2017, Biden teamed up with Lady Gaga for a PSA addressing campus sexual assault—since then, the singer campaigned for Biden’s 2020 election bid and even sang at his Inauguration. Gaga, along with producer Bruce Cohen, will co-chair the committee.</p>\n<p>Per the White House, the committee aims to advise the President on cultural policy—traditionally, the First Lady has historically served as Honorary Chair of the Committee.</p>\n<p>“The PCAH will also engage the nation’s artists, humanities scholars, and cultural heritage practitioners to promote excellence in the arts, humanities, and museum and library services and demonstrate their relevance to the country’s health, economy, equity, and civic life,” the White House said in a statement Thursday.</p>\n<p>FULL RELEASE –</p>\n<p>President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities: </p>\n<p>•<tab />Bruce Cohen, Co-Chair</p>\n<p>•<tab />Lady Gaga, Co-Chair</p>\n<p>•<tab />Jon Batiste, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Constance M. Carroll, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />George Clooney, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Philip J. Deloria, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />M. Angélica Garcia, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Jennifer Garner, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Nora Halpern, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Steve Israel, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Marta Kauffman, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Ricky Kirshner, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Troy Kotsur, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Katie McGrath, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Laura Penn, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Arnold Rampersad, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Shonda Rhimes, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Kimberly Richter Shirley, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Horacio Sierra, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Anna Deavere Smith, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Joe Walsh, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Kerry Washington, Member</p>\n<p>•<tab />Pauline Yu, Member</p>\n<p>President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities</p>\n<p>The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) was founded in 1982 by Executive Order to advise the President on cultural policy. The First Lady has historically served as Honorary Chair of the Committee, which is composed of members appointed by the President. Private committee members include prominent artists, scholars, and philanthropists who have demonstrated a serious commitment to the arts and humanities. Public members represent the heads of key federal agencies with a role in culture, including the Chairs of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, the Librarian of Congress, the Secretary of the Smithsonian, and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, among others. PCAH advises the President and the heads of U.S. cultural agencies on policy, philanthropic and private sector engagement, and other efforts to enhance federal support for the arts, humanities, and museum and library services. The PCAH will also engage the nation’s artists, humanities scholars, and cultural heritage practitioners to promote excellence in the arts, humanities, and museum and library services and demonstrate their relevance to the country’s health, economy, equity, and civic life. Over the past 40 years, PCAH has catalyzed federal programs and played a vital role in the advancement of arts and humanities education, cultural diplomacy, and the creative economy.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Bruce Cohen, Co-Chair</p>\n<p>Bruce Cohen is an Oscar and Tony-winning, Emmy-nominated producer of film, theater, television, and live events. He won an Academy Award for Best Picture for "American Beauty" and earned additional Best Picture nominations for "Milk" and "Silver Linings Playbook." He produced both the feature film and Broadway musical versions of "Big Fish," won the Tony for Best Play in 2020 for co-producing Matthew Lopez’ "The Inheritance," and was Tony nominated the same year for co-producing Jeremy O. Harris’ "Slave Play." In television, he was Emmy nominated for producing the "83rd Annual Academy Awards" and executive produced "Pushing Daisies" and "Broadway at the White House."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>During the Obama-Biden Administration, Cohen served as the entertainment industry liaison for Joining Forces, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s initiative supporting service men and women and veterans. With Higher Ground, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, he is producing "Rustin" for Netflix, directed by George C. Wolfe, starring Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin and coming out later this year. He is a graduate of Yale University and started his film career as the DGA Trainee on Steven Spielberg’s "The Color Purple." He lives in New York City with his husband and daughter.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Lady Gaga, Co-Chair</p>\n<p>Stefani Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an award-winning singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist. She has sold over 170 million records, and has won 13 Grammy Awards, making her one of the best-selling most awarded female musicians in history. As an actress, she is known for her roles in “A Star Is Born,” for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won for Best Original Song for “Shallow,” and “American Horror Story: Hotel,” for which she won a Golden Globe, among others. She’s been recognized with the Fashion Icon award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and has been included on Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Powerful Women and TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2022, Lady Gaga launched Haus Labs, a clean and vegan color cosmetics line that develops innovative formulas that push the boundaries of clean makeup.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Lady Gaga is known for her philanthropy and staunch support of LGBTQI+ rights and mental health. She has traveled with President Biden to support the It’s On Us campaign to combat campus sexual assault, has worked tirelessly over the years to advocate for equality, and has been an outspoken champion of mental health awareness. At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, she curated a televised concert to benefit the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, helping raise over $128 million. Alongside her mother Cynthia Germanotta, she founded and leads Born This Way Foundation, which supports the mental health of young people and works with them to build a kinder and braver world. Since its inception, the Foundation has demonstrated the transformative power of kindness and its impact on mental health through youth-driven initiatives, research-based programming, and high-level partnerships.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Jon Batiste, Member</p>\n<p>Jon Batiste is one of history’s most brilliant, prolific, and accomplished musicians. Batiste studied and received both a B.A. and M.F.A. at the world-renowned Juilliard School in New York City. From 2015 until 2022, Batiste served as the bandleader and musical director of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS. In 2018, he received a Grammy nomination for Best American Roots, and in 2020, he received two Grammy nods for the albums "Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard" and "MEDITATIONS" (with Cory Wong). In 2020, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score for the Disney/Pixar film "Soul," an honor he shared with fellow composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Batiste’s work on "Soul" also earned him a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, an NAACP Image Award, and a Critic’s Choice Award. He is the second Black composer in history, after legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock, to win an Academy Award for composition. Batiste’s latest studio album, "We Are," was released in March 2021 to overwhelming critical acclaim. Subsequently, he was nominated for eleven Grammys across seven different categories, a first in Grammy history. He went on to win five of those Grammys, including Album of the Year.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Constance M. Carroll, Member</p>\n<p>In 2021, Dr. Constance Carroll established and currently serves as the president of the California Community Colleges Baccalaureate Association, a nonprofit organization with the mission of providing assistance and expanding opportunities for California’s 116 community colleges to offer four-year degrees in selected workforce fields that now require a bachelor’s degree. Carroll served as Chancellor of the San Diego Community College District from 2004 to 2021, when she retired. In addition, she served as president of three community colleges: San Diego Mesa College, Saddleback College, and Indian Valley Colleges. Carroll was also Director of Freshman Academic Advising at the University of Pittsburgh and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern Maine.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Carroll received a B.A. in humanities from Duquesne University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin). She earned a Certificate of Proficiency in Hellenic Studies at Knubly University in Athens, Greece, and attended the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management. Currently, Carroll serves on the National Council on the Humanities, which is affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities, having been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2011. She is a member of the national boards of the Community College Baccalaureate Association, the College Promise National Advisory Board, and the Community College Humanities Association.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>George Clooney, Member</p>\n<p>George Clooney’s achievements as a performer and filmmaker have earned him two Academy Awards, five Golden Globes including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, four SAG awards, one BAFTA award, two Critics’ Choice Awards, an Emmy, four National Board of Review Awards, and the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. Films from his production company with Grant Heslov, Smokehouse Pictures, include Warner Bros’ Academy Award winning drama “Argo,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “The Midnight Sky,” "The Tender Bar," and “The Ides of March.” “Ides,” which Clooney starred in, co-wrote, and directed, received Golden Globe nominations for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Motion Picture Drama. In addition, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He has also starred in films such as “Out of Sight,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” “Syriana,” “Michael Clayton,” “Up in the Air,” “The Descendants,” “Gravity,” and the “Oceans” trilogy. Before his film career, Clooney starred in several television series, becoming best known to TV audiences for his five years on the hit NBC drama “ER.” His portrayal of Dr. Douglas Ross earned him Golden Globe, SAG, People’s Choice, and Emmy Award nominations.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Among the many honors received as a result of his humanitarian efforts was the 2007 Peace Summit Award, 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, and he was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2022. Clooney has produced three telethons: "The Tribute to Heroes" (post 9/11), "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope," and “Hope for Haiti Now,” the latter of which raised a record 66 million dollars from the public. In August of 2016, Clooney and his wife, Amal, launched the Clooney Foundation for Justice.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Philip J. Deloria, Member</p>\n<p>Philip J. Deloria is the Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History at Harvard University, where he chairs the Committee on Degrees in History and Literature. His research and teaching focus on the social, cultural, and political histories of relations among American Indian peoples and the United States, as well as the comparative histories of Indigenous peoples in a global context. He is the author of several books, including Playing Indian, Indians in Unexpected Places, American Studies: A User’s Guide, with Alexander Olson, and Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract, and is co-editor of The Blackwell Companion to American Indian History (with Neal Salisbury) and C.G. Jung and the Sioux Traditions by Vine Deloria, Jr. (with Jerome Bernstein).</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Deloria received the Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University in 1994, taught at the University of Colorado, and then, from 2001 to 2017, at the University of Michigan, before joining the faculty at Harvard in January 2018. Deloria served for over a decade as a trustee of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, where for many years he chaired the Repatriation Committee. He continues to work toward the return of Native American ancestors and cultural patrimony and for the flourishing of Indigenous life. Deloria has served as President of the American Studies Association and the Organization of American Historians, and will begin serving as President of the Society of American Historians in May 2023. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>M. Angélica Garcia, Member</p>\n<p>Dr. Angélica Garcia is an educational leader who is passionate about issues of access, equity, and student success in higher education. Garcia serves as the President of Berkeley City College, which is recognized as an Hispanic Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, both proud symbols of being the community’s college. Unapologetically, she believes community colleges provide liberatory education experiences that disrupt the status quo, especially for historically minoritized communities. She is a Co-Founder and Board Member of COLEGAS, a statewide organization focused on advocacy and development of Latinx professionals in California Community Colleges, and has a proven record of equity-minded leadership. Garcia serves on the Puente Project Advisory Board, the national LGTBQ Leaders in Higher Education Board, and previously on the Board of Directors for Higher Education Resource Services. Appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, she served as the Vice Chair for the Student-Centered Funding Formula Oversight Committee, charged with reviewing legislation, data, and its impact on the California Community Colleges. She has been a fellow with the Aspen Presidential Institute, the National Community College Hispanic Council, and the UC Davis Wheelhouse Institute, all of which are leadership programs focused on equitable student outcomes. Garcia is a proud second-generation Latina and first-generation college graduate, who earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, a master's in social work at San Diego State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal and Civic Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California. Garcia has been appointed to be the Superintendent/President of Santa Rosa Junior College, effective July 1, 2023.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Jennifer Garner, Member</p>\n<p>Award-winning actress Jennifer Garner has enjoyed a successful career at the top of her field in both film and television and has also taken on the role of philanthropist and entrepreneur. Garner is known for her versatility in a wide range of starring-roles in "Alias," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Love Simon," "Juno," and more. She recently starred in and produced the film "YES DAY," based on the children’s book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, which became Netflix’s biggest Kids & Family film release. She also recently starred in the sci-fi film "The Adam Project "for Netflix opposite Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, and Zoe Saldana, directed by Shawn Levy. Up next, Garner executive produces and stars in the Apple TV+ limited series "The Last Thing He Told Me," based on the eponymous New York Times bestseller, which premieres on April 14th. She most recently wrapped production on the Netflix comedy feature "Family Leave," which she is also producing, and will also star and produce a sequel to "YES DAY."</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Garner is a Save the Children Trustee and has worked with the organization for more than a decade. In addition to bringing Save the Children’s early childhood education programs to her home state of West Virginia, she has advocated on Capitol Hill and traveled to Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington to meet with lawmakers, press, and philanthropists to raise awareness and funds for the organization. In 2014, Garner joined the global non-profit's board of trustees, deepening her commitment to issues affecting children in America and around the world. In 2017, Garner co-founded the organic food company Once Upon a Farm with Cassandra Curtis, Ari Raz, and former Annie’s president John Foraker. Together the visionaries have grown the company with a goal of providing children with the best tasting, most nutritious, and highest quality food utilizing sustainable methods. As a businesswoman, Garner has worked with major brands including Neutrogena and Capital One, and most recently joined the Virtue Labs team to amplify and raise awareness about the unique health and beauty benefits of the company’s premium hair care line.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Nora Halpern, Member </p>\n<p>Art historian, museum director, and curator Nora Halpern has spent her public and private life advocating for art, artists, and social justice. Since 2001, she has been a Vice President at Americans for the Arts, focusing on arts policy convenings and engaging individual thought leaders to advance the arts and arts education across America. She is co-founder of Street Scenes: Projects for DC, a public art program that provides access to the broadest possible audience by utilizing the city as a gallery space. Raised in New York City, Halpern began her career in Los Angeles as the Frederick R. Weisman Collections Curator and Founding Director of Pepperdine University’s Art Museum. She was a Los Angeles Human Relations Commission member and received the Mayor’s Award of Merit for Outstanding Volunteer Service.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Halpern has taught and lectured internationally. Among her many publications is the recent Putting the Arts to Work: 15 Years of National Arts Policy Roundtables, 2006-2020. She has curated numerous exhibitions, including a Yoko Ono retrospective in Venice, Italy. Halpern has served on the boards of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, ArtTable, PS Arts, and Scholastic’s Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, among others. She was appointed to the Arts Commission of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021 and was a Biden Arts Policy Committee member. Halpern received her B.A. and M.A. from UCLA and was awarded a Helena Rubinstein Fellowship in Curatorial Studies from the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Steve Israel, Member</p>\n<p>Steve Israel served in the U.S. Congress between 2001–2017, including four years as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011–2015. He left Washington to pursue new passions, including opening an independent bookstore, Theodore’s Books, in his historic hometown of Oyster Bay, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He also directs the nonpartisan Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at the Jeb S. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University, which serves as a platform for civic engagement and bipartisan dialogue. He has published two critically acclaimed satires of Washington: The Global War on Morris and Big Guns. He proudly serves on The Library of Congress Madison Council as well as many other boards of directors.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>In Congress, he served on the House Appropriations Committee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, which has jurisdiction on historic preservation, fine arts, cultural arts, museums, and related activities. He also served on the Subcommittee on Defense and the House Armed Services Committee. Israel’s written commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic magazine, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He writes a biweekly column in The Hill,covering the state or democracy. He lives with his wife Cara in Oyster Bay, Long Island.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Marta Kauffman, Member</p>\n<p>Marta Kauffman is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning television writer, producer, director, and showrunner. Kauffman recently finished the Netflix comedy "Grace and Frankie" starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. She may be best known for creating NBC’s long-running hit "Friends" with David Crane. The iconic series ran for 10 seasons and earned 63 Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Comedy Series in 2002. Reruns continue to delight with "Friends: The Reunion" being a ratings juggernaut. She and David Crane also created HBO's "Dream On," recognized with CableAce Awards and additional Emmy nominations. The Writers Guild of America West awarded Kauffman and Crane the 2016 Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for lifetime achievement in television writing. She also earned the 2016 Outstanding Television Writer award at the 23rd annual Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference as well as the Kieser Humanitas Award. She recently received an Honorary Doctorate from Brandeis University. Kauffman's other credits include "Georgia," "Five," "Veronica's Closet," "The Powers That Be," "Call Me Crazy: A Five Film," and the documentary "Seeing Allred." Kauffman has served on several Boards of Trustees including CalArts, Oakwood School, The Lung Cancer Foundation of America, Big Sunday, and IKAR.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Ricky Kirshner, Member</p>\n<p>Ricky Kirshner is one of the entertainment industry’s preeminent producers of televised special events. During his 30-year career, he has been tasked and entrusted in imagining and implementing many of the world’s most widely acclaimed and award-winning television specials, stadium spectaculars, and conventions; producing shows for every major U.S. network and watched by millions of people. Kirshner’s Executive Producer credits include The Tony Awards, Super Bowl Half-Time Shows, The Kennedy Center Honors, Democratic National Conventions, Presidential Inaugurals/Galas, The Oscars, and many others. Throughout his career, Kirshner has collaborated with artists and performers across all disciplines of classical arts, musical and dramatic theater, cinematic arts, and the music industry, working with major stars as well as up and coming performers and amateur groups. Kirshner has been recognized by industry peers for excellence in television, receiving 26 Emmy Nominations and winning ten Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Strongly committed to Arts and Music education in schools, Kirshner supports internship programs for college students on his shows. He is also a frequent guest speaker at colleges and universities, inspiring future generations to pursue careers in television and performing arts.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Troy Kotsur, Member</p>\n<p>Troy Kotsur earned the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Frank, the Deaf</p>\n<p>fisherman father of a hearing daughter who wants to be a singer in director Sian Heder’s “CODA.” The film also won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Kotsur is the first Deaf male actor and only the second Deaf actor overall to win the Oscar, after his “CODA” co-star Marlee Matin for her role in "Children of a Lesser God." Kotsur also earned BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, Gotham, Independent Spirit and Screen Actors Guild awards, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in “CODA.” Other recent film credits include “Wild Prairie Rose,” “No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie,” which he also directed, “Universal Signs,” and “The Number 23.”</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>In television, Kotsur was most recently seen in the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian," for which he created the Tusken sign language, and was also used in the show’s spinoff series "The Book of Boba Fett." Other television roles include "CSI: NY," "Scrubs," "Criminal Minds," "Strong Medicine," "Doc," and "Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye." A native of Mesa, Arizona, Kotsur began acting in grade school, with some of his earliest performances including reenacting "Tom and Jerry" cartoon storylines to his classmates. He studied theater, film, and television at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, and following graduation, toured with the National Theatre of the Deaf.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Katie McGrath, Member</p>\n<p>Katie McGrath is Co-CEO at Bad Robot Productions. She oversees the company’s corporate culture, communications, and ancillary businesses. Prior to joining Bad Robot, McGrath was a founding partner at First Tuesday Media, a political media firm based in Los Angeles. Earlier, she served as Director of Communications at MTV Networks and as Vice President at the strategic communications consulting firm Robinson Lerer Sawyer Miller. McGrath began her professional career in Washington, DC as a legislative assistant to Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA). She currently serves on the transition team for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the boards of Pro Publica, ARRAY Alliance, and The McGrath Abrams Family Foundation.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Laura Penn, Member</p>\n<p>Laura Penn has been Executive Director of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) since 2008. Under her leadership the Union’s membership has grown over 100%, a result of her work expanding SDC’s jurisdictions, leading bold and successful negotiations, and furthering its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives and political engagement. She serves on the General Board of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) and is an active member of DPE's Arts and Entertainment and Media Industry Coordinating Committee. She is Co-Chair of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds, the first woman to hold a leadership position with this coalition of 18 influential unions representing workers on Broadway. Penn serves on the Tony Awards Administration Committee and is a Tony Voter. She served as a panelist for the New York State Council for the Arts, for more than a decade was a site evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts, was Vice President of the League of Resident Theatres, and was two-term Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. Recognized with Seattle’s Distinguished Citizen Medal, she is an advocate for civic dialogue and public participation and has been dedicated throughout her career to the idea that artistic excellence and community engagement are intrinsically connected. Penn previously served as an arts executive for Intiman Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre and began her career at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage, Living Stage Theatre Company. Penn currently teaches Labor Relations in the graduate program at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Member</p>\n<p>Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and community builder based in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Atlanta to Thai and Indonesian immigrants, her practice spans sculpture, textile, large-scale murals, participatory installation, and public art campaigns. Her work examines the unseen labor of women, amplifies AAPI narratives, and affirms the depth, resilience, and beauty of communities of color. Phingbodhipakkiya’s art has reclaimed space in museums and galleries, at protests and rallies, on buildings, highway tunnels, subway corridors, and on the cover of TIME magazine. She has been artist-in-residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights and created art in collaboration with the US Embassy in Thailand. She is a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in Visual Arts and is building community archives of AAPI stories as part of civic practice residencies with the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and Poster House. Her work has been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of the City of New York, the Museum of Chinese in America, and the Library of Congress.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Arnold Rampersad, Member</p>\n<p>Arnold Rampersad is Sara Hart Kimball Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at Stanford University. A graduate of Bowling Green State University, he earned his Ph.D. in English and American Literature at Harvard. He also taught at the University of Virginia, Rutgers, Columbia, and Princeton. His books include The Art and Imagination of W.E.B. Du Bois; The Life of Langston Hughes (2 vols.); Days of Grace: A Memoir, co-authored with Arthur Ashe; Jackie Robinson: A Biography; and Ralph Ellison: A Biography. His edited volumes include The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry; Complete Poems of Langston Hughes; and, as co-editor, Selected Letters of Langston Hughes. </p>\n<p></p>\n<p>From 2003 to 2006 he served as Senior Associate Dean for the Humanities at Stanford. Winner in 1986 of the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography and autobiography, he was later a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography and, in 2007, the National Book Award in non-fiction prose for his biography of Ralph Ellison. He won fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation (1991-1996), the J.S. Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the ACLS. Princeton University awarded him its Howard T. Behrman Medal for distinction in the Humanities. In 2011, he received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama at the White House. Harvard awarded him its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Medal in 2014. He holds honorary doctorates from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and the University of the West Indies, among other schools. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Shonda Rhimes, Member</p>\n<p>Shonda Rhimes is an award-winning television creator, producer, and author, as well as the CEO of the global media company Shondaland. Rhimes is the first woman to create three television dramas - “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” and “Scandal” - that have achieved the 100-episode milestone. In 2017, Rhimes shifted the entertainment industry’s business model when she left network television for an unprecedented agreement for Shondaland to exclusively produce streaming content in partnership with Netflix. “Bridgerton,” Shondaland’s first scripted series with the streamer, has become a worldwide franchise with seasons one and two of the show holding top spots among English language programming for Netflix. Rhimes broadened her company’s content landscape when she launched the culture website Shondaland.com in partnership with Hearst Digital Media. More recently, she launched Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeart Radio to produce podcast content. She’s a New York Times best-selling author for her memoir Year of Yes and has built multi-platform partnerships with such leading brands as Dove, Masterclass, Microsoft, and Mattel. Rhimes has been included three times in the TIME 100 list of most influential people and her work has been celebrated with numerous awards including induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Kimberly Richter Shirley, Member</p>\n<p>Kimberly Richter Shirley is a retired attorney and certified public accountant whose professional career specialized in providing legal and financial expertise to not-for-profit organizations and startup companies. Shirley is a trustee of the Seattle Art Museum, the Tate Americas Foundation, and the University of Washington Foundation and is a former trustee of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. She is a member of the National Gallery of Art Collectors Committee, the Tate North American Acquisitions Committee, the University of Washington Henry Art Gallery Advisory Council, and the Wellesley College President’s Advisory Council. Shirley and her husband Jon live in Medina, Washington and actively support arts, education, and human service organizations. Together they are committed collectors of modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on sculpture. Shirley received her Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College and her Juris Doctor from the University of Puget Sound School of Law.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Horacio Sierra, Member</p>\n<p>Horacio Sierra is an educator, journalist, activist, and creative writer. His research on English and Spanish Renaissance literature has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education, and the University of Texas. As a tenured English professor at Bowie State University, Maryland’s oldest HBCU, he has created in-person and online courses such as Graphic Novels, Studies in Popular Music, Queer Cultural Studies, Shakespeare & Film, and U.S. Hispanic Literature. The University System of Maryland awarded him their Excellence in Teaching Award for his commitment to experiential education.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Sierra’s work as a theatre and literary critic has been published in The Miami Herald, Comparative Drama, and Theater Journal. His editorials on topics such as the importance of a humanities education have been published in The Washington Post, The Hartford Courant, and The Baltimore Sun. His poems exploring the intersections of history, geography, and identity have been published in The William & Mary Review, Saw Palm, and Gulf Stream Magazine. As a Miami native with strong ties to his family’s Cuban and Spanish heritage, Sierra is President of the Cuban American Democrats, Director of the Sierra Family Scholarship, and has provided college application workshops for his alma mater, Miami Coral Park Senior High. He is also an Executive Board Member of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Sierra earned his BS from the University of Miami and his PhD from the University of Florida. He lives in Miami with his husband, Dallas Clay Sierra.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Anna Deavere Smith, Member</p>\n<p>Anna Deavere Smith is a writer and actress. She is credited with having created a new form of theater. Her plays, sometimes called “docudramas,” focus on contemporary issues from multiple points of view and are composed from excerpts of hundreds of interviews. Plays, and films based on them, include "Fires in the Mirror" and "Twilight: Los Angeles," both of which dealt with volatile race events in the 1990s; "Let Me Down Easy," about the U.S. health care system; and "Notes from the Field," which focused on the school-to-prison pipeline. Her work as an actress on television includes "Inventing Anna," "The West Wing," "Nurse Jackie," and "Black-ish." Mainstream movies include "Philadelphia," "The American President," and "Rachel Getting Married." President Obama awarded Smith the National Endowment for the Humanities Medal. She was the 2015 Jefferson Lecturer. She is the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, several Obie awards, two Drama Desk awards, the George Polk Career Award in Journalism, and the Dean’s Medal from the Stanford University School of Medicine. She was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and nominated for two Tony Awards. She’s a University Professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has several honorary doctorate degrees including those from Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Spelman College, Prairie View University, Juilliard, and Oxford.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Joe Walsh, Member</p>\n<p>Multi-Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and producer, Kennedy Center Honoree and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Joe Walsh has entertained the masses and captivated his peers for more than five decades. His classic hits like “Funk #49,” “Walk Away,” “Life’s Been Good,” “Rocky Mountain Way,” “Life in the Fast Lane,” “In The City,” “Ordinary Average Guy,” and “Analog Man” embody his American origin story, guitar genius, and lyrical wit. Born in Wichita, Kansas and raised in Ohio and New Jersey, Walsh’s musical journey began with the Cleveland-based James Gang in 1969, continued with his trio Barnstorm and then took off with the launch of his 12-album solo career in 1973. In 1975, Walsh was recruited into the Eagles who would become the highest selling American band in history and one of the top touring acts in the world to this day selling out stadiums and arenas into 2023.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Walsh has honorary doctorates in music from Kent State University and the Berklee College of Music and has been celebrated for his charitable works in the fields of music education, recovery from addiction and women’s health and safety. In 2017, Walsh founded VetsAid, an annual music festival that brings together musicians and audiences of all backgrounds to raise funds for veterans and their families. A Gold Star son himself, Walsh brought the festival most recently to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio with guests Dave Grohl, Nine Inch Nails, and The Black Keys. He has, to date, disbursed $2.7 million in grants to veterans’ services groups nationwide.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Kerry Washington, Member</p>\n<p>Emmy-winning, SAG and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director, and producer Kerry Washington is a versatile and fearless multi-hyphenate who has received high acclaim for her work in film, television, and theater. Washington is a lifelong advocate and activist, dedicated to using her voice to fight for justice for all communities. She is focused on building a more equitable democracy and in service of this goal, founded Influence Change (IC) and the Vision Into Power Cohort. IC is a strategic initiative that partners with high impact non-profit organizations to increase voter turnout. The VIP Cohort, launched in partnership with Movement Voter Fund, provides ten grassroots organizations with the resources and knowledge to build civic engagement in their communities through storytelling and collective action.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>In 2022, Washington was honored as one of TIME Magazine’s 2022 Women of The Year. She has been involved with many social and political causes, including her service on President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She is also Co-Chair of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote campaign and the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund, an organization funding Black leaders who are helping to build a more equitable America. In 2021, Washington and several other industry leaders co-founded The Roybal School of Film and Television Production, in partnership with the LAUSD. It is a magnet school aiming to drive transformational change across the entertainment industry and provides education and practical training in the arts and sciences of filmmaking to marginalized communities.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Pauline Yu, Member</p>\n<p>Pauline Yu is President Emerita of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), a non-profit federation of 79 scholarly organizations which she led for sixteen years. ACLS has been the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences since 1919 and has provided competitive fellowships and grants to individual scholars in those fields since 1926. Yu was previously dean of humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles for ten years, founding chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Irvine, and professor at Columbia University and the University of Minnesota. She received her B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard University, her M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Stanford University, and holds five honorary degrees. In 2021, she received the award for Distinguished Service to the Profession from the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages of the Modern Language Association.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p>Yu has been elected to membership in two honorary societies, the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She serves on the Academy’s board of directors and is also a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study. In addition, she is a member of the board of several philanthropic organizations, including The Henry Luce Foundation and The Teagle Foundation. She is the author or editor of five books and has published widely on topics in Chinese poetry, comparative literature, and the humanities.</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--TEASE--</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--SUPERS</b>--</p>\n<p>File</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VIDEO SHOWS</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--LEAD IN</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--VO SCRIPT</b>--</p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT-----</b></p>\n<p><b>--KEYWORD TAGS--</b></p>\n<p></p>\n<p><b>--MUSIC INFO---</b></p>\n<p></p>

shadow banking hearing ( day 1 of 2 ) Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission begins the first of two days of hearings on shadow banking. Witnesses include former SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, SEC Inspector General and other former SEC officials; several former senior executives at Bear Stearns. 12:27:06 I WILL ALWAYS HAVE BEEN PROUD TO BE PART OF THAT ORGANIZATION. THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD WHEN I 12:27:10 HELD THESE POSITIONS BEAR STEARNS MANAGEMENT IN MY VIEW 12:27:13 ATTEMPTED TO MANAGE THE FIRM PRUDENTLY TO MEET THE DIFFICULT 12:27:16 FINANCIAL CONDITIONS AS IT FORESAW THEM. 12:27:19 AS MY COLLEAGUES HAVE MENTIONED ONE STEP THAT WE TOOK DURING MY 12:27:22 TENURE AT BEAR STEARNS WAS TO INCREASE OUR SECURED FUNDING 12:27:26 LINES AND REDUCE BEAR STEARNS RELIANCE ON UNSECURED FINANCING. 12:27:30 WE TOOK THIS STEP BECAUSE WE BELIEVE SECURE FUNDING WAS MORE 12:27:33 RELIABLE AND THAT FINANCING AGAINST LIQUID HIGH QUALITY 12:27:37 CLARL WOULD ENABLE BEAR STEARNS TO FINANCE ITSELF EVEN IN A 12:27:42 CHALLENGING ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT. 12:27:43 OVER THE COURSE OF 2007, THE STRESS OF THE MORTGAGE MARKETS 12:27:47 EXPANDED BEYOND SUBPRIME AND BEGAN TO IMPACT OTHER AREAS OF 12:27:51 THE MARKET. WE TOOK MARKDOWNS OF 700 DLNL 12:27:55 FOR THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2007 AND $1.9 BILLION FOR THE FOURTH 12:27:59 QUARTER. IN CONNECTION WITH THE DECLINING 12:28:01 VALUES OF OUR MORTGAGE BACKED ASSETS ALTHOUGH 2007 WAS A 12:28:06 PROFITABLE YEAR FOR THE FIRM, WE REPORTED A NET LOSS FOR THE 12:28:10 FOURTH QUARTER. THE FIRST QUARTERLY LOSS IN THE 12:28:12 FIRM'S LONG HISTORY. DESPITE THE FIRM'S PROFITABILITY 12:28:15 THAT YEAR, WE MADE THE DECISION THAT NO MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE 12:28:18 COMMITTEE WOULD BE PAID A BONUS FOR THAT YEAR. 12:28:22 IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT EVEN AS IT NEGOTIATED THE STORMY 12:28:25 ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, BEAR STEARNS WAS WELL CAPITALIZED AND 12:28:29 HAD LIQUIDITY IN EXCESS OF REGULATORY STANDARDS, TAKEN 12:28:33 STEPS TO BUILD UP LIQUIDITY POOL, IN 2007, AND BY 2008 WE 12:28:38 HAD A SIGNIFICANT LIQUIDITY CUSHION. 12:28:40 AT ALL TIMES BEAR STEARNS WAS COMPLIANT WITH THE SEC'S 12:28:45 CONSOLIDATED SUPERVISED ENTITY'S PROGRAM CAPITAL AND LIQUIDITY 12:28:50 REQUIREMENTS. AS WE CLOSED THE BOOKS ON THE 12:28:52 FIRST QUARTER OF 2008, THAT QUARTER WAS PROJECTED TO BE A 12:28:54 PROFITABLE ONE. DESPITE THESE FACTS DURING THE 12:28:57 WEEK OF MARCH 10th, 2008, UNFOUNDED RUMORS AND ATEN DENT 12:29:03 SPECULATION BEGAN CIRCULATING BEAR STEARNS WAS IN THE MISTED 12:29:06 OF A LIQUIDITY CRISIS. DUE TO THE STRESS CONDITION OF 12:29:09 THE MARKET AS A WHOLE AND UNPRECEDENTED SPEED AT WHICH 12:29:12 RUMORS AND SPECULATION TRAVEL AND ECHO THROUGH THE MODERN 12:29:14 FINANCIAL MEDIA ENVIRONMENT, THE RUMORS AND SPECULATION CONTINUED 12:29:18 THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. THE RUMORS THUS BECAME A 12:29:22 SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY, SIMPLY PUT A RUN ON THE BANK. 12:29:25 ON THURSDAY OF THAT WEEK OUR LIQUIDITY CUSHION DROPPED 12:29:28 PRECIPITOUSLY AND WE WORKED THROUGH THE NIGHT TO FIND 12:29:31 EMERGENCY FUNDING OF SUFFICIENT TO STABILIZE BEAR STEARNS. 12:29:38 OUR EFFORTS ULTIMATELY RESULTED IN A TRANSACTION PURSUANT TO 12:29:43 WHICH JP MORGAN CHASE AGREED TO ACQUIRE BEAR STEARNS FOR $10 A 12:29:46 SHARE. THROUGH THAT TRANSACTION WE WERE 12:29:48 ABLE TO PRESERVE BEAR STEARNS VALUE TO THE GREATEST EXTENT 12:29:51 POSSIBLE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS, OUR 14,000 12:29:54 EMPLOYEES AND OUR CREDITORS. I'VE GIVEN MUCH THOUGHT TO THE 12:29:59 EVENTS THAT LED UP TO THE FAVORITEFUL WEEK IN MARCH AND 12:30:02 BELIEVE WE TOOK ALL THE AM APPROPRIATE STEPS WE STEPS WE 12:30:07 COULD. IN THE END IT WAS NOT ENOUGH 12:30:10 ALTHOUGH I WISH IT WERE OTHERWISE. 12:30:12 I BELIEVE THAT WE DID NOT FORESEE THE EXTENT TO WHICH 12:30:14 HOUSING PRICES HAD BEEN DRIVEN TO UNSUSTAINABLE LEVELS. 12:30:18 WE, LIKE MANY OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, RELIED ON THE 12:30:21 BELIEF THAT THE MARKET FOR HIGHLY RATED STRUCTURED 12:30:26 SECURITIES INCLUDING THOSE SUPPORTED BY FANNIE MAE AND 12:30:29 FREDDIE MAC, WOULD REMAIN LIQUID BUT WHEN THE MARKET FOR THOSE 12:30:33 SECURITIES BECAME FROZEN IT LEFT THE FIRM SUSCEPTIBLE TO RUMOR 12:30:36 AND SPECULATION. DESPITE ALL OF OUR EFFORTS, BEAR 12:30:39 STEARNS WAS UNABLE TO WEATHER THIS PERIOD OF UNPRECEDENTED 12:30:41 MARKET DISLOWLATION. I AM OPTIMISTIC THAT THE 12:30:46 POLICYMAKERS WILL CONSIDER REGULATORY SOLUTION THAT 12:30:48 MINIMIZES THESE KINDS OF RISKS IN THE FUTURE. 12:30:50 THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. I'M HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS 12:30:53 THAT YOU HAVE. THANK YOU, MR. CANE. 12:30:56 MR. SCHWARTZ. LET ME START WITH A QUESTION AND 12:30:58 LET ME PICK UP WITH SOME OF THE QUESTIONING I UNDERTOOK DURING 12:31:03 OUR LAST SESSION. MR. CANE, LET ME START WITH YOU, 12:31:07 STEPPING BACK AND LOOKING AT HOW BEAR STEARNS WAS STRUCTURED, IT 12:31:12 DOES SEEM TO ME THAT THERE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY LEVEL OF RISK 12:31:16 TAKEN, THAT TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHEN YOU COMBINE HIGH LEVERAGE, 12:31:20 CONCENTRATION MORTGAGE ASSETS AND SHORT-TERM FUNDING THERE'S A 12:31:23 FORM OF FINANCIAL RUSSIAN ROULETTE THAT BEAR STEARNS WAS 12:31:28 PLAYING WITH OTHER INVESTMENT BANKS. 12:31:30 YOU HAD A LEVERAGE RATIO DEPENDENT ON HOW MEASURE IT FROM 12:31:33 38 TO 1 INTANGIBLE ASSETS TO TANGIBLE COMMON EQUITY, ON AN 12:31:41 AVERAGE MEANT MONTHLY BASES LIKE MORE 42 TO 1. 12:31:44 NOVEMBER 30th, 2007, ABOUT $46 BILLION OF EXPOSURE TO 12:31:49 MORTGAGES, MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES, OTHER ASSET BACKED 12:31:52 SECURITIES. YOU HAD LEVEL 3 ASSETS THAT WERE 12:31:58 269% OF TANGIBLE COMMON EQUITY. YOU COMBINE THAT WITH 12:32:02 EXTRAORDINARILY SHORT-TERM FUNDING, YOU HAVE TO ROLLOVER 12:32:05 EACH NIGHT, I WANT TO ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION I ASKED OTHER 12:32:09 FOLKS FROM BEAR STEARNS WHO WERE HERE, HOW WAS THAT MODEL N 12:32:12 SUSTAINABLE IN THE EVENT OF ANY MARKET DISRUPTION OF 12:32:14 SIGNIFICANCE? WELL, I APPRECIATE THE 12:32:18 QUESTION AND I BELIEVE I WAS WATCHING WHEN YOU ASKEE THAT 12:32:21 QUESTION OF THE FIRST PANEL. THAT WAS THE BUSINESS. 12:32:28 THAT WAS REALLY INDUSTRY PRACTICE. 12:32:32 IN RETROSPECT IN HINDSIGHT I WOULD SAY LEVERAGE WAS TOO HIGH. 12:32:45 LET ME ASK THIS QUESTION AND THAT IS, LEVERAGE WAS TOO HIGH, 12:32:50 WAS THE FUNDING MODEL ON THE OTHER SIDE A FLAWED MODEL GIVEN 12:32:53 THE LACK OF ANY KIND OF BACKSTOP LIKE ACCESS TO THE DISCOUNT 12:32:57 WINDOW OR ANY FORM OF INSURANCE ON THE FUNDING? 12:33:00 WELL, WE DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE DISCOUNT WINDOW. 12:33:03 CORRECT. I'LL ASK YOU ABOUT IT IN A 12:33:06 LITTLE WHILE. WAS THE MODEL EXACERBATED NOT 12:33:09 ONLY ON THE ASSET SIDE, BUT BY THE NATURE OF THE FUNDING 12:33:12 AVAILABLE TO THE FIRM. AND WAS IT ALSO EXACERBATED BY 12:33:16 PERHAPS A TRANSFORMATION IN THE INVESTMENT BANK BUSINESS OVER 12:33:21 TIME WHERE THE FIRM HELD MORE AND MORE ASSETS FOR ITS OWN 12:33:23 ACCOUNT? I BELIEVE THAT'S ACCURATE. 12:33:29 I BELIEVE THAT ANALYSIS IS CORRECT. 12:33:31 OKAY. MR. SCHWARTZ -- I LIKE A GOOD 12:33:39 SUCCINCT ANSWER WE'LL GET THROUGH A LOT TODAY. 12:33:42 DO YOU WANT TO COMMENT ON MY QUESTION. 12:33:44 WHICH QUESTION OR BOTH QUESTIONS? 12:33:45 THE LEVEL OF LEVERAGE. AND FUNDING? 12:33:47 AND COMBINED -- THE EXTRAORDINARY RISK PROFILE. 12:33:51 OKAY. FROM THE COMBINED 12:33:53 EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH LEVERAGE, THESE ARE MY CHARACTERIZATIONS 12:33:56 AND THE SHORT-TERM FUNDING, 50 TO $60 BILLION YOU HAVE TO ROLL 12:33:59 OVER EACH NIGHT. RIGHT. 12:34:01 SO, YES, I WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ON THAT. 12:34:04 I THINK THAT THE LEVERAGE, THE LEVERAGE WAS HIGH BUT I THINK 12:34:08 THAT THE WAY YOU'VE CHARACTERIZED THE LEVERAGE I 12:34:11 WOULD DISAGREE WITH A LITTLE BIT. 12:34:13 I THINK THAT THE IMPLICATION IS THAT WE HAD EXPOSURE THAT A 12:34:18 SMALL DROP IN THE VALUE OF THE ASSETS ON THE BALANCE SHEET 12:34:21 WOULD EXPOSE US TO GREAT LOSS AND THE ANSWER TO THAT IS I 12:34:25 DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S TRUE. A NUMBER OF THE ASSETS ON OUR 12:34:27 BALANCE SHEET WERE ASSETS WE WERE LENDING AGAINST SECURITIES 12:34:30 THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD EXPOSURE TO. 12:34:35 I'VE ALWAYS BELIEVED GROSS LEVERAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST 12:34:40 MISLEADING STATISTICS YOU CAN LOOK AT. 12:34:42 I WANT TO ASK YOU THIS VERY QUICKLY ON THAT. 12:34:46 WHAT KIND OF -- WHY DON'T YOU FINISH AND I HAVE A FOLLOW UP. 12:34:50 NO PROBLEM. THE WAY THAT RISK TENDS TO BE 12:34:56 LOOKED AT AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND CERTAINLY BY 12:34:58 ALL OF THE REGULATORS IS TO LOOK AT CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 12:35:03 TYPES OF ASSETS THAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR BALANCE SHEETS AND 12:35:08 DIFFERENT ASSETS HAVE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF RISK AND SHOULD HAVE 12:35:10 DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF CAPITAL HELD AGAINST THOSE ASSETS. 12:35:14 BY THOSE MEASURES, WHICH I THINK ARE THE MEASURES WE WERE MOST 12:35:18 LOOKED AT BY AGENCIES AND REGULATORS, BEAR STEARNS HAD 12:35:22 VERY STRONG CAPITAL RATIOS. AS IT RELATES TO THE FUNDING 12:35:28 MODEL, I THINK THAT THE RELIANCE ON THE AMOUNT OF OUR FUNDING 12:35:31 THAT HAD TO ROLL OVERNIGHT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE ENTERED 12:35:36 INTO CONSCIOUSLY. I THINK THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT 12:35:39 OCCURRED OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AS THE MARKETS IN THE REPO 12:35:44 BUSINESS, AS YOU WENT, AS YOU TOOK ON TERM REPO, AS THE REPO 12:35:50 MATURED, COUNTER PARTIES INCREASINGLY DECIDED THAT THEY'D 12:35:53 RATHER JUST GO OVERNIGHT. AND SINCE THERE WERE NO 12:35:57 ALTERNATIVES STARTING I WOULD SAY MAYBE FALL OF '07, INTO THE 12:36:01 SPRING OF '08, YOU BECOME INCREASINGLY RELIANT ON 12:36:05 OVERNIGHT FUNDING AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MODEL FOR 12:36:11 NONCOMMERCIAL BANKING HAD ALWAYS BEEN TO MAKE SURE YOU HAD A LOT 12:36:13 OF COLLATERAL TO BORROW AGAINST SO I DON'T KNOW ANOTHER MODEL WE 12:36:19 COULD HAVE PURSUED. ALL RIGHT. 12:36:21 MR. CANE, BACK TO YOU. YOU SAID YOU THOUGHT LEVERAGE ON 12:36:24 REFLECTION WAS TOO HIGH. WERE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT STEPS 12:36:29 MADE TO ADJUST THAT THROUGH 2007? 12:36:34 WERE THERE AMPLE DISCUSSIONS AROUND THAT? 12:36:36 WHAT WERE THE NATURE OF DISCUSSIONS AROUND AS AN 12:36:39 ALTERNATIVE TO REDUCING THE ASSET BASE, INCREASING THE 12:36:42 AMOUNT OF EQUITY? WELL, THERE WERE 12:36:47 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IT AND I WOULD ADD TO ALAN'S COMMENT 12:36:50 ABOUT THE SHORT-TERM FUNDING, SHORT-TERM ROLLING WHICH YOU'VE 12:36:56 DESCRIBED AS SORT OF HAND TO MOUTH AND YOU HOPE THEY'RE THERE 12:37:00 THE NEXT DAY, WE MADE A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO GO TO 12:37:04 SHORT-TERM FUNDING AS OPPOSED TO COMMERCIAL PAPER EVEN THOUGH IT 12:37:07 WAS MORE COSTLY, BECAUSE WE FELT IT WAS MORE SAFE AND MORE SECURE 12:37:14 FOR OUR INVESTORS. THE IDEA OF EQUITY, THE IDEA 12:37:22 THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH EQUITY, THERE WAS ALWAYS A 12:37:26 DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT AND MY PERSONAL BELIEF WAS THAT WE HAD 12:37:28 ENOUGH EQUITY. AND TO RAISE EQUITY AT THE LEVEL 12:37:31 THAT WE WOULD HAVE HAD TO GO TO RAISE THAT EQUITY WAS, IN MY 12:37:37 OPINION, FAR LOWER THAN WHAT THE COMPANY WAS WORTH. 12:37:41 B, I DIDN'T SEE WHAT RAISING EQUITY, UNLESS IT WAS AN 12:37:45 ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EQUITY OR IN OTHER WORDS SELL YOURSELF TO 12:37:49 SOMEBODY ELSE, WOULD CHANGE THE PICTURE. 12:37:52 LET ME PRESS THIS EQUITY POINT. 12:37:54 YOU HAD ABOUT $11 BILLION, 11.9 IN EQUITY AT THE CLOSE OF '07 12:37:59 AGAINST ASSETS OF $395 BILLION. MORE ON AN AVERAGE LIKE $450 12:38:04 MILLION, BECAUSE THERE WAS BALANCE SHEET MANAGEMENT TO 12:38:06 BRING DOWN YOUR RATIO AT YEAR END AND TAKING INTO ACCOUNT WHAT 12:38:09 YOU'VE SAID ABOUT OBVIOUSLY DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASSETS, YOU 12:38:12 KNOW, TO I THINK MOST PEOPLE, THE NOTION OF HAVING THAT THIN 12:38:17 AN EQUITY BASE AGAINST THAT LARGE AN ASSET BASE, I MEAN 12:38:20 SEEMS ON THE AGGREGATE BASIS WOULD BE A 2% DIMINUTION IN 12:38:26 VALUES AND YOU'RE WIPED OUT. I WANT TO PRESS THIS A LITTLE. 12:38:30 YOU DIDN'T SEE GOING INTO THE TURBULENT WATERS THAT IT WOULD 12:38:33 BE NECESSARY TO BUILD A HIGHER LEVEE? 12:38:36 CORRECT. WAS THE FACT THAT 12:38:37 COMPENSATION WAS BASED ON RETURN ON EQUITY A FACTOR THERE? 12:38:40 BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THE HIGHLY LEVERAGED YOU WERE, IT WOULD 12:38:42 AFFECT COMPENSATION? ABSOLUTELY NOT. 12:38:47 ALL RIGHT. LET ME FAULK TALK A LITTLE BIT 12:38:51 AND ASK YOU TO COMMENT ON THE INTERNAL DEBATES. 12:38:54 AS YOU MAY HAVE LISTENED THIS MORNING F YOU DID, WHICH WOULD 12:38:58 HAVE BEEN A GOOD THING PROBABLY, ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT WE'RE 12:39:01 GRAPPLING WITH THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE VERY INTESTAMENT BANK 12:39:04 BUSINESS MODEL AND AS IT WAS PRACTICED WAS AN UNSUSTAINABLE 12:39:07 MODEL OR THE EXTENT TO WHICH FIRMS COULD HAVE PUT THEMSELVES 12:39:12 IN THE POSITION TO SURVIVE THE TSUNAMI, WHICH OFTEN PEOPLE KNOW 12:39:16 IS COMING. THERE TEND TO BE WARNING SIGNS. 12:39:19 THERE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN SOME DEBATE INTERNALLY ABOUT WHAT 12:39:23 OUGHT TO BE DONE. FOLKS APPARENTLY LIKE WENDY 12:39:31 DEMONSHA, ACE GREENBERG, BOBBY STEIN BURG, URGED REDUCTION 12:39:36 AWARRANTLY ACCORDING TO THE INTERVIEWS GIVE TO OUR STAFF OF 12:39:40 MORTGAGE-RELATED POSITIONS IN THE FALL OF '07. 12:39:45 IN FACT, THE FORMER TREASURER, MR. UPTON, QUOTED MR. GREENBERG 12:39:49 AS SAYING, QUOTE, THE BEST HEDGE IS A SALE. 12:39:51 WHEN YOU GET TO YOUR SEPTEMBER 18th BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING, 12:39:58 THERE'S A NOTE WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO ENTER FOR THE RECORD, BY 12:40:00 THE WAY, MR. MAYOR FOCUSED ON THE TURBULENCE THAT OCCURRED IN 12:40:03 THE FIXED INCOME MARKETS DURING THE THIRD QUARTER BY 12:40:05 HIGHLIGHTING THE REPRISING OF CORPORATE CREDITS, IMPACT OF 12:40:09 RISING DELINQUENCY RATES AND REDUCED HOME PRICES ON THE 12:40:12 MARKETS FOR MORTGAGE SECURITIES AND GENERAL CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE 12:40:16 IMPACTING CLO AND COMMERCIAL PAPER MARKETS. 12:40:18 THERE WAS A REPORT, WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO ENTER FOR THE 12:40:23 RECORD, WHICH WAS A MERRILL LYNCH REPORT OF NOVEMBER 12:40:26 7th, '07, I'M NOT SURE YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN ABOUT BUT ABOUT THE 12:40:31 BEAR STEARNS ASSET MANAGEMENT SITUATION. 12:40:34 WHAT WENT WRONG. OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE AFFECTED. 12:40:36 THEY SEIZED $800 MILLION WORTH OF COLLATERAL. 12:40:40 THEIR OWN ASSESSMENT WAS BEAR STEARNS DID TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. 12:40:45 NAY EVELY ASSUMED WALL STREET CREDITORS WOULD HOLD OFF ON 12:40:48 MARGIN CALLS. FAILED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO BACK 12:40:50 THE LESS TROUBLED HIGH GRADE FUND. 12:40:54 AND I GUESS WHAT I WOULD ASK YOU IS, WAS THERE ENOUGH INTERNAL 12:41:00 DEBATE AND COULD YOU HAVE DONE MORE TO POSITION YOURSELF FOR 12:41:05 THAT WEEK IN MARCH OR WAS IT SIMPLY A RUN FUELED BY 12:41:10 UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS? COULD YOU HAVE BUILT A HIGHER 12:41:13 LEVEE? MR. CANE? 12:41:15 MR. SCHWARTZ? AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THAT 12:41:18 EQUITY WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE PICTURE AT ALL. 12:41:20 I MEAN Y YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A RUN ON A BANK WHERE HISTORICALLY 12:41:27 EQUITY WILL SAVE YOU BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN INORDINANCE 12:41:31 AMOUNT OF CAPITAL, FAR MORE THAN THE COMPANY ITSELF. 12:41:35 SO MY POINT IS, THAT FIRST OF ALL ON THE REPORT THAT MERRILL 12:41:40 LYNCH GAVE, I BELIEVE THEY MIGHT HAVE SAID A LITTLE TOO LATE AS 12:41:48 FAR AS US HOARDING SOME OF THE MATERIAL, IS THAT ACCURATE? 12:41:50 I WANT TO BE SURE I GOT THAT REPORTED. 12:41:52 I DON'T REMEMBER SPECIFICALLY THE REPORT ITSELF. 12:41:55 IT WAS CALLED CRISIS MANAGEMENT BEAR STEARNS DID TOO 12:41:59 LITTLE TOO LATE. IT WAS THEIR DOCUMENT ABOUT 12:42:03 THEIR POSITION. I'M NOT SURE YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN 12:42:05 IT. DID THAT CONCERN THE FUNDS? 12:42:07 IT CONCERNED THE FUNDS AND YOUR REACTION TO THE FUNDS. 12:42:10 OKAY. WHICH I KNOW BY THE WAY YOU 12:42:12 APPARENTLY OPPOSE THE INFUSION OF THE 1.6. 12:42:14 YOU DID. PERSONALLY. 12:42:15 YES. YES. 12:42:16 I DID. BUT SO YOUR VIEW IS THE 12:42:19 HIGHER LEVEE WOULDN'T HAVE MATTERED. 12:42:21 RIGHT. SO IT WAS IN YOUR VIEW 12:42:25 RUMORS, PEOPLE TRYING TO BRING THE FIRM DOWN, I'M NOT TRYING TO 12:42:28 BE NEFARIOUS HERE, BUT HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE IT? 12:42:32 FOLKS WHO HAD AN INTEREST IN BRINGING THE FIRM DOWN. 12:42:35 WELL, I HAVE TRIED TO AVOID WHEN I'VE BEEN ASKED THAT 12:42:40 QUESTION ABOUT CONSPIRACIES AND RUMORS AND I'VE REALLY TRIED TO 12:42:47 AVOID ANSWERING IT. FOR THIS PANEL I WILL BE HAPPY 12:42:51 TO ANSWER IT. I WAS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE 12:42:54 RESPONSE THAT S.E.C. HAD WHEN MR. COX LOOKED AT IT AND SAID 12:42:59 THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING HERE. I HEARD THE SAME RUMORS 12:43:02 EVERYBODY HEARD. THAT HEDGE FUNDS HAD GATHERED 12:43:06 TOGETHER AND GANGED UP AND AN UP TICK RULE AND THAT WAS ALL PART 12:43:12 OF A PICTURE OF A BIG BAD GOOSE WALKING DOWN A LANE THAT'S ABOUT 12:43:16 TO GET EATEN UP ALIVE. NOW WHETHER IT'S THE COMPETITORS 12:43:20 OR PEOPLE ANGRY AT IT OR WHATEVER, I DON'T KNOW. 12:43:25 BUT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY OR NOT, THE 12:43:29 BOTTOM LINE WAS THAT THE FIRM CAME UNDER ATTACK. 12:43:33 WE FEEL THAT IF THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY AND THE S.E.C. WAS 12:43:37 GOING TO FIND THAT CONSPIRACY, THAT WOULD BE A MIRACLE. 12:43:41 I'M NOT AN EXPERT ON CONSPIRACY. DID THEY ATTEMPT TO FIND ONE 12:43:45 TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE? TO MY KNOWLEDGE, NO. 12:43:47 YOUR COMMENT ABOUT BEING ENTHUSIASTIC WHEN MR. COX SAID 12:43:51 IT, YOU HOPED THERE WOULD BE AN INQUIRY. 12:43:53 CORRECT. TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE THERE HAS 12:43:54 NOT BEEN? IF THERE HAS, THEN THERE IS 12:43:56 NO CONSPIRACY. THE ANSWER IS I DON'T KNOW. 12:44:00 OKAY. I WANT TO KEEP ON THIS FOR A 12:44:03 MINUTE BECAUSE I KNOW SOME OTHER COMMISSIONERS, I KNOW MISS 12:44:06 MURREN WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THOSE END DAYS. 12:44:10 IN THE PANEL EARLIER TODAY I CITED SOME E-MAILS BETWEEN 12:44:14 ADVISERS AND GOLDMAN. THERE WAS THAT MOMENT ON MARCH 12:44:16 11th. MAYBE I SHOULD ADDRESS IT TO 12:44:19 BOTH OF YOU, WHERE INITIALLY GOLDMAN DID NOT CONSENT TO BEAR 12:44:24 STEPPING IN THE SHOES OF HAYMAN AND THE E-MAIL SAID WE DON'T 12:44:27 WANT TO FACE BEAR. I BELIEVE YOU WERE BEING 12:44:30 INTERVIEWED ON CNBC WHEN THOSE RUMORS WERE RIPE. 12:44:33 HOW DAMAGING WERE THOSE RUMORS? YOU'RE ASKING ME? 12:44:36 I'LL START WITH YOU. SINCE YOU WERE THE INTERVIEWEE 12:44:39 AND ASK MR. CANE NEXT. I WASN'T THERE. 12:44:42 I LEFT IN JANUARY. RIGHT. 12:44:43 YOU WERE THE NONEXECUTIVE CHAIR. CORRECT. 12:44:46 WERE YOU WATCHING ANY OF THIS? 12:44:47 I WATCHED ALAN ON TELEVISION. YOU WERE IN DETROIT, RIGHT? 12:44:50 RIGHT. BRIDGE TOURNAMENT? 12:44:51 CORRECT. BUT MAYBE SINCE YOU WATCHED 12:44:54 ON TV I WILL ASK YOU, THOUGH. GO AHEAD, MR. SCHWARTZ. 12:44:59 SO IN TERMS OF ANY PARTICULAR ONE RUMOR IT'S HARD TO KNOW 12:45:04 WHICH RUMOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE WANT TO LISTEN TO. 12:45:07 IN THE DAYS OF THAT WEEK OF MARCH 10th, EACH DAY THAT WENT 12:45:12 BY, THERE WERE NEW RUMORS AND THE ONLY THING THAT I CAN TELL 12:45:16 YOU I REMEMBER, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE REASONS WE DECIDED WHICH 12:45:21 WE MAY GET INTO TO BE INTERVIEWED THAT DAY WAS THERE 12:45:25 SEEMED TO BE A WIDESPREAD RUMOR THAT BEAR STEARNS HAD LOST A LOT 12:45:29 OF MONEY IN THE FIRST QUARTER. UPON REFLECTION, I THINK I 12:45:35 REALIZED THAT THE MOST VULNERABLE TIME FOR A FINANCIAL 12:45:37 INSTITUTION OR ANY PUBLIC COMPANY IS PROBABLY IN THE 12:45:43 PERIOD BETWEEN WHEN A QUARTER ENDS AND BEFORE THEY REPORT IT 12:45:47 PUBLICLY, BECAUSE STARTING RUMORS ABOUT WHAT'S GOING TO 12:45:49 COME OUT IN THAT CORNER -- QUARTER, CAN GET PEOPLE NERVOUS 12:45:53 BECAUSE THERE'S AN ANNOUNCEMENT COMING AND THEY WANT TO GET OUT 12:45:56 IN FRONT OF IT. SO, ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANTED 12:45:59 TO DO WAS WE COULDN'T REPORT THE QUARTER UNTIL THE BOOKS WERE 12:46:03 CLOSED BUT WE COULD MAKE SOME PUBLIC COMMENT ABOUT THE GENERAL 12:46:07 TONE OF THE QUARTER, WHICH WE HOPED WOULD CALM PEOPLE DOWN, TO 12:46:11 SAY IF THEY DIDN'T LOSE A LOT OF MONEY SOUNDS LIKE THEY MADE 12:46:15 MONEY, LET'S WAIT UNTIL THE QUARTER AND GET MORE INFORMATION 12:46:17 ABOUT THE COMPANY. A COUPLE HOURS AFTER WE -- AFTER 12:46:21 THAT INTERVIEW, I HEARD FROM SEVERAL PEOPLE, THERE WAS A NEW 12:46:25 SET OF RUMORS GOING AROUND THAT OKAY, BEAR STEARNS ACTUALLY 12:46:29 HADN'T LOST MONEY IN THE FIRST QUARTER, BUT THE RUMOR WAS, THEY 12:46:32 TOOK A HORRENDOUS LOSS IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SECOND 12:46:35 QUARTER. SO, THE TYPES OF RUMORS THAT 12:46:38 WERE RUNNING AROUND, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY. 12:46:41 THAT'S THE ONE RUMOR THAT PEOPLE RESPONDED TO. 12:46:42 ALL RIGHT. BUT IT WAS A RUMOR OF CONCERN? 12:46:45 THERE WERE A LOT OF RUMORS OF CONCERN. 12:46:47 YOU HAVE A COMMENT, MR. CANE? I MEAN -- 12:46:50 HAVING WATCHED THE INTERVIEW? I THOUGHT ALAN HANDLED 12:46:55 HIMSELF VERY WELL. ALL RIGHT. 12:46:56 LET ME ASK YOU BEFORE I -- I'LL RESERVE THE BALANCE OF MY TIME. 12:47:02 LET ME ASK YOU BOTH ONE OTHER QUESTION JUST ON A SLIGHTLY 12:47:08 DIFFERENT POINT, I WANT TO ASK YOUR OPINION OF IT, YOU MAY OR 12:47:11 MAY NOT KNOW OF THE SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS OR TRANSACTIONS 12:47:14 BUT APPARENTLY JOHN PAULSON WAS ONE OF BEAR STEARNS TOP TEN 12:47:18 INSTITUTIONAL CLIENTS PER AN E-MAIL IN JANUARY OF 2008 12:47:22 LOOKING BACK AT 2006/2007 FROM GENTLEMAN DEEMED DAVID ROLLINS 12:47:27 TO MR. MAYOR AND MR. MOLNARO. APPARENTLY MR. PAULSON 12:47:31 APPROACHED AND WE INTERVIEWED MR. IKELE AND MR. WAGNER, SCOTT 12:47:35 IKELE WAS APPROACHED BY MR. PAULSON, HAD THREE MEETINGS WITH 12:47:38 HIM, AT THE SECOND MEETING MR. PAULSON ASKED MR. IKELE THE 12:47:43 SYNTHETIC STRUCTURE OF THE CEO. MR. IKELE TOLD US AND I BELIEVE 12:47:45 HE SAID IT ON THE RECORD AND OTHER PLACES HE WAS 12:47:49 UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE TRANSACTION AND TURNED IT DOWN 12:47:51 AND ACCORDING TO MR. WAGNER, MR. WAGNER ALSO SAID THAT HE WAS 12:47:57 INVOLVED IN IT BEING TURNED DOWN BECAUSE IT WAS A FUNDAMENTAL 12:48:01 CONFLICT OF INTEREST. WERE AU WARE OF THIS DECISION 12:48:03 AND DO YOU THINK YOU MADE THE RIGHT DECISION AND GOLDMAN MADE 12:48:07 THE WRONG DECISION TO DO THAT TRANSACTION? 12:48:09 I WASN'T AWARE OF IT AT ALL. DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT 12:48:12 WHETHER YOU MADE THE RIGHT DECISION AND GOLDMAN MADE THE 12:48:14 WRONG DECISION? NO. 12:48:16 MR. SCHWARTZ? I WASN'T AWARE OF IT AND IT'S 12:48:22 NOT ENOUGH DETAIL TO KNOW WHETHER IT WAS THE RIGHT OR 12:48:25 WRONG DECISION. THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN. 12:48:26 MR. VICE CHAIRMAN. THANK YOU M CHAIRMAN. 12:48:32 AGAIN, I WANT TO THANK BOTH OF YOU FOR COMING. 12:48:35 AS THE CASE STUDY, GIVEN THE STABILITY LONG GEFRTY OVER A 12:48:41 PERIOD OF TIME, WHERE THERE WAS GREAT FLUX AND CHANGE IN THE 12:48:47 STRUCTURE OF THESE ENTITIES, YOUR EXPERIENCE I THINK IS VERY 12:48:51 HELPFUL TO US. IT'S BEEN REPEATEDLY SAID THAT 12:48:58 THERE WERE FIVE, AND YOU WERE THE SMALLEST OF THE FIVE. 12:49:03 I ASSUME THAT DIDN'T BOTHER YOU TOO MUCH BECAUSE YOU WERE 12:49:06 STABLE, YOU WERE VERY GOOD, AND ALL OF THE OTHER ARGUMENTS THAT 12:49:09 YOU HAVE MADE. DID YOU, WAS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE 12:49:15 SUFFICIENT INFORMATION, COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS, COMPARE 12:49:20 YOURSELF ON PROFILES AS TO HOW COMFORTABLE YOU WERE? 12:49:24 IN YOUR TESTIMONY, YOU TALK ABOUT YOU WERE WELL CAPITALIZED 12:49:28 AND HAD LIQUIDITY WELL IN EXCESS OF REGULATORY STANDARDS. 12:49:33 TO ME IF ANYBODY IS GOING TO SET A REGULATORY STANDARD IT'S THE 12:49:38 FLOOR, NOT THE CEILING. YOU WOULD HOPE YOU WOULD BE 12:49:40 ABOVE THE FLOOR. BUT DID YOU DO ANY DIRECT 12:49:43 COMPARISON TO OTHERS? EITHER ON SCALE SIZE OR SOME 12:49:45 OTHER RELATIONSHIP? YES, WE DID. 12:49:50 WE AND OTHERS DID AS WELL. I ASSUME -- 12:49:54 ON MOST OF THE MEASURES, OF CAPITAL ADEQUACY, WE CAME OUT 12:50:00 VERSUS OUR COMPETITORS AS BEING AT COMPETITORS AS BEING 12:50:02 AT THE HIGHEST ENDS OF OUR CAPITAL RATIOS. 12:50:07 AS A MATTER OF FACT, ONE OF THE PRESSURES THAT WE FACED THE MOST 12:50:10 IN '05, '06 AND INTO '07 WAS EVERY TIME WE HAD A MEETING WITH 12:50:17 INVESTORS, THEY ACTUALLY GOT ON US BECAUSE THEY KEPT SAYING THAT 12:50:20 WE HAD TOO MUCH CAPITAL, WE HAD MORE CAPITAL RELATIVE TO OUR 12:50:26 BALANCE SHEET THAN ALL OF OUR COMPETITORS AND THE PRESSURE 12:50:29 FROM SHAREHOLDERS IS WE SHOULD BE RETURNING CAPITAL THROUGH 12:50:32 STOCK BUY BACKS OR DIVIDENDS WHICH WE RESISTED. 12:50:35 WELL, I MEAN, THAT'S LIKE FANS SCREAMING FOR YOU TO TAKE 12:50:39 THE SHOT IN THE LAST TWO SECONDS FROM THE HALF-COURT LINE. 12:50:44 AND IF YOU DO AND MISS IT THEN YOU'RE AT FAULT. 12:50:49 RARELY DO YOU MAKE IT. AS THE HUSBAND OF THE BUSINESS, 12:50:53 YOU REALLY HAVE TO LISTEN TO THEM, BUT IN THE END, ISN'T IT 12:50:58 YOUR JUDGMENT THAT'S PUT ON THE LINE AND YOU'RE EITHER CONTINUED 12:51:08 ON IN THE POSITION OR NOT. SO THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD YOUR 12:51:11 EQUITY HAS TO BE BASED ON SOMETHING ELSE, DOESN'T IT? 12:51:16 OBVIOUSLY, IT WAS. WELL, YES. 12:51:19 I THINK I WAS ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION AS DID WE COMPARE 12:51:23 OURSELVES TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS. YES. 12:51:25 THEY DID, TOO. -- MORRIS I CAN. 12:51:27 IT LOOKED LIKE WE WERE IN SAFER GROUND. 12:51:31 MY POINT ABOUT INVESTORS, POENT N 12:51:36 POINT NUMBER ONE WAS WHEN INVESTORS LOOKED AT IT, WHEN A 12:51:40 GROUP OF INDEPENDENT PEOPLE COMPARED US TO OUR PEERS, THEY 12:51:43 CAME TO THE CONCLUSION WE HAD TOO MUCH CAPITAL. 12:51:46 TO YOUR POINT, MR. VICE CHAIRMAN, WE DIDN'T AGREE AND 12:51:50 KEPT THE CAPITAL INSTEAD OF RETURNING IT TO THEM. 12:51:52 IT WAS MENTIONED YOU WERE NOT HEAVILY INVOLVED IN SUBPRIME 12:51:56 MORTGAGES BUT AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 2 WE -- QUOTE, WE LIKE MANY 12:52:02 INSTITUTIONS RELIED ON THE MARKET FOR HIGHLY TRANCHED OF 12:52:11 STRUCTURED SECURITIES, WERE THEY THEN ALL "As" AS OPPOSED TO 12:52:17 S SUBPRIME? 12:52:18 WELL, THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION DIRECTLY IS TO WHAT I 12:52:20 WAS REFERRING TO WAS THE PROCESS OF SECURITIZATION AND THE IMPACT 12:52:25 IT HAD ON FUELING A LIQUIDITY CRISIS WHICH I WOULD BE HAPPY TO 12:52:29 GO INTO, BUT IF YOU'RE ASKING A SPECIFIC QUESTION ABOUT BEAR 12:52:37 STEARNS' EXPEXPOSURE, THE ANSWE IS, YES, WE HAD LIGHT EXPOSURES 12:52:44 TO SUBPRIMES. AND YOU FELT THEY WERE 12:52:47 SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT TO PLACE YOURSELF IN A POSITION OF GOING 12:52:51 MUCH HEAVIER ON ALT-As? I THINK THAT AT THE TIME THE 12:52:56 PEOPLE THAT WERE DOING THE RESEARCH FELT THAT ALT-A LOANS 12:53:01 WERE SUPERIOR TO SUBPRIME LOANS IN TERMS OF QUALITY. 12:53:05 AND WHEN IT COMES TO HOW MUCH CAPITAL IS ENOUGH CAPITAL, I HAD 12:53:13 A COMMUNITY IN MY DISTRICT WHEN I REPRESENTED THEM THAT SUFFERED 12:53:18 100-YEAR FLOOD. AND SO, WE BEGAN TO GO THROUGH 12:53:21 THE MOTIONS OF TALKING ABOUT BUILTING A DAM AND EVERYONE 12:53:24 SAID, WELL, IT WAS A 100-YEAR FLOOD SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY 12:53:27 ABOUT IT. TWO YEARS LATER, A SECOND 12:53:31 100-YEAR FLOOD OCCURRED AND IT WAS FAIRLY PERSUASIVE. 12:53:34 FOLLOWING THAT SECOND 100-YEAR FLOOD THAT MAYBE SOMETHING 12:53:38 NEEDED TO BE DONE. I'M SOMEWHAT IMPRESSED BY THE 12:53:42 STATEMENT THAT YOU COULD HAVE HAD ENOUGH EQUITY IF YOU WERE A 12:53:46 LARGER COMPANY. YOU SIMPLY -- IF YOU HAD THE 12:53:49 ENTIRE COMPANY ON THE LINE, WHICH YOU ULTIMATELY DID. 12:53:53 IT WASN'T ENOUGH. SO QUESTIONS AFTER THE FACT 12:53:56 ABOUT WHETHER YOU WERE WELL CAPITALIZED HAVE TO DO WITH 12:54:00 WHETHER IT'S 100-YEAR FLOOD OR TWO 100-YEAR FLOODS IN THREE 12:54:06 YEARS AND I APPRECIATE THAT. YOU ENDED YOUR TESTIMONY, MR. 12:54:10 SCHWARTZ, ON PAGE 3 THAT YOU'RE OPTIMISTIC THAT POLICYMAKERS 12:54:14 WILL CONSIDER, QUOTE, REGULATORY SOLUTIONS THAT MINIMIZE THESE 12:54:17 KINDS OF RISKS IN THE FUTURE. DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? 12:54:24 WELL, AS OPPOSED TO SUGGESTIONS, I WOULD JUST 12:54:27 COMMENT THAT I'M WATCHING AND ACTUALLY DISCUSSING WITH A 12:54:31 NUMBER OF PEOPLE THE VARIOUS PROPOSALS THAT ARE COMING 12:54:33 THROUGH IN THE BILLS. AND, I THINK THAT WHAT I WAS 12:54:38 REFERRING TO IN MY STATEMENT WAS THAT I BELIEVE THAT WHILE YOU'VE 12:54:44 QUESTIONED US ABOUT EQUITY APPROPRIATELY, I DON'T BELIEVE 12:54:46 EQUITY WAS THE ISSUE THAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM AT BEAR STEARNS. 12:54:51 I DON'T THINK WE HAD A SOLVENCY ISSUE. 12:54:54 EQUITY RELATES TO SOLVENCY IN THE END. 12:54:57 I THINK WE HAD A LIQUIDITY ISSUE DRIVEN BY CONFIDENCE. 12:55:01 NOW, IF ONE ASKS WHY WASN'T THERE ENOUGH CONFIDENCE, I 12:55:05 BELIEVE THAT WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT THE WHOLE SYSTEM WAS 12:55:09 RELYING ON THE FACT THAT THE SENIOR TRANCHES OF MORTGAGE DEBT 12:55:15 SECURITIES THAT WERE VERY HIGHLY RATED WOULD BE OF THE QUALITY OF 12:55:20 SECURITIES THAT WERE RATED AS HIGH AS THEY TURNED -- AS THEY 12:55:24 WERE PUT ON THEM. AND THAT WHEN THE MARKET 12:55:28 PERCEIVED THAT SOME OF THOSE VERY HIGHLY RATED TRANCHES WERE 12:55:31 ACTUALLY NOT HIGH QUALITY SECURITIES THE LACK OF 12:55:35 TRANSPARENCY IN THE INSTRUMENTS MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE 12:55:39 WHICH ONES ON ANYBODY'S BALANCE SHEETS WERE ACTUALLY VERY RISKY 12:55:43 VERSUS LESS RISKY. SO THERE WAS A RELIANCE ON 12:55:46 RATINGS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT SOMEBODY'S BALANCE SHEET LOOKED 12:55:49 LIKE AND THEN WHEN THE RATINGS FAILED THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY TO 12:55:54 DISTINGUISH WHO WAS HOLDING RISKY INSTRUMENTS AND WHO WAS 12:55:56 HOLDING SAFE INSTRUMENTS. SO, SPECIFICALLY TO YOUR 12:56:01 QUESTION, I BELIEVE THAT IN ALL OF THE BILLS I AM SEEING A TREND 12:56:04 AND THE DETAILS ARE OBVIOUSLY IMPORTANT BUT THERE IS A 12:56:08 MOVEMENT TO GET MANY OF THESE PRODUCTS, DERFTIVE-TYPE 12:56:13 PRODUCTS, MOVED ON TO EXCHANGES OR CLEARINGHOUSES AND I THINK 12:56:19 THAT'S A VERY POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR TRANSPARENCY OF 12:56:22 PEOPLE'S BALANCE SHEETS. OUR PRIMARY FUNCTION AS A 12:56:25 COMMISSION IS TO FIND OUT THE CAUSE OR CAUSES OF THE FINANCIAL 12:56:30 CRISIS AND MR. WALL LOSSSON IS FOCUSING US ON THAT. 12:56:36 OUR PRIMARY FUNCTION. I GUESS BASED UPON WHAT YOU SAID 12:56:39 IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR ME ASK YOU, DO YOU BELIEVE THE 12:56:43 RATING AGENCIES WERE THE CAUSE OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS? 12:56:46 YOU KNOW, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT ANY ONE PARTICIPANT IN THE 12:56:50 GAME WAS THE CAUSE. 20%? 12:56:54 30%? SO I THINK THAT THE RATING 12:56:56 AGENCIES WERE PART OF THE PROBLEM. 12:56:58 BUT I THINK THAT THE BIGGEST PART OF THE PROBLEM WAS A 12:57:04 RELIANCE ON THE RATING AGENCIES WITHOUT ANY OTHER MEASURE OF 12:57:08 TRANSPARENCY. CREATIVITY OF PRODUCTS THAT 12:57:11 WERE PACKAGED IN NEW AND CLEVER WAYS WITHOUT REALLY FULLY 12:57:16 APPRECIATING WHAT THEY WERE? YEAH. 12:57:19 NOT ONLY -- NOT APPRECIATING WHAT THEY WERE IS AN IMPORTANT 12:57:23 POINT, BUT NOT HAVING A WAY TO COMPARE ONE TO THE OTHER BECAME 12:57:27 IN MY MIND THE MORE IMPORTANT POINT. 12:57:31 THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN. 12:57:34 MISS BORNE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 12:57:41 LET ME START BY ASKING THIS ABOUT BEAR STEARNS. 12:57:47 IT WAS A VERY, VERY LARGE ORGANIZATION. 12:57:50 AND A VERY COMPLEX ONE. HAD $400 BILLION WORTH OF 12:57:57 ASSETS. LOTS OF DIFFERENT BUSINESSES. 12:58:00 MANY EMPLOYEES. MANY AFFILIATED COMPANIES UNDER 12:58:05 THE UMBRELLA OF BEAR STEARNS. DID YOU EVER CONSIDER BEAR 12:58:12 STEARNS TOO BIG TO MANAGE? MR. SCHWARTZ? 12:58:19 DO YOU FEEL THAT -- IN OTHER WORDS, DO YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU 12:58:23 HAD SUFFICIENT INFORMATION ABOUT THE OPERATIONS TO MANAGE THE 12:58:27 BUSINESS EFFECTIVELY? IT'S A GOOD QUESTION. 12:58:33 AS BEEN MENTIONED IN OTHER QUESTIONS, WE'RE THE SMALLEST OF 12:58:36 THE INVESTMENT BANKS AND CERTAINLY SMALLER THAN THE LARGE 12:58:38 COMMERCIAL BANKS SO NO. I DON'T THINK WE WERE TOO BIG TO 12:58:41 MANAGE. I DON'T THINK WE WERE TOO 12:58:43 COMPLEX TO MANAGE. I THINK THAT THIS SITUATION OF 12:58:51 THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY OF OUR BALANCE SHEET VERSUS EVERYBODY 12:58:55 ELSE'S, WHICH I THINK WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT I BELIEVE 12:59:00 OUR ASSET QUALITY WAS HIGHER THAN A NUMBER OF OTHER FINANCIAL 12:59:04 INST

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22:57:30 JORDAN SPEECH IN PROGRESS. 22:57:38 AMERICA IS BETTER AT BUILDING WAR EQUIPMENT THAN HOUSING. ITS SLIPPING AWAY. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS SLIPPING AWAY FROM WORKERS ON LAYOFFS WHILE CEOS ARE TAKING HOME BONUSES. WE NEED TO CHANGE DECAYING INNER CITIES FROM DECAY TO PLACES WHERE HOPE LIVES/ 22:58:40 AS WE UNDERGO CHANGE, BE PREPARED TO ANSWER RODNEY KINGS QUESTION, CAN WE ALL GET ALONG? I SAY WE ANSWER WITH A RESOUNDING YES! 22:59:09 AUDIO) APPLAUSE. 22:59:15 WE MUST CHANGE THAT ENVIRONMENT OF THE 80S OF GREED AND HATRED AND MEGA MERGERS, CHANGE THAT TO AN ENVIRONMENT OF DEVOTION TO PUBLIC INTEREST, SERVICE, TOLERANCE, AND LOVE. 23:00:17 WE ARE ONE. DIVISION BASED ON RACE AND COLOR. WE HONOR CULTURAL IDENTITY, BUT SEPERATISM IS NOT ALLOWED. NOT THE AMERICAN WAY/ MUST NOT ALLOW IDEAS LIKE POLITICAL CORRECTNESS TO DIVIDE US AND REVERSE ACHIEVEMNETS IN CIVIL RIGHTS. 23:01:29 ZENOPHOBIA HAS NO PLACE IN PARTY. SEEK TO UNITE, NOT DIVIDE. AS WE SEEK TO UNITE, WE REJECT BOTH WHITE RACISM AND BLACK RACISM. 23:01:59 THIS PARTY WILL NOT TOLERATE BIGOTRY UNDER ANY GUISE. OUR STRENGTH IS ROOTED IN OUR DIVERSITY. OUR HISTORY BEARS PROOF. E PLURIBUS UNUM. GOOD IDEA THEN, GOOD IDEA NOW. 23:02:51 FROM MANY -- ONE. THAT STILL IDENTIFIES US. WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE OUR COMPLICITY IN BUDGET DEFICIT. RECOGNIZE THAT WE MUST ADRESS QUESTION OF ENTITLEMENT. NOT EASY. BUT HAVE TO. BECAUSE IDEA OF JUSTICE BETWEEN GENERATIONS MANDATES THAT BABY BOOMERS -- THATS OUR TICKET -- ARE ENTITLED TO A SECURE FUTURE. HOWEVER, 23:04:09 IF WE ARE GOING TO ASK BENEFIT RECEIVERS TO SACRIFICE, THERE MUST BE EQUITY IN SACRIFICE. THAT IDEA SAYS WE WILL SACRIFICE FOR GROWTH, EVERYONE MUST JOIN, NOT JUST FEW, EQUALLY. 23:04:48 THAT IS, THE PERSON WHO IS RETIRED, LABORER, EXECUTIVE, MEMBER OF CONGRESS, ALL MUST SACRIFICE. ONE OVERDUE CHANGE IS ALREADY UNDER WAY, THAT IS REFLECTED IN NUMBER OF WOMEN CHALLENGING POLITICAL POWER. 23:05:35 THESE WOMEN ARE CHALLENGING BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN DOMINATED BY WHITE MALE POLICY MAKERS, AND THATS WRONG. THAT HORIZON OF GENDER EQUITY IS LIMITLESS. WHAT WE SEE TODAY IS A DRESS REHEARSAL FOR WHEN WE NOMINATE MADAME PRESIDENT. 23:06:35 THIS COUNTRY CAN ILL-AFFORD TO CONTINUE TO FUNCTION USING LESS THAN HALF ITS HUMAN RESOURCES, BRAIN POWER. DE TOCQUEVILLE CAME TO AMERICA, HE SAID ONE SINGLE SUBSTANCE RESPONSIBLE TO GROWTH OF AMERICAN PEOPLE, I WOULD SAY IT IS THE SUPERIORITY OF THEIR WOMEN." 23:07:52 GENTLEMEN, LETS . . . 23:08:21 (AUDIO) CHANTS OF BARBARA 23:08:28 I CAN ONLY SAY THE 20TH CENTURY WILL NOT CLOSE WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN BEING KEENLY FELT. 23:08:52 WE MUST LEAVE WITH PEOPLE PURSUADED TO TRUST US, THE DEMOCRATS TO GOVERN AGAIN. THAT IS NOT EASY. BUT WE CAN DO IT. PUBLIC FEARS ABOUT FUTURE PROVIDE FERTILE GROUND FOR CYNICS WHO SAY IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHO IS ELECTED. SAY TO THEM, YOU ARE PERPETUATING A FRAUD: IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHO IS PRESIDENT. 23:11:21 THE WHOLE QUESTION FALLS INTO EMOTIONALISM RATHER THAN FACT. YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS IT IS TO MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON EMOTIONS RATHER THAN REASEON. MADISON, FATHER OF CONSTITUTION, WARNED US OF THESE PERILS. EDITOR OF GAZETTE SAID THIS OF REASON: REASON HAS NEVER FAILED MAN. ONLY FEAR AND OPPRESSION HAVE MAKE THE WRECKS OF THE WORLD. 23:12:36 IT IS REASON, NOT PASSION. WHICH SHOULD GUIDE OUR DECISIONS. QUESTION PERSIST, WHO CAN BEST LEAD THIS COUNTRY. I CLOSE MY REMARKS BY QUOTING FROM ROOSELVELT'S INNAUGURAL ADDRESS IN 1933, TO PEOPLE YEARNING FOR CHANGE. "IN EVERY DARK HOURS IN OUR NATIONAL LIFE, A LEADERSHIP OF FRANKNESS AND VIGOR MEETS WITH UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE WHICH IS ESSENTIAL TO VICTORY. GIVEN TODAYS NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT, MAYBE WE AMERICANS ARE POISED FOR A SECOND RENDEVOUS WITH DESTINY. 23:14:39 END OF BARBARA JORDAN SPEECH. HEART OF TEXAS MUSIC. 23:14:55 JORDAN ON PODIUM SMILING, WAVING. KISSES RICHARDS. 23:15:56 THUMBS UP, WHEELED OFF STAGE. 23:16:18 RICHARDS WITH CHOIR MEMBERS OFF STAGE. 23:16:33 CLAPPING ALONG TO MUSIC. 23:17:25 CHOIR SHOTS, CU MEMBER. SHAKY SHOT. 23:17:43 (AUDIO) CHANTS FROM FLOOR TAKE BACK AMERICA. 23:18:09 CU RICHARDS BEHIND CHOIR MEMBERS. 23:18:34 INTRO OVER MIKE OF PHIL DRISCOLL. 23:18:44 TRUMPETER PHIL DRISCOLL TO PODIUM. 23:19:05 MUSICAL PIECE. 23:19:29 SINGS. 23:21:36 MUSIC CONTINUES. 23:22:47 SHOT OF CHOIR BELOW STAGE. 23:23:06 PAN UP TO DRISCOLL. 23:24:40 SINGING CONTINUES. 23:25:21 FINISH MUSIC. 23:25:28 (VIDEO) ANN RICHARDS 23:25:37 RICHARDS RETURNS TO PODIUM. 23:25:44 TO CLOSE THIS FIRST NIGHT, PAT SHAE INTRODUCED, BENEDICTION TRANSLATED IN TO NAVAJO LANGUAGE BY MARK MERRIBOY (SP?) 23:26:44 SHAE ON STAGE: LET US PRAY, REMEMBER JFK, MLK, ROBERT KENNEDY. 23:27:16 TRANSLATED INTO NAVAHO. 23:27:28 SILENCE, THOUGHT, GOD BLESS BARBARA JORDAN. 23:27:44 TRANSLATE INTO NAVAJO. 23:27:50 MAY WE AS WE CLOSE OUR FIST NIGHT, PAUSE FOR REFLECTION ABOUT OUR PURPOSE OF BEING HERE, DEDICATION BEYOND INDIVIDUAL GAINS. 23:28:13 NAVAHO TRANSLATION. 23:28:24 REFLECT ON EMBRACING ONE ANOTHER. 23:28:36 NAVAHO. 23:28:42 REFLECT ON BELIEF IN EQUALITY AND JUSTICE. 23:28:52 NAVAHO. 23:29:00 REFLECT ON OUR STEWARDSHIP TO CHILDREN AND FUTURE GENERATIONS. INHERIT BETTER WORLD. 23:29:20 NAVAHO. 23:29:23 IN PRAYER OR THINKING, MAY OUR MINDS MEET AS ONE SO OUR ACTIONS FOLLOW TOGETHER. 23:29:39 NAVAHO. 23:29:54 AMEN. 23:29:56 NAVAHO. 23:30:00 TWO MEN LEAVE STAGE. 23:30:05 RICHARDS RETURNS. 23:30:09 CHAIR MOTIONS TO RECESS UNTIL 4:00 PM TUESDAY. DO I HEAR A AYE? 23:30:31 CLOSING OF PARTY TILL MANANA. 23:30:39 LEAVES STAGE. 23:30:44 MUSIC BEGINS. 23:31:29 CHOIR WAVING BY NEW YORK DELEGATION SIGN. 23:31:43 PAN TO CU OF ARKANSAS SIGN. 23:31:59 CU CHOIR MEMBERS. 23:32:08 PAN TO DELEGATES LEAVING. (23:32:21)

SENATE FLOOR DEBATE: The Senate will convene and resume consideration of H.R. 1591, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill. 13:02:11.7 for those companies? i don't blame them if trying but the senate was exactly right to say, no, wait a minute, we can't do this. not only is it an affront to the troops to be cavalierly talking about a wet kiss to the 13:02:26.3 billboard lobby in the middle of a time we are supposed to helping the troops in iraq, it is an affront to lady bird johnson. all of those across america who, for 40 years, have tried to keep our country about which we sing, 13:02:42.8 beautiful. one of our greatest values is we sing and believe in america the beautiful. now, mr. president, this motion was put into the legislation by the democratic leader. 13:02:56.6 i want to make very clear that i don't question his motives. i respect what he does. i appreciate the courteous way in which he treated the discussion we had on this. i told him if there were some injustices that have to do with 13:03:12.7 states in the south that have been somehow unevenly treated by the law or wronged by the hurricanes in a way no one anticipated i am glad to work with him and other members of the environment and public works committee to correct the 13:03:28.6 injustices. but the senator from florida, senator martin nedz necessary -- martin nedz, was a cosponsor of my amendment. the senator from alabama, senator shelby was a cosponsor of my amendment who is the billboard lobby trying to 13:03:45.2 protect? when the senators from tennessee, alabama, and florida say "we don't need that sort of protection." but, i'm happy and willing to work on that legislation. i also want to make it clear to my colleagues, this is not a new subject. 13:04:01.4 in the 1980's when i was governor of tennessee, we made 10,000 of our state roads scenic highways. we said no new billboards, no new junk yards. 13:04:19.2 tennessee is a beautiful state. we wanted people to enjoy it as they drove across it. my only regret, we didn't think of cell towers and someone invented cell towers which we use for the blackberries but in tennessee they have a contest to see who can invest the biggest, 13:04:36.2 ugliest cell tower to be stuck in the most scenic place. we did that in a bipartisan way. in the mid-1908's i was chairman of the great america outdoors. 13:04:51.2 one of our major recommendations was a system of scenic biways which the congress has now created across our country. our people like to see our beautiful country. they want reasonable limits on what we are doing. they certainly do not want to see us in the middle of a bill 13:05:07.9 to support our troops to have suddenly attached to the appropriations, an instant billboard amnesty proposal. so, i'm glad, and i congratulate the senators for doing what we did this morning. 13:05:22.8 that is out of the bill. it will come up through the regular committee if we ever need to do that. it was, i think, a big wet kiss to the billboard lobby. i appreciate the senate action. 13:05:42.1 mr. president, i would like to include in the record a letter from several organizations, scenic america, the united states conference of mayors, the national league of cities, the american landing association, and other groups, expressing 13:05:56.2 their deep concern about the provision that we just knocked out of the supplemental bill that would have gutted the highway beautification act. 13:06:06.6 follow that, i would like to include a graph from scenic america that has a list of the number of nonconforming billboards in every state. there are 63,000 that are illegal. 13:06:20.9 it would be illegal to put up new billboards to replace these. the thrust of the bill is to town those illegal sites into legal sites at least in the 13 states. and two newspaper articles, one from the "washington post" and 13:06:38.3 the usa today which alerted the senate to this provision in the appropriations bill which slipped in very quietly under the heading of "highway signs." the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. alexander: mr. president, i would like to in the remaining time mention two other proposals 13:06:55.1 that have to do with the great american outdoors. yesterday, a group of 17 senators and congress men from north carolina and tennessee took a historic step and wrote a 13:07:12.5 letter to the -- by writing a letter to the secretary of interior, mr. kempthorne about the "road to nowhere" through the great smoky national park. 13:07:27.3 the point of the letter was to address three things: one, mr. secretary, bring to conclusion within 90 days the environmental impact statement that has been going on for several years about whether to build this road. the $600 million road to nowhere 13:07:44.1 through the park. and recommend, mr. secretary, that no road should be built. that is the first step. the second step is one that we could take ourselves from the congress. once the interior department says no road is appropriate environmentally, the 17 of us 13:08:00.2 believe we should reprogram the remaining money from the the environmental impact statement which we judge to be $5 million or $6 million or $7 million and give it to the citizens of swane county, north carolina, who have 13:08:15.6 waited since 1943 for the just compensation for the promise the government made to except them for the road that was flooded when the dam was built. and, third, we scad the secretary in the next administration budget, outside 13:08:30.6 of the national park budget, recommend to us what the rests of the compensation should be to swane county and include the next installment in that budget. what is historic is that it was not -- is, it was not just the 13:08:47.5 number of senators and congressman. it was the fact that it was senator dole from north carolina, as well as senator corker from tennessee. it was congressman schuler, a democrat, from north carolina, 13:09:01.9 as well as congressman davis, a republican, from tennessee. we also have support from both the governor of tennessee and north carolina for the proposed cash settlement to swane county in lieu of the road. 13:09:19.8 the road is a bad idea and has been a bad idea for the long time. the great smoky mountains is the most visited national park in the united states by a factor of three: 10 million visitor as 13:09:33.7 year. it is managed as if it were a wilderness. this road costing $600 million would go through the most pristine part of the largest wilderness area in the eastern united states. and $600 million a year, i believe, is an understatement of 13:09:51.6 what it might cost. there would be very difficult places to go and it is hard to think that it could be built. i congratulate the congressman from north carolina, congressman schuler. he grew up on one side of the great smoky mountains and i grew 13:10:08.7 up on the other side in blunt county. 15 years ago i was president of the university of tennessee and he was the quaterback. today, he is now the democratic congressman from swane county and i'm the republican senator from east tennessee. 13:10:22.7 we agree on what to do. we believe it's time for the secretary of interior to accept our suggestion, say there will be no road, let us get busy given the -- give the people of the county $6 million 13:10:39.7 or $7 million and in the future, compensate them properly. congressman schuler and i and others want to do a better job of helping the relatives of those who lived in the great smoky parks to get to the grave 13:10:59.4 sites. that park was taken by land condemnation from those peoples 13:11:05.5 and their families and their ancestors. it was then given to the federal government. there is a great sense of ownership in that park by the people of north carolina and tennessee. it is only right that as part of this settlement we make it 13:11:19.8 easier for swane county to help descendents of those who lived within the park to get to their historic grave sites. i ask unanimous consent to include at this point in my remarks a copy of the letter 13:11:41.3 from the 17 members of congress in north carolina and tennessee to the secretary of interior. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. alexander: how much time 13:11:51.9 is remaining? the presiding officer: four minutes. mr. alexander: mr. president, last night, i family -- last night i attended a meeting of 13:12:09.5 the national park conservation association. i spoke to them and i would like to repeat a suggestion and proposal i made there. i said to these leading conservationist from the -- from across the country, 22 years ago in 1985 president reagan asked 13:12:26.3 me to head up the president's commission on america's outdoors, which was to be a successor to rockefeller's commission on outdoors a generation earlier. the rockefeller commission was one that was remembered for 13:12:43.8 advocating a lot of federal action such as the land and water conservation act, the wild and scenic rivers legislation. our commission in the mid-198 on -- in the mid-1980's called 13:13:00.4 for keeping our great outdoors great. we identified threats to the outdoors at that time, exotic pollutants, loss of space through urban growth, disappearance of wetlands. 13:13:16.6 we recommended strategies for the future which are fixtures in outdoor movement such as conservation easements and scenic byways and greenaways. we recommend $1 billion from the sale of renewable assets to succeed the land and water 13:13:34.7 conservation fund. since nowhere is here i ask unanimous consent for an additional five minutes. the presiding officer: with no objection, so ordered. mr. alexander: now, mr. president, another generation has passed. there are new challenges and new opportunities. 13:13:47.9 my proposal to the conservationist last night, it is now time for a third president's commission on americans outdoors to follow the rockefeller commission in the 1960's, our commission in the 80's and this next one. it would be an opportunity to 13:14:05.6 look ahead for another generation and tell our countries what we need to do to create places to enjoy the outdoors in appropriate ways. an opportunity to create a new conservation agenda. there is unfinished business. that is obvious. federal support, special federal support for conservation 13:14:22.6 easements expires this year. the conservation royalty which we enacted in the last congress giving an eighth of the money that we acquire from drilling in the gulf of mexico to the land and water conservation fund is only a beginning to fully funding land and water 13:14:38.6 conservation. we need to codify the environmental protection agency's new clean air rules about sulpher which is so important to the great smoky national park and urban growth is still swallowing open space. we now have climate change, the 13:15:00.6 100th birthday of the national park system in 2016, invasive species, and new technology which offers both promise and challenge.n for example, in terms of promise, carbon trans fer. that could make us 13:15:19.1 energy-independent, and clean the air. or with the john smith national water trail in virginia, verizon has a wireless system so that you can learn about 450 years of history as you go along the water trail using your cell phone. 13:15:32.7 on the other hand, technology threatens american landscape, the landscape of which we sing. i mentioned earlier that 25 years ago the tennessee legislature and i created 10,000 miles of scenic parkways, no new junk yards, no new bill boards and that i didn't think of cell 13:15:49.8 tours at the time. we have 190,000 cell tower sites, many of them in scenic places. many of them ugly. that's unnecessary. if we thought about it, they could be camouflaged, lowered below the ridge tops. 13:16:04.0 we should have thought about it and made more of a policy about t and at the same time while it gives many in the stomach ache to think about it we are about to add to the american landscape tens of thousands of giant wind turbines that are twice as tall 13:16:21.3 as the football stadium at the university of tennessee with turbines that stretch from the 10-yard line to the 10-yard line. obviously there is a place for wind power in our energy future, but isn't it right that we should stop and say, do we want them on our seashores and along 13:16:37.2 the rim of the grand canyon? i don't think we do and it would be a chance for us to have a consensus about the blessings of technology and new strategies and the consensus about view sheds and landscape conservation. 13:16:52.2 in short, a new strategy and consensus for america the beautiful. i think this is our greatest opportunity, to get around the table and take advantage of different ideas, put them together and go ahead. we did that 20 years ago. we had private property add row cats and open-space enthusiasts and conservationists and outdoor 13:17:10.3 recreation people. we were all around the same table. we had a pretty good rapport. i think we made a difference. "the tennessean" praised president bush's centennial 13:17:26.0 initiative for national parks, $1 million a year, $3 billion over ten years to help celebrate the 100th birthday of our park system which some have called the best idea america ever had. well, "the tennessean" said in its editorial and it cautioned 13:17:42.2 its rears, just because george bush said it doesn't mean it's wrong. sometimes i think i need to say the same thing to my republican friends about climate change. just because al gore said it doesn't mean it's wrong. i think we ought to be working together to celebrate the 13:17:59.2 100th veartion of the parks, to figure out what to do about climate change, what we want do about scenic byways, private space, provide more recreational opportunities. we can do that now is a good time do it. 13:18:13.5 why not have a third commission -- third president's commission on americans' outdoors. i believe the next president should appoint that commission and that we, that care about those issues, should take time to help him or her be ready with 13:18:29.1 an agenda. for me, mr. president, the great american outdoors isn't about policy and politics. i grew up hiking on the edge of the great smoke quhi mountains, camping there ton a regular basis. i still live there. i breathe the air. i try to keep clean. 13:18:45.1 i hike in the park i want to maintain. i want to protect the view of the foothills because i look at them when i'm home, where i'm going tomorrow morning. i enjoy riding on the scenic parkways and walking on the greenways, and every summer for 25 years our family has gone to 13:19:02.6 the boundary water's canoe area in minnesota because it is quiet and clean and we like to catch and eat walleyes. i believe there is a majority in our country and i believe the president can capture that 13:19:17.6 majority and help us create a new conservation agenda. it is time to create a third president's commission on americans outdoors. mr. president, i yield the floorment. floor. 13:19:36.2 a senator: i suggest the 13:20:01.5 absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. QUORUM CALL 13:30:20.2 QUORUM CALL 13:36:22.7 a senator: mr. president, i 13:36:24.4 ask to address the president as in morning business. i want to speak on topics a lot of times on things we don't know 13:36:38.9 anything about. in my professional career in my life before i got in politics, i spent 33 years selling houses. i had a company that sold thousands of houses every year in atlanta, georgia. i understand the joy of homeownership, the responsibility of homeownership 13:36:54.1 and the huge benefit of homeownership i guess as well as anybody. i have always said the thing that separates the united states of america from any other country in the world is the fact that we're a nation of homeowners and the rest of the world substantially are nations 13:37:10.5 of renters. we all know that when you have an investment in something and that you own it versus you're just leasing it, you take a lot better care of it. the single-family housing industry, the principle of our constitution for the wide diversity in private ownership 13:37:28.6 of land is the single-most important asset that binds our country together. it is the common interest that every citizen has, and it has become known, as we all know, as the american dream. today's ""washington times"," "washington post," "new york 13:37:45.3 times," all have carried articles regarding predatory lending, subprime mortgage and the federal reserve chairman, ben bernanke made a statement that they'll be looking at regulations to deal with the subprime market. 13:38:01.5 and i think that's appropriate. but i think it's very important we understand what the problem really is. there are a lot of people that will tell you that the problem is predatory lending. well, predatory lending is a horrible thing but it is like 13:38:18.9 the term obscenity was referred to in the supreme court, something in the eyes of the beholder. you can't necessarily define it but you know it when you see it. the subprime market has in some cases been referred to as predatory lending, and it is not. 13:38:33.7 in fact, it's interesting history where the subprime market came from. fannie mae, which was headed about ten years ago by jim johnson, who wrote a book "showing america a new way home," committed itself to widening the ownership of 13:38:51.3 single-family housing. and they recognized that in some cases single-family housing was out of the reach of certain parts of society, and so they created mortgage-backed securities to buy mortgages in the subprime market. the subprime market is subprime 13:39:06.9 because the borrower is not necessarily a grade "a" credit risk. but that as we all know at one time in our lives none of us have always been a grade "a" credit risk. that is why homeownership in the 13:39:22.3 united states went from 67% of the public living in a home they own to now 70% of the public living in a home they own. now what's happened in recent months, because of some factors that i'm going to address, the foreclosure rates have 13:39:38.3 skyrocketed and the vast proportion of those rates or those loans that have been foreclosed on are subprime loans. there are a lot of people rushing to talk about doing away with subprime loans. there are a lot of people talking about calling them predatory loans and regulating 13:39:54.3 whether or not they can exist. and they are, with all due respect, missing the point. the mortgage industry has made some mistakes, but it's not the mistake of trying to show americans a new way home. it's the mistake in five areas which i want to delineate for 13:40:09.4 one second. during the course of the subprime market's evolution and the wider distribution of homeownership, the underwriting of loans became less than what it should have been. some examples: no documentation 13:40:27.3 where people could qualify for the loan and have it underwritten with documentation that was based basically on what they said they made and what they said they were. no down payment loans where people could make loans with no down payment, no equity. and i want to talk about that 13:40:44.8 subject for just one second. i entered the business in 1967, and the congress in its wisdom, to widen the disparity of homeownership created the 235f.h.a. program. they would loan you up to $18,500, which doesn't sound 13:41:01.7 like much but that would buy you a lost house. if you didn't have the $200 they would have sweat equity. that meant you would paint the living room, down room, kitchen, do $200 worth of labor and they 13:41:21.5 would give you that equity. 13:41:24.7 homeownership expanded, but because they had no equity in the property those houses started going into foreclosure and next year, 1969, one of the roughest years in the market and congress held congressional investigations. 13:41:37.7 what turned out was an intent to originally expand homeownership had become an opportunity to make less than good loans for people not ready to borrow those funds. there is a third reason, the proliferation of loans like interest-only. interest-only is a very sophisticated way to borrow. 13:41:56.0 real estate investment is best when leveraged but only when leveraged right. when you loan somebody 100% of the value of what they're buying, you have to be very careful in your underwriting criteria or else they really don't feel like they have equity in the proposition. arms and variable rate 13:42:14.3 mortgages. adjustable rates and variable rate mortgages, they are sophisticated lending tools which are very effective and very good loans. but they are complicated, because after the initial low rate of interest on alternating years, like every other year or 13:42:29.1 the fifth year or whatever it might be, the loans adjust to the marketplace. the interest rates can go up or it can go down. but generally it's going to go up because it's generally a lower teaser rate going in than the market exists at that time. homeownership is a 13:42:45.7 responsibility. and another thing that's happened in the marketplace is a lot of loans have been made to people with very little regard to whether they were prepared for the responsibility of homeownership. so my suggestion to the fed and to all those looking into this issue -- and i know senator 13:43:02.1 schumer, senator clinton, senator grassley, senator baucus, many members of this chamber are talking about what are we going to do about this subprime dilemma. the first thing i hope they will look at is underwriting standards. 13:43:16.0 the second thing i hope they will look at is clear understandings through truth in lending of borrow disclosures so people know what they're getting into and a true look at whether or not borrowing 100% is the ideal thing to do. 13:43:31.7 i do not think we need to have an overreaction to what is obviously a problem. instead what we need to do is try and perfect the process so that we can continue to show americans a new way home but have a loan that responds to those people's needs. 13:43:47.7 those needs are better documentation, better appraisals and certifications, making sure there is equity in the investment. and most importantly of all, making sure they understand the responsibilities of that homeownership. as i said at the outset of my remarks, the wide diversity of 13:44:05.8 the ownership of land and homeownership is what separates america from the rest of the world. we have the largest diversity of ownership of our land, the most homeowners percentage-wise. most of the world, all the people that live there rent from somewhere else. it separates our country and it 13:44:21.5 separates us in a very good way. as we deal with the subprime market, we want to make sure we don't throw the baby out with the bath water. it is important to correct the documentation and the underwriting, but not destroy what has been a tool to ex papbd the ownership -- expand the 13:44:37.6 ownership of homes to people who never thought they could live the american dream. let's make sure when we underwrite them, we underwrite them right, and the people who are borrowing the money understand the responsibility of the mortgage instrument and the value of homeownership. 13:44:52.4 mr. president, i yield back and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. 13:45:08.3 QUORUM CALL

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10:00 AM - HOUSE FLOOR DEBATE: The House meets for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 3:00 p.m. Last votes expected: Late. One Minutes H.Res. 958 - Rule providing for same day consideration of certain resolutions reported by the Rules Committee on the legislative day of July 28, 2006 (Sponsored by Rep. Hastings (WA) / Rules Committee) Rolled Vote on Conference Report on S. 250 - Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2005 (Sponsored by Sen. Enzi / Education and the Workforce Committee) Rolled Vote on H.Con.Res. 454 - Providing for the adjournment or recess of the two Houses for the Summer District Work Period Rolled Suspension Vote (1 vote): 1) H.Res. 844 - Congratulating the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative on ten years of significant achievement in the search for an HIV/AIDS vaccine (Sponsored by Rep. Engel / International Relations Committee Members are advised that Conference Reports may be brought up at any time Special Orders 22:00:08.4 get away with it. . we had relatives of the administration involved in that one. on and on of it goes. all kinds of things happen. and they got away with it. now we have corporate america 22:00:24.9 having managed these -- mismanaged these pensions all this time, having looted them in many different ways. enron certainly shows us how it can do that in quite a clear fashion. 22:00:39.0 but there are many different other ways that the people in control have looted the pension funds, destroying them. they are going to ask the american people -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: mr. speaker, at this time i yield 1 1/2 minutes to a 22:00:56.3 distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. ryan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i'm sitting here listening to this debate and i'm wondering what bill are they talking about. are they talking about the bill that 70 democrats voted for 22:01:12.9 earlier in the year that got 240 votes? are they talking about the bill that's endorsed by the american auto workers, the building trades? are they talking about the bill that was negotiated between republicans and democrats, 22:01:27.6 between the house and the other body? because that's the bill we are talking about right here. this bill was written with the input from labor, with the input from management, with the input from employees and employers. what is wrong? what needs to be fixed? well, you know what needs to be 22:01:44.1 fixed? if an employer promises their employee they are going to fund their pension, by golly, that's exactly what they should do. that's what this bill does. it makes sure that they do, in fact, fund that pension 100%. 22:01:59.3 if an employer wants to prefund their employee's pension, wants to do good by helping them ahead of time, we want to change the rules so they can do that. and you know what, if an employer wants to exploit loopholes and rip off their 22:02:13.9 employees, shortchange their pension as the current law allows employers to do, we got to stop them from doing that and that's what this bill does. that's why this bill is supported by unions, by management, by republicans, by 22:02:30.8 democrats, by the house and the other body. this is a bill, a good bill that's been negotiated for a year. i urge its passage. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california, 22:02:44.5 mr. miller. mr. miller: i yield three minutes to mr. pomeroy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. pomeroy: i'm pleased to follow the preceding speaker who is like me is on the ways and means committee. he knows darn well that the ways and means committee had nothing to do with this bill. 22:02:59.6 this bill has been marked up in a nonconference committee, and then last night on the eve of the vote the republicans didn't vote. it's utter nonsense, the gamesmanship that's been played, but there's been deals cut. some unions cut their deal and they're for it. 22:03:15.9 some companies are for it. some industries are for it. and i don't have any problem with any of them. what i have a problem with with this is the great majority of plans covering 20 million workers in the workforce today with pension protection, 22:03:32.7 pensions they're accounting on to pay that monthly payment in old age. we've seen this argument before. remember last year when the president wanted to privatize social security? suddenly we heard how about social security was on the 22:03:48.6 rocks. we had to end social security as we knew it to save it, we had to privatize it to protect it. this is the same thing that's going on now. they're saying pensions are on the rocks. we have to pass this bill to save pensions. 22:04:05.2 baloney. don't believe a word of it. jane bryant quinn, noted commentator on financial matters, writes in a recent column of pension funding. plans are coming back to pension funding thanks to massive 22:04:23.7 corporate catchups, the recovery in the markets. in addition to that, my colleagues, we passed a big premium increase in that budget. and so more money is coming in yet. but none of that is mentioned. and so there's a lot of 22:04:39.0 confusion on the floor. does this bill toughen that funding requirement or not? it's the wrong question, my colleagues, and i used to be a solvency regulator. the right question here is, will this bill continue pensions or 22:04:55.4 will this bill make their freezing and determination more likely? and on that, consider the words of david weiss, chief economist for standards and poors, the more that's required of plans, 22:05:11.1 the soon they'll go extinct. private pensions are going the way of the dodo. because you see, when you make the funding too onerous, you force them to cancel the plan. that's exactly what's at foot. 22:05:26.7 so the enemies of pensions can stand on the floor and increase funding, but they know all along they are going to cause the freezing of plans. we have a plan that's worrysome. because, my friends, this is the 22:05:44.0 mounting number of frozen pension plans. i'm telling you if we pass this bill this number is going to skyrocket. indeed, one trade group with perth expertise in this area predicts 60% of the plans might freeze if the bill is passed. 22:06:00.2 does the gentleman have any more time? mr. miller: one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pomeroy: when a plan freezes it means you can't count future years' earnings in your retirement benefit. 22:06:15.0 so baby boomers in the workforce today following this debate, you are going to get killed under this bill. you are not going to get a final rate of pay as considering your pension benefit. and instead you are going to get a reduced pension than you ever counted on and they are going to 22:06:31.2 swap your 401-k. is that a fair trade? well, jane bryant quinn's column says that workers in this situation may take an annual company contribution in their 401-k of 15%. now how many of you know 401-k's 22:06:50.4 where they put in 15%? so what we're seeing here directed right at the baby boom 22:06:57.0 workers is a bill that will cause a freezing of their pension, the reduction of their benefit, and yet the majority in their hypocrisy has the nerve to suggest they're doing it to protect workers. kill this bill. 22:07:10.8 protect worker pension. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camper -- mr. camp: i urge members to vote for this pension protection act because this bill reforms the current system. 22:07:26.6 what we've seen through the years in the steel industry and some of the airline industry, we've seen plants terminated and put over on the pbgc. more importantly, the workers in those companies end up not receiving the benefits they were 22:07:43.9 promised. this legislation requires plans to be fully funded. that's an important step forward. it also ensures that the plans have a realistic reflection of the value of their plan so that 22:07:58.7 we don't have some, you know, rule that doesn't make any sense in an unrealistic amount. the plans are fully funded at a mark to market amount that reflects the value of the market. 22:08:13.8 this bill represents a compromise between the house and senate on multiemployer provisions which strengthens the plans as well as the defined benefit plans. this legislation also would allow shutdown benefits of plans -- if plans are funded above a 22:08:30.6 certain level, which is important if we have this changing dynamic in our economy that will continue to protect our workers. this legislation is better than current law. reforms current law, it strengthens our plans and ensure 22:08:44.5 that plans are not terminated and put on the pbgc. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california, mr. miller. mr. miller: i reserve my time at this point. i'm awaiting for speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. 22:09:00.2 mckeon. the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 4, the pension protection act, and i ask my colleagues to join me in 22:09:16.8 doing the same. we've followed a long road to get to this point, and there have been many bumps along the way. but when you're considering such substantial legislation, such fundamental reforms, especially a bill that we haven't had reforms like this for over 20 22:09:32.9 years, it's to be expected. at the end of the day, however, what we have brought to the floor tonight represents the reform package agreed on house and senate conference principles after many, many meetings. after a long and sometimes 22:09:47.9 difficult process, this bill provides us just what we were looking for at the outset, reforms that significantly strengthen outdated worker pension laws for workers, retirees and taxpayers and that's a major and long overdue victory. 22:10:05.3 in the fall of 2004, nearly two years ago, the house education workforce committee, led by then chairman boehner, unveiled six principles to fix our nation's outdated pension laws. these pillars represented the foundation for the defined benefit pension overhaul that 22:10:24.3 congress was about to embark upon. and we planned to incorporate them in the last legislative product we would send to president bush. mr. speaker, the pension protect acts meets that pledge. we pledged to craft a bill that provides certainty by 22:10:38.9 establishing a permanent interest rate to more accurately calculate employer's pension liabilities so they fund their pension promises. we've done just that. we pledge to craft a bill that relines on common sense, by enabling employers to bill upon 22:10:54.9 -- build a cushion in their pension plans during good economic times, and we've done just that. we pledge to craft a bill that establishes stability by enclosing funding loopholes and ensuring employers make adequate and consistent cash payments to 22:11:11.4 their plans, and we've done just that. we pledged to craft a bill that promises greater transparency by giving employees timely and straightforward information about the health of their plans, and we've done just that. we pledged to craft a bill that 22:11:28.1 values honesty by ending the practice of allowing employers and union leaders when faced with a severely underfunded pension plan to dig their hole even deeper by promising extra benefits to employees and 22:11:42.7 retirees, and we've done just that. and finally, we've pledged to craft a bill that enhances retirement security portability by ensuring that hybrid plans, such as cash balance pensions, 22:11:55.5 which are more generous worker benefits, remain a viable part of the defined benefit system, and we've done just that. in short, this bill will reform broken pension rules that no longer serve the interest of 22:12:08.2 workers who count on their retirement savings being there for them when they need it. i'm proud to have played a role in crafting it, and i thank chairman thomas, my neighbor from california, chairman of the ways and means committee, and in particular my former chairman leader boehner for leading the 22:12:25.9 charge on this important issue. going all the way back to his days as employer-employee subcommittee chair, our leader has been a tireless worker for what we are doing tonight, and i 22:12:39.7 thank him for his commitment. i want to thank my committee staff for their work on this legislation, ed gillroye, jim peretti, and mr. boehner's pension policy advisor, steve dion. they've been truly remarkable about this process, put in ennew 22:12:58.1 mexico rabble hours and we won't be -- put in long hours and we wouldn't be here tonight without them. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the 22:13:11.8 gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california, mr. miller. mr. miller: i continue to reserve. i'm waiting for speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon. mr. mckeon: i'm happy to yield three minutes to a member of the 22:13:28.8 committee, member of the conference committee and thank him for his work on this bill, mr. kline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my chairman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in very strong support of h.r. 4, the pension protection act of 22:13:45.0 2006. this legislation provides security and piece of mind for working families across our nation. many americans have worked their entire lives for their pensions and nothing is more important to them than making sure these obligations are met. 22:14:01.4 this legislation protects the from of workers, retirees and taxpayers and it helps employers continue to offer these benefits. as advice chairman of the employer-employee relations 22:14:17.2 subcommittee, i've worked the last few years to reform these pension laws. this reflex our negotiations with house and -- this reflects our negotiations with the house 22:14:33.6 and senate. the pension protect act strikes the necessary balance between the many diversed groups with an interest in a healthy pension system. the passage of this bill protects the pensions of more than 9,000 northwest airline 22:14:51.5 participants who live in my district alone. i'm honored to represent them and support this much-needed legislation on their behalf and on behalf of all of my constituents. without this legislation, mr. speaker, it is not a matter of 22:15:04.6 if the airline terminates its plans, it's a matter of when. this bill will allow northwest airlines to emerge from bankruptcy with its pension plans intact. curtis shoemake, a 30-year airline pilot summed it up when 22:15:22.8 he said, quote, it's a win-win for everybody. it's a win because it protects our pensions. it's a win because the pbgc is not burdened with the termination of our pension. i'm hopeful, said he, that they do the right thing. 22:15:40.1 well, tonight, i'm asking my colleagues in doing the right thing. let's take the next step towards solving our nation's pension crisis. vote for this legislation and strengthen america's pension system for the workers of today and of tomorrow. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. 22:15:56.8 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california, mr. miller. mr. miller: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon. mr. mckeon: i would like to yield a minute to the chairman 22:16:12.2 of the ways and means committee, mr. thomas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thomas: of necessity this bill h.r. 4 governing pension rules is very complex. a detailed plain english explnation is available from the joint committee on taxation 22:16:28.1 and will be a key resource in understanding the intent underlying the bill's provisions and therefore obviously of the legislative intent behind the bill. i thank the gentleman. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. mckeon: i'm happy to yield at this time to subcommittee 22:16:45.1 chairman of the education committee, a member of the conference committee, a good friend of mine from texas, hero to this country, mr. sam 22:16:55.6 johnson. the speaker pro tempore: how much time does the gentleman yield? mr. mckeon: three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. chairman, for that time. i normally don't do this but i 22:17:11.1 rise in opposition to this pension bill on which i am a conferee. the original house pension had no specific industry relief in the house bill. we did not pick winners and losers. 22:17:24.0 however the senate bill did contain specific airline industry relief. the four legacy carriers that maintain pension plans were all treated the same. within that industry there was no picking winners or losers. yet this bill that we are debating chooses to favor two 22:17:42.9 bankrupt airlines -- delta and northwest. and i appreciate the comments previous on northwest. i think they need the help. it gives them extra relief for having run their pension plans even into the ground. 22:17:57.5 the two airlines that are not threatening the retirement security of their employers, american and continental, are being punished for having gotten wage and benefit concessions from their employees during very hard fought but very successful 22:18:13.7 negotiations. american airlines has been working closely with their pilots, flight attendants, and ground crews to be sure that this is an airline that keeps flying and keeps its promises to its employees. yet the bill debated here tonight will give delta and 22:18:29.8 northwest a huge competitive advantage. i will vote against this bill because all four legacy carriers should get the same interest rate i believe for unfunded promises. the senate bill in the draft conference report that has been 22:18:44.9 circulated by the senate would provide for parody for all four airlines on the interest rate. those who support this deal say american and continental are being greedy. i say american and continental need the same interest rate as the other two or they are going 22:19:00.9 to be hundreds of millions of dollars at a disadvantage against their direct competitors. american just report thed -- reported i think somewhere around $300 million profit in this -- this year, $600 million is what they would cost by this 22:19:18.9 bill by each year. i'm standing with the texas delegation. airlines that keep their words, our texas airlines, have worked hard to keep their word with their employees. this congress must give equal treatment for our major 22:19:34.5 airlines. i urge a no vote. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california, mr. miller. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. tierney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. tierney: thank you, mr. 22:19:50.7 speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i think that there are some provisions in this bill that merit hesitation before we proceed forward on it here tonight. this will be the second bill that we pass in this house on the same subject. 22:20:04.4 both have missed opportunities. this bill misses an opportunity to encourage companies to keep offering traditional pensions to their employees. as my colleague, mr. neal, from massachusetts said earlier. it could be demise of the defined contribution plan, defined benefit plan for 22:20:20.1 employees. a plan that many, many people rely on and the best type of pension and retirement plan people could have, this in the face of a majority in this body and white house that are already intent on attacking and privatizing social security. this bill misses an opportunity 22:20:35.7 to protect taxpayers from footing the bill for the bailout of the pension benefit guarantee corporation. that ppbgc estimates that this bill will increase its deficit by $2 billion over the next 10 years. this bill misses an opportunity to prevent companies from using 22:20:51.2 bankruptcy to dump workers' pension plans and we have seen that happen too often in a number of instances very recently. we had every opportunity to put provisions in this bill that would force companies to try alternative means and other financing and ways to stop from 22:21:06.9 having to dump their plan into bankruptcy and therefore hurt their retirees. we failed to do it in this bill. the bill misses an opportunity to save pension benefits for older workers by allowing conversion to cash balance plans without protecting those that are 45 years or older an 22:21:23.1 estimates are they stand to lose up to half of their accumulated value in their pension plans. and the bill misses an opportunity to stop companies from awarding lavish retirement compensation packages to executives at the same time they cut workers' benefits. the fact of the matter is that 22:21:38.5 the executives that are responsible for driving these plans into the ground ought to have their fate and their retirement hooked on to the fate of their employees so they will make sure these plans succeed every possible time. and the bill misses an opportunity to protect workers' 22:21:53.6 pension assets. the invested advice exemptions of the bill don't adequately -- conflicted advice. we can do better. let it go back to conference. let's correct it. come out with a good plan. 22:22:08.5 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon. mr. mckeon: i yield to the gentleman from georgia, member of the committee, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for the purpose of the a u.c. request. mr. price: i want to commend the leader and chairman for their hard work i rise in 22:22:22.9 support of h.r. 4 and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: i would like to yield to my good friend from across the aisle, the ranking member of the transportation committee, mr. oberstar, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two 22:22:38.4 minutes. mr. oberstar: i thank the gentleman for yielding. as the chairman of the ways and means committee said earlier, or he did say that the pension system is broken. i wouldn't say it's quite broken, but it does have some 22:22:55.7 cracks. we forget when erisa was enacted in 1973 it was hailed particularly in my district, my predecessor for whom i was an administrative assistant, was a great salvation for oiler mines 22:23:12.3 about to go into bankrupty, and workers whose pension plans would have been lost without pbgc. we find now there are oversights that should have been plugged over the years and failings that should have been 22:23:26.8 corrected, but they weren't done. now we are at a situation where there is an opportunity to make an adjustment. that's in the airline sector. if the steel industry had a been as responsible as i submit northwest airlines has been and 22:23:43.5 delta, in working with their employees to protect the pensions, freeze the pension, require the company to pay in over a period of time, we wouldn't have billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities for the steel industry and the pbgc. 22:23:57.5 we would have more steel industry still operating and more workers getting their fair pensions. the plan that northwest has set before its workers was negotiated with the pie lots, flight attendants, and machinists. they said we'll freeze the plan but continue to pay into it so 22:24:15.5 you get the full amount we are entitled to and we'll substitute a defined contribution plan. now, two other carriers, american and continental, say that's unfair to them. what's unfair to them would be if we do nothing tonight, defeat this bill, and then 22:24:32.8 northwest simply turns over in the month of august their pension plan to the pbgc and thousands of employees, northwest and delta, are out of luck. 22:24:47.3 they lose huge amounts of money over the balance of their retirement years, and then american and continental have a real disparity in competition because those companies don't have that burden of liability to pay. so pass this bill. give those carriers an opportunity. 22:25:04.1 do the right thing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks time? the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, has 3 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from california, 22:25:18.8 mr. miller, has 10 1/4 minutes remaining. mr. mckeon: we'll reserve. i the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. mcseeon, -- mr. mckeon, reserves. mr. miller: do you have other 22:25:41.7 speakers? mr. mckeon: we have two more speakers. mr. miller: i'm the only one left. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon. mr. mckeon: a member of the committee, mr. ehlers, from michigan, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the 22:25:55.7 gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. ehlers: this is very complex and we have worked for considerable amount of time in the committee on education and work force of which i am a member. and i'm puzzled because there's 22:26:12.7 a little confusion on the floor tonight about the airlines. i hope can i try to clarify that. the impression that's been given, and i have heard that in other discussions, not just in the debate, the impression given is that there's one plan here for northwest and delta 22:26:28.2 and a different plan here for continental and american airlines. that's simply not true. there are two plans but it does not specify which airlines. either any of airlines can pick one of the two plans. 22:26:45.1 it's an open choice. one plan is for an airline which chooses to freeze their pensions. 22:26:52.7 and in that case they will pay what they owe to the pbgc at a certain rate of interest over a certain period of time. the other plan, airlines do not have to freeze their pensions and they pay their obligation to the pbgc at a certain rate 22:27:09.6 over a certain amount of time. now, those rates and times are different because the two plans are different. the liabilities of the airlines are different. but continental or american airlines can choose to use the 22:27:24.4 frozen plan, with no problem whatsoever. if they think northwest and delta are getting a better deal, they can join them. they can freeze their plans and get the same replamente -- repayment rate, same interest rate, same time to repay as 22:27:39.5 northwest and delta. it's very simple. two plans, but no airline is tied to a particular plan. they can make the choice they wish. and so the argument that we are being unfair in picking winners and losers among the airlines 22:27:55.6 simply does not apply in this case as mr. oberstar said, this is a fair arrangement which will preserve the pension funds for the employees of the airlines and will prevent a further load from being 22:28:11.1 assigned to the pbgc, the pension benefit guarantee corporation, which will lose a lot of government money which we may have to bail out if we do not adopt this plan. i urge voting for the bill. thank you. 22:28:25.7 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california, mr. miller. the gentleman is recognized for the balance of his time. mr. miller: mr. speaker, members of the house, this is a complicated piece of legislation and members of the 22:28:40.5 house and members of the senate have struggled with it for some period of time. that struggle really hasn't been completed yet because this legislation was taken from the conference committee and it's here tonight to be passed unilaterally within the house and be presented to the senate in the future. 22:28:58.8 it's difficult to understand all of the things that have been done on this legislation. certainly for those democratic members of the house since we were not included in this conference committee. we were not invited into any of the sention session nor -- any of the sessions nor was the 22:29:16.7 information shared with us because they chose to run it on a partisan basis among the house conferees. it's clear to understand also this legislation, does in fact, as my colleague from massachusetts said, miss a number of opportunities. that's why we are concerned with it tonight. 22:29:33.5 we understand the changes that have been made that allow companies to continue to underfund those pension plans and then increase the contributions that those plans will have to make in later years. 22:29:46.9 and it's pretty clear that as businesses sit down and make the decisions about the allocation of resources and they look at those increased contributions, the burden will really push them in the direction of freezing or terminating their plans. 22:30:04.0 that's why we see the quote that was this last day or so when we see we'll see an unprecedented number of companies freezing their plans in 2007 because they will recognize the difficulties of the new pension regime. that comes from the american 22:30:20.1 benefits council which deals with so many of these plans. . because this tilts the table toward the decision by companies to do those -- to terminate or to freeze those plans. 22:30:36.1 and if that happens, of course, we've been warned now under this legislation by the pension guarantee corporation that as they contribute less to those plans and then make that decision, it also heightens the likelihood that these underfunding problems will 22:30:51.2 become worse, according to this legislation as represented to us by the pension benefit guaranteed corporation. and they also make it clear, the pension benefit corporation that absorbs these plans on behalf of the safety net, paid for by 22:31:09.0 other plans, that as they suffer from a huge deficit, $23 billion deficit, they expect that this legislation, as is before us tonight, will add some $2 billion to that deficit over the 22:31:22.5 next 10 years. but there are other decisions that the conferees could have made or that you could have made in drafting this bill as you brought it to the bill. could you have erred on the side of working people. you could have made a decision that in these plans that are distressed and underfunded that 22:31:38.4 we would, in fact, treat the employees and the executives alike, but we set two different standards. we said if your plan is not 80% funded, then the employees can 22:31:51.5 get no additional benefits in terms of their retirement out of that plan. but if that same plan -- if a plan is only 60% funded, executives can continue to draw and add on and accrue pension 22:32:08.7 benefits. so we've set two different standards here. both people, i assume, are working very hard for the success of that corporation. one is just going to get treated entirely different than the other. 22:32:23.0 a matter of simple equity. but when we see the greatest disparities in the history of this country for a long time now, when we see these disparities, these increases the disparities between the executives and the employee. we could have made a decision 22:32:38.7 not to harm the pilots that were harmed after 9/11 because they were forced to retire early. federal law made them retire at 60. 9/11 comes along and it drives -- it drives united airlines and the high fuel cost drives them into bankruptcy, bankruptcy i 22:32:55.8 didn't agree with but they went to bankruptcy. so you lost 40% of your pension because they took over -- pbgc took over the plan. those pilots had no chance. we could have taken care of them 22:33:10.5 in this bill. you would have thought that we thought it would have been a humane thing to do, a compassionate thing to do. they were victims of 9/11. they were victims of the downturn in the travel economy after 9/11. they were victims of high fuel cost. 22:33:25.2 they didn't do anything wrong. and federal law forced them to retire. but we just blew off their cause in this legislation. the issue of older workers, a missed opportunity there. to make sure we transition from defined benefit plans to cash 22:33:41.4 balance plans, that we would protect the oldest of those workers, the closest to retirement, that we would make sure they would be taken care of. because as we know probably who are 55, 60 years old, five years from retirement, have very little opportunity to accumulate 22:33:57.2 the kind of economic resources that are necessary to match the retirement that they were expecting. we didn't have to do it. it was recommended by the administration, the secretary of treasury -- former secretary, mr. snow. 22:34:12.6 said he did it in his corporation at c.s.x. he voted to do it as a member of the board of verizon. it was done by honeywell, it was done by wells fargo bank. it was a compassionate thing to do. they still realize the savings that they wanted by changing their pension plans, and i don't 22:34:29.8 object to them doing that. i just thought we could make an effort to try to protect those people who the g.a.o. tells us would lose almost half of their benefits. with those kinds of conversions. but that wasn't done in this 22:34:45.3 legislation. so i really think that we ought to understand that those kinds of decisions really do harm a number of people that could have been helped in this legislation, a significant number of people that could have been helped in this legislation. and we could have done some more to try and help to keep these 22:35:01.8 plans out of the pbgc. we could have also made sure that before people went to bankruptcy in the manner which united did they would have made the last-ditched efforts where airlines made those kinds of 22:35:15.9 efforts to freeze the plans, but they didn't. but i think before we rush to bankruptcy and then we turn these plans over to the pbgc and maybe ultimately to the taxpayer, that there ought to be a burden, there ought to be a showing, there ought to be evidence that in fact you made every effort. 22:35:31.4 i'm not asking you to destroy the company. i'm asking you to make the kind of effort that we saw others make but they chose not to make it united. and as a result of that, those machinists, those pilots and the ramp workers that have taken such a serious hit on their 22:35:48.6 pension benefits with no ability to recover. so those are my objections to this legislation. we started this session with an unprecedented attack on social security. and as people started to look at that attack and they saw the privatization of social security 22:36:04.6 , they started to look at their own pension plans and they realize as we're dealing with today is their own pension plans are very insecure. there's probably no employer in this country they can tell you that pension plan will be there for their employees 75 years from now, 65 years from now, will be paying out 85% of the 22:36:23.1 benefits. so people come to realize they need retirement security. and i do not believe that this legislation provides that kind of security that the individuals need. i recognize the transition in pension plans. i recognize the changes in pecks plans, but i really -- pension 22:36:38.8 plans, but i think this legislation was drafted looking in the rear-view mirror as opposed to the future of these plans. there's no question this legislation deals to some of 22:36:51.4 these issues but i don't believe we could the kind of job that will serve us well in the future. i would encourage my members to oppose this legislation. we will have a motion to recommit, a motion that will protect those older workers, a motion that will treat those 22:37:07.5 airlines the same. if they all freeze their plans, they should get the same number of years to do that. we think we'll provide them a greater margin of safety if they do that and provide for that kind of transition and the 22:37:22.2 protection of those pension plans as they originally requested, as the senate originally decided to do but the conferees decided not to go there and the legislation tonight did not go there. that will be offered in a few minutes and i urge opposition to 22:37:37.8 this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon. mr. mckeon: it gives me great pleasure to turn the balance of our time over to our majority leader who started this project as a subcommittee chairman and 22:37:55.5 then full committee chairman of the education committee, mr. boehner from ohio. the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized. mr. boehner: i want to thank my gentleman for yielding and, mr. miller, let me say hello to you and thank you for your loyal 22:38:12.2 opposition. even though over the last seven years that we worked on this project together, much of what is in here you should be very proud of because you and mr. andrews, mr. thomas, mr. mckeon, mr. johnson and others, all of 22:38:27.2 us over the last six or seven years have spent a lot of time bringing this bill together. and i'm pleased that this bill is on the floor tonight. it could be here in a different form. it could be here in a different way, but the fact is that we've 22:38:43.7 worked together in a bipartisan way to craft a very good bill, to protect american workers' pensions. and simply put, i think these reforms will be put in place tonight, represent the most sweeping changes to america's 22:38:58.1 pension system in 30 years. and they'll ensure that workers and retirees can continue to count on their hard-earned retirement benefits. and these reforms, i think, deserve the support of every member in this house. 22:39:13.0 over the past few years, we've seen more and more companies get out of their pension system, freeze their pension plan, go bankrupt, turn it over to the pension benefit guaranteed corporation and put the pension benefits for american workers in jeopardy. 22:39:29.6 and what we're attempting to do in a bipartisan way is to protect the american workers and the benefits that they've earned and try to make sure that the commitments that companies make to their workers are kept. and a way to do that is to make sure that we put more money into these pension funds. 22:39:47.6 now my friend from california who was down here arguing against this bill had a two-sided argument. one, the bill's too strong. we're going to require companies to put more money into their pension plans and as a result they're going to freeze their plans. 22:40:01.6 yet, on the other hand, he's complaining that we're not protecting the interest of the american worker. now we've spent years on this, both of us together. and we know the only way you get there is to walk a very fine line, to make sure that promises made to american workers are 22:40:18.7 kept, that plans are better funded and that we try to prevent a taxpayer bailout of the pension benefit guaranteed corporation. as my colleague from california said, seven years ago when i was bounced out of the republican 22:40:35.1 leadership after the 1998 election, i became chairman of the employer-employee subcommittee of the education and workforce committee, a subcommittee most of you never heard of. and my ranking member was my good friend from new jersey, mr. 22:40:50.3 andrews, and we began a series of hearings in 1999 to uncover what was happening in the pension system in america today. and we had dozens of hearings and worked hard. and some of the things that we 22:41:06.1 learned i think we've dealt with very comprehensively in this bill. the bill ensures that employers better fund their pension plans. it closes loopholes that allows underfunded plans to skip their pension payments . 22:41:21.0 it prohibits employers and union leaders from digging the hole even deeper by promising extra benefits when their plans are severely underfunded. the bill enhances disclosure to give workers and retirees more information about the condition 22:41:37.8 of their own pension fund. it protects taxpayers from multi-billion dollar bailout from the pension benefit guaranteed corporation. 22:41:49.9 it protects multi-employer pension plans. and it gives access to critical investment advice for those who have 401-k plans and i.r.a.'s. i want to also mention that -- 22:42:09.0 the last issue, the fact that one of the issues i've worked on for these seven years and never given up on is trying to get critical investment advice into those who had self-directed plans. 22:42:21.5 my colleague from massachusetts sits over there with a smile on his face because we worked on this together, although he disagrees with me, still my friend, but helping those who have to make decisions in their 401-k plan or i.r.a. is 22:42:39.1 critically important if we want to help them to get the type of retirement security that they want for themselves. we all know that many of these plans are underfunded. there's not enough diversification in their portfolios. and if we don't get real 22:42:54.0 investment advice and personalized investment advice in their hands we know they are not going to have the type of retirement that they are expecting. thankfully, those provisions are included in this bill to help make sure that investment advice gets there. 22:43:09.6 another big issue is bringing legal certainty to those cash balance plans, these hybrid plans. it's not a defined benefit plan. it's not a 401-k, and over ,000 companies in america today -- 2,000 companies in america today have these hybrid plans. 22:43:30.7 i think we are trying to protect older workers who are in defined benefit plans as these conversions take place. now not every member favors every provision of this bill, as my friend from california pointed out, and if i had to 22:43:43.5 write this bill myself it would be different than what we see today. the fact is that i think we made good on our promise that help american workers keep the retirement benefits they've earned to make sure that those commitments are kept. 22:43:59.9 i want to thank my friend from california, chairman bill thomas, who i worked on this proposal with for the last five years. we all know bill is a sweet, loveable human being. this is his last year as 22:44:16.6 chairman of the ways and means committee. and i've got to tell you that all of us in the house, whether we agree with bill or disagree with bill every day, bill is someone who works hard, puts his mind to it and no one has worked harder than bringing this bill 22:44:32.5 to the floor tonight than my friend and colleague from california tonight, mr. thomas. i want to also thank chairman mckean, the man that took over my place of the education and workforce committee some six months ago. i want to thank my staff, stacy dion. 22:44:50.2 stacy, everybody who has worked on this knows stacy. she's been one of the principle authors of this. i want to thank paula nolokowski, kevin smith and mike summers, greg mower, and george and all of my staff who worked 22:45:10.5 on this bill now and in the past. i also want to thank my former staff on the ed-workforce committee, jim peretti and steve paroda, for all of the work that they've done, continuing to assist. 22:45:27.1 knowing me when i was chairman but mr. mckeon as well. and let me also thank the staff from the ways and means committee and our democrat staffs who have worked hard for many years to get us to this point. . this is a very important bill. 22:45:44.8 i think all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle know it's a very important bill. when we started this process mr. andrews and i, 1999, it wasn't many months into this when we asked ourselves, why haven't these laws been cleaned 22:46:01.9 up and straightened out? well, mr. andrews, i can tell you i found out why because it's hard work and there's a lot of people who have a lot of different interests. but at the end of the day the work that we started i think is going to pay dividends tonight 22:46:19.5 of because what we have here is a process and a product that's been developed together, that will in fact meet the goals that we set out to do. and it wouldn't have happened without the work of a lot of 22:46:33.6 members on both sides of the aisle. with that, mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to support this bill, to defeat the motion to recommit, and move this bill to the senate and on to the president's desk. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has 22:46:48.9 expired. pursuant to house resolution 966, the bill is considered as read and the previous question is ordered. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to provide 22:47:04.8 security for all americans and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. miller: i have a motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman opposed to the bill? mr. miller: i am in its current form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. 22:47:18.5 the clerk: mr. george miller of california moves to recommit the bill h.r. 4 to the committee on education and the work force with instructions to report the same back to the house forthwith with the following amendments. at the end of title 1 add the following, subtitle c, age requirement for employers, 22:47:37.9 section 121, age requirement for employers, a, single employer plan benefits guaranteed. section 4022-b of the employee retirement income security act of 1974 is amended in the flush matter following paragraph 3 by 22:47:55.4 adding at the end the following, if at the time of termination of a plan under this title regulations proscribed by the federal aviation administration require an individual -- mr. miller: i ask unanimous consent that the motion be considered as read. 22:48:10.4 the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? mr. thomas: reserving the right to object. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. thomas. mr. thomas: i know some people complained about having only a number of hours to read, but this was just handed to me and i'm tempted to say perhaps 30 22:48:31.8 seconds ought to be allowed because it could have been handed any time during debate, but i know you were very busy over there and so you were only able to get it to us at the close of debate. and we appreciate that. i will not object. 22:48:48.9 the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? without objection. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. miller: mr. speaker and members of the house, this motion does two things. first it sends the pension bill back to committee to include all the airline protection 22:49:03.2 provisions that were included in the senate-passed pension bill. the second, it seeks to send back to the committee to add the senate passed provisions providing for the transition protection of older workers affected by cash balance conversions. 22:49:16.9 both are critical to protecting america's worker pensions and retirement security. all across america employers are worried sick about the retirement nest egg. they have seen big airlines likeaire -- like usair and united and wonder if they are next. 22:49:33.0 the house bill protects delta and northwest and enables them to extend their pension payments over 17 years at the plans' interest rates. the bill only provide american and and continental a 10-year period. we would extend the same period of time for the airlines if 22:49:51.0 they chose to provide for the freezing of their plans. the bill does nothing for airline pilots who are forced to retire at age 60 and receive pbgc pensions reduced by 35% of their age. all airlines were hurt by 9/11 the skyrocketing fuel prices 22:50:07.3 and downturn in the economy. it would be devastating to hundreds of thousands of workers across the nation if more airlines were permitted to dump their plans into the pbgc. this happens on big losses of the employees. look what happened to the pilots of united. they invested pension benefits 22:50:23.7 cut in half. that's why we offer these protections. finally the motion would report back this pension bill to provide for the protection of older workers facing conversions and cash balance plans. this means the older workers who are companies now putting 22:50:39.4 on notice they will lower their benefits will now get a substitute plan of their current pension plan called a cash balance plan. despite overwhelming votes and support of protecting older workers pension in the house and senate, the republican leadership has excluded this final transition protections. many workers will lose hundreds 22:50:55.9 of dollars a month expected retirement benefits. many of these workers will be in excess of 50 years of age and it's highly unlikely they will be unable to recover the loss of retirement benefits that they had been counting on for many years. they signed a contract in exchange for their labor with their employers. 22:51:12.3 and today the congress is getting ready to tell them they are not going to make the employers live up to their agreements and we are not going to provide transtoigs soften the economic blow when those agreements are changed. here's what aarp william novelli said, aarp cannot 22:51:31.4 support legislation that would undermine the age discrimination laws and prevention the reduction of pension benefits for older workers, thus discouraging older workers from continuing to participate in the work force. our members and older workers 22:51:48.6 in general care a great deal about these issues and that's why we brought this motion to recommit. again time and again the house and senate have voted to provide these protections for older workers. we would have carried that message to the conference committee but we were not 22:52:04.1 allowed into those discussions and apparently the conference committee couldn't hear the members of this house on the bipartisan basis that voted overwhelmingly to provide these protections both to the airlines and to the older workers and i yield back the 22:52:19.2 balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california, mr. thomas, for what purpose do you rise? mr. thomas: in opposition to the motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman qualifies. you are recognized for five 22:52:34.9 minutes. mr. thomas: i have in high regard those members who focus on issues in which they are concerned about in the pension bill. and i know that there are a number of sections that people 22:52:51.9 could focus on in terms of their concern about the bill. and i know it is absolutely, totally a coincidence that one member on this side of the aisle spoke against the bill. 22:53:08.1 yet as i'm going through this particular motion to recommit, page after page after page refers to, you got it, the airline provisions. and so i'm quite sure on the basis of wanting to go through 22:53:25.0 1,000-page bill to create a motion to recommit that the fact that the one area that appears to be a bit sensitive on this side of the aisle is what the motion to recommit is all about. 22:53:36.7 and i guess in that regard i hold in minimum high regard on something as important as this legislation to get it on the books as quickly as we can is that this motion to recommit is 22:53:53.6 focused in a way in my opinion to advance political interests rather than policy interests. and i guess i am just a little bit bewildered when the gentleman from ohio, the 22:54:08.5 majority leader, handed me a letter because as a conferee i received a letter that said, we want you in the areas of key concern to be supportive of what we do in this pension 22:54:26.4 bill. and there were two signatures on that letter. one was the majority leader, the gentleman from ohio. the other one was the senior senator from massachusetts, senator kennedy, urging us to make sure key provisions in the 22:54:44.1 pension bill are preserved. because we want to preserve those and not the whole bill? or in fact send the senate the whole bill because senator kennedy will be supportive of this bill once it's received in the senate? 22:54:58.5 and the idea that members of the conference don't know what's in it and aren't supportive is absolutely and totally refuted by the signature of the senior senator from massachusetts, senator kennedy. i yield the remainder of the time to the majority leader. 22:55:16.2 the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized. mr. boehner: there's a very delicate balance in this bill. my colleague from california talked about the airline provisions. i want to talk about one of the most important provisions in this bill and that's the protection for hybrid plans or 22:55:32.0 cash balance pension plans. this was very -- a very difficult issue in the house. it was a very difficult in the conference. it's been worked out in a bipartisan way to the satisfaction of those on the farthest of the left in the 22:55:47.6 senate and the farthest on the right in the house. and to rewrite this provision in a motion to recommit i think is irresponsible. i would ask my colleagues who have worked on this bipartisan pension bill for a long time, the balance of this bill is 22:56:04.3 right, let's support the underlying bill and reject the motion to recommit. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. thomas: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time having been yielded, without objection the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. 22:56:18.6 the question is on the motion to recommit. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the motion is not agreed to. mr. miller: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. 22:56:37.4 a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuit to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit 22:56:48.1 will be followed by five-minute votes on passage of h.r. 4, if ordered, and suspending the rules on h.res. 844

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9:00 AM - HOUSE FLOOR DEBATE: The House meets at 9:00 a.m. for morning hour and 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. ?One Minutes? (5 per side) // Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1586 - Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (Reps. Obey/Waxman/Levin ? Appropriations/Energy and Commerce/Ways and Means) (Subject to a Rule) // Suspension (1 Bill): H.R. 6080 - Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (Reps. Price (NC)/Giffords ? Appropriations) 13:00:03 CHARLES RANGEL: congressional office in the building that i live in. . people say that's taking advantage, rent control, stabilized apartment. nobody has said that the ethics 13:00:21 committee never found for stabilized apartment. no one said i broke any laws. no one said that the apartment that they considered two had 13:00:36 always been considered one at the least. no one said that 10 years ago there was an apartment, one bedroom apartment that i got from my family, political 13:00:50 friends, i no longer have. but the concern was how do you explain the congressional office? let's read the lapped lord's testimony. he said he was 20% vacant. that he needed money. that he knew that the checks were paid by the congressional committee. 13:01:06 that the mail came in rangel for congress. and that the lawyers have told him and the officials of the city and state of new york that there was no violation of any law or rules. and what was the benefit? the benefit was that your 13:01:26 colleague and friend was not sensitive to the fact that there was appearance as though i was being treated differently than anyone else. but the landlord said he didn't treat me any differently. 13:01:39 no one said that they did treat me differently. but i have to admit that i wasn't sensitive to anything because i never felt then that i was treated any differently than anybody else. so that ends the apartment 13:01:56 thing. but i plead guilty of not being sensitive. now when it comes to the negligence of the disclosures and the tax issues, there's absolutely no excuse that's 13:02:16 there. when accusations were made, i hired a forensic accountant and told them to check out what the heck is going on because i want to make certain that when i stand up and speak that it's true. 13:02:31 well, after i found out it was far more serious than the accusations, i then referred it to the ethics committee. it wasn't as though someone tracked me down, the i.r.s. or the clerk of the house, i filed 13:02:48 the correct papers. and the tax that is were paid -- taxes that were paid an accountant might say that had my accountant recognized that this 2,000 down payment for a house in the dominican republic 13:03:03 that was promised to be paid off in seven years would be a complete failure, and if indeed they did not give me one nickel but whenever they thought they were making a dollar or two they reduced the mortgage, then there's no question you don't 13:03:20 have to be a tax expert to know that if you didn't report that income, that was -- notwithstanding the fact if you had done the right thing you had no liability bass the taxes that were paid -- because the tax that is were paid to the 13:03:35 dominican republic would have been deducted and with depreciation i would have no liability. having said that, is that an excuse that's worthy? of course not. the fact that there was negligence on the part of the person that for 20 years did it and the fact that i signed it, 13:03:53 does not really give an excuse as to why i should not apologize to this body for not paying the attention to it that i should have paid to it. but there is no, not one scintilla bit of evidence that 13:04:10 the negligence involved in the disclosures, that there was some way to hide from the public what i had. because the value of the property they would say was 13:04:28 $25,000, 100,000, whatever it would be that it didn't make any sense that i was trying to disclose 2 -- it. why did i take the floor today? i haven't found one lawyer that said i should do it. 13:04:43 i haven't found one friend that said i should do it. but i thought about it. if the lawyers are going to continue to charge me, and i don't even know when the hearing's going to be, and i can't tell them i want one and 13:05:01 not six lawyers, i don't want to offend the ethics committee. they are doing the best they can. but, hey, i'm in a position -- THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE:members and their staff will please take their conversations from the floor. 13:05:15 the gentleman may resume. Rangel (D-NY): that, hey, i'm 0 years old. all my life has been from the beginning public service. that's all i have ever done. been in the army, been a state legislator, been a federal 13:05:30 prosecutor, 40 years here. and all i'm saying is that if it is the judgment of people here for whatever reason that i resign, then have the ethics committee expedite this. don't leave me swinging in the 13:05:47 wind until november. if this is an emergency and i think it is, to help our local and state governments out, what about me? i don't want anyone to feel embarrassed, awkward. if i was you i may want me to go away, too. 13:06:03 i am not going away. i am here. and i do recognize that -- i'm not saying there's any partisanship in this because if i do all the people that have 13:06:22 been accused of accusations, i'm in a close district, and i -- they were republicans, i would give a couple of moments of thought to see whether or not, especially if i didn't have anything to work with to get re-elected, i would say, 13:06:37 hey, take a look at these republicans. they have been accused. but i don't really think that the unfairness of this is to me. i don't take it personally. i'm thinking about all of you. the president wants dignity. 13:06:51 let's have dignity in this house where the ethics committee means something and that none of you, if the newspapers say anything, will have to wait two years before you can say, no comment. even in addition to that -- and in addition to that, once they 13:07:07 make the accusation, they have no business making any mistakes and saying that i didn't cooperate. i got papers with my signature on it. i got papers that said i tried my darnest. i got papers where my lawyer 13:07:23 tells me had ever reason to believe that the full committee would sign on, that there was space for people to sign. i'm the only one -- i don't know what changed their minds about settling this case. but my lawyers -- my friends 13:07:46 say don't go to the floor. and i say what are you going to do me? 13:07:58 suppose i do get emotional? suppose i do think of my life the beginning and end. are you going to expel me from this boddy? are you going to say while there is no evidence that i took a nickel, asked for a nickel that there's no sworn 13:08:15 testimony, no conflict that i have to leave here? as much as i love you, democrats are thinking it would be easy, i'm the guy that was raising money, but that doesn't mean that i criticize you for 13:08:31 saying, hey, that's crate then but i'm running for re-election now. do what you have to do. and republicans, hey, you don't have much to run on, but you know, but what the hell, if rangel is an embarrassment, 13:08:46 based on newspaper articles, i can see why you would do it, but think, think. isn't this historically the first time that it appears as though partisanship is in the ethics committee? 13:09:01 isn't historically the first time that the recommendations of the subcommittee of investigation is turned down? and darn, who in the heck would want somebody who politically call you corrupt to be the ranking bipartisan guy to judge 13:09:17 you? i don't expect answers today. and i know you're going home. i wish all of you -- but at the 13:09:27 end of the day somebody, somebody has to do more than wish i go away. somebody has to tell me, when does rangel get a chance to talk to witnesss? i haven't talked with any 13:09:40 member of the ethics committee. i haven't talked -- i mean in terms of settlement. my lawyers have. i haven't talked with any of the witnesses. and they had to expedite this case. in other words, i have a 13:09:54 shorter time to prepare for reasons that they toll me challenge the ethics committee. they make this stuff up i think all along. so my lawyer, i can understand how financially this thing can go on longer than i can afford. but she is willing to assist me 13:10:11 in working out something in pro bono and i'll expect the leadership to help me. don't let this happen to you. don't walk away from here because it's convenient that i disappear. because not all of you will be able to withstand it as i have. 13:10:27 if there's no issue of corruption, if everybody, including the leader over here, has to start off what a great american i am before he drops the bomb, well, i think that should count for something. i am not asking for leniency , 13:10:44 i'm asking for exposure of the facts. they have made a decision. i want you to make a decision. i apologize to the leadership. i feel for those people, 13:11:00 especially newcomers, that love this place so much that like someone said, charlie, they all love you. and i paused, but they love themselves better. i understand that. but for god's sake, just don't 13:11:16 believe that i don't have feelings, that i don't have pride. that i do want the dignity that the president had said. and the dignity is that even if you see fit to cause me not to 13:11:34 be able to come back because you're not going to do it in my district, but if there's some recommendation that i be expelled, for me, for me that would be dignity. 13:11:47 because it shows openly that the system isn't working for me. and i hope some of you might think if it doesn't work for me, that it may not work for you. so i know we are anxious to get home. 13:12:02 i know i can't get on the agenda. i know that sometimes -- some time, somewhere i would have a hearing. while you're saying i should resign, i do hope that you might think about what happens 13:12:20 if the whole country starts thinking it's better that you resign and don't make anyone feel uncomfortable than to have the truth at least, a person an opportunity to say, you have made alleged violations. 13:12:37 i am saying that you're wrong based on sworn testimony. and i want somebody, and i don't think it's going to be people who have been critical of me for doing the same thing, that's going to be the judge. i know outside doesn't count 13:12:54 because we judge the conduct of our members. erer recall if i can't get my dignity back here, then fire your best shot in getting rid 13:13:11 of me through expulsion. now, i apologize for any embarrassment that i have caused. i'm prepared to admit and try to let young people know that you never get too big to 13:13:27 recognize that these rules are for junior members as they are for senior members. and that you can't get so carried away with good intentions that you break the rules. the rules are there to make certain that we have some 13:13:41 order, some discipline and respect for the rule. and i violated that. and i'm apologizing for it. and i don't think apologies mean this is a light matter. it's very serious. but corruption? 13:13:56 no evidence, no suggestion that this was ever found. and lastly, i close by saying that there is an organization that some of you know, certainly national truth in 13:14:15 government, whatever, and the only thing i can say that some of my more important democrats on the list that sent out mail 13:14:25 to listening money to get rid of me even before i became the chairman. and they have a website that i will be giving you because they got a lot of members, including bicaucus members on their list. 13:14:42 what i do remember is send your money in now. we got rangel against the ropes and we got to get rid of him. much knows who they are. and they -- everyone knows who they are. 13:14:55 they followed me on vacation. they followed me when i was doing business much the airport, outside where i live. it's kind of rough. i'm sensitive to your feelings and the hard work by the ethics committee, but this has to stop sometime. . one year, two years, primaries, 13:15:18 elections. and all i'm saying is i deserve and demand the right to be heard. and if i hurt anybody's feeling, believe me, it's the equity and the fairness and the justice that i'm asking for and not your feelings. 13:15:32 we are entitled to our political feelings and what we want done, but we have to respect each other, and this institution which i love. i love my country. i love my congress, and there's nothing i wouldn't do to preserve this from going on. 13:15:48 i love the disagreements. i love the debates. i love the arguments. but you're not going to tell me to resign to make you feel comfortable. so to awful those that helped me to help myself, let me appreciate it. 13:16:06 and for those that disagree, i'm sorry, but that's one thing you can't take away from me. i hope you have a pleasant time while you're away. maybe, just maybe, the members of the ethics committee might 13:16:19 think about telling me when they think they might have a hearing so that whatever they decide i can let my constituents, my families, my friends know that i did the best i could as an american, as a patriot, and someone that loves this country. 13:16:37 thank you for your attention. go home.

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HOUSE FLOOR DEBATE: The House will convene at 10:00 a.m. and recess immediately. The House will then reconvene at approximately 10:45 a.m. in a Joint Meeting with the Senate to receive His Excellency, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic. H.R. 3688 - United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Hoyer / Ways and Means Committee) H.R. 3355 - Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Reps. Klein / Mahoney / Financial Services Committee) H.R. 3996 - Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Rangel / Ways and Means Committee) 12:28:09.3 the speaker pro tempore: the house will be nord. the gentleman from north carolina. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the preceding had during the recess be printed in 12:28:19.1 the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, today the committee on transportation and infrastructure met in open 12:28:35.4 session to consider three resolutions for the u.s. army corps of engineers. in accordance with 33 u.s.c. subsection 542, the resolutions authorize the corps surveys or studies of water resources needs and possible solutions. 12:28:50.3 the committee adopted the resolutions by voice vote and a quorum present. enclosed are copies of the resolutions adopted by the committee. signed sincerely, james l. oberstar, chairman. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on appropriations. the chair lays before the house 12:29:10.6 an enrolled bill. the clerk: senate 2206, an act to provide technical corrections to public law 109-116, 2 u.s.c. is 13-a note to extend the time 12:29:25.4 period for the joint committee committee on the library to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue of rosa parks, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 one minutes per side. the gentleman from california. 12:29:43.9 the gentleman is recognized. mr. honda: mr. speaker, as we approach veterans day, i rise to urge congress to support the filipino veterans equity act. 12:29:56.2 this important piece of legislation will restore u.s. veteran status to the surviving soldiers of the 250,000 filipinos called into military service to the united states armed forces by president roosevelt on july 26, 1941. of the only 22,000 surviving 12:30:16.6 filipino world war ii veterans, i want to highlight one who currently resides in los angeles, california. he's among the 75,000 filipino and u.s. soldiers subjected to the 90-mile trek from -- known 12:30:34.5 as the bataan death march. he survived atrocities of japanese occupation and fought side by side with the americans. only to have his service as the u.s. national and a veteran 12:30:45.7 denied by the 1946 rescission act. we now have a unique moment to 12:30:52.9 undo the injustice of that act and give honor and respect to this brave group of veterans. . they pay us to die but they cannot pay us to live. 12:31:05.6 for these men the filipinos veterans equity act will fulfill a promise we denied for over 60 years, recognition that their service is great as equal as those they stood shoulder to shoulder on the field of 12:31:22.3 battle. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from virginia rise? mrs. drake: i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. drake: mr. speaker, this 12:31:38.3 is day 38 that our veterans have not had the use of the increased funding for their den fits in health care. that's $18.5 million a day not able to be used. in june, this house passed the appropriation bill with a $6 billion increase in a bipartisan manner. on september 6, the senate 12:31:56.1 completed their bill. the president has agreed to sign this bill. instead, the democratic leadership has decided to use funding for our veterans as a smokescreen in an effort to pass billions in unrelated domestic spending. 12:32:13.4 our veterans are not pawns in a political game. they are heroes. these funding issues should have been considered separately and on their own merits. please join me in calling upon the democratic leadership to put our veterans first and send 12:32:29.6 a clean veterans' appropriation bill to the president now. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii rise? ms. any roneo: i -- ms. hirono: i ask permission to 12:32:46.8 address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. hirono: roosevelt served alongside our veterans during world war ii. they fought solder to shoulder with america's servicemen. 12:33:01.5 we promised to have benefits to them. we have not yet achieved the full equity that the filipino veterans deserve. i am proud to be an original co-sponsor of h.r. 760, the filipino veterans equity act, which in essence makes good on 12:33:17.1 the promise that our government made to these brave men over 60 years ago. our filipino veterans are in the twilight of their lives. of the 250,000 soldiers that fought with us, only 18,000 survived today, and of that number, 2,000 reside in my 12:33:33.1 state of hawaii. as we honor our veterans across this country on veterans day, let us include those filipino veterans who still await a promise unfulfilled. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman 12:33:47.8 from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. somewhere chairman mau is looking up and laughing. 12:34:06.1 the religious symbols is on the objects lifted due to security concerns. since the leader of the free world, president bush has articulated his eagerness to attend communist china's olympics. 12:34:20.8 i'm compelled to ask three questions -- mr. president, how many bibles will you be taking to beijing? will you visit the priests? will you tell china's communist 12:34:36.0 tyrants this fundamental truth, no good government denies god's presence? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> ms. sanchez: i ask permission to address the house 12:34:51.9 for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to thank our nation's veterans and their families for their dedication, their service, and their sacrifice. as we approach veterans day, i 12:35:07.9 commend the democratic leadership for working with the senate colleagues to pass a veterans' appropriations bill last night. this bill is the largest increase in veterans' funding ever, $3.7 billion over what the president asked. this bill will provide our 12:35:25.2 veterans with desperately needed health care services, including funds specifically allocated to treat the rising number of veterans with traumatic brain injury and ptsd. today, we have lost more than 12:35:40.7 4,000 troops and 30,000 troops have been wounded in afghanistan and iraq. and we must do everything we can to take care of our service 12:35:52.4 members when they come home to their families and their communities. and we will bring them home. but until that day, this congress will do everything we can to take care of our 12:36:06.0 veterans and their families. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. bipartisanship, you hear this 12:36:21.9 expression tossed around quite frequently in political circles. so much so that perhaps it has almost become a cliche. sadly, we don't see genuine examples of bipartisan cooperation in this chamber enough, and this no doubt disappoints the american people. over 140 days ago, democrats, 12:36:39.1 republicans, worked together to pass one of the largest necessary spending increases in the 77-year hitter of the department of veterans' affairs, to ensure the health and well-being of our veterans. this is a needed investment that veterans care about and  12:36:54.5 the care they need to receive. eight weeks ago, a similar version passed the senate on a bipartisan basis. instead of allowing the hews and senate allowed to iron out differences, they insisted that veterans' funding be held hostage to a wasteful pork 12:37:11.4 barrel spending bill that will increase the deficit by $10 billion. this disappointed the already jaded public's perception of congress. let's get back to bipartisanship and swiftly pass this important legislation in its original form so together on behalf of veterans we can 12:37:26.3 all celebrate what -- when it becomes law. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. etheridge: i ask permission to address the house for one 12:37:42.3 minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. etheridge: i rise to support the health bill for veterans' funding. hundreds of thowls of military have bravely served this country in iraq and afghanistan. i'm proud that north carolina is home to many of these soldiers and also has one of 12:37:58.3 the highest veterans' population in the country. unfortunately, v.a. health care is still not adequately prepared to care for those who are returning from combat. and today nearly 400,000 veterans are faced with unreasonable delays for their claims to be processed. 12:38:14.8 yesterday, this democratic house, once again, fulfilled its commitment to our veterans by passing a conference report that is $3.7 billion over president bush's request for veterans' medical care, claims processed, personnel. 12:38:31.2 it includes the largest increase in funding in the 77-year history of the v.a. to fund these health care needs as well as 1,800 new processes to alleviate the claims' backlog. 12:38:47.3 despite the veto threat by the president who is spending money on roads and schools in iraq and afghanistan, this passed on a vote of 269-142. the senate should follow our lead and the president should sign this vital bill into law. 12:39:03.5 thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, a man that is faithful to his church and 12:39:20.6 community, master sergeant james peterson is a true american veteran. you invaded iwo jima in 1945 and he fought bravely to see the flag service over mount 12:39:38.6 hire bauchy. -- hirabachi. in on of our veterans who served and are serving this country now, master gunnery peterson is an american soldier 12:39:54.5 through and through. americans are in debt for his service in the marine corps, and mr. peterson will always be honored as an american soldier who fought to defend american freedom. the speaker pro tempore: for 12:40:08.9 what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? mr. defazio: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: dollars dropping like a rock. we're borrowing $2 billion a day overseas to buy things we don't buy anymore. lost four million manufacturing 12:40:24.4 jobs, millions of middle-class americans are seeing their pay stagnant or declining. our trade policy is a dismal failure. it's a failed engine for our economy. now comes the peru free trade agreement. they say the middle class of peru, all three of them are 12:40:40.1 going to go out and be a huge market for the goods we don't make in america anymore. they tout the breakthroughs on labor while the destructive 12:40:51.9 multinational written chapter 11 corps remains at the center of this trade agreement. if frayed is the engine that drives our economy, it needs an overhaul. instead with this bill we're 12:41:03.8 getting a new hood ornament, some side-view mirrors, and a misbegotten cousin of nafta as a trade policy. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise 12:41:20.3 and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i rise today to welcome french president nicolas sarkozy and thank him for addressing the joint session of congress this morning. as a person of french heritage, i know we are all grateful for his tribute to american veterans. 12:41:36.8 france was our first ally in the american revolution, as symbolized of the pir of lafayette here in the chamber. france remains an important partner in international affairs and a major investor in the american economy. i am grateful that the people 12:41:52.1 of south carolina is home to three michelin tire manufacturing plants. the associated press has recognized president sarkozy as a blunt and uncompromising pro-american conservative. with his leadership, i am confident our historic alliance will be strengthened as we 12:42:09.6 pursue common goals of global economic development and face down a common enemy in the global war on terrorism. i look forward to working with my colleagues and our friends of france in providing our vibrant partnership. in conclusion, god bless our 12:42:24.6 troops and we will never forget september 11. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire rise? mr. hodes: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. 12:42:40.1 the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hodes: they said no to a bill that would provide 10 million children access to healed care and then saying no last week to a bill that would protect the lives and livelihoods of all americans from the devastating impacts of flooding. after six years of signing any 12:42:55.4 bill that came to his desk and disregarding the impact legislation would have on our fiscal well-being, president bush's now trying to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility. who exactly is the president trying to fool? he turned a $5.6 trillion surplus that he inherited from 12:43:12.2 president clinton into a $3 trillion deficit. that's a reversal of $8 trillion. when democrats took control of office, we began restoring sensible, pay-as-you-go rules. every bill that we have brought 12:43:27.0 to this floor has compliled with these rules, but the president continues to imply that he's more fiscally responsible than this new congress. the american people should not and will not be fooled by this change in rhetoric. thank you, mr. speaker. 12:43:42.3 i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the french president addressed the joint session of congress today, and he, like general 12:43:58.8 lafayette before him, talked about the american soldier. the warrior's courage, determination, resilience, love of freedom, more so than life itself. as we approach veterans day, french president nicolas sarkozy's words are appropriate to show how a world that has benefited from the american g.i. view our military. he said this morning, the men 12:44:15.0 and women of my generation heard their grandparents talk about how in 1917 america saved france at a time when it had reached its final limits of its strength. the men and women of my generation heard their parents talk about how in 1944 america returned to free europe from a 12:44:32.0 horrifying tyranny that threatened to enslave it. fathers took their sons to seat vast cemeteries who under 1,000 of white crosses so far from home, thousands of soldiers lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others, not to 12:44:47.3 defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend humanity as a whole. mr. speaker, the world's freedom fighter has always been the american soldier. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman 12:45:02.4 from oregon rise? mr. wu: address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wu: big rich tobacco industries -- now we in congress must and can do better for our entire nation. but republican leaders refuse 12:45:21.0 to allow bipartisan negotiators to reach a compromise that would give 0 million american children the health care they need and deserve. the republican leader's refusal to negotiate only highlights their continued opposition to health care for the children of 12:45:36.1 low-income working families. unfortunately, president bush also remains unmoved by the health care needs of our children. the president has routinely refused to meet with 12:45:48.9 congressional leaders, even to discuss the state children's health insurance program. while president bush works against children health care, republicans and democrats will continue to work together to identify a compromise that will 12:46:03.9 afford health care to 10 million american children. a bipartisan majority of us realize just how important it is to ensure that children have access -- that health care of 10 million children across america and over 100,000 children in oregon is simply 12:46:19.9 too important to ignore. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. 12:46:38.7 speaker. every time the united states signs a free trade agreement with a developing country, this time the bush-peru agreement, we end up outsourcing more wealth and more middle class jobs. we are already in deficit with peru under existing conditions. just like mexico when we signed 12:46:54.8 that agreement, we went from a surplus to a gigantic deficit. if labor provisions in the agreement are so good why are no trade unions in our country or peru supporting the agreement? could it be because the agreement does not comply the 12:47:10.2 peruvians to comply with core labor rights but rather with vague and unenforceable labor principles which are then cleverly placed in the preamble or declaration in the -- of the agreement and not in the enforcing standards as do the labor organization conventions. 12:47:26.3 this week the peruvian miners are talking to us. they are on strike. 6,300 miners who mine gold and silver and zinc and copper in that country. they are on strike and their labor ministry has ordered them back to work or they lose their jobs in three days. 12:47:42.4 isn't it time for us to hear the voices of the people of peru as well as the voices of the people of our own country who have lost so many jobs due to these unfair trade agreements? peru doesn't intend to enforce international labor rights. 12:47:59.4 the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. kucinich: mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kucinich: yesterday i brought articles of impeachment before this house. 12:48:15.0 the articles have been referred to the judiciary committee and the people of the united states now have a chance to become engaged in a broad discussion about the importance of this action. people ask why now? recently the administration 12:48:33.5 asked for millions of dollars to be included in the defense budget to retrofit stealth b-2 bombers with 30,000-pound bombs that can be used to bomb nuclear research labs in iran. think of the humanitarian and 12:48:53.4 ecological disaster that would come from that kind of a bombing. this administration which took license to go to war based on lies must be held accountable. and the vice president must be held accountable for his role in bringing about the war against iraq and in trying to beat the 12:49:08.1 drums for a war against iran. as has been pointed out here, we have so many needs here at home. we have people losing their homes, losing their pensions, losing their jobs, losing their health care and we must bring discipline in this house to hold this administration accountable 12:49:23.2 unto the law so we can begin to focus on a domestic agenda and stop waging aggressive war. impeach the vice president. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute, sir. 12:49:39.3 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. on monday the president issued eight presidential medals of freedom to eight great americans. it was a beautiful service and the president did our country proud at that program. 12:49:55.7 one of the recipients was the reverend benjamin hooks who is a resident of memphis, one of my constituents. a great man who rose from a segregated south to the heights of the federal communications commission and the naacp in this 12:50:11.5 country. also honored were harper lee, the author of "to kill a mockingbird" and francis collins who did the human genome project. we are 99.9% the same. that's what the human genome project told us. president bush asked reverend 12:50:26.5 hooks what can we do to move race relations forward? i'll tell president bush some of the things we can do, mr. speaker. we can care about children and pass a children's health care program many of which of those children are african-americans and minorities. 12:50:41.0 and we can pass programs that allow for scholarships for young people at historically black 12:50:47.7 colleges and universities. there's much we can do, mr. president. you did good on monday. let's keep doing good. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> to address the house for one minute. 12:51:01.5 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. callahan: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the public broadcasting act of 1967. congress passed the act to 12:51:18.8 advance both communications technology and quality programming. it now invests in over 1,000 local radio and television stations providing every american with access to commercial-free educational and thought provoking programming. for years parnts in my home of 12:51:35.3 st. louis, movement, have turned to kact-tv as their children's minds are broadened by programs like "sesame street." they depend on knw radio for news reports. 12:51:49.7 with its mission to provide programs which inform, enlighten, enrich the public the corporation for public broadcasting has contributed to the development of our children, the public's interest, and the understanding of our world and the implementation of a new and better communications technology. 12:52:06.2 as the bill was signed into law on november 7, 1967, president lyndon johnson so eloquently stated, we work every day to produce new goods and create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man's spirit. thank you to the corporation for public broadcasting for doing just that. 12:52:24.7 the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. blumenauer: i join my colleague from missouri in saluting the 40th anniversary of public broadcasting. 12:52:38.3 on the floor of the house we are surrounded by controversy on so many issues. but the unique achievement that is our system of public broadcasting really does bring us together. in those 40 years we have evolved a powerful system with npr and pbs through the hundreds 12:52:55.0 of assassinations around the country. 100 million viewers of public television a week, many cities around the country the number one radio station is its public radio station. we have evolved a national voice that deals with issues of education, of music, and public 12:53:11.7 affairs. we have been able to prove impierically that the people who get their news from npr actually have an ible -- identifiable, measurable more accurate view of what's happening with the world. 12:53:26.0 since the public broadcasting was established in 1967, the federal government has spent trillions of dollars, but there is no investment during those last 40 years that has paid greater dividends for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: for 12:53:41.0 what purpose does the gentlelady from the virgin islands rise? mrs. christensen: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. christensen: mr. speaker, what we are hearing about the schip negotiations sounds like this congress is getting ready to literally throw the baby out with the bath water. we started with a less than 12:53:57.7 perfect bill that would cover close to six million children. we are now heading to just above three. the proposed changes threaten to put up barriers that will even lower that number, removing outreach dollars. we'll never get to the children we need to cover. requiring proof of citizenship 12:54:12.2 will scare naturalized citizens and the poor that we are trying to cover away. taking away authority of states to have income disregards would cause children now covered to lose it. not covering parents would threaten the health of their children if they are lucky 12:54:26.9 enough to squeeze through the sea the house republicans are trying to create. too little money to the states will keep them from evening their most modest goals and trying so hard to get republican votes may cause the measure to lose key ones from democrats. i'm beginning to think it would be better to extend the current chip until we have more people 12:54:43.2 here who are willing to do what is necessary to ensure our children have access to good health and the better life we owe them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady 12:54:59.9 from florida rise? ms. castor: mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 793, and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 144, house resolution 793, resolved that at any time after 12:55:16.2 the adoption of this resolution, the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 3685, to prohibit employment 12:55:31.7 discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. 12:55:46.2 general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on education and labor. after general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute 12:55:59.3 rule. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions of the bill are waived. notwithstanding clause 11 of rule 18, no amendment to the bill shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules 12:56:13.9 accompanying this resolution. each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent 12:56:30.3 and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. 12:56:47.2 amendment number 3 in the report of the committee on rules may be withdrawn by its proponent before the question is put thereon. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as 12:57:00.1 may have been adopted. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, during consideration in the house of h.r. 3685, 12:57:18.1 pursuant to this resolution, notwithstanding the operation of the previous question, the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is 12:57:32.9 recognized for one hour. ms. castor: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to my colleague from the rules committee, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings. all time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. i yield myself such time as i 12:57:49.8 may consume. i also ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution 793. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. castor: mr. speaker, house resolution 793 provides for consideration of h.r. 3685, the 12:58:09.1 employment nondiscrimination act of 2007. under a structured rule. the rule provides for one hour of general debate controlled by the committee on education and labor. the rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 12:58:24.4 of rule 21. the rule makes in order three amendments that are included in the rules committee report. the rule also provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. mr. speaker, i am proud to rise 12:58:40.9 today in support of the employment nondiscrimination act of 2007 and passage of this rule. by passing this bipartisan legislation today, the house of representatives will take another step, important step 12:58:58.3 towards equality for all americans. during the 230-year-plus history of our great nation the march towards equality under the law for all of our citizens has sometimes been slow. 12:59:13.8 but it has been steady. over time congress has outlawed discrimination in the workplace based upon a person's race, gender, age, national origin, religion, and disability. 12:59:28.9 because when it comes to employment and hiring and firing and compensation and promotion, these decisions are rightly based upon a person's qualifications and john performance. sometimes the fight for equality 12:59:45.0 has been slow in coming, indeed. this legislation that outlaws job discrimination based upon sexual orientation that the congress will pass today was filed and introduced over 30 years ago.

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HOUSE FLOOR DEBATE: The House will convene at 10:00 a.m. and recess immediately. The House will then reconvene at approximately 10:45 a.m. in a Joint Meeting with the Senate to receive His Excellency, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic. H.R. 3688 - United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Hoyer / Ways and Means Committee) H.R. 3355 - Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Reps. Klein / Mahoney / Financial Services Committee) H.R. 3996 - Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Rangel / Ways and Means Committee) 12:28:09.3 the speaker pro tempore: the house will be nord. the gentleman from north carolina. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the preceding had during the recess be printed in 12:28:19.1 the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, today the committee on transportation and infrastructure met in open 12:28:35.4 session to consider three resolutions for the u.s. army corps of engineers. in accordance with 33 u.s.c. subsection 542, the resolutions authorize the corps surveys or studies of water resources needs and possible solutions. 12:28:50.3 the committee adopted the resolutions by voice vote and a quorum present. enclosed are copies of the resolutions adopted by the committee. signed sincerely, james l. oberstar, chairman. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on appropriations. the chair lays before the house 12:29:10.6 an enrolled bill. the clerk: senate 2206, an act to provide technical corrections to public law 109-116, 2 u.s.c. is 13-a note to extend the time 12:29:25.4 period for the joint committee committee on the library to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue of rosa parks, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 one minutes per side. the gentleman from california. 12:29:43.9 the gentleman is recognized. mr. honda: mr. speaker, as we approach veterans day, i rise to urge congress to support the filipino veterans equity act. 12:29:56.2 this important piece of legislation will restore u.s. veteran status to the surviving soldiers of the 250,000 filipinos called into military service to the united states armed forces by president roosevelt on july 26, 1941. of the only 22,000 surviving 12:30:16.6 filipino world war ii veterans, i want to highlight one who currently resides in los angeles, california. he's among the 75,000 filipino and u.s. soldiers subjected to the 90-mile trek from -- known 12:30:34.5 as the bataan death march. he survived atrocities of japanese occupation and fought side by side with the americans. only to have his service as the u.s. national and a veteran 12:30:45.7 denied by the 1946 rescission act. we now have a unique moment to 12:30:52.9 undo the injustice of that act and give honor and respect to this brave group of veterans. . they pay us to die but they cannot pay us to live. 12:31:05.6 for these men the filipinos veterans equity act will fulfill a promise we denied for over 60 years, recognition that their service is great as equal as those they stood shoulder to shoulder on the field of 12:31:22.3 battle. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from virginia rise? mrs. drake: i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. drake: mr. speaker, this 12:31:38.3 is day 38 that our veterans have not had the use of the increased funding for their den fits in health care. that's $18.5 million a day not able to be used. in june, this house passed the appropriation bill with a $6 billion increase in a bipartisan manner. on september 6, the senate 12:31:56.1 completed their bill. the president has agreed to sign this bill. instead, the democratic leadership has decided to use funding for our veterans as a smokescreen in an effort to pass billions in unrelated domestic spending. 12:32:13.4 our veterans are not pawns in a political game. they are heroes. these funding issues should have been considered separately and on their own merits. please join me in calling upon the democratic leadership to put our veterans first and send 12:32:29.6 a clean veterans' appropriation bill to the president now. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii rise? ms. any roneo: i -- ms. hirono: i ask permission to 12:32:46.8 address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. hirono: roosevelt served alongside our veterans during world war ii. they fought solder to shoulder with america's servicemen. 12:33:01.5 we promised to have benefits to them. we have not yet achieved the full equity that the filipino veterans deserve. i am proud to be an original co-sponsor of h.r. 760, the filipino veterans equity act, which in essence makes good on 12:33:17.1 the promise that our government made to these brave men over 60 years ago. our filipino veterans are in the twilight of their lives. of the 250,000 soldiers that fought with us, only 18,000 survived today, and of that number, 2,000 reside in my 12:33:33.1 state of hawaii. as we honor our veterans across this country on veterans day, let us include those filipino veterans who still await a promise unfulfilled. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman 12:33:47.8 from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. somewhere chairman mau is looking up and laughing. 12:34:06.1 the religious symbols is on the objects lifted due to security concerns. since the leader of the free world, president bush has articulated his eagerness to attend communist china's olympics. 12:34:20.8 i'm compelled to ask three questions -- mr. president, how many bibles will you be taking to beijing? will you visit the priests? will you tell china's communist 12:34:36.0 tyrants this fundamental truth, no good government denies god's presence? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> ms. sanchez: i ask permission to address the house 12:34:51.9 for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to thank our nation's veterans and their families for their dedication, their service, and their sacrifice. as we approach veterans day, i 12:35:07.9 commend the democratic leadership for working with the senate colleagues to pass a veterans' appropriations bill last night. this bill is the largest increase in veterans' funding ever, $3.7 billion over what the president asked. this bill will provide our 12:35:25.2 veterans with desperately needed health care services, including funds specifically allocated to treat the rising number of veterans with traumatic brain injury and ptsd. today, we have lost more than 12:35:40.7 4,000 troops and 30,000 troops have been wounded in afghanistan and iraq. and we must do everything we can to take care of our service 12:35:52.4 members when they come home to their families and their communities. and we will bring them home. but until that day, this congress will do everything we can to take care of our 12:36:06.0 veterans and their families. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. bipartisanship, you hear this 12:36:21.9 expression tossed around quite frequently in political circles. so much so that perhaps it has almost become a cliche. sadly, we don't see genuine examples of bipartisan cooperation in this chamber enough, and this no doubt disappoints the american people. over 140 days ago, democrats, 12:36:39.1 republicans, worked together to pass one of the largest necessary spending increases in the 77-year hitter of the department of veterans' affairs, to ensure the health and well-being of our veterans. this is a needed investment that veterans care about and  12:36:54.5 the care they need to receive. eight weeks ago, a similar version passed the senate on a bipartisan basis. instead of allowing the hews and senate allowed to iron out differences, they insisted that veterans' funding be held hostage to a wasteful pork 12:37:11.4 barrel spending bill that will increase the deficit by $10 billion. this disappointed the already jaded public's perception of congress. let's get back to bipartisanship and swiftly pass this important legislation in its original form so together on behalf of veterans we can 12:37:26.3 all celebrate what -- when it becomes law. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. etheridge: i ask permission to address the house for one 12:37:42.3 minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. etheridge: i rise to support the health bill for veterans' funding. hundreds of thowls of military have bravely served this country in iraq and afghanistan. i'm proud that north carolina is home to many of these soldiers and also has one of 12:37:58.3 the highest veterans' population in the country. unfortunately, v.a. health care is still not adequately prepared to care for those who are returning from combat. and today nearly 400,000 veterans are faced with unreasonable delays for their claims to be processed. 12:38:14.8 yesterday, this democratic house, once again, fulfilled its commitment to our veterans by passing a conference report that is $3.7 billion over president bush's request for veterans' medical care, claims processed, personnel. 12:38:31.2 it includes the largest increase in funding in the 77-year history of the v.a. to fund these health care needs as well as 1,800 new processes to alleviate the claims' backlog. 12:38:47.3 despite the veto threat by the president who is spending money on roads and schools in iraq and afghanistan, this passed on a vote of 269-142. the senate should follow our lead and the president should sign this vital bill into law. 12:39:03.5 thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, a man that is faithful to his church and 12:39:20.6 community, master sergeant james peterson is a true american veteran. you invaded iwo jima in 1945 and he fought bravely to see the flag service over mount 12:39:38.6 hire bauchy. -- hirabachi. in on of our veterans who served and are serving this country now, master gunnery peterson is an american soldier 12:39:54.5 through and through. americans are in debt for his service in the marine corps, and mr. peterson will always be honored as an american soldier who fought to defend american freedom. the speaker pro tempore: for 12:40:08.9 what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? mr. defazio: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: dollars dropping like a rock. we're borrowing $2 billion a day overseas to buy things we don't buy anymore. lost four million manufacturing 12:40:24.4 jobs, millions of middle-class americans are seeing their pay stagnant or declining. our trade policy is a dismal failure. it's a failed engine for our economy. now comes the peru free trade agreement. they say the middle class of peru, all three of them are 12:40:40.1 going to go out and be a huge market for the goods we don't make in america anymore. they tout the breakthroughs on labor while the destructive 12:40:51.9 multinational written chapter 11 corps remains at the center of this trade agreement. if frayed is the engine that drives our economy, it needs an overhaul. instead with this bill we're 12:41:03.8 getting a new hood ornament, some side-view mirrors, and a misbegotten cousin of nafta as a trade policy. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise 12:41:20.3 and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i rise today to welcome french president nicolas sarkozy and thank him for addressing the joint session of congress this morning. as a person of french heritage, i know we are all grateful for his tribute to american veterans. 12:41:36.8 france was our first ally in the american revolution, as symbolized of the pir of lafayette here in the chamber. france remains an important partner in international affairs and a major investor in the american economy. i am grateful that the people 12:41:52.1 of south carolina is home to three michelin tire manufacturing plants. the associated press has recognized president sarkozy as a blunt and uncompromising pro-american conservative. with his leadership, i am confident our historic alliance will be strengthened as we 12:42:09.6 pursue common goals of global economic development and face down a common enemy in the global war on terrorism. i look forward to working with my colleagues and our friends of france in providing our vibrant partnership. in conclusion, god bless our 12:42:24.6 troops and we will never forget september 11. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire rise? mr. hodes: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. 12:42:40.1 the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hodes: they said no to a bill that would provide 10 million children access to healed care and then saying no last week to a bill that would protect the lives and livelihoods of all americans from the devastating impacts of flooding. after six years of signing any 12:42:55.4 bill that came to his desk and disregarding the impact legislation would have on our fiscal well-being, president bush's now trying to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility. who exactly is the president trying to fool? he turned a $5.6 trillion surplus that he inherited from 12:43:12.2 president clinton into a $3 trillion deficit. that's a reversal of $8 trillion. when democrats took control of office, we began restoring sensible, pay-as-you-go rules. every bill that we have brought 12:43:27.0 to this floor has compliled with these rules, but the president continues to imply that he's more fiscally responsible than this new congress. the american people should not and will not be fooled by this change in rhetoric. thank you, mr. speaker. 12:43:42.3 i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the french president addressed the joint session of congress today, and he, like general 12:43:58.8 lafayette before him, talked about the american soldier. the warrior's courage, determination, resilience, love of freedom, more so than life itself. as we approach veterans day, french president nicolas sarkozy's words are appropriate to show how a world that has benefited from the american g.i. view our military. he said this morning, the men 12:44:15.0 and women of my generation heard their grandparents talk about how in 1917 america saved france at a time when it had reached its final limits of its strength. the men and women of my generation heard their parents talk about how in 1944 america returned to free europe from a 12:44:32.0 horrifying tyranny that threatened to enslave it. fathers took their sons to seat vast cemeteries who under 1,000 of white crosses so far from home, thousands of soldiers lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others, not to 12:44:47.3 defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend humanity as a whole. mr. speaker, the world's freedom fighter has always been the american soldier. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman 12:45:02.4 from oregon rise? mr. wu: address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wu: big rich tobacco industries -- now we in congress must and can do better for our entire nation. but republican leaders refuse 12:45:21.0 to allow bipartisan negotiators to reach a compromise that would give 0 million american children the health care they need and deserve. the republican leader's refusal to negotiate only highlights their continued opposition to health care for the children of 12:45:36.1 low-income working families. unfortunately, president bush also remains unmoved by the health care needs of our children. the president has routinely refused to meet with 12:45:48.9 congressional leaders, even to discuss the state children's health insurance program. while president bush works against children health care, republicans and democrats will continue to work together to identify a compromise that will 12:46:03.9 afford health care to 10 million american children. a bipartisan majority of us realize just how important it is to ensure that children have access -- that health care of 10 million children across america and over 100,000 children in oregon is simply 12:46:19.9 too important to ignore. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. 12:46:38.7 speaker. every time the united states signs a free trade agreement with a developing country, this time the bush-peru agreement, we end up outsourcing more wealth and more middle class jobs. we are already in deficit with peru under existing conditions. just like mexico when we signed 12:46:54.8 that agreement, we went from a surplus to a gigantic deficit. if labor provisions in the agreement are so good why are no trade unions in our country or peru supporting the agreement? could it be because the agreement does not comply the 12:47:10.2 peruvians to comply with core labor rights but rather with vague and unenforceable labor principles which are then cleverly placed in the preamble or declaration in the -- of the agreement and not in the enforcing standards as do the labor organization conventions. 12:47:26.3 this week the peruvian miners are talking to us. they are on strike. 6,300 miners who mine gold and silver and zinc and copper in that country. they are on strike and their labor ministry has ordered them back to work or they lose their jobs in three days. 12:47:42.4 isn't it time for us to hear the voices of the people of peru as well as the voices of the people of our own country who have lost so many jobs due to these unfair trade agreements? peru doesn't intend to enforce international labor rights. 12:47:59.4 the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. kucinich: mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kucinich: yesterday i brought articles of impeachment before this house. 12:48:15.0 the articles have been referred to the judiciary committee and the people of the united states now have a chance to become engaged in a broad discussion about the importance of this action. people ask why now? recently the administration 12:48:33.5 asked for millions of dollars to be included in the defense budget to retrofit stealth b-2 bombers with 30,000-pound bombs that can be used to bomb nuclear research labs in iran. think of the humanitarian and 12:48:53.4 ecological disaster that would come from that kind of a bombing. this administration which took license to go to war based on lies must be held accountable. and the vice president must be held accountable for his role in bringing about the war against iraq and in trying to beat the 12:49:08.1 drums for a war against iran. as has been pointed out here, we have so many needs here at home. we have people losing their homes, losing their pensions, losing their jobs, losing their health care and we must bring discipline in this house to hold this administration accountable 12:49:23.2 unto the law so we can begin to focus on a domestic agenda and stop waging aggressive war. impeach the vice president. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute, sir. 12:49:39.3 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. on monday the president issued eight presidential medals of freedom to eight great americans. it was a beautiful service and the president did our country proud at that program. 12:49:55.7 one of the recipients was the reverend benjamin hooks who is a resident of memphis, one of my constituents. a great man who rose from a segregated south to the heights of the federal communications commission and the naacp in this 12:50:11.5 country. also honored were harper lee, the author of "to kill a mockingbird" and francis collins who did the human genome project. we are 99.9% the same. that's what the human genome project told us. president bush asked reverend 12:50:26.5 hooks what can we do to move race relations forward? i'll tell president bush some of the things we can do, mr. speaker. we can care about children and pass a children's health care program many of which of those children are african-americans and minorities. 12:50:41.0 and we can pass programs that allow for scholarships for young people at historically black 12:50:47.7 colleges and universities. there's much we can do, mr. president. you did good on monday. let's keep doing good. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> to address the house for one minute. 12:51:01.5 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. callahan: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the public broadcasting act of 1967. congress passed the act to 12:51:18.8 advance both communications technology and quality programming. it now invests in over 1,000 local radio and television stations providing every american with access to commercial-free educational and thought provoking programming. for years parnts in my home of 12:51:35.3 st. louis, movement, have turned to kact-tv as their children's minds are broadened by programs like "sesame street." they depend on knw radio for news reports. 12:51:49.7 with its mission to provide programs which inform, enlighten, enrich the public the corporation for public broadcasting has contributed to the development of our children, the public's interest, and the understanding of our world and the implementation of a new and better communications technology. 12:52:06.2 as the bill was signed into law on november 7, 1967, president lyndon johnson so eloquently stated, we work every day to produce new goods and create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man's spirit. thank you to the corporation for public broadcasting for doing just that. 12:52:24.7 the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. blumenauer: i join my colleague from missouri in saluting the 40th anniversary of public broadcasting. 12:52:38.3 on the floor of the house we are surrounded by controversy on so many issues. but the unique achievement that is our system of public broadcasting really does bring us together. in those 40 years we have evolved a powerful system with npr and pbs through the hundreds 12:52:55.0 of assassinations around the country. 100 million viewers of public television a week, many cities around the country the number one radio station is its public radio station. we have evolved a national voice that deals with issues of education, of music, and public 12:53:11.7 affairs. we have been able to prove impierically that the people who get their news from npr actually have an ible -- identifiable, measurable more accurate view of what's happening with the world. 12:53:26.0 since the public broadcasting was established in 1967, the federal government has spent trillions of dollars, but there is no investment during those last 40 years that has paid greater dividends for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: for 12:53:41.0 what purpose does the gentlelady from the virgin islands rise? mrs. christensen: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. christensen: mr. speaker, what we are hearing about the schip negotiations sounds like this congress is getting ready to literally throw the baby out with the bath water. we started with a less than 12:53:57.7 perfect bill that would cover close to six million children. we are now heading to just above three. the proposed changes threaten to put up barriers that will even lower that number, removing outreach dollars. we'll never get to the children we need to cover. requiring proof of citizenship 12:54:12.2 will scare naturalized citizens and the poor that we are trying to cover away. taking away authority of states to have income disregards would cause children now covered to lose it. not covering parents would threaten the health of their children if they are lucky 12:54:26.9 enough to squeeze through the sea the house republicans are trying to create. too little money to the states will keep them from evening their most modest goals and trying so hard to get republican votes may cause the measure to lose key ones from democrats. i'm beginning to think it would be better to extend the current chip until we have more people 12:54:43.2 here who are willing to do what is necessary to ensure our children have access to good health and the better life we owe them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady 12:54:59.9 from florida rise? ms. castor: mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 793, and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 144, house resolution 793, resolved that at any time after 12:55:16.2 the adoption of this resolution, the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 3685, to prohibit employment 12:55:31.7 discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. 12:55:46.2 general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on education and labor. after general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute 12:55:59.3 rule. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions of the bill are waived. notwithstanding clause 11 of rule 18, no amendment to the bill shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules 12:56:13.9 accompanying this resolution. each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent 12:56:30.3 and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. 12:56:47.2 amendment number 3 in the report of the committee on rules may be withdrawn by its proponent before the question is put thereon. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as 12:57:00.1 may have been adopted. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, during consideration in the house of h.r. 3685, 12:57:18.1 pursuant to this resolution, notwithstanding the operation of the previous question, the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is 12:57:32.9 recognized for one hour. ms. castor: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to my colleague from the rules committee, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings. all time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. i yield myself such time as i 12:57:49.8 may consume. i also ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution 793. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. castor: mr. speaker, house resolution 793 provides for consideration of h.r. 3685, the 12:58:09.1 employment nondiscrimination act of 2007. under a structured rule. the rule provides for one hour of general debate controlled by the committee on education and labor. the rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 12:58:24.4 of rule 21. the rule makes in order three amendments that are included in the rules committee report. the rule also provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. mr. speaker, i am proud to rise 12:58:40.9 today in support of the employment nondiscrimination act of 2007 and passage of this rule. by passing this bipartisan legislation today, the house of representatives will take another step, important step 12:58:58.3 towards equality for all americans. during the 230-year-plus history of our great nation the march towards equality under the law for all of our citizens has sometimes been slow. 12:59:13.8 but it has been steady. over time congress has outlawed discrimination in the workplace based upon a person's race, gender, age, national origin, religion, and disability. 12:59:28.9 because when it comes to employment and hiring and firing and compensation and promotion, these decisions are rightly based upon a person's qualifications and john performance. sometimes the fight for equality 12:59:45.0 has been slow in coming, indeed. this legislation that outlaws job discrimination based upon sexual orientation that the congress will pass today was filed and introduced over 30 years ago.

HOUSE MINORITY LEADER, NANCY PELOSI HOLDS HER WEEKLY BREIFING House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Holds Press Conference SLUG: 1045 PELOSI PRESSER RS14 76 DISC#610 NYRS: n/a PELOSI: Good morning, everyone. QUESTION: Good morning. PELOSI: Thank those of you who joined us on the steps of the Capitol this morning as we talked about the Voting Rights Act that, on August 6th, marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act. A couple of years ago, the Supreme Court negated some of the provisions of the Act and instructed Congress to update its criteria, a simple matter, it would seem. We had bipartisan legislation to do just that. But the -- this Republican House of Representatives has decided that it's right to go home with that business undone before the 50th anniversary. 11:02:44 PELOSI: We think it is wrong to go home, and it's in sharp contrast to the Republicans in 2006, when we reauthorized the Voting Rights Act the last time. As you may recall, that was before we took the majority, so we were in the minority in the House, worked in a very close way and a bipartisan way with our Republican colleagues. We were able to walk down the steps of the Capitol that day, House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, with a vote of nearly 400 House members voting for the Voting Rights Act, and a unanimous vote in the United States Senate. I was honored to walk down with Senator Mitch McConnell and other bipartisan leaders, House and -- bipartisan, bicameral leaders. And President George W. Bush very proudly signed the bill. 11:03:30 In fewer than eight years, the Court overturned that part of the bill -- was it, what, '06 to '13, so seven years. And in the two years since it was a simple matter to make that adjustment, we had the bill, Mr. Conyers and Mr. Sensenbrenner, two of the original authors of the '06 bill. And yet, Republicans think it's all right to go home and undermine the fundamental principle of our democracy of the ability of people to vote. 11:04:03 Today -- so thank you if you were out there in the heat. It would have been worth it to hear John Lewis and Jim Clyburn, who were so much a part of the Civil Rights Movement, and John Conyers who voted -- he's the only person here now who voted for the Civil Rights Act in 1965. Another -- 1965 was a very big year. Not only the Voting Rights Act signed on August 6th, but today marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Medicare -- signing Medicare and Medicaid into law. If you came to our birthday party, our pre- birthday party yesterday, you saw Congressmen -- former Congressman, chairman, the dean, former dean of the House John Dingell there. He presided that day in 1965, and he brought the gavel that he used to gavel Medicare and Medicaid into law. He also brought it the day that we passed the Affordable Care Act so many years later. 11:05:10 And it's quite remarkable that this one man and his father for decades had been champions of providing access to health care for so many more Americans. 11:05:19 How many -- on improvements in the Medicare Act, since only 2013, it's saved 300,000 more lives than 1999, and thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we have extended the life of Medicare and Medicare to 2030 -- the Medicare Trust Fund until 2030, 13 years longer than it was projected before the bill. And of course, in a bipartisan way, we worked on SGR with reforms to have a permanent fix for SGR, ensuring that seniors have access to their doctors and the care they need. 11:05:58 And again, I salute John Dingell. I mean, the giants we have served with here. John Lewis, John Dingell all present -- all present at the birth of these very important pieces of -- transformational pieces of legislation. 11:06:13 Yesterday -- (AUDIO GAP) PELOSI: -- were at the White House. President Obama a very strong and forceful presentation of his case supporting the nuclear agreement with Iran. The president has been clear, a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable to the United States and unacceptable to the world. PELOSI: It is clear the agreement offers the best long-term way to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. 11:06:41 It's about increasing our vigilance on every aspect of the Iranian nuclear program, and it's very clear that for it to succeed, we must say over and over again that we will be vigilant in observing the enforcement of it, and that every option is left on the table to stop them from having a weapon of mass destruction. So here we are -- can you believe we left on Wednesday afternoon? Coming in Monday night, leaving Wednesday afternoon, for six weeks -- six weeks -- with all the unfinished business that we have. No Ex-Im Bank, the -- July 31st is fraught with meaning for many ways. The trust -- Highway Trust Fund, Ex-Im Bank, of course, the Voting Rights Act I mentioned needs to be renewed and strengthened. Very simple. We have the bill, appropriations -- we have no appropriations bills that, if vetoed, would not be sustained and will not even see the light of day on the floor of the Senate. It's long overdue that we come to the table to talk about how we go forward with appropriations, but somehow or other, the Republicans thought it was better to go home than to come to that table. 11:07:59 And of course, the highway bill, without passing a robust long- term highway bill that America needs, how can we leave doing that? Now, we have a short-term, another short-term bill. I feel confident that the Speaker sincerely wants a highway bill, but he must not empower those in his caucus who take away his power to bring such a bill to the floor. And here we are again. The Republicans -- highway trust fund infrastructure bill has never been partisan until this particular breed of Republicans is out there. So we have a lot of unfinished business. The Speaker predicts that September is going to be this great month. I think there are nine working days -- maybe 11 if you count two to welcome His Holiness, Pope Francis, which is wonderful, but it's not a day that we're going to get any of this work done. So jobs, jobs, jobs; Ex-Im Bank, Highway Trust Fund bill. Let's address the budget issues so that we can have an appropriations process that invests in the American people to create jobs, to reduce the deficit. Let's do so in a way that takes us to the table to discuss reform of our tax code so that we can close loopholes, lower rates. Again growth. It's all about growth. But what do we hear about? Just going home with so much unfinished business. Any questions? QUESTION: Madame Leader, what do you make of August and this effort by the Republicans to gin up all of this attention on Planned Parenthood? There's another set of videos out today, and members saying all right, we're probably going to have to do CR, the Speaker admitted as much last week, to keep the government open in September, to your point that there's a lot to do. And them saying well, we'll vote for the CR, but you have to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Is that going to be the battle royal in -- 11:09:56 PELOSI: Well, they're back to where they started. They started their majority by saying they want to shut down government instead of fund Planned Parenthood. So this is nothing new in their regard. And the -- we probably were going to have a CR anyway. The question is what does it look like, and if they don't have the Republican votes to pass it, then hopefully we can have some influence over what is in that CR. As you know, a CR, continuing resolution, is just the same dollar amount of the current year, which is debilitating to investments in people because our needs have grown, our veterans' needs have grown and the rest. PELOSI: And just to use that one example, we need more. 11:10:42 But we'll see what they propose, but again, he cannot let -- you have to weigh the equities of what is important, and what is important is we have a September 30th deadline in which we have to have appropriations bills passed. Not -- we have a CR for how long, and what is attached to it, the mean-spirited rider that we're never going to support, but actually the bill's supposed to be about the budget. They may put the -- I hear two different things, they may put the Ex-Im Bank (AUDIO GAP) PELOSI: -- or -- and I don't know how these same people respond to that, or they may just -- I would hope at some point bring up the Ex-Im Bank freestanding, I've heard both rumors. But it's only true that they're rumors, it's not true that they're going to do it that way. QUESTION: But -- do you -- but we keep hearing so much about this Planned Parenthood business. Do you... (CROSSTALK) PELOSI: ...it's really a distraction. I mean, I -- I -- the -- you probably saw the op-ed, or letter, that Cecile Richards had said to Francis -- sent to Francis Collins saying we need a review of fetal tissue research. It hasn't been reviewed for a few decades, and -- but when it was, passed enabling this research to go forward. I remind that Mitch McConnell voted for that. Yes, ma'am? QUESTION: Would any Democrat vote for a CR that de-funds Planned Parenthood? 11:12:10 PELOSI: I -- have to see -- yeah, I'm -- I think that -- I don't know that that will be what's in the CR. I think this is highly hypothetical. I -- I -- I know, I know that the tail wags the dog over there, but I -- I -- I just don't know that the tail has the dog in a -- a spin. I mean, they have responsibilities and work to do. That would be a most unfortunate proposal, and what else is in the CR? QUESTION: But you don't rule out Democratic support for that? PELOSI: On any given day, any one person may do something, but overwhelmingly the Democrats would not support that. No. QUESTION: Leader Pelosi, I wanted to ask you about Iran, and also, over August recess, opponents of the deal are pledging to really crank up a campaign against it and are targeting undecided House Democrats and Senante Democrats. Last week, you said you were confident the deal would be upheld. Do you think, after this week-long effort to really ramp up opposition, it will end up being -- the veto will be sustained in September? PELOSI: Yes. QUESTION: Why are you confident? 11:13:18 PELOSI: Well, I'm confident because of the nature of the agreement. As I've said before in a very self-serving, self-promoting way, this is a subject I know a great deal about. I've been, for a generation -- about 25 years, working on the issue of non-proliferation in the Congress, so it was a priority for me before I came here, and I've tracked Iran for a long time. And one of the reasons I tracked Iran is because I was always tracking China, for those of you who followed Congress all those years ago, China still continues to be a major focus, whether it's trade barriers, whether it's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction technology and whether it's human rights violations in China and Tibet. So China had been -- has been my focus. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't make myself as current as possible as what -- is going on in largely those three categories in China. And at that time I could see sales of weapons to Iran and then from Russia and other countries were transferring dual-use technology, missile technology, technology related to the development of a nuclear weapon, and that this president of the United States -- and I think it's really important to say, this president of the United States has brought into line countries who were engaged in those activities -- silkworms from China -- this is a longer conversation but perhaps we'll sit in my office and talk about sometime. But this president has put together the P5+1, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus one, Germany, and then further engaged the EU to be part of the agreement. This is quite remarkable. And kept them engaged. Everybody was not of one mind on every aspect of every detail of this, but kept everybody engaged. This is a diplomatic masterpiece that they stayed at the table and came to the conclusion that they did. 11:15:27 And it's an agreement. It's that -- it isn't you -- shall I sit down and write it and say to Iran this is what I would ideally like to see you do? No. It's an agreement with another country with all of those countries weighing in, amplifying the strength of anything that we could do as -- individually as a country in a bilateral way with Iran. Multilateral sanctions and pressure, and insistence that Iran not get a weapon of mass destruction. So where does my confidence spring from? First of all, from the quality of the agreement. Second of all, to the seriousness and thoughtfulness with which my colleagues have approached this, and more and more of them have confirmed to me that they will be there to sustain the veto. They done this -- (AUDIO GAP) PELOSI: -- thoroughly and over a -- the last two-and-a-half weeks reviewing the documents, not only the agreement but the accompanying documents in the intelligence space. And it's really pretty exciting. It's probably one of the most important endeavors that members will be engaged in. I recall to them how awful it was when we had to vote on a war in Iraq, and I told people that the intelligence does not support the threat. And people, overwhelmingly the Democrats in the House, voted against that. But for those who didn't, it's serious gum stuck to their shoe. And I don't -- I want members to see this -- it's their vote, it's not a constituent a group vote, it's not my neighbor's vote -- that is to say, my neighboring member of Congress -- it's your vote that you're going to be held accountable for. And if you truly believe that we must stop Iran from having a weapon of mass destruction and we must try to do it with all the diplomacy that we can muster -- and the president has done that -- then you should vote for this or have an alternative plan. But we haven't seen what that is. 11:17:30 And as has been said, the president said, every option is left on the table in the case the vigilance of this reveals something in violation of the agreement on the part of Iran. And as you know, we can -- we can make that decision ourselves. It's something to be very, very proud of. And by the way, the Atlantic Charter, that was an agreement between the Churchill and Roosevelt -- I mean, presidents have this authority to do. I'm -- the fact that we're even going through the motion is interesting and informative. We've gotten beautiful education from the White House and other outside validators. So we've got -- have information, we have validation, we have clarification on some points that members want to -- need clarification. But this -- but you go to the fourth point of mobilization. The outside will have endless money, $40 million I hear, to spend on TV and going door-to-door to poison the well on this. PELOSI: And you wonder why, you wonder why. Have they even read it? It looks political to me. 11:18:43 But I do respect the disagreements that we have on substance, even among some in our own caucus. I'm just talking about the outside mobilization. So our members have a firm foundation on why they support this. I feel confident -- I wish it were now -- you know, I'm sorry that this went 30 additional days because I think the sooner we can get on with this diplomacy and this agreement, whether we go from adoption -- no, what's the first step? Agreement, adoption, implementation. You know, there are certain categories of the agreement that -- the agreement came, the adoption by the U.N. of Security Council -- of their resolution, and now the further implementation of the legislation -- of the -- of the agreement. And so we'd like to get on with stopping the -- And the whole time, they had frozen their program. That's quite a remarkable accomplishment. So again, as I tell the members, over time -- the generation I'm talking about -- for all countries, not just Iran but Iran was in my sights, to use a term, you look at do they have the technology, do they have fissile material, do they have the technology, do they have the scientific know-how? This is really important. And do they have the launch capacity and do they have the intent? 11:20:19 So early on, they did not have -- and I'm -- this was not indigenous to Iran, and many of these countries that are now in the agreement were part of transferring technology, perhaps unwittingly as to what the intent was of Iran. We don't know exactly that is, and hopefully it's not, as has been described by some, but we have to be vigilant. So whether it's the ability, the technology to make a weapon, whether it's the know-how to do it. Scientists conveyed, transferred knowledge to the -- and they're a, you know, well-educated, sophisticated population, and they can engineer back. But I think you've seen in the press over the years some of the technology that has been transferred, some of it is, shall we say, classified, but some of it has come out into the press where they have stopped buying stuff because they didn't trust it; buying stuff from other -- technology from other countries. So this is a very important agreement. The president should be so roundly praised for keeping everyone at the table. And a continuation of the work of George W. Bush, because he knew that -- everybody knows that we have to stop Iran from having a weapon of mass destruction. 11:21:43 Nicholas Burns spoke to us yesterday, who served in the Bush administration as part of some of the negotiations early on. Quite remarkable in his support for the agreement. And we all recognize you have to weigh the equities. Every agreement is not the perfect agreement that you -- that would be unilateral; I write this, you accept this. No. It's an agreement. But it's a viable agreement, a pragmatic agreement. QUESTION: Madame Leaders, if Republicans do decide to de-fund Planned Parenthood, what can Democrats do to stop them? And as a follow-up, are you worried that these videos have caused lasting image problems for Planned Parenthood? 11:22:21 PELOSI: Planned Parenthood administers to the needs of, what, almost 2-and-a-half million American women, a very small percentage of that relates to women having a right to choose. PELOSI: But it relates to their health. College-age women seek -- whether it's breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, all things that relate to women's health and, in some cases, women's reproductive health. So I think they have a solid grounding with -- of support with the American people. 11:22:56 The -- as I said before, this issue of fetal tissue research is one that was approved by the Congress with a bipartisan vote, so this is not something -- all of a sudden, it looks like "where did this come from?" No, this is something that -- and -- as -- as President Cecile Richards had said, it's time to review the guidelines again, as she's written to Collins. So that's what I think about that. Any other questions on any other subject? Yes, ma'am. QUESTION: Back on the highway bill. PELOSI: Yes. QUESTION: Have you -- one of the ideas being discussed is a hybrid between the Senate funding that's provided for three years and Ryan's tax plan for a total of six years. What do you think of that? 11:23:42 PELOSI: Well, first let me salute Senator Barbara Boxer, former chair of the committee of jurisdiction. I think because of her leadership, we are at a place where at least we are discussing some choices in relationship to the highway bill. There are many good -- as I said last week at this meeting, there are many good provisions in the bill that I hope would be part of the final provision. Some of the pay-fors, as I said last week, but some of you all made (ph) that they were taken care of, but maybe not fully. The -- you'd have to ask the Speaker specifically, but my impression is that -- that the House would see something that resembles more of what our pay-fors are here. Senator -- Leader McConnell has said read my lips, no, what was the word he said, international funding or something like that. I don't know what the term I've already used, but he did say "read my lips, no," in relationship to what we were putting forth. I think -- this is what I think. I think that the fact that we would use this repatriation of funds, or changing in versions or whatever it is -- you know, there'd be a couple different pieces of it -- for an investment in jobs in America is excellent. I think that is excellent. How we do it is a discussion. Does it go to an infrastructure bank? Do we use it in a way that leverages it and -- and we have to -- it has to be leveraged, because there's no -- never going to be enough appropriated dollars to meet the trillions of dollars of deficit we have in our infrastructure and in our highways. 11:25:28 But I think that to use that money, when it comes home at a reduced tax rate with the caveat that it would be used for investment, as is what I think -- the path the Speaker is on -- any given moment, I don't know, you -- you have to check with him. But that's what I -- the path I think they're on is a good idea. There are others who say well, we want to bring that money home, but we want to do -- you know, to give tax breaks to God-knows-who. So, you know, so -- while it's tempting to say well, let's just take it all to the table and do tax reform, and that should be part of it, no, we should close the loopholes in order to bring down the corporate rate. I think that's something we all support, but we shouldn't -- (AUDIO GAP) PELOSI: -- to bring down the corporate rate and keep the loopholes open. So that's kind of the discussion that is going on. So I would like to see it be more of a -- a -- an investment. 11:26:28 Having said that, I think a user fee is the way to go in all of these -- if, you know, my first choice would be a user fee, and that's a gas tax, let me be very clear. PELOSI: That any number of states have already instituted them. Nobody has paid any political price, Democrat or Republican, in any of those states. They have come to us and said, do -- you do more. We did as much as we could; you do more, because, for what we do, it should be appropriate to the -- to the -- to what we're trying to keep (ph). For example, I don't support taking savings from Social Security and using them to build bridges. You know what I'm saying? That -- if there is money to be saved, let's enhance Social Security with that. This should be in its own place, in my view. I have concerns about further use of the SPRO, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, because that's -- was supposed to be used for stop -- ending speculation in the oil markets, or to have an impact on price for the American consumer, not to pay for a different subject. 11:27:40 Now, we used it in -- some of it in the 21 Century Cures Act (sic), and many of us voted for that bill. We didn't love the pay- for, but to go over and above that, I think, just really goes too far. But I commend Senator Boxer. Without her, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. She has a -- the substance of the proposal she has put forth are excellent, the pay-fors are always a debate, and we have to really see when the bill ends. I know, when I say that, people say oh well, when the bill ends, we'll see what it is, when it ends over there and people can make a judgment about it. I had hoped that we could bring it over here, act upon it with the appropriations process. What don't you like about it, this or that, and move it along more quickly. Speaker says we don't want to deprive -- I already -- members of writing their own bill, which I completely agree with, but that could be an amendment to the Senate bill to facilitate. But they'll have their bill, we'll have our bill, we'll go to conference, all of these issues, whether it's the substance of what we invest in, how robust the bill is, how it is paid for. It's going to take some time, and we don't really have that much time. So I would have hoped that this devotion to our having our own bill, which I fully subscribe to, could have been simultaneous with the Senate instead of -- of sequential -- consecutive. So this -- we just don't have the time. Yes, ma'am? QUESTION: The highway... QUESTION: She had a question. QUESTION: ...the highway bill has provided another example of House and Senate leadership on different pages, working from different playbooks. You have a good deal of experience when working on bicameral actions as a leader. Are you concerned at this point that Boehner and McConnell -- differences, disagreements, inability to stay on the same page could derail things like the highway bill in the future? Like getting a spending bill done before October 1st, like other big pieces of legislation that -- Iran, the TPP, anything else that has to come through the chamber in the next year? 11:29:45 PELOSI: No, I don't think so. I think that they have a healthy respect for each other and there are disagreements. And if we all thought alike, there'd only be one -- need for one person to show up, but that's not what a democracy is about, and everyone represents their constituents in their legislative body. So I'm not concerned. What I'm more concerned about, what's happening in the House, where the -- a -- a certain number of members have a stranglehold on the Speaker's ability to be -- to legislate. That, I think, is the -- a bigger issue than whether the House and Senate, because many times, in the House, Democrats and Republicans can find a way to get along better than with the other body. It's just -- just a proximity issue. 11:30:32 PELOSI: But no, I -- I -- I, yes, I'm concerned because we see no performance so far, but I'm always hopeful, and we -- the members of the Appropriations Committee work closely together to produce bills, it's just that they're predicated and that -- in a bipartisan way, it's just that they're predicated on a bad budget figure, and it's not one that we can live with or support. And that's why we have to go to the table. But I -- but I would be hopeful that weighing all the equities, understanding that we have a responsibility to the American people to get the job done, to have a budget that invests in growth in our country and meets the needs of the American people, to pass a highway bill which facilitates commerce and in quality of life for people and job creation in a -- an Ex-Im Bank that keeps us dominant in the global economy and creates jobs here in America, the list goes on and on. I think that we should be able to come to terms with all of that. And it's the legislative process. But if you have -- if his caucus won't let the Speaker be the Speaker, that's really where more of the problem is. So we shall see how that unfolds. And again, I come back to what I always say. Public sentiment is everything. Shutting down government is not a good option, it's a terrible one for the American people, and it proved to be very unpopular when the -- for them when the Republicans did it before. Let's hope that -- I won't say saner -- cooler minds prevail. Thank you all very much. I hope you have an interesting break. Perhaps I'll see you, perhaps I won't. I certainly will be in touch with my colleagues on these and other subjects over the break, and I'm sure you'll be aware of what those communications are. If you have any questions over time, 24/7 Drew Hammill is right there. (LAUGHTER) QUESTION: The Giant are surging. PELOSI: Hmm? QUESTION: The Giants are surging. PELOSI: How about the Giants? QUESTION: When you -- when you talked about the giants earlier, John Dingell and so on, I thought you were talking about the San Francisco Giants. (LAUGHTER) You said the giants. PELOSI: He wasn't here the day we talked about the Warriors and the Giants and just all of this -- QUESTION: You reminded me of (inaudible). (LAUGHTER) PELOSI: Thank you very much. Have a good break. END

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WASH 9 PELOSI PRESSER POOL 07012021 103000 CSPAN POOL PELOSI: Good morning. It's a good morning because decisions, as difficult as they are and as said, in some cases as they are, they are liberating and they enable us to go forward. As we gather here on the floor of the House right now, we are passing the INVEST in American--America Act, a transformative opportunity for us not only to build the infrastructure of America, but to build--rebuild the middle class of America. It does so by putting equity front and center with the necessary focus on communities of color, rural communities, and regions with a persistent poverty. We're pleased that the president has come together within a bipartisan way with the United States Senate--senators for a bipartisan infrastructure plan. When we finished with this legislation, we look forward to continuing that conversation with them so that we can pass an infrastructure bill as well as a reconciliation bill. That was yesterday. I mean, that was--that's today. Yesterday, we saw patriotism on display in the House when it passed legislation to establish a select committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol. It's been our hope, all of us, our hope, and the work of our distinguished chairman, Mr. Bennie Thompson. For us to have been able to have a bipartisan commission passed in the House in a bipartisan way. It got majority vote in the Senate in a bipartisan way. But it did not get the 60 votes. They asked for another week, another week, another week, another week, and at the end of last week said, we can't do this until 2023. So we can't wait that long and we went right into motion to establish the select committee. As you can see, I am very proud to be able to announce the members of that committee this morning. Our chairman will be Bennie Thompson. He is chair of the Homeland Security Committee and he negotiated the bipartisan commission and we thank him for his leadership. Chair Zoe Lofgren, House Administration Committee, which is having key hearings and committee of jurisdiction for the safety of the Capitol. The intelligence being very important in this chair, Adam Schiff of the intelligence community. Pete Aguilar, House Appropriations Committee. That is a committee of jurisdiction for this as well as being a member of the House Administration Committee. I'm saying this since in seniority order. Congresswoman Liz Cheney of the Armed Services Committee has patriotically agreed to serve on the committee. She has a family matter she's dealing with, may join us, depending on how long this takes, but we're very honored and proud that she has agreed to serve on the committee. Representative Stephanie Murphy of Armed Services Committee. Representative Jamie Raskin, a constitutional scholar, as you all know Oversight committee, a major committee of jurisdiction. The committee on oversight, also on the judiciary committee, which has standing on all of this. And then I'm proud to announce that Elaine captain of the ship, retired commander, oh, my gosh, and member of the armed services committee, her interest in this is longstanding in the congress. [10:35:29 am] She is also a member of the homeland security committee. >> I just W wanted to really thank -- bill? It's really important for you all to know what our purpose is for this. Testimony from the department of homeland security concerns that are out there, all these institutions talking about -- well, I hate to even go there but in Tes of what they had [10:36:30 am] said, in terms of white supremacy, anti-semitism, homophobia. All these attitudes that have contributed to what happened on January 6th. Establish the purpose of what we are setting out to do, to make sure that this never happens again. I just put out a press release so you have the names of the members on the committee. Again it was our hope we could have done this with a bipartisan outside commission, maybe one day that will be possible. It took 14 1/2 months for the 9/11 commission to be signed into law. Perhaps this is on the horizon. In the meantime then and meantime now it will be a [10:37:33 am] congressional investigation. Then I happened to be co-chair of that investigation bipartisan bicameral. It may be hard to do bicameral as they limit what we can D on their side. It enables you to go to the next step. The next step has always been to seek and to find the truth. We want to do so in the most patriotic and nonpartisan way so the American people have confidence in the results. Now it's my pleasure to yield and, as I announce the chairmanship of this committee to be chairman Benny Thompson, domestic terrorism. [10:38:39 am] We're very honored that he has agreed to serve as chair of that committee. >> Thank you very much, madam speaker. I thank you to your steadfast commitment to getting behind the truth of the January 6th dochlesque terrorist attack on the capitol. To try to stop congress from carrying out our constitutional duties to certify a presintial election. Over the last six months at every turn you've opinion laser focused on doing whatever it takes to get to the bottom to deliver the truth to the American people. You met Republicans more than halfway in an effort to stand up in a bipartisan, independent commission. The reason I say that, I participated in negotiating what [10:39:41 am] was to be negotiated and you did a good job. I thought from the standpoint it should have been approved. We passed it in the house, unfortunately. We could not get the senate to do likewise. Approval in the house by doing so. And membip behind me. We do our job, according to the oath we took as members of congress. More importantly, we have to get to the bottom of ING out all the things that went wrong on January 6th. I look forward to working with the members of the select committee, both Democrats and Republican S [10:40:46 am] Republicans I look forward to coming up with the causes and effect. It will come in due time. The product will be a product based on investigation, based on what those investigations bring forward and there's nothing in this review that won't be brought out in the end. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Any questions? No questions? Or we anticipated them all. Yes, sir? >> House minority leader Mccarthy -- >> I'm not responding. We're making our presentation here. Go ask him about what he says, okay? >> Accept your appointment to the commit E. >> I'm sorry, what? >> Mccarthy said the committee [10:41:49 am] assignments -- >> No, that's a matter for the Republican caucus. We are full of responsibility and duty and patriotism and almost joy as we go into the fourth of July weekend as we observe the birth of our nation, that we are committed to doing something that honors the vision of our founders. It's going to be a high level. It's not going to be political and I'm not going to get into discussion of what goes on in the Republican caucus. >> Republican Liz Cheney said you would appoint her. Can you tell us what that conversation was like, why she Said yes, what you asked of her? [10:42:50 am] >> Good question. It resembled congresswoman Cheney's public comments. It's what is in the bill as to what our purpose is. Our purpose is not any phone call that Mccarthy made or something like that. It's about protecting our country from negative forces that provoked that attack on the capitol. >> Earlier this week, congresswoman Omar ilhan wa on -- 'S S>> Let's stick with this. I'm sure they would be happy to answer any questions you have. What do you have today? >> I wanted to ask if you would like to see the pre testify before the committee and is there any chance that the committee will subpoena him? >> The committee will make its [10:43:50 am] decisions and we look forward to the republicaning their decisions. >> The importance of Mccarthy's conversations with president trump -- >> I'm not going into that now. The committee will establish working with staff what the we're not having that discussion right now in this room. Jake? >> How do you anticipate getting started? Are you going to wait for mckarth toy choose his people or -- >> We hope they would choose them expeditiously. A quorum. Let me go B to the purpose. Your presentation this morning reminded me that we have to remind people what the purpose of this is. [10:44:55 am] On January 6th, 2021, was one of the darkest days of our democracy during which insurrectionists tamted to impede congress' constitutional mandate to a presidential election. This is something that's very important to all of our members including, I might be able to say, because she said it publicly, congresswoman Cheney, that peaceful transfer of power. It a hallmark of democracy. And then the department of homeland security issued on January 7th a bulletin calling our attention the need act so this doesn't happen again because there are approximate perceived grievances viewed by false narratives could continue to mobilize or insight to committee violence. [10:45:58 am] And then, of course, what I referenced from the FBI T goes on and on. It's really important. >> Do you want to say anything about house administration? >> House administration committee has held a series of hearings primarily with the inspector generals looking at deficiencies in the management of the capitol police. Unfortunately we found many. But that's not about W spurred the attack. That's about the response. The fact that there were deficiencies in the management of the capitol police didn't cause the riot. We will make sure that the interim sts to be more safe, what happened here, what caused [10:47:00 am] a mob of Americans to think somehow they were supporting the con contusion when they tried to disrupt the constitutional process of CING the electoral college votes, who paid for it, who organized it? We need to find that out in order to keep the country safe. >> The capitol police saved our lives. They enabled us to return so that we could honor our constitutional responsibility prescribed in the constitution as January 6th not just any day as the Republicans describe it, normal tort day in the capitol. No. It was a date described in the constitution. They came to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. How could the capitol police ever suspect that the president of the United States would incite an insurrection? [10:48:00 am] We want to support them and shore up any shortcomings not only personally but physically for the capitol. Intelligence has been a very important part of all of this. Mr. Schiff, did you have something you wanted to say? >> Thank you, madam speaker. We know that there was intelligence collected prior to the attack and intelligence that was not collected that was available to help law enforcement identify the danger to the capitol that day. Why that intelligence wasn't gathered, whether the intelligence that was gathered was appropriately shared, whether that intelligence was acted upon. [10:49:05 am] It certainly is my hope and expectation with the specific focus on the events of January 6th with the staff committee why didn't we see this coming is this what are the appropriate mechanisms that law enforcement can use to it's my hope we can get those answers and put additional pressure as needed on the agencies to be forth coming with that information so we could prepare for the future. >> Thank you, Mr. Schiff. Mr. Agolar serves on appropriations committee and house administration committee. >> Thank you, madam speaker. I wanted to underscore that the focus of this is on seeking the truth. The focus is on making sure that [10:50:05 am] the American public understands the threat to democracy that took the focus is making sure that Americans understand. Some of them permanently that day. Five people lost their lives. Staffers were bar cased here in the capitol. How can we protect this going forward. I look forward to chairman tompgs's leadership. >> I want them to self introduce so you hear more from them than from me. >> I'm congresswoman Stephanie Murphy and I fled a country where political violence is how transitions were made. [10:51:06 am] And I never lived a day in this country where I have not been proud to live in the democracies. Is it broke my heart to be in this building and see the kind of political violence that occurred like the country I fled, happening here in our country. So I look toward to fulfilling my role on the committee, how we can secure the citadel of democracy here at this capital. Thank you. >>> I'm so proud of Stephanie Murphy's patriotism. She came as a boat baby from [10:52:07 am] Vietnam. And she is always talked about how much her family appreciated America. And she as, of course, served our country very well in the department of defense now in the congress of the United States. But her story is one that is the American dream many times over. Now I want to yield on the judiciary house administration and core of the committee on oversight. >> Thank you very much, madame speaker. The oversight committee has been conducting for several violent white supremacy. They declared domestic violence extremism a number one threat in the country. We saw that threat explode in [10:53:09 am] front of us on January the 6th. So the impeachment trial of Donald Trump determined, I think by robust bipartisan majorities that incited the violence on January 6th. But we need to figure out who organized the violence. How did they organize it, and why did they organize is. What were the purposes of the difference critical actors. That's why this living and as yet unborn. We need to defend our democracy with everything we got. So it is our ability to serve. Thank you, madame speaker. >> There is a few in the [10:54:13 am] ngress. >> The first time that I took the oath to protect and defend, I was 17 years old entering the naval academy. I never thought they woulding here serving in this capacity. And you know like all of my colleagues here said, we have to get to the bottom of this. It can't be a partisan thing. I think back to my time with many deployments, and we're simultaneously launching strikes against terrorist targets. But we say it is not about [10:55:16 am] partisanship. I hope that this committee can come together. These are answers that the American people need and deserve. And getting to the bottom of is is really important. So thank you to madame speaker for appointing me. >> Thank you so much. I have been informed that we have four minutes left. That is part of our legislation. I just wanted to say how proud I amf of this select committee. I'm glad that it will be bipartisan from the start we're proud that Lynn, excuse me, Liz Cheney made the public statements she made and that she [10:56:17 am] agreed to use the committee another time. She will say her why and her purpose. But she has spoken very clearly about the committee and that gives us great confidence. As go into the fourth of July with great pride in the fact that we will be closer to the truth because of the willingness of up a distinguished group to take this responsibility. Thank you all very much. [END]