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drinks to avoid f.d.a. oversight. we've called on the agency to regulate energy drinks that have caffeine levels well above the 71 milligrams per 12-ounce threshold in soft drinks. today senator blumenthal and i asked the f.d.a. commissioner to meet with us to personally meet with us after thanksgiving to discuss the steps the f.d.a. is taking to ensure the safety of energy drinks. every other week we're seeing mounting evidence that energy drinks pose safety risks. you learn about young people hospitalized or seriously hurt after consuming what are marketed as little energy pick pick-me-ups. we look forward to working with commissioner hamburg to protect our children and to protect everyone in america from these die tear supplements, whether it is 5-hour energy or the monster energy drink which led to the death of this 14-year-old girl
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in maryland. mr. president, it's been many years since came to this floor and argued about dietary supplements. we all know what's involved here. i always preface my remarks by saying when i got up this morning i took my vitamin, i took my fish oil pill. i believe i should have the right to do that. i don't know p it helps, but i think it does. but when it comes to dietary supplements that go beyond that type of supplement, the things that include dramatic increases in caffeine, we have to take the next step. i managed a few years ago to pass a law over some ukes h. -- over some or,, but a law that requires the makers of dietary supplements to report adverse incidents. so we can gather this together and pick up any trends that are
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alarming or worrisome. the companies have not been reporting them as obvious as thishtd. now we know, as said at the outset of my remarks, young people and others are dying from these energy drinks, 5-hour energy drinks and monster energy drinks. they've died after they've ingested these and they've raised serious questions as to whether or not there was causation between them. to find that there were 13 adverse event reports for people who died after consuming 5-hour energy drinks and five people who died after consuming these monster energy drinks -- for goodness sakes, these are for sale to kids across america. we wouldn't sell these kids alcohol over the counter without asking how old they were, whether they are the they've red an age where they're eligible to buy alcoholic products. bur we are selling products that could be more lethal than alcohol to these young kids
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without the necessary oversight and supervismtion i thank the senator from connecticut for joining me this this effort. we've got to continue it. "the new york times" yesterday made a report that i think puts us on notice there is a lot more to be done. mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the if senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm very honored to stand with my distinguished colleague from illinois on this vitally important issue, and i thank him for his leadership, and i'm very proud to work with him on a problem that really shows dramatically that neglect and disregard by government regulators and enforce -- and enforcers can have real-life consequences. the f.d.a. has simply failed to address this issue and i believe that it has failed even to respond to the alarms that senator durbin and i have
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sounded on this issue. yesterday "the new york times" featured an article reporting that the food and drug administration, the f.d.a., received 13 adverse event reports of fatalities following the consumption of 5-hour energy, which is a highly calf - highly caffeinated energy shot. but this report is really only the latest of a series of reports that two popular energy drinks -- monster energy drink and 5-hour energy -- have been cited in deaths and injuries. these drinks have been cited in reports of dozens of serious adverse events like heart attacks and skul convulsions. and these are not the only concerns that have been raised about energy drinks. let me cite a fiewvment a report by the substance abuse and
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mental health services administration found that between the number of emergency room visits due to energy drinks increased tenfold between 2005 and 2009, from 1,128 to 13,114 visits. more recently, a study of energy drinks by consumer reports found that some energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine, in some cases twice as much as a cup of coffee. the consumer reports study found that labels of many energy drinks fail to disclose -- completely fail to disclose how much caffeine is contained. and, even worse, five of the 16 drinks that consumer reports studied, in fact, contain more than 20% more caffeine than was stated on the label.
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these reports are profoundly and deeply troubling, and the agency in charge of regulating the safety of these products, the f.d.a., needs to determine whether energy drinks are safe and, if necessary, take action about their safety. senator durbin and i have written two letters -- one on september 11, the other on october 26 of this year -- calling on the agency to take action addressing the rising public health concerns around energy drinks and to protect consumers. have we heard anything back? nothing. no response. and in today's letter, we reiterate our request for the f.d.a. to investigate the interaction between caffeine and stimulants in energy drinks to assess the health risks
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associated with caffeine consumption by children and adolescents and to finalize and issue guidance that clearly distinguishes liquid dietary supplements. this issue is as profoundly and deeply important as the combination of caffeine and alcohol, which attorney generals addressed during the time that i had that job in the state of connecticut. and the alcohol makers, to their credit, did the right thing and addressed it on their own. here the industry has failed in that obligation. the f.d.a. has not just an opportunity but an obligation to address this issue. i also believe that the f.d.a. has failed to consider the shifting trends in caffeine consumption more generally and
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broadly that is shown by the energy drink industry, particularly shifting trends in consumption among adolescents. the industry has marketed relentlessly and repeatedly, which accounts toker tha accounc statistic cited that 30% to 50% of adolescents are known and reported to be using these drinks. marketing and that trend has a clear connection; no accident that caffeine consumption is increasing. but the f.d.a.'s determination that safe level of ca caffeines seems to be based on what is safe for adult scomtion. it does not take into account
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safe levels of caffeine consumption among children and these energy drinks are marketed to young people, including children. just as an example, although the f.d.a. states that adults can safely scum up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, the american academy of pediatrics recommends that adoll h adolescs consume no more than 100 milligrams per day, less than it contained in one dose of an energy drink. and consumer reports recommends that children consume no more than 45 to 85 milligrams per day, depending on their weight. i want to associate myself with the very persuasive and compelling remarks made by senator durbin today. again, his leadership on this issue has been so valuable. and i would just close by making
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this point: there is a lot of rhetoric, and it purportedly is based on principle and conviction, that somehow government rules and consumer protections are a frivolous nuisance or a burden without a benefit or unwarranted intrusion in the free marketing. the experience that was dramatically portrayed in the hearing of the health, education, labor, and pension committee today offers a tragic lesson on how compounding pharmacies and the failure of government regulators to act dispositively and promptly led to injuries and deaths across the country. my colleague, senator alexander,
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was present and very perceptively asked some of the most pointed questions this morning of the witnesses who came before us from the f.d.a. and other government agencies, including the massachusetts board of pharmacy. that lesson this morning ought to sound an alarm for us here because the new england compounding pharmacy in a that instance was a known risk to both federal and state regulators, the f.d.a. and the massachusetts board of pharmacy, and both failed to take effective action to protect the public. the f.d.a. in this instance has an obligation to protect the public and take action that will safeguard the health of our children and adolescents, the health of everyone, in light of the potential dangers posed by these energy drinks.
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so i close by the, again, thanking my colleague from illinois for being such a strong advocate of consumer interests and health in this area. i hope that we will have a meeting soon, as we've requested, so that we can work together to make sure that these products are labeled accurately and truthfully, marketed responsibly, and consumed safely. thank you, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the. the presiding officer: from illinois. mr. durbin: i see me two colleagues on the floor here from tennessee as well as louisiana. i have one more brief statement, if i could make it, if that would be acceptable. ms. landrieu: i would ask [inaudible] please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: to what? the presiding officer: the senator has requested that a staff area be er be permitted t-
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mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. i just didn't hear what was shade. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to say a word about the tragedy woi kur which occurred n benghazi, libya, where we lost our dedicated ambassador and three other american lives. it was an awful thing. it has been years, decades since we lost an ambassador in service to our country, and it is something that we are looking at with a great deal of sadness and sorrow that these individuals who dedicated their lives to america were killed in the course of duty. but this has gone from a tragedy in benghazi to a major political debate in america. part of it was explainable because it was in the closing days and weeks of a presidential campaign when many times issues that don't reach national prominence become prominent because of the attention being
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paid to the candidates, and a lot has been said back and foncht and i have tried, like other members of congress, to understand exactly what happened on september i 11 in benghazi. it is difficult because there wasn't a gathering of evidence immediately. investigations were undertaken. it was chaotic at the scene that evening, and sadly many of the witness whose could help us understand that disappeared into the night. but the effort has been undertaken to find out what occurred, to find out whether or not there was adequate prediction for the ambassador and his staff, and if not, what we should have done. i understand that these tragedies require careful examination. i was a minimum of the u.s. house of representatives -- i was a member of the u.s. house of representatives when 235 u.s. marines died in a marine corps bear recollection bombing in beirut, lebanon. you bet we asked questions of the reagan administration, as we should when we lose american
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lives, innocent lives, overseas, as we did in lebanon and as we did in libya. what troubles me is the level the debate has reached. it has now preached a level of vilification and acould you scags which is unwarranted by the evidence. this week we met in the senate foreign relations committee in a closed, classified setting and went through meticulously the time line that led up to the death of the ambassador and his staff as well as what followed. it is being reported as it is being gathered, and there are additional reports that will be forthcoming. early next month, we are expecting the accountability review board of the department of state to issue its report. we know that following that, other committees of jurisdiction, the intelligence committee, foreign relations committee and others will certainly call in witnesses and ask questions, as they should, as they must. what troubles me is that on the floor of the senate, during the
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course of this week, there have been accusations made of individuals that have gone far beyond anything that the evidence could suggest. we owe it to the cause of justice and to the lives that were lost to do this professionally and honestly, without political rancor. the president was right yesterday when he said are you you -- of our u.n. ambassador susan rice. she has done exemplary work. she has represented the united states' interest in the united nations with skill and professionalism, with toughness and grace to go after the u.n. ambassador he said who had nothing to do with benghazi, was simply making a presentation based on the intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous. i agree with him. we owe it to her, we owe it to everyone involved in every federal agency to get the facts before us before we point a
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finger of blame. if there is blame, let us make certain that it is apportioned to those who deserve it rather than to make wild charges against many others. my good friend, senator john mccain -- and he really is my friend -- he and i have debated on the floor many times, but he said something that i want to quote from 2005 when there were criticisms of condoleezza rice who was being considered for the office of secretary of state. this is what senator mccain said -- "so i wonder why we're starting this new congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion. i can only conclude we're doing this for no other reason because of lingering bitterness of the outcome of the election. we all have varying policy views, but the president in my view has a clear right to put into place the team he believes will serve him best." i agree with senator mccain's statement. let us get the facts together. let us find out what truly occurred before we point a finger of blame on any person in
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our government, let's make certain we do so with a knowledge of the facts and the evidence that we can gather. we owe it to the ambassador, his family and all the others who were either injured or lost their lives in this occurrence. i urge my colleagues to focus on the report due in december from the accountability review board and to attend the hearings that will undoubtedly follow on this issue. we need a constructive discussion on how we can ensure that our brave diplomats can work effectively in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. susan rice is a dedicated public servant who has tirelessly pursued the interests of the united states at the united nations, ranging from sanctions on iran to advancing the actual effort in the security council to oust former libyan strongman moammar qadhafi. she deserves fair treatment, as everyone does in our government. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, i see the senator from louisiana, and i know she expects to speak
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about 5:30. i want to just say to her through the chair i will be finished by then. and i see the senator from connecticut i believe is still here. i want to compliment him on his participation this morning in a hearing which we both -- in which we both participated. it was a sad hearing, really. it was about the fungal meningitis. the senator from minnesota was there as well. the fungal meningitis outbreak that in our state, tennessee, has become a nightmare. it's claimed eight lives, 31 ill, very ill in many cases -- 81 very ill in many cases, and a thousand others who worry that they might become ill. what became obvious is we -- as we went through the discussion was that something incredibly dropped through the cracks here. we have maybe 60,000 what i call drugstores, pharmacies in the country, maybe more than a thousand in tennessee. many of them are doing this
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compounding. they are -- if you go in and get a prescription filled, they might adjust the prescription based upon your -- your prescription or an f.d.a.-approved drug based upon your prescription. that's fine. then over here on the other side are the manufacturers, the big manufacturers of drugs, as the senator from connecticut was pointing out, they are regulated by the food and drug administration. but then there is these entities in the middle, and there was one in massachusetts that was really apparently masquerading as a -- it was really a drug manufacturer but it was not complying with the rules of a drug manufacturer, and as a result it provided tainted medicine all over the country, and had it not been for a remarkable work by the tennessee public health department in conjunction with vanderbilt university and the centers for disease control, why there could have been many more deaths and
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many more injuries. so we saw an example, mr. president, of government. we saw an incompetent state board of pharmacy in massachusetts. we saw a confused food and drug administration. and we saw a textbook model of what ought to be done by the centers for disease control and the tennessee department of health. so i am committed to working with senator harkin, the chairman of our committee, and other members of our committee throughout the rest of this year, and i would hope that the senator from minnesota and i and connecticut and senator burr and roberts who have been working on this for some time could begin the new year with a bipartisan bill that would put somebody on the flagpole for this so that we can continue when we go to the hospital or go to the pharmacy to not worry about whether the medicines we're receiving are tainted or unsafe. i thought it was an excellent hearing, i look forward to working on it. i have some ideas about a model for this regulation. i have found as governor years ago that if you give a committee
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responsibility for getting something done, they often end up pointing fingers at each other. you put somebody on the flagpole, it often gets done so you will know what happened. i think that's why they created such a good system with nuclear submarines. we have never had a death on a nuclear navy submarine since the 1950's. i think i know why. it's because the admiral interviewed every one of the captains of those submarines. the navy made it clear to them if there was a problem with the reactor, their career was in deep trouble, and so we have never had trouble. if i may move to another subject, mr. president, a lot of talk this week about the fiscal cliff. the president and the congressional leaders are meeting tomorrow, as they should, about how can we reduce our debt, and that will require, in my judgment, reform of our entitlement programs, saving our medicare program, for example. i mean, the average couple is 65
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years of age when they retire. they pay $110,000 into the medicare program. they will take out $357,000. that kind of program is not sustainable. and for the next generation of older americans, there won't be a medicare program unless we work on that. so we need to work together to find a way to restrain entitlements, produce revenues if that's what's necessary and come to a result. in the meantime, we have got to be saving money. 42 cents out of every dollar we spend is borrowed, so that's what brings me to the floor today. supporters of wind power have used this week to proclaim it wind week in washington, d.c., launching an event to try to persuade us to extend one more time -- this would be the eighth time the wind production tax credit, which if we were to do so just for one year, would cost another $12.1 billion.
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so i want to respectfully suggest a different name for this week. let's call it the wind downwind week. it's time to -- wind down wind week. it's time to end a 20-year-old temporary subsidy that has already been renewed seven times. the reason is very simple -- we can't afford it. the joint tax committee says the one-year extension will cost that $12.1 billion. it's not just a one-year extension. the developers will get it for over ten years. that's a lot of money. it's one-third of the tennessee state budget. it's 2.5 times as much as we spend each year on energy research. it could be used to help reduce the debt. and that's on top of the $16 billion in federal subsidies and grants already given to wind developers and their wall street backers between 2009 and 2013. that's according to the joint tax committee. how can we justify this? we hear a lot about big oil.
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what about big wind, mr. president? big wind received, according to the energy information agency, 18.82 federal subsidy per mug a watt-hour, 25 times as much per megawatt hour as all other forms of electricity combined. given our fiscal crisis, we should eliminate special tax breaks for big oil and big wind. the big wind tax break was put in place in 1992. it was to be a temporary measure. it was going to boost the new technology. 20 years later, president obama's respected energy secretary says wind is a mature technology. and what have we got after 20 years and billions of dollars of subsidies? a puny amount of unreliable electricity. our country uses nearly 25% of all the electricity in the world. wind produces 3% of that. of course, it only produces it when the wind blows. it's not easy to store it.
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so it is of limited use in a country that needs huge amounts of low-cost, clean, reliable electricity. relying on wind power is the energy equivalent of going to war in sailboats when nuclear submarines are available. the wind subsidy is so large, mr. president, that wind developers are now paying distributors to take their wind power under cutting the base load energy plants that are necessary to provide the reliable electricity we need for the country. and on top of that, there are better ways to produce clean electricity, better ways than subsidizing a technology that destroys the environment in the name of saving the environment. for example, for the same -- it would take a row of 50 wind
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turbines from the appalachian trail to maine, that's 178 miles, to produce the same amount of electricity that four nuclear reactors would produce. the best way, mr. president, to produce cheap, clean energy in the united states is to let the marketplace do it, let the marketplace do it, not to subsidize jobs for technology that can stand on its own and produces only a small amount of unreliable electricity. so, mr. president, let's use this week to celebrate but let's celebrate the end of the temporary 21-year-old wind production tax credit and use the $12.1 billion saved to reduce the federal debt. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i have come to the floor to speak just briefly about a very exciting opportunity and occurrence that we celebrate and
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honor every november, and that is the opportunity to adopt children. there are so many children, mr. president, you know, not only in the state of minnesota, my state, louisiana, the senator from tennessee is here and his state of tennessee, but children all over our country and world that are really in desperate need of a family to call their own. and there are millions of parents and adults that want to be parents who are waiting and hoping for an opportunity to have a family of their own, so it would make sense for us to do the very best job we can to try to build the brinks to make these unions, these really extraordinary unions possible. and so that's what november is about, a month that we're getting ready for thanksgiving
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in anticipation of christmas and hanukkah and some of the other holidays that occur around this time as families gather, our hearts and minds automatically turn to kind of family-related things, and so the coalition, great coalition that tries to help educate and encourage people on this subject has chosen novas national adoption month. and you might know, mr. president, and many people go home at night, turn on their televisions and there are any number of television series by hallmark and home for the holidays. lts of now corporations and networks and cable companies are joining in with the idea of promoting it because it's just such -- it's so right, it's so natural for every child to need and want a family. so i want to first say thank you to senators that have joined me in this effort, senator blumenthal, senator grassley, senator graham, senator blunt, senator johnson, senator levin, senator murray and senator moran
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who have cosponsored this resolution recognizing and supporting the goals of national adoption month, and in a variety of different ways, not only by passing this resolution, which we hope will be hotlined sometime in the very near future both through the senate and the house, but by participating in a variety of different events at home and here in washington to really raise awareness and call attention to the needs of so many -- first of all, to the awareness that there are, in fact, orphans in america. children who their parental rights have been terminated or children who have literally lost both parents and don't have an able or willing relative and are in great need of a family. and you know these children, mr. president, you've been very active in the issue of child welfare. so we have several events throughout this month.
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one of them is national adoption day. that's going to take place this november, always this saturday, i mean the saturday before thanksgiving. where happily thousands of children -- i think last year we had over 4,000, and since 2000 when it started over 40,000 children have moved from foster care to a forever family on adoption day, which is really quite a happy celebration. i've attended several of them myself with some of my local judges. there's nothing more exciting than a packed room of parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and sometimes siblings waiting to receive these young children in some cases, some cases teenagers, in some cases young adults being adopted because, you know, i like to say, mr. president, you're never too old to need a family. i mean, think about it. you know, the holidays happen
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every year. who do you celebrate those with? there are joys and setbacks in life that occur throughout every decade of a person's life. you need a family there with you. so i'm kind of the opinion that you're never too old to be adopted, in fact, i've known individuals adopted by families in their 20's and 30's. i met a woman in california who was adopted in her 40's because she was reunited with a woman who used to care for her, she grew up in foster care, became successful but when they were reunited they still loved each other the same way they had done 40 years earlier and decided to be a family. it's quite a miracle of loving and bonding that happens through adoption. frank and i, my lus and i are so proud to be the parents of two extraordinary chirp who happen to be adopted. we've built our family through adoption. my husband was, in fact,
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adopted out of an orphanage from ireland when he was 5 years old and still remembers the day when the may tron of this little brought assistant home for children came up and walked up to him and said ernest, pack your bags, your mom and dad are here to take you home. he saw his mother and father, adoptive mother and daughter father, brother and sister, and the rest is history, came to america and received an excellent education, has gone on to be a wonderful, wonderful citizen, of course, a great father and loving husband. so grateful for that opportunity for him. but i think about the millions of children in orphanages where no one ever knocks on their door to say your mother and father are here to take you home. no one ever comes to call for them. no one ever provides them an opportunity for loving arms and a comforting and safe place.
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so that's why we fight, that's why we debate happily, we never really fight about this among ourselves because there's so much unity here in the senate and in this congress about promoting adoption and it really is one of the issues where there is virtually no partisan view. so i want to thank my colleagues for joining me in the resolution. we want to recognize this day, saturday, as national adoption day, thank the hundreds of cities and hundreds of organizations, hundreds of communities that are going to be great celebrating national adoption day where groups of children, sometimes dozens, sometimes hundreds of children will, in fact, be adopted on national adoption day. and thank those that started this day many years ago. november, we want to remember as the month, it began in 1995 when president clinton and
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his -- the first lady then, first lady hillary clinton, put such an emphasis on adoption and this was one of their initiatives that has really gone on and on and become bigger and bigger and we're excited about it. let me just say for the record, again, there are over 400,000 children in foster care in america today, over 100,000 of them are, in fact, orphans. their parents have -- they're either deceased, the parental rights were terminated, many of these children have siblings, we're still looking and hoping to match those children with families. and the great thing, mr. president, people might not realize since our efforts of almost 15 years ago, we have increased the number of adoptions in america out of foster care from -- foster care from 14,000 children a year out of the 100,000 and out of 500,000 to 700,000 in foster care, we've reduced the number of children in foster care which
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overall is very good but most importantly, we have substantially increased the number of children adopted from 14,000 to 50,000 a year. so we're really moving in the right direction, but we won't rest until we have placed every child with a responsible and loving family to call their own forever. but the sad news and i just have to, unfortunately, have a little sad point of this speech, is that internationally the numbers are going in the wrong direction. america used to adopt about 20,000 children a year from around the world to america, we're the largest receiving country on earth, americans feel strongly, americans of all races and backgrounds and religious affiliations feel strongly children should be raised in families. so americans have such open hearts and room in their heart and their home for children and through many of our faith-based
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organizations have stepped out to adopt. unfortunately, policies in our own government with some of our own executive branch governments and decisions that are being made are constricting the number of children that are eligible for adoption or that are being adopted by americans. and that number has fallen dramatically, unfortunately, from about 20,000 children down to 9,000 children, and i'm going to redouble my efforts every year, redouble my efforts to find the problem areas, identify them and whether it has to be changed legislatively or some additional funding can be found to increase efforts not just by the federal government but states and local governments and nonprofits, we are going to accelerate, turn the corner and accelerate this situation. let me just conclude in a minute with showing some wonderful
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examples of families that have stepped up. first, this is the morrison family, fran is from lazy. she -- from lazy. she has st -- from louisiana. she has fostered 22 children, this is what she does, but these five she has adopted out of the dozens of children that she has fostered and this one little baby, the latest one that she's adopted had a very special need. he was shaken as an infant. born completely healthy, but because an adult lost their temper and didn't know what to do, when adults shake infants because they're angry, because children cry when they're hungry or cold or tired and sometimes adults don't like to hear that crying, sometimes babies get shaken or thrown against walls and that's what happened to this
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little child. but this child, who is seriously disabled, has now been adopted by fran morrison and she can just say that she's been blessed. the lord led her to become a foster parent and then one step at a time she became an adoptive mom. she as you can see she has her hands very full, but she's got a great heart and she's like so many other americans, just trying to make a way for these children and give them a place. the next family is the roberts family. former foster youth, marcel roberts was one of my interns in my office just last year. this is just such a personal and touching story. she was a former foster youth intern program. her parents here are lisa roberts from camden, new jersey. she's adopted marshell is 22 at
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temple university studying broadcast journalism and her mother has adopted four other children out of foster care. what an extraordinary family. built by a mom who just had a great heart, had the will and the opportunity to adopt these four beautiful girls. and they're now a family. you know, just a wonderful family. really helping these children to succeed in a world that they were born into that had a very sad beginning but a very happy ending. my third family i want share with you is the johnson family. this is from senator thune's twiew 2012 -- 2012 angel, ryan and amber johnson from sioux falls, south dakota, two boys were adopted out of foster care, they have bun biological, a little girl but these two little boys were adopted out of foster care. what a beautiful family. and what a way to build a
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family, and that is what i'm saying. i wish we could eliminate every barrier. there are cultural barriers, financial barriers, there are legal barriers, and if we could just eliminate those barriers and let americans do what they do best, which is to love children, we would be a lot better off. so this is a beautiful family from sioux falls, south dakota. our next family is the duhan family, parents troy and address duhan from new orleans. i know this family well, i'm very proud of them. their little adopted child anastasia grace was born in china last year. they have three biological children but they traveled to china just last month to pick up this little baby girl. and they have been waiting for her for quite some time and we're very grateful that the chinese government has been cooperative. china has been placing more children domestically which is good because many years ago they
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didn't really have any process for domestic adoption. of course, with their one-child policy there were literally millions of children in orphanages, many little girls because they weren't as valued as little boys. but now that's changing. china is doing more domestic adoption but there are still children that need to have loving parents and many of them are finding them here in the united states. and then finally, the last tbeam is jake and amy glover from haynes, kansas, four adopted children, three from haiti and one from china. what a cute holiday card this is going to be for all of their friends that will receive it. since adopting three children from haiti, the glovers are committed to raising awareness about the many daily challenges faced by the haitian post-quack. so not only -- post earthquake. not only did they turn out to be great parents for these children but they also, i know because i
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talked to so many of them really help these children understand and appreciate and respect the culture from which they came from and it builds awareness in america about just the greatness of really our whole planet and, of course, we're proud of america but there are many, many other countries where these children come from and i know these adoptive parents are very respectful of these sending countries. so on behalf of these -- you know, the children that are still waiting, i hope that people that have heard this and can respond in some way, there are many, many opportunities for you to reach out to our national organizations, nonprofits, churches in your communities, and you can always go to our web site and we have some additional information about how to connect if you're thinking about adopting or want to support the work of adoption and preservation of families like this. so, mr. president, again, i urge my colleagues to pass
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s. resolution a 595 as quickly as possible. i thank those colleagues that have joined with me in cosponsoring this. we wish everybody a great day on saturday for national adoption day and look forward to the continued work to promote laws and policies that help every child find a forever family. thank you, mr. president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: .
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quorum call:
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ms. landrieu: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: i ask to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: calendar number 345 and 519, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motion be in order to any he of the nominations, that any related statements be printed in the record, that the president be
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immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 516, s. 1440. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 516, s. 1440, a bill to reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of pregnancy-related death and so forth. the presiding officer: hearing no further debate, the question is on the passage. all those in favor say -- ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the committee report the substitute amendment be agreed to and that the alexander amendment at the desk be agreed to. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i know of no rtr bate on this measure and ask the bill be read for a third time and the senate proceed to a vote.
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the presiding officer: hearing no further debate, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that any statements relating to the bill appear at this point in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. the ayes did have it. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of h.r. 6570 which was received from the house and is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6570, an act to amend the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous
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consent the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate help committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 490 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 490 designating the week of september 16, 2012, as my -- mitochondrial awareness week. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered, the committee is discharged. ms. landrieu: i further ask the preamble be agreed to, motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and that any
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statements relating to this measure be printed in the record at the appropriate place. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: thank you. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 597, which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 597 to permit the collection of clothing, toys, food and house wares during the holiday season for charitable purposes in senate buildings. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to the measure be printed at the appropriate place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent now for the senate to proceed to consideration of s. res. 598 submitted earlier
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today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 598, commending and congratulating the san francisco giants for winning the 2012 world series. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, and any related statements be printed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. res. 599, submitted earlier today by senators gillibrand and kirk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 599 expressing vigorous support and unwavering commitment to the welfare, security and survival to the state of israel and so
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forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. landrieu: i further ask, mr. president, the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the measure be printed at the appropriate place in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. con. resolution 60 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate concurrent resolution 60 providing for conditional adjournment or recess of the senate pending adjournment of the house of representatives. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. ms. landrieu: i ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, any statements relating to this matter be placed in the record as if read.
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the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn and convene for pro forma session only with no business conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session the senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: friday, november 16 at 9:30 a.m. tuesday, november 20 at 12:00 p.m. friday, november 23 at 3:00 p.m. and that the senate adjourn on friday, november he 23 until 2:00 p.m. on monday, november 26, unless the senate has received a message from the house that it has adopted s. con. resolution 60 which is the adjournment resolution and if the senate received such a message the senate adjourn until
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monday, november 26 at 2:00 p.m. under the provisions of s. con. resolution 60. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that the majority leader be recognized and senators be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each and that all postcloture time on s. 3525, the sportsmen's act, be considered expired at 5:30 p.m. and the senate proceed under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: the next roll call votes will be on monday, november 26, at 5:30 p.m. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 a.m.
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tomorrow, unless the senate receives a message from the house that it has adopted s. con. res. 60, and in which case the senate stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on monday, november 26, 2012, under the provisions of s. con. res. 60. for the last nearly half
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century, the discussion of the assassination has been dominated by two schools of thought, or if you will, two feats. i'm going to briefly describe each of them and how they approach the evidence in the case. to begin with, there's the church of the loan assassin what both oswald and ruby were lone nuts who murdered john kennedy and lee harvey oswald. on the other side, we have the church of the grand conspiracy. and frequently vague about exactly what they think happened and who was responsible. but they are absolutely convinced there was a large conspiracy usually involving figures within the u.s. government and at massive cover up. this weekend 49 years later the questionings remain. lone gunman, the mob, castro, the military australia complex? what happened in dallas.
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the assassination of john f kennedy. sunday at 7:30 p.m. eastern and pacific. c-span incites middle and high school send a video to the president. what is the most important issue he should consider to win the grand prize of $5,000. it is open to students grade sixth through twelve. and the deadline january 18, 2013. for complete details and rules go online to studentcam.org. you are watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs. on weeknights watch key public policy events and every weekend the latest non-fiction authors and books on booktv. you can see past rams and get our schedule at the website. you can join on the conversation on social media sites.
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now attorney general eric holder announces a settlement in the bp. bp will pay a $4.5 fine and two men had been charge wpped manslaughter. this is a half hour. has the latest -- task forces members announcing the latest --
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and ongoing efforts to achieve justice and that -- ability for this tragedy. today the united states district court here in the eastern describing district of louisiana in the new orleans the department filed a 14-count information charging bp with 11 counts of felony manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of justice, and violence of the clean water and migratory bird treaty act in connection with the deepwater horizon spill that began in april of 2010. bp has agreed to plead guilty to all 14 criminal charges including responsibility for the deaths of 11 people, and the event that lead to an
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unprecedented environmental catastrophe. the company has also agreed to pay $4 billion in fines and in penalties. this marks both the largest single criminal fine more than $1.25 billion and the largest total the criminal resolution $4 billion in the history of the united states. it stands as a testament to the hard work, countless investigators, attorney, support staff members and other persons from the deepwater horizon task force and a range of federal, state, and local agencies who have work tirelessly to advance a complex and wide ranging investigation that began even before the oil well was capped. and it institutes a major environmental achievement of fulfilling a promise i made here in new orleans along with my colleague nearly two years ago.
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and the counter parts to determine the case of the -- cause of the disaster, to respond to the consequences, to seek justice on behalf of the victim and to enable residents to continue to recover and to rebuild. to this end, under the term of the agreement we announced today about $2.4 billion of the criminal recovery funds will be dedicated to environment restoration, preservation, and conservation efforts throughout this region. including barrier island creation and river diversion projects here in louisiana. an additional $350 million will aid in the diswoment of the state-of-the-art prevention and response technology, education, research, and training. and more than $1 billion will go to the united states coast guards oil spill liability trust fund to be available for cleanup and compensation for those effected by oil spills and
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throughout the united states. as part of the -- bp will retain a monoer for four years that will oversee safety, risk-management, and equipment. as well as an independent author who will conduct annual review to ensure compliance with the agreement. now there can be no question that this historic announcement represents a critical step forward. and underscores the justice department's determination to stwand gulf coast community. -- [inaudible] total $90 million related to the companies clean water ability liability for the deepwater horizon disaster. in approximately $45 million of
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this total will go directly gun to the gulf in the form of penalty for exdieted environmental project. i want to start the trip that my colleague and i have made to the gulf coast since the deepwater horizon spill we are have seen the damage to lives and businesses as well as to coastal areas and wetlands. that this tragedy has inflicted. we understand the tremendous cost both economic and environmental that have been associated with the disaster. we have inspired by the resell yens of those who have been effect the. i want to be absolutely clear that today's resolution does not -- does not mark the end of our earths. in fact our criminal investigation remains ongoing. we will adopt follow all credible leads and pursue any
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charges that are warranted. in addition to the charges filed against bp of federal grand jury -- spurpzers for on board the deepwater horizon on the day of the explosion with 23 criminal counts including 11 counts of manslaughter, 11 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and alleged violation of the clean water act. the grand jury has also charged the former bp executive who serves a a deputy commander and bp's second highest ranking representative at unified command during the spill response as charged him with hiding information from congress and allegedly lying to law enforcement officials. these and other matters remain open including a separate civil action pending a federal court
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here in new orleans. we're are looking forward to the trial which is scheduled to begin in february of next year in which we we intend to prove that bp was grossly negligent in causing the oil spill in the lawsuit we are seeking civil penalty and a judgment that bp and others are liability for cause and the resource and damages expose sure that could amount to billions of dollars. we have been unable to resolve the civil case, we remain as determined as ever to hold those responsible accountable. in addition to my colleagues, i we are fully committed to combating oil spill fraud by investigating and prosecuting those who tend reap criminal profit at the terrible tragedy. once again i want to thank each of the task force members, the justice department leaders, local officials and gulf cost residences who are contributed to this work and what made
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today's historic announcement possible. i would like to turn things over to the key leader. he will provide additional details about the action. >> thank you, mr. mr. attorney general. in april of 2010, the nation witnessed a unimaginable tragedy when the deepwater horizon oil rig exposedded in the gulf of mexico. 11 people on board the rig died and there began an oil began at that point pouring out of the well and on to the sea floor for months causing immense damage to the gulf region and to our ecosystem. communities here in new orleans and around the gulf have waited patiently for justice to be done. today they're situate over. the deepwater horizon task force filed a 1 count information in
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guilty plea agreement in new orleans federal court earlier today. the information charges bp exploration and productioning 11 counts of felony manslaughter, violences of environmental laws, including the clean water act and the migratory bird act and obstruction of congress. bp has agreed to plead guilty to each of these 14 counts and pay the highest criminal fine in united states history. perhaps the greatest tragedy is that the death of the 11 men on board the deep wars -- water horizon could have been avoided. the education plosion -- education plosion of the rig was a disaster that resulted from bp's culture of primplegging profit over prudence. we allege that bp's most senior makers on board the deepwater horizon rig negligently caused the explosion.
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we hope that today's acknowledgment by bp this misconduct through the agreement to plead guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter bricks some measure of justice the family member of the people who died on the rig. as as it continues bp made a tragic situation worse began misleading congress and the american people about how much oil was pouring out of the well. as bp now admits, in responding to congress, the company lied and withheld towments. in order to make it seem as if through though the oil was spilling did less damage was being done to the environment than in fact is really occurring. acknowledging those lies, bp agreed to plead guilty to felony obstruction of congress.
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make no mistake, while the company is guilty, individuals committed these crimes. we have also unsaled today a 23-count indictment charging bp two highest ranking supervisor aboard the deepwater horizon with manslaughter and violation of the clean water act. the indictment charges the two bp well leaders with negligent and gross negligence on the evening of april 20th, 2010. in the face of red flags indicating the well was not secure, both men allegedly failed to take appropriate action to prevent the blowout. separate indictment was also unsealed today charging a former senior bp executive david, with obstructing a congressional investigation and making false statements to law enforcement
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officials. the indictment allegations that he on behalf of bp intelligencely underestimated the amount of ail flowing from the well. he allegedly cherry picked pages from documents, withheld other documents all together, and lied to congress and others to make the spill appear less catastrophic than it was. the attorney general stood near here with the department officials when he first opened this criminal investigation in to this terrible oil spill. and promised we would investigate and hold to account those responsible for the horrible tragedy. today we have begun doing exactly that. tomorrow and in the months to come, the deepwater horizon task force will continue to tirelessly pursue justice in this matter. i'd like to personally thank
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task force directer john beretta, who has done an absolutely remarkable job in leading this investigation as well as the many fine prosecutors from the criminal division, the environment and natural resources division, the u.s. attorney community, the many talented federal and state law enforcement agents who have worked so hard for so long to develop these cases. i would like to thank our colleagues at the security in exchange commission for their important parallel investigation. with that, i would like to turn it over now to my friend and colleague, the directer of enforcement at the fcc, robert. thank you. >> thank you. i'm rob, directer of enforcement at the fcc. today we are announcing that bp agreed to pay more than a half billion collars to settle charges that had mislead investors about the rate of oil
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flowing from the gulf of mexico during the deepwater horizon disaster. a $5 25 million civil penalty is the largest ever assessed before. they will be used to compensate harmed investors for losses sustained from the fraud. bp misrepresented an fcc filings that the oil spill flow rate was estimated to be up to $5,000 of oil per day and a $5,000 barrels of oil per day with the current estimate. in fact, bp was in possession of numerous analysis or $5,000 was in fact at the lowest end of the rank, and those same analysis had upper ranges that were many multiples of $5,000 barrels. according to the compliment about the filings, bp executives made numerous public statements which they stood behind the flow
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rate estimate despite an ever growing body of evidence that the estimate was unreasonably low. it also publicly dismissed the higher estimated reached by the third party scientist and eventually outside groups released the actually amount was nearly ten times the a. that bp estimated. the spill in subsequent concealment of the truth by bp caused devastating loss to the family of the victim, to the environment and underminding the truth seeking function of congress. and by hiding therer severity they caused another harm. harm to the own shareholders, to the investing public, and the -- financial market. all of which are entitled to correct information. the eyes of the world were on bp in the spring and summer of 2010. the company had an opportunity
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to provide wholesome, accurate disclosure about the fact need bid the public to make informed investment decision and instead they choose to mislead the department. -- public. in fact, exactly in times of crisis that the need for accurate information is most acute. i want to recognize the incredible hard work and dedication from the fcc staff from the philadelphia regional office that conducted the investigation including colean, brie yab thomas, and matt roll of. they are the kind of public servants americans can be proud of. i want to thank the member of the deepwater horizon task force, especially john beretta, der reck -- and i want to thank the leadership of the department of justice. associate attorney general west and my friend for their leadership in this investigation. thank you. we would like to respond any questions you have?
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>> reporter: [inaudible] >> let me answer that and turn it in to the associate attorney general who has been primarily responsible there. we have been in negotiations with bp. we have not reached a number that i can consider sphaer in order to resolve the civil claims. we have a trial set for february. we are planning to vigorously enforce our complaint at that time. there is the possibility, further investigations should result in a resolution. >> i would add just that, you know, attorney general said repeatedly, bp is the exposed to billions of dollar for the harm they caused to the region. and we are prepared to take that case to trial vigorously don't
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pursue the civil case. [inaudible] >> still when you go to the negligent standard or grows negligence? >> the civil side, which is where the negligence gross negligence is applicable, you have $1100 per barrel penalty statutory penalty for negligence that gets up to $44 00 per barrel for gross negligence and the difference there, of course, the standard in the law is difference between, you know, evaluate violating a duty of care and reckless conduct. >> reporter: mr. attorney general, what does the settlement mean for the families of those who have died, the 11 men and those that were impacted by this?
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>> i would hope that those lives are irreplaceable. there's not -- there's nothing we can do to bring the loved ones back. on the other hand, it is an indication, that we have shown and the company has admitted that as a result of their action people died there unnecessarily. manslaughter, manslaughter has been charged, manslaughter has been plead to. i would hope that would bring some degree of comfort by away of explanation as to why the brave people lost their lives. at the end of the day, we can't bring them back. i think what we can certainly glean from what happened here in terms what we have charged and what the company plead to the deaths were in fact unnecessary. >> are any of these penalties -- [inaudible] >> they are not. the attorney general was clear that nothing in the criminal
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settlement could be tax deductedble north an offset to the furlt resolution. that was an explicit term of the agreement. >> you said the criminal investigation is ongoing -- does that mean it's possible that other bp employees or executives will be charged in the future? >> it's an ongoing investigation. that's exactly right. >> reporter: this doesn't clear bp employees? >> allly say -- all i will say tall is we solved with the company, we have charged three individuals. we have an ongoing investigation. >> reporter: mr. holder, we keep hearing about this historic nature of these criminal penalties, but we heard the same thing pretty much seven years ago in the -- [inaudible] case the environmental cases in the [inaudible] fall like nfl passing records.
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but do you expect this to happen? >> so you to understand the totality we have announced today. there are penalties that are historic in nature, a company has plead guilty to criminal felony charges. manslaughter. individuals have been charged as well. everything that we are capable of doing in the criminal sphere we have done today. and this is unprecedented. both in the amount of money, and the fact that a company has been criminally charged and individuals have been charged as well. as he indicated, the criminal investigation is ongoing. i hope that this sends a clear message to those who would engage in the reckless contact. there will be a significant penalty to pay and individuals in companies who are engaged in the kinds of activity will themselves be held responsible. it's not a corporate plea. individuals, individuals have been charged.
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>> reporter: mr. attorney general, do you have anything to say about the -- [inaudible] and another one being demoted because they were making comments about ongoing cases in their office? >> i'm aware of those charges. we are look at the them at main justice obviously i have seen the press report. i don't think it will be appropriate for me to comment beyond that. >> mr. attorney general, are you confident it will exchange the culture at bp that was present at the time of the explosion? >> i am optimistic that it will. i would hope that it will. there is a monitor in place to ensure that in fact that culture does change. i think that the company must be given some credit for the way they responded to the spill in putting together the $20 billion fund in the amount of money they have expended in order to fund restoration. i think that in some ways an
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indication that the corporate mind set has changed. there are mechanisms in place to ensure that change in fact is something that infuses that change of cultural is something that infuses the corporation. >> could you -- [inaudible] how this [inaudible] whether it's gross negligence. will it be a factor? have you doesed with bp whether the money they will be paying to the disagreement actually come out of the pool that would be available -- planning to make available? >> i guess two things. first of all, clearly the suggestion of significance of the criminal plea can't be understated. will have an impact on the civil case we're pursuing. you know, we have in our complaint alleged gross negligence on the part of bp and we feel strongly belle able to
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prove that case when it's up for trial in february. in term of the impact on any potential civil recovery, that in part is a determination that a court will make. something that the assistant general attorney said earlier is very significant. and that is that no part of the $4 billion that bp has agreed to pay today will be used to offset any future civil recovery will that will go to restoration of the gulf coast. >> hall burr tan transmission -- [inaudible] >> those investigations are ongoing. we aren't going to speak about that. >> that illustrates a lot of
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this. i think the first point and one reason it's a historic result is the vast majority of this recovery is going back to the gulf coast states. now as you all know, the restore ability does not govern criminal penalty. it doesn't govern how penalty for a portion in this case. we did look to the restore act as a rough guide to a portion what each statement receive underred under this criminal resolution. roughly the amount of money is roughly a portion equally amongst louisiana and the other states who have an addition amount of funds which will be devoted to restoration, barrier island creation, and river diversion which will you find in louisiana master planned. >> i was saying the way the money has been apportioned is
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not the way in which we typical apportion money at the end of a case like this. we have tried to be sensitive to that to which congress has expressed in the past. earlier today to senator lane drink -- landry and senator nelson to tell u them about what we have done with regard to the destruction of the money in connection with with the settlement today. >> if we can have three answers to the same question because the attorney general and the associate -- you should focus on it is the largest criminal resolution ever. it's historic that virtually all of the money will go to the benefit of the gulf state. it's unusual for a criminal resolution. it's both the criminal fine and punitive. it's not like the civil resolution. nonetheless, it's going the different particularly to louisiana. >> time for one more. >> reporter: i want to ask you
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about how did we get here? in term of the federal government what are you doing in one of the important feature of this resolution is about $350 million will be given to the national academy of sciences in an endowment. the purpose of that is to improve our oil response, oil spill response, improve drilling safety measures, i think there's anything we have learned from the great tragedy, we can improve the way we respond to oil spills. we can improve drilling safety in the gulf, and throughout the country and $350 million of this resolution goes just to that. >> reporter: one more question. >> mr. secretary. >> reporter: can you address how the decision was made by the
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justice department how it -- [inaudible] i will say with regard to that issue what we did was conducting investigation the way we normally conduct criminal investigations. we do so in a way that be sign as being done in an impartial way. we follow the fact. we do not share outside the justice department. outside the fbi, the facts of ongoing investigations. we made the determination as we were going through the matter that then was not a threat to national security. had we made the determination that a threat to national security existed, we would, of course, have made that known to the president and also to the appropriate members on the hill. as we went through the investigation, looked at the facts, and tried to exam them as
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they develop. we were very -- we felt very secure in the knowledge that a national security threat did not exist that warranted the sharing of that information with the white house or with the -- when we got a point in the investigation, it was very late in the investigation after a critical interview occurred on the friday before we made that disclosure. when we got to that point, when we thought it was appropriate to share the information, we did so. >> thank you. friday on washington journal, republican wisconsin senator ron johnson on the fiscal cliff negotiation and what's ahead for the congress. more on the fiscal cliff with keith ellison. he serves as a member of the
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house football services committee, and he'll talk about the ongoing development regarding general petraeus and allen. plus your e-mails, phone calls and tweets. washington journal, live friday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. also friday republican senator mike lee speaks at the federal society national lawyer convention. he's expected to discuss the supreme court decision in the health care bill and what the political implications in the coming years will be. see his comments live at 2:15 p.m. eastern on c-span2. and ted cruz speaks at the convention. it's being holed discuss the future of constitutional law in the supreme court. mr. cruz already been appointed vice chairman of the national republican senatial committee and will take the seat of kay bailey hutchison. see his comment at 2:45
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eastern. literally 82 days. and being truman, he actually preceded over the senate. now days the vice president doesn't bother with that. he was there every day presiding he said that's any job. truman never learned anything from fdr or his staff. it was a transition with zero knowledge. that doesn't happen anymore. got a phone call from the white house, get to the phone right away, and picked up the phone, and at the other end, they said, get to the white house as soon as you can. so he grabbed his hat and dashed out, and he had a car, of course, they gave him a chauffeur when he became vice president. he went to the white house and was taken to the family floor, the second floor, was met by el near roosevelt, and he looked up
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and she said, harry, the president is dead. and he thought -- he was in total shock. he said, what can i do for you? and she said, harry, what can we do for you? you're in trouble now. he she looks at the life of harry truman in "citizen soldier." sunday night on c-span q & a. now more about the bp oil spill settlement announcement with democratic congressman. bp will pay a $4 million fine and plead guilty to the charges of 11 deaths of workers and lying to congress. they returned indictment charging two bp supervisor and the former deputy of incident commander. this is 25 minutes. >> ranking member of the natural resources committee, i'm here with henry who is state of
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california the ranking member of the energy and commerce committee. today bp reached an agreement with the justice department to resolve all criminal claims against it by the united states government regarding the bp water horizon disaster and to pay $4 billion in criminal penalty for the very serious violations of law. bp has plead guilty to 11 felony counts related to the tragic death of 11 men who were working on the deepwater horizon rig. the company also has plead guilty to criminal violations of the clean water act and the migratory bird treaty act. finally, bp has plead guilty to obstruction of congress for lying to me, for lying to henry waxman and the other members of
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congress about the amount of oil that was flowing out of the well. bp lied to me, they lie to the people of the gulf, and they lied to the shareholders and they lied to all americans. there should be no more argument. bp is guilty of negligent and grossly negligent conduct that resulted in 11 deaths. bp is guilty of actions that harm the water and the wildlife of the gulf of mexico. and bp is guilty of lying to the congress about what they had zone and what they knew. in today's plea agreement, bp has admitted that former bp executive david ray knee lied to me and the other member of the house energy and commerce
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subcommittee. he testified at the may 4, 2010, closed door subcommittee briefings on the bp spill. he apparently was responsible for other information subsequently provided to the subcommittee about the size of the spill. according to the plea agreement, and i quote, as part of the plea agreement bp has admitted that through him it withheld document and provided false and misleading information in response to the united states house of representatives request for flow rate information. among other things, bp admitted that he manipulated internal estimate to understate the amount of oil flowing from the well and withheld data that contradicted bp's public estimate of 5,000 barrels of oil per day. bp admitted that at the same
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time he was preparing his manipulating estimate, bp's internal engineering response teams were using sophisticated methods that generated significantly higher estimates. the flow rate technical group consistenting of government and independent scientists later concluded that more than 60,000 barrels per day were leaking in to the gulf during the relevant time contrary to bp's representation to congress, unquote. at the time that bp was providing congress with a low ball estimate, that the flow rate was 5,000 barrel per day, the company had apparently internal information that contradicted that estimate. they knew it could be many multiples greater than that. and it turned out to be wrong by
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at least a factor of 10. these higher estimates were not provided to the congress nor did bp ever correct the misleading information that they withheld from the subcommittee. and the cost of their investigation in to bp's misdeeds, the fbi and the justice department uncovered internal documents that apparently made it clear that mr. ray any and his colleagues knew that the likely flow rate was significantly higher than what congress had been told. today i am making public a copy of the documents which i provided to the justice department. in response to their request for information regarding our bp information. at the time the disaster was occurring, i said that i thought that bp was either lying about the flow rate or that they were
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incompetent. today we have conformation that bp was both incompetent and that it was lying to the congress. today the company is taking the first step toward making rest luges for the misdeeds by pleading guilty to the criminal misconduct regarding the deepwater horizon disaster. i want to commend attorney general holder and the fbi for their excellent work in bringing the u.s. government's criminal case to a successful resolution. i would urge bp to expeditiously to resolve the remaining civil complaints against including dropping the misguided attempt to contest the amount of oil that they are responsible for spilling in to the gulf of mexico. , regarding allocation of the
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penalties, the portion of today's settlement directing significant funding for preservation of natural resources along the gulf coast is a significant step forward in repairing the unprecedented environment caused by the bp spill. revenue from future civil penalties will go to the gulf state directly. but dedicating these criminal penalties to conservation efforts by the non-profit fish and wildlife foundation and scientific research conducted by the national academy of sciences is a critical step in healing our gulf coast. 11 americans died. then bp lied and then they tried to cover it up. they deserve this record-breaking penalty. now let me turn and recognize
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chairman. >> thank you, ed. this justice department announcement today is the largest criminal resolution in the u.s. history against bp for the role in the 2010 deepwater horizon oil explosion and the subsequent spill. bp plead guilty as a company to a number of criminal charges, eleven counts of felony manslaughter, one count of obstruction of justice, one -- obstruction of -- eleven felony manslaughter counts and one count of obstruction of congress at which we take very seriously as members of congress violences of the clean water act, board treaty -- bird treaty act. the company is going to pay $4 billion in fines and penalty. in addition to been surpdz
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supervisor on board the deepwater his or his or horizon they were each charged charged with eleven founts of seaman manslaughter, eleven counts involuntary manslaughter, and one violence of clean water act. in the 111th congress i was chairman of the energy and commerce committee. our committee worked tirelessly to uncoffer the truth behind what happened at the deepwater horizon the night of april 20, 2010. our investigation revealed that bp and other companies involved in drilling the well made a series of key decisions that lead to the horrible incident. we learned that bp made choices about how to drill and finish the well that significantly increased the chaps of a blowout. these decisions were made to save money and time with little regard for safety.
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the company put profit ahead of safety and the results were catastrophic. the blowout was preventable, it happened because bp made a series of reckless decisions. now at least there's a measure of accountability. the department of justice acted aggressively against bp it's holding the company and key individuals criminally responsible. it's in important remember that the settlement does not end the process. in february of 2013, the jury will determine the civil liability that bp will face under the clean water act and the oil pollution act. and i am hopeful the other companies who played a role such as transocean and halliburton will face appropriate penalty for their actions. bp actions caused a death of
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eleven men, caused one of the largest ecological disasters our country has ever faced. we will have the decision about the civil penalties, but they'll be further action of criminal nature against some of the individuals who have been cited in the information filed by the justice department. we have not yet recovered from this disaster, and the families of both who lost their loved ones will never recover. but this is an important step in making sure that bp is held responsible for the action. i want to commend the work of chairman ed march key. he pursued aggressively the statement that were made and the briefings we received and the hearings as well as other private meetings with the representatives from bp. and when he heard that the amount they were talking about discharging in to the gulf was a as slow as it was being presented, he knew right away
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that it was inaccurate and through the work that he did on this issue he was able to give the justice department dpowments that lead them to come to the very same conclusion. we need to hold wrongdoers accountable, i'm pleased that the justice department and i commend the attorney general are taking the action to hold bp criminally accountable. they are yet to be held civilly accountable along with the other companies who had a role to play in the disaster. and the individuals who misinformation to congress or on board of the ship the night of the explosion are going have to answer to criminal charges as well. thank you very much. >> questions? >> reporter: do you seem to take the very perm fact that you lied to? , i mean, do you? >> um, at the point at which,
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um, chairman i was at the chairman of the subcommittee, henry was chairman of the [inaudible] we had an emergency briefing on may 4th, asking bp to give us accurate information. with regard to the flow rate in to the gulf. the answer to that question to a very extent determines what the response would be on an emergency basis to deal with the impact of the spill in the gulf of mexico. the harm it would do to the ocean, the harm it would to do is to sea life, the harm it would do to the employment of all of those who life in the gulf of mexico. it is now clear that bp was lying to the congress. they were deliberately lowballing the number because their liability is directly tied
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to the number of barrels much oil that flow in to the ocean. if they're guilty of ordinary negligence, they would be charged with $1100 per barrel. at $59 ,000 barrels per day, that's a far smaller fine than 50 or 60 barrels per day. if they are guilty of grows negligence, the penalty is $34 00 per barrel. the range of the file can go from $5 to $21 billion. the motive for the lie is very clear to minimize the overall impact on bp and the other companies in terms of their liability if in fact that number was the higher number which it turns out to have been. i personally take it as a insult to congress, but more
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importantly to the american people because that's who we represent on the daily basis. we're attasked with getting the answers for the american people. and when you're lying to congress, when you're lying to the energy and commerce committee, you are actually lying to all of those people who are now going bear the pain of the harm which is being done in the gulf state region. >> reporter: in thinking back to the time, did you know at the time did you have suspicious at the time, that live -- lies were being told and what -- [inaudible] >> yes. we had experts who were telling us they felt the flow rate of much higher. we had experts who were arrived that said if they could gain access to the spill cam, that they would be able to determine how large that flow rate was.
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we insisted upon the flow rate being made more clear by the bp givings us access to all of the different angles that the cameras made it possible to observe the spill and once that happened, the experts around the country who now had access to the information dramatically increased what was thought to be then the damage was being done because it was an exponentially higher spill rate than they had represented to us on may 4th. they are represented initially in the first week after the spill began, and which they had been representing in the subsequent time period after the may 4th hearing. what happened, of course, the justice department has obtained temp rain use documents to with the may 4th hearing and
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subsequently which shows they knew the number was much higher. >> let me point out that there was a specific charge of obstruction of congress. and he's talking about that particular obstruction of congress at information. but it went beyond that. and i sent a letter on june 14th to tony hayward outlining many detail we were able to discern from the cowment -- document that were given to the committee of shortcuts they took of risks they put in place for a possible blowout. things they should have known to do in a better way, and we accept that out as well. part of the criminallalty of bp's action was not just misleading congress. but in not doing the things they could have done to avoid the
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blowout that kills 11 people. two of the individuals on board that night who were making a lot of the decisions at the moment, are being held for criminal liability personally. that case is not settled. it's being settled here is the payment of the settle element of the bp as a corporation which includes the obstruction of congress. but the social point is they're being accountable. we feel strongly when we do an investigation that people be required to tell us the truth. they had a lot of reasons as ed pointed out to lie. it was in their economic interest to lie. it was not only misleading the congress. it was misleading investors who would buy or sell the stock. who were being mislead to the consequence of the cost become imposed by the amount of the spill i.t. they acted in the irresponsible,
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reckless way and bp caused a tremendous disaster that cost lives of 11 people that unique probably the largest ecological disaster that we have seen in the united states caused by any one corporation. >> yes. >> reporter: how rare is it for someone to be charged with obstruction of congress? how often has that happened in your experience? >> it happens on occasion. it's also rare to have a blowout that could have been -- prevented happening as it did in the gulf. but you have to look at all of this in the entirety and bp is being accountable for what they did and didn't do or the recklessness for which they operated, and then their attempt to cover it up in the testimony before the congress of the
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united states in order to mislead investors and members of congress and the american people. >> so if, again, if with we had known from the beginning it was not 5,000 barrels it was 50,000 of barrel it is would have affected the amount of dispersement that was needed to oil spill. the amount of boom and skimmers that were needed in order to collect the oil. it would have affected how we view the top and other kill mechanisms which they had put in place initially in order to try to stop the spill. we would have understood a lot better the futility of the initial actions, and substituted something that would have been much manufacture dramatic. and likely to be successful.
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so it delayed the response which was put in place in order to minimize the damage to the economy and the citizens of the gulf of mexico. and we're still paying that price. it's unusual -- it's unusual for a case to be made against somebody for lying to congress. when something is serious as this as occurred and the damage 0 great to the people of the gulf of mexico it was imperative that criminal and civil action be taken against bp. >> reporter: nawblght. >> it is the largest fine in history. it still isn't the completion of the case because the civil fine could go as high as $21
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billion. i'm very satisfied with the action and i'm also very happy that they are going to take this civil action all the way to court. so i would hoped at the end the number would be so large in combination that it would serve as a significant deterrent to any other oil company ever again engaging in the level of reckless behavior. >> reporter: [inaudible] [inaudible] >> good judgment holding them accountable. i'm sure he will use good judgment if he decides the
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settlement is appropriate. and i have no criticism of him and how he's conducting his actions -- he's not reached a settlement on the other matters but he has on this part, which involves criminal actions. and i'm not going to second guess what he mielgt might do in the future. he's pursuing the matter to court. >> thank you all so much. [inaudible conversations] that briefing with congressmans take tag place earlier today on capitol hill. now a look how congressional members are acquiring in to the they tack that occurred in benghazi. we spoke earlier today with the capitol hill reporter.
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.. and then, how they gained intelligence about what was happening during the attack and who is perpetrating the attack and why it was so confused afterwards in the way it was explained to the american people
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and to congress. >> what specific things have members said about the obama administration's response that has not been adequate enough? >> will come you hear different democrat and from republicans. republicans are particularly critical. they believe the obama administration should have known right away. this is not a spontaneous attack, not part of the protest, for example. they want to understand who knew what when. what does the president know about the attack? what is his national security team now? now they want to know who knew about the securities and the lead up to the attack because there were people in tripoli and libya saying that there wasn't enough security concerns because of the things going on in libya. >> mccain, graham and india yesterday made remarks about u.n. ambassador susan rice.
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what did they say in what is it mean in context context of the benghazi attacks? >> well, basically what they said is they don't trust her. they said she should have known better that you say five days after the attack but it looks to be a spontaneous response to anti-muslim video. they said she should have known that it is clear, that there is organized element that looks like a terrorist attack in the she served as fondness for obama's political gain to defend the white house. of course that's not what the white house is saying and today in one of the intelligence briefings we heard from a democrat house staffers they are who said the community reaffirmed that information available at the time. she was repeating the information they provided her. >> intelligence committees he mentioned closed-door meetings and not hear from david trias just resigned direct her.
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what do they want to know from former petraeus? >> are you currently we will petraeus, but they said this would be specifically topping out the. there's not going to be anything about the investigation, this is about what sort of information he had as cia director about the threat before the attack and also why the information coming back to washington about the attack is so confusing. they don't understand what strength he was getting real-time on why they made a mistake in the week they initially characterized the attack. >> what to think of you looking for the coming weeks as the investigation goes forward? >> that they were interested and is the partisan rancor dies down the dig into deeper issues involved because i think there's a lot of politics at play here.
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but there's questions about how the state department is forward in securing people that wants to keep diplomats on the ground, for example, countries. the defense posture and north africa knows that is the changing security environment there. we want a bigger defense posture? it will be interesting to see if they didn't delve into some of those issues. >> you can read emily's work at rollcall.com and twitter. emily cadei, we appreciate you here joining us this afternoon. >> pleasure to be with you.
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>> at the last nearly half-century, the discussion of the assassination has been dominated by two schools of thought or if you will, to faiths. i want to very briefly describe each in how they approach evidence in the case. to begin with, there's the church of the lone assassin has inherent face both oswald and ruby were essentially low not who murdered john kennedy and the harvey oswald respectively for their own personal reasons. on the other hand with the church church of the koran spirits and their parents are frankly vague about exactly what they think the top 10 and who was responsible. but they are absolutely convinced there is a very large conspiracy, usually figures within the u.s. government in a massive cover-up.
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>> a house financial services have committee released a report on the ms global collapse, which placed much of the blame on former ceo, jon corzine. this news conference held earlier today on capitol hill included several congressmen who said the investigation revealed the mismanagement at its highest and a lack of record-keeping. it close to an hour. >> well, good morning. just in the last 24 hours, we've learned of a double whammy facing our nation. the fha can the federal agency that insures millions of american homes is running out of money for the first time in its history.
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in fact, we may need as much as six to $12 billion. due to hurricane c&d, the nation's flood insurance program also went up also need dinsmore. thankfully, we did pass legislation earlier this year with reforms to the flood insurance program and i wanted to announce we stand ready to work with the administration and our democratic colleagues in congress to address these new challenges and these two important federal programs. when it comes to mf global, we must keep in mind that this is really about people. it is the failure of a large corporation, but more than that, in effect millions of farmers
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and ranchers and farming communities throughout this country who lost their money and have suffered terribly and they were already struggling to begin with. there was already a job as any of you know and this is compounded those woes. everyone here can understand when you suffer a loss of your income, it is just as devastating for you and your family. i want to read two letters that i received since the failure i will refer to a part of them, since the failure of mf global because he may have, by reading you may have kind of got the impression that quote, and these people have or will get their money back.
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well, number one, it is not at all certain they will get their money back, but when you read that they may get their money back, you may have a false impression that they have not suffered a tremendous loss and that couldn't be further from the truth. here's a letter from a farmer from minnesota. he said shortly after the covert dirty one, 2011 bankruptcy filing, i was notified that my balance of 253,000 was not accessible. he goes on to explain that as a result of this, and i quote, i subsequently was forced to liquidate my crop inventory to a loss of over $200,000 in value. his prices plummeted from their fall highs.
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it's $200,000 foster this farmer meant that his ability to finance this crop, the ability to make his mortgage payment, the ability to pay for his farm equipment, farmers go heavily and that to plant their crops, to harvest them. they take risk with the weather. they take other risk with the farm prices fluctuating. but this is a risk that was needless and was avoidable. in $200,000 to a farmer in minnesota, in no way will he ever get that money back. he's never going to be made whole. here is a texas farmer. as they say, these are real
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people. these are not just numbers when we talk about hundreds of thousands of farmers, ranchers, businesses in these communities, here's a 74-year-old man farmers suffering from parkinson's disease in the year to have been a challenge. he has a son in school a texas university. he's helping finance guy. his only income other than his income from his farm operation is his social security. that's his two sources of income. he wrote me and said no one knows for my money is. now, it some point he make it about the fact, that he's lost a crop. his austere of income.
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and maybe her hard for us to identify what has happened to these people because we get paid every two weeks. we get paid every week, maybe once a month in the case of members of congress. they basically planted crop and they get paid once or twice a year. can you imagine if you'll make a paid once a year and suddenly you are paying for a year? how would you make your mortgage payment? how would you make your automobile payment? how would you feed your family? in the outcome may be in a year voted 80% of their money back. what happened than a year? so i would say to you, please don't get the impression that these people will be made whole.
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i want to commend my subcommittee chairman when the nuke of our who is behind me here. i have issued a prepared statement, which i released a few minutes ago on ms cap goal. and in that, i thanked some of our members for their hard work. two of them are behind me other than this to committee chair. these were superstars in the freshman class. keiko canseco from south texas and then he wears from i guess we'll call it the hudson river valley. both of them ask freshman
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actually passed significant reform legislation. many of you know the name was valid taurean in her classic 10. keiko and parents in mexico the revolution, came to america for freedom. he is the american dream. he operated a bank in texas. he has a banking background. they were really loved by republicans in democrats together. man was actually criticized for being a member of the tea party. and believe you me, she may be many things, but it is used that she was a tea party person. to quote something we are often now, man is no tea party
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candidate. she worked together across the aisle and i told both of them, you know, their loss is america's loss and not so often happened. i know you cover the sometimes find the people who lose are the people that would pull the country together and i think that's happened. bob dole, judy pickard, two of our hardest working members. so with not about numbers. it is about real people. and let me tell you, this committee, they lost four of our most, across the aisle members. i can tell you that it was a blow. shortly after mf global declared bankruptcy, chairman duke of our
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and keiko, nan another's wants to comprehend a review of the facts. the subcommittee that each involved three hearings from interviews with more than 50 witnesses and a review of 243,000 documents. their investigation was much more thorough than anything done by the federal agents these. these documents were taken from mf global, its former employees, federal regulators and other source is, including the farmers they just mentioned earlier and thousands of other people on the street. the subcommittee's there are review of mf global's collapse is now complete and is now available to the public to view online at the committee's
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website. if you are listening over tv or you read this in the press, go to the website and take a look at this yourself and i think it would be somewhat or five that what used the period before going any further, let me again say thank you, randy and keiko and nan, mike fitzpatrick and others on the sub committee. and to our staff. some of them here today. want to stand up? any of you all who work on this. i guess they are already standing at. casale, come on -- i'll let you recognize them. they provided a true public service. mf global was the largest bankruptcy in our nations
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history. but that is not what makes this failure noteworthy. companies of all sizes will every day because of bad luck, bad timing or that management. that is the free market. what makes mf global collapse unprecedented is that more than $1 billion in customer money, not their own money, but someone else's money went missing. this marks the first time, the very first time in history of the u.s. future in history that a customer suffered a loss due to the mishandling of customer found by a clearing house for futures exchange. these customers deserve to know how i wanted their money went
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missing. in fact, the two letters i have are people saying what happened. all americans deserve to know the regulators and policymakers must be held accountable to prevent similar losses from ever occurring again. when financial reform is dated two years ago, republicans suggested consolidating a number of regulators so that one regulator would be response when we had a failure like this, not several regulators all pointing their fingers at each other. instead, doc frank eliminated one regulator, kept all others in that three more. despite the promise of dodd-frank the regulators would work together, the subcommittee investigation found that there was no meaningful court nation
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among numerous federal regulators on his uncivil for a piece of the pie and who are response to bowl for supervision. errors possible for us in the cut by many was segregated and was not asked or quote misplace. let me tell you, if your salary was misplaced for a year, announcing she would collect misplace. federal regulators fear to shale critical information with one another. no coordination. this lets each regulator with an incomplete vendors and needs of the company's financial health and mf global's customers pay the price. not the regulators, not mf global. it is farmers, ranchers and rural communities that suffer
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when the regulators looked at each other, didn't know things, didn't courtney, this once again raise the question, which we talked about two years ago whether regulators are so preoccupied writing hundreds of new rules and fairness in the basics of safeguarding test or five in protecting investors from financial fraud. we have the regulators than ever, but you have ms or failure. there are other failings reported in this report as well as recommend nations on how to correct them, which chairman duke of our one-hour review. once again, i think him and his staff for their outstanding work and other members on this legislation unveiled soothe her she media and the press.
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you cannot have a democracy without freedom of the press and freedom of speech. you go to other countries where they don't have that. i just got back from a country where that is very much in play. so let us all celebrate that we live in a country where we do have freedom of press, freedom is beach. thank you of members of the press and media for being here. >> well, good morning. congress randy malka bauer -- chairman baucus appointed me to that at the beginning of his term and i appreciate his leadership. i appreciate the contribution affiliate committee members have made that we've had a great staff. if you look at our committee would have a number of hearings, investigated issues at the same
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time we've been working on this very important report. sorry folks to put in a lot of extra hours to get us to this point. so the question is, what is this report? welcome to this report is basically a timeline leading up to mf global's collapse. i guess we could ring on training this report the rise and fall of mf global. as the chairman mentioned with recent committee hearing where we had the senior executive officer of this company come. we interviewed over 50 would send mr. chairman engine, we looked at over 247,000 pages of documents. so then the question is then, what was the purpose of this study? it basically was to give us the history of what happened so we can look in the future to make sure this doesn't happen again.
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this is the first time in history the industry the customers money went missing and i think that's the important part of setting the purpose to find out why customers money went to sing. secondly, with regulatory failures that contributed to this will allow this to happen because one of the things we put regulators in place to do is ensure that the laws are enforced and marketed are transparent. so we wanted to look at that. and thirdly, look at what we can do in the future to make sure that this kind of event doesn't happen. so the question is then, you know, customers money missing is the next peaceable, but also one of the things that chairman alluded to is in the past whenever we have a failure like this, this is a for more
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regulation. in many cases that we've seen is we didn't need more regulation, we need to regulators doing their job. so what did we find? well, we found that jon corzine contributed greatly to the demise of this company. this company was already struggling somewhat. they have some problems with internal control, rogue trader. they brought mr. corzine and purity was charged with turning this to more possible. he decided the way to do that was to make it a mini goldman sachs and unfortunately, that plan did not pan out for the company and almost 17 and later after mr. corzine took office, this company failed. the breakdown in communications and the regulatory community. we saw that with the cftc and ftc were not talking to each
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other. there were actions being taken apart share to some of the other regulators and even the coordination relief you can color coordination, communication didn't start taking place until the last hours and days of the life of mf global. one of the things we need for market to be is open and transparent and companies have a fiduciaries its ability to make sure they are providing accurate information to investors and lenders the market purchase depends. we feel like mf global was not necessarily always straightforward with the condition of the company, positions they've taken on, so we think this is one of the fallacies as well. additionally, some of the issues important to this is that the rating agencies we feel it didn't fail to recognize early on this company had taken on a higher risk profile.
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in fact, they were told up front when mr. corzine took over mf global that they were going to take a more aggressive stance and in fact, people reported they would actually have to increase the risk profile to do that. yet the rating agencies didn't want to step through the process. one of the things we found interest me was that the federal reserve bank of new york gave this company a primary dealers that is. and you know, one of the things the marketplace is perceived the primary dealers status as a good housekeeping seal of approval, yet this is a company struggling with earnings and had other issues in his juries of internal control problems in the fed decided to grant them this database. some of the accounting method being used with the alternative is to some of the people trading
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on the foreign market mf global civil to access customer money. in fact, somebody referred to it is they were using it as an atm. we find that particularly troubling as well. one of the things going on right now is a good portion of some of the funds is in the u.k. right now and that money is subject to litigation and how much of the money would be available for return to investors is still up in the air. one of the things we think down the road is to look liquor better harmonization where we have customers treating them for market and making sure that they have the same protections as people trading in the u.s. have as well. and so, you know, where do we go from here because everybody wants to say okay we have a report. we have a great chronology would have been.
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not everybody quite honestly is going to agree in this report. it probably depends on what end of the report you are on. but we did design the report to do is to begin a discussion, a very important discussion so we can ensure the future that we know how customers money go missing. we went many years without customers losing their money and then within a year with two instances were cut in the austin mini. one was plenty into sms, so we want to move forward. this document provided discussion about the regulatory structures that we have a lot of duplication in this and we had regulators regulating one piece of the business of overly focusing on their part of the business, really not realizing that could impact the other side of the business, with the at the regulator would need to monitor from outside.
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so the question is to be streamlining or consolidation in the regulatory structure. making sure the disclosures be made by companies that the companies are following the law. we feel like the sec needs to investigate whether the company was forthright with disclosures about financial position through this process not only disclosing the rtm, but disclosures they made in the last weeks and months of the company. obviously credit rating agencies mentioned in this report. but we also know is while this company was rated at an investment grade, they really failed to recognize the significance of the positions they take until the very end when basically it was too late.
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so one of the things we hope from this report as we begin to get feedback is important for all of the stakeholders and there's already a member out there that have potential solutions to how we prevent this from happening in the future. we welcome those. there is no legislation recommend patient in this report at this particular time is basically the purpose was to begin the discussion. so many times the government wants to run out and pass new regulations. first turning to find out what happened and why it happened, also give the industry an opportunity to bring forth what they think our solutions, but more importantly the endgame book to be make whatever necessary changes so customers don't lose their money and markets are fair and transparent and third that we have a regulatory community structure for the 21st century security market. these have become very complex
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and they require a very robust regulators and state-of-the-art regulators and if the current picture is not working appropriately, we need to take a look at that. that comes before it's available and would be glad to take some questions. >> first, great kudos to you chairman neugebauer and his staff for apps to be outstanding and dedicated smart, wise public servants and they've put together a remarkable forensic document in this sense. the job of government is to provide an environment in which our citizens can live their lives knowing that they will not be subject to nefarious actions
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by others. in the case of the farmers and ranchers, the terrible stories -- dozens of stories like this that chairman baucus described that there was a failure of government to protect these people and the results of the investigation to provide oversight to improve and provide better protection and these opportunities run the gamut from following the behavior of those who are in charge that entities like mf global and modifying the ways in which the rating feet inch seats to their business, do their job. there's been so many failures in so many ways, not only mf
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global, but other similar stories in recent jury. one common strand seems to be that we need to provide our regulators with better tools to pursue the enforcement that existed prior to the massive imposition of dodd-frank. we do not have internet resources and are united states. we do not have resources to pursue every aspect of what regulators might want to pursue in dodd-frank, but they desperately need to dedicate resources to better following the nature of transactions in this rapidly evolving marketplace and to understanding how they can curb the excesses of human nature in the case of mr. corzine dimorphic is
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monitoring, more transparent the and more coordination and consolidation so that we can really have effectively in, streamlined regulatory structure that will consume the minute amount of research is -- resources and protect those who are honorable. chairman baucus, thank you for your leadership over the years. >> thank you very much. i would first of all like to think chairman spencer bachus for his leadership on the committee and also my colleague and friend, subcommittee chairman randy trained by for his work on this report and the subcommittee. one of the things that came with representing an enormous amount about culture in san antonio texas on the way to el paso, texas is the idea that farmers
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and ranchers, food producers, they're fun guaranteed that they can stand business raising their crops and raising their livestock were not to cure the way they should have been secure. therefore we had as chairman neugebauer said is we at agencies that have all the power in the world to go out there and regulate mf global and refuse to do so simply because of the aura of the previous politician that came into this business and really did not show any kind of knowledge or ability to guide a company like mf global that was a cause that utility for the farmers and ranchers and to assure them that their funds would be guaranteed so they could stay another season or
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another planting season, that gave them a free pass and gave them more and more authority over cussed immerse money. i am glad this report points out all of those effects because we need to start focusing on what is really wrong and be not afraid of what it is that we discover in how our regulatory agencies function for the well-being of our economy, for the well-being of our industries and for the well-being of all of our citizens. the thank you, gentleman very much. i encourage all of you to take a copy of this report and hopefully will yield good legislation in the next conference. >> mr. chairman. >> i haven't had a chance to read every one of the fitness, but one of the central of
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mr. corzine's rule, did you find any evidence that corzine in effect personally ordered or directed the transfer of customer segregated funds? >> what we do know is there's another method method to transfer funds in the wire transfer was to cover the overdraft at jpmorgan for mr. corzine. what we did learn about this company is that this company had terrible record-keeping, poor internal controls and mr. corzine really managed the process of isolating what would be normal risk-management internal controls and basically using his position to basically ignore the. so we are somewhat in disarray there. and of course if you read the report in the final days, it was a mess of it there.
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were doing some excellent spreadsheet to figure out where they were. >> was there any evidence that corzine picked up the phone and told edith o'bryan to do this? is there any name? >> you wake up one morning and there's snow on the ground and you look at your window and there's rabbit tracks. you may not see the rabbit, but the tracks are a pretty strong indication that he rabbit has crossed the line during the night. and yet, there is circumstantial evidence that either john corzine either directed or knew
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about it, the idea that he was the littlest to this insert my life around the track is a pretty good indication. so whether the course find any criminal intent, not for me to sign, i think nan inc. we go made two very important points. one, as congresswoman hayworth said, you had all these regulators and they were not cooperating. one was saying that not my part.
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one of the farmers they wrote a letter to me sublett, i am tired of hearing from the cftc that this is an fcc thing. i'm tired of hearing this is somebody else's part of the pie. all i know is my money is missing. these regulators in the last two years have written under dodd-frank over 400 new rules. there's three new regulators and there are 7000 pages of new regulations, but one regulation, the most important regulation is okay customer money. don't take my doesn't belong to you country disagrees it. it's been on the books forever. but the only regulation we needed. let me see the spirit capitalism
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cannot function without a moral basis and i can tell you ethically and morally what went on here was wrong and one reason we need to investigate this is this undermines all stressed in capitalism and free market in behavior like this violates the trust that we have and the american people have in our government. one thing we asked the government to do is protect us against wrongdoing. now, as quico said, i represent these people. this is not in a joint account with john corzine. it is a separate account. it was as if someone took your
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pension money and went to las vegas and gambled it away. that would be wrong and that is what happened here. it wasn't mf global's money. they have no right to use it. had they used it and made a
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and ask her money. we can get you those numbers. we actually in a hearing this spring, we asked fha, we said it appears to us that you're going to become insolvent within a matter of months. and they said they did not believe that was the case. fannie and freddie found out without a month it is not a problem they were bankrupt. that is why this government doesn't need to operate in a circumstance that when we had a downturn, and was totally fall apart. that is why government should be late people. there should be a reserve. there should be money for a rainy day. and as you know, we've been in
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somewhat of a non-soon. >> the other question was about every document we got, i mean, they have access to that. we sent them a draft i think about a month ago and they sent some feed like. i know that i think ranking member capuano said yesterday they have additional comments and we welcome those. as i said, the purpose was to generate discussion. if the proper things to add to this, we welcome their input. [inaudible]
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[inaudible] >> well, as i said, i think what we said in this report is a regulatory structure has a lot of overlap, a lot of people regulate in this environment. we feel like not everybody is talking to each other. obviously, this report is going to generate a lot of discussion. people will disagree with the chronology. some people will disagree with some of the findings. what we hope is so solutions come because everybody back at as is the fact that the money went missing and that is a flawed and we need to fix that. so is the solutions come forward, some of them may not require congress to act. the industry itself may take appropriate actions. some may require that we need enabling legislation for the solution. if they do, we'll bring that forward.
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yes, sir. >> you talk about how you think the answer is not more regulation, but -- [inaudible] do you think they're taking the wrong road on this? >> one of the things they came forward and set number one, don't use the alternative method. i think that is a good thing on their behalf. what we do hope is the regulatory community is doing a self-examination of, you know, this process as well. we hope the report will provide some additional information. they should be doing that because our job in oversight is to make sure that is what they are doing and they can do it with rulemaking, that would be appropriate. one of the things we do want them to do is if they begin the rulemaking process is to make sure they're doing a cost-benefit analysis. in other words, i said this only
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happened once. then it happened again. what we don't want to do is make these markets and accessible for an efficient for the market participants because we all overreacted to this occurrence. i think we've identified with the pitfalls are. now we just need to take the steps only necessary to fill the gaps and not try to do like we did in dodd-frank about his story whole blanket over the whole thing. >> sir, have you referred to report findings to the justice department? >> we will be distributing this to all the relevant agencies. some have been given an advance copy, but everybody will have one on the website. we hope that some of the people using these will go and look at the report as well. >> is there a formal process of referring the findings to the justice department? [inaudible] >> yeah, right.
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[inaudible] -- and this reelection of duty. first of all, how do you feel that mr. corzine's culpability, do you think he should be charged civilly, criminally, based on what you've learned? >> what we saw was mismanagement at its highest i believe. mr. corzine at a vendor said the business he had taken over as ceo. he was trying to transform into something it had not been in the past and when people disagreed with them he found other positions. he brought people and he felt like he could control sco, chief operating officer, so basically he was micromanaging this company. you associate chairman chairman of the board and so you would've had normally and corporate governance from the board, you know, pretty much gave mr. corzine heart want to do
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what he wanted to do. so the question, whether it's criminal act for negligence for poor management skills come and that is for somebody else to determine. but obviously, as we say in the report, we are pretty clear that we feel like jon corzine was the primary culprit for the demise of mf global. [inaudible] >> well, you know, in the chronology at this point in time, like he said, some of the agencies have their own investigation going on. we didn't have access to all the records, so we don't know where the cftc and they are in their recommendations in their findings. we hope at some point in time they release their findings as well. we weren't on it which one tear. we run if that kind we feel we represented fairly the
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chronology of why it happened and this becomes a discussion document to move forward. yes, sir. >> chairman bachus -- [inaudible] -- farmers and ranchers and after completing the report, do you think these market users should be more confident or less confident going forward using these markets? >> well, what we are hearing is that two people in the industry that we had impact. people have moved businesses. i think they are taking a closer look at who they are doing business with in the counterparty and all of the structure of the. what we don't want to do though is how the government kind of moved the business around. we want to give farmers and ranchers and people use risk management tools that whoever they're doing business with is
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being overseen under its rules in place to protect their money. [inaudible] -- or should they be worried that there's others? [inaudible] >> i think that's a very good question and probably at the essence for one reason for this investigation and one of the findings was this farmer that i mentioned from texas, 74-year-old-year-old with parkinson said i could do for myself and informed mr. and he said i was looking -- mf global was ranked very high. i had no indication. i read -- i checked out. i would not have put my money
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with a firm had there been any warning that the liver. so, your question is a question i think all americans ought to ask. when i put my money in an institution i do business with the financial concerns, how do i know that i am he and protects it? you remember made off? there is a broker dealer and a financially nicer. he had two different operations. and a lot of people said, where's my money? well, it was in a financial advisor, wasn't in a broker dealer. what's the difference? my money is gone. what do you mean you are not in charge of the financial advisor? and no, you're the sec. you're in charge of the broker
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dealer. and we created more regulators. we created more regulation. the fastest-growing profession in america is federal financial regulators. and that is not some republican talking point. in march, the bureau of labor statistics came out and said the fastest-growing occupation is financial regulators. 27%. in light of new jobs. all these agencies are hiring. they are hiring hundreds and hundreds of new employees, but the rules that have been on the books to prevent what madoff did or d., you did need a dodd-frank for that. dodd-frank was supposed and that, but it's complicated and
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to add new regulators. to the american people, decide to be a wake-up call to us that it is enforcing the laws, not just creating laws upon laws and layers upon layers. >> i'm told by the staff we've got time for one more and i'll let that be you. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> it has been more than a year at this point. [inaudible] >> well, i think what you can realize is that there is a lot of document that is been generated from this transaction in trying to learn whatever new has been a difficult process for us. i'm told there are a number of investigation still underway. the cftc, sec and my guess is fairly shortly we are going to
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begin to hear that. there is a lot of transactions. this is a complex company, and a lot of different affiliates, a lot of different operations is a global company. and so i think what everybody wants to make sure a visit they move forward with an action that they have, that the proof in the documentation they need to do that. i thank everybody for coming today and again, i appreciate your interest in that. some of the committee staff that worked so hard in this report will be around. if you have more detailed questions about that, they would be happy to do that. thank you, have a good day. [inaudible conversations] ..
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U.S. Senate
CSPAN November 15, 2012 5:00pm-8:00pm EST
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Mr. Corzine
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