here's what mr. thompson said today. >> i thank god for being here so i can straight then mess up. i have no idea who george anthony is. i just seen him on tv. i never talked to george anthony. like i said, i don't know him. and the phone number they got in question, i didn't have that phone number until february of '09. and i don't know why they got me involved in all this mess. and that's all i have to say about it. >> well, the judge hasn't ruled yet on whether thompson will become part of the trial. earlier i talked to mark lippman, the lawyer who represents george anthony, not only george but cindy and lee anthony, casey's parents and brother. >> mark, the defense tried to raise questions about phone calls that your client allegedly made to a telephone number that's now belongs to a man named vasco thompson. mr. thompson today said he never met or spoken to george anthony, didn't know who he was other than what he'd seen on tv. to your knowledge has there ever been any contact between the two men? >> no, mr. cooper. i asked my client point blank, and generally i never talk abo

because they went to mr. thompson and they wanted to speak to him. they wanted to ask him questions. he refused to meet with them. he also refused to speak to law enforcement. this press conference was the first time, i think, that the defense heard this story, his version of events, that in fact he didn't have this phone in february of 2008. or rather he got it in february of 2009. he didn't have it in the summer of 2008. but they didn't know that. >> not only would this man not speak with the defense, but when their investigator found him that he, vasco thompson, called the police on the investigator. so they felt they had no other course but to do what they did. they still don't have confirmation that he got the phone number in 2009. they say they want that. they may do a deposition tomorrow afternoon of this man. >> sonia, you've been around a lot of courtrooms. have you ever seen people waiting to get in to look at -- to watch a trial actually end up in fist fights outside the courtroom? there was a fistfight outside, a scuffle started when the

. >> mr. thompson, what's your book about? >> i like to say my book is about moonshine, but that one word often requires thousands more of explanation because i'm trying to take what people think about this subject, moonshine director into the history of a broader time period in american history. and this was the 1930s during prohibition, and the air of the depression. >> why didn't moonshine me to america in the 1920s, 1930s? >> of course, america even back in his formation had always had spirit, flickr, as part of its social gathering and so forth. three of our first five presidents had liquor distilleries on their plantation. for example. and we 1919 came around and the nation forbade anyone from making or distributing alcohol, suddenly here we have both a time period of deep poverty and unemployment, 25%, and a tiger when the government is saying it's illegal to have liquor. suddenly there's a great market for illegal whiskey. so you mix unemployment and poverty with a high demand for product, and, of course, you're going

thompson recalled and same-sex marriage was mr. obama has opposed. mr. thompson is skeptical about that. to this day, i do not think barack obama has any issue with two people of the same chair dree -- gender getting married. dree -- gender getting married. he is seeking support from gay donors who want to know where he stands. he is doing so at a time when the legislature is considering whether to make same-sex marriage legal. a vote the president will be asked about while in new york. the white house would not comment if he was ready to endorse same-sex marriage. that is in the "new york times" this morning. who is your canada? we start to mississippi with larry on the democrat line. caller: i will be voting again for president obama. i am enthused about him staying for four more years. two democrats would like to speak about. perry and tim pawlenty. these people are not telling the truth in minnesota. the media has not done a good job. rick perry, i just saw him. the media is not expect plaining this to america. -- explaining this to america. nobody i

i recognize the ranking member from mississippi, mr. thompson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i welcome the panel of witnesses today. as you know, the united states has the highest incarceration rate in the world. more than 2.3 million people are locked up in america. approximately one-third of these prisoners claim some form of religious affiliation. islam is the fastest-growing religion among prisoners. about 80% of those who join a religion in prison join is long. studies show the typical inmate who joins is long is poor, black, upset about racism, and not particularly interested in italy's politics. in preparation for this hearing, my staff spoke with representatives from the bureau of prisons, state prison officials from across the country. none of them are here to testify today, i regret. the bureau of prisons and state officials informed us that they routinely require religious staff, including imams, rabbis, and priests to undergo rigorous vetting. they told us that any religious book or recorded message must be screened and guards monitor the services. when we asked a

. >> thank you very much, mr. thompson. let me look at the conditions. when i was in texas i chaired the budget for the prison system, pretty good sized prisons system. spent a lot of time trying to see what conditions there are and whether it is taxes or anywhere else, the conditions--rates that we look at and all of you are familiar with it. when you go in there, we are talking not only about the prisons at state level but look at the federal level and looking at this particular issue, when you look at the majority that we have, state prisons compared to federal? how do we address the issues you want to bring in or the issues of criminal gangs, mexican mafia or whatever it might be how do we address the issue when most of the prisoners are in prisons where we deal with budget cuts and deal with issues like that? how do we address this issue and not forget about criminal gangs that most of them are going to stay here, they have to come back and get part of our society. how do we address this issue? this is an issue that is important to some folks but i

now, in order for mr. thompson to testify, it has to be approved by the judge. and the judge has not ruled on that matter. but again, huge drama, more expense. >> vasco degamma thompson. >> and also there's talk that casey anthony may be taking the stand herself. that will be riveting. >>> in new details on arizona's largest wildfire in recorded history. 200 people who were forced to leave their homes are now being allowed back. firefighters who have spent two weeks battling the fire, have gotten some control over it, it's still only 20% contained. >>> let's check in with rob marciano in our extreme weather center. >> winds are going to pick up across the southwest. so red flag warnings have been posted in the critical fire danger for the area that for the past couple of days, the winds have been laid down a little bit. that helped them a little bit. but today the winds cranked back up and even though we're officially getting into the monsoon season, we don't see much in the way of that happening any time soon. the heat is still on across not only the southwest,

mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. this amendment will restore limited mandatory funding for the conservation programs as defined under the current farm bill. i believe it's important to note that this amendment does not have any additional cost. we are still within the frame of the appropriations committee allocation for the bill. this amendment simply preserves critical conservation programs which remain important for many farms, ranches, and agricultural lands across the nation in order to protect environmentally sensitive areas. the programs offer voluntary incentives for farmers and ranchers to enroll land into conservation areas. my district, these programs are vital for water quality improvement on our local farms and throughout the region. it's the same for many other states. in my area of pennsylvania, this is vital to be able to deal with the mandates levied upon us by the agencies such as the e.p.a. the programs are cost-effective and provide excellent returns on investment. while utilizing local, state, and

it's frightening for me to hear the comments from mr. thompson. this is not a political issue. we have -- of the 220 arrests by the department of justice on terrorism charges, over 180 had been muslims. as a muslim, we have a problem that needs a solution. the prisons are one place in which muslims can be radicalized. if there is one place that we have control over the ideology, it's there. mr. thompson wants to ignore the fact that there are imams in new york that picked and selected over 45 imams that was on tape from the iep saying he wanted them to say the hijackers were marters. and there is no process to monitor patrol and otherwise. we have had no strategy. if there is one place we should stop the spigut of radicalization is in the prisons. >> they say the chaplains are vetted and it's not a problem? >> i think they could not be more wrong. they have no evidence they are vetted. the imam said radical things, and there's no process or demonstration that we vet them, that we demonstrate that they are teaching them islam that is modern and moderate and not separatists and f

mr. thompson: i thank my good friend, dr. burgess from texas, for yielding and also for being able to work with him in terms of our congressional health care caucus. we cover the health care industry from both important aspects. you as a physician and all of your experience in the medical, specifically the medical field, my background came up through therapy and most of my almost 30 years of working in nonprofit community health care was really on the administration side. some as a therapist but largely in administering programs and hospitals, in comprehensive rehab centers, nursing homes, i was a licenser of a nursing home administrator and frankly dealt very, very closely with medicare. out of necessity because medicare is one of the -- it's at least 60% in terms of market share, in terms of payment. and so medicare is very important. i have to say to my good friend, i was pretty naive when i came to washington in january, 2009, that's when i was sworn in, i won an election in 2008. i thought everybody knew that the impendi

mr. obama mentioned the 57 states he led a pro islam agenda slip. before we go further here's what the congressman was referring to something then candidate obama said in 2008. >> over the last 15 months we traveled to every corner of the united states. i've now been in 57 states -- i think one left to go. one left to go -- alaska and hawaii i was not allowed to go to even though i wanted to visit but my staff would not justify it. >> that's a very tired candidate obama in the middle of a campaign swing. earlier he misspoke about something else and earlier explaining his misstatements he started rambling until an aide cut i'm off saying mr. obama was tired from nonstop campaigning. the congressman seems to believe the candidate was slipping in references 57 islamic states in the world. you can decide for yourself whether you think that's true. the congressman is not new to exotic theories, you might say. you might remember the "terror baby" conspiracy he announced on the house floor last

. >> spirits of just men is charles thompson's new book. mr. thompson, what's your book about? >> i would like to see my book is about in one word moonshine. but that one word often requires thousands more of explanation because i'm trying to take what people think about this subject, moonshine, enter into the history of a broader time period in american history. and this was the 1930s during prohibition, and the air of the depression. >> weighted moonshine mean to america in the 1920s, 1930s? >> of course america even back in its formation had always had spirit, liquor as part of its social gathering and so forth. three of our first five presidents had liquor distilleries on their plantation. and when 1919 came around and the nation forbade anyone from making or distributing alcohol, suddenly here we have both a time period of deep poverty and unemployment, 25%, at a time period when the government is saying it's illegal to have liquor. suddenly there's a great market for illegal whiskey. so you mix unemployment and poverty with a high demand for a product and, of course, you'

mr. thompson: thank you very much. the second most offensive aspect of this bill is the shenanigans surrounding the funding of disaster emergencies. lastly ending medicare in this rule makes absolutely no sense. for these reasons i oppose h.r. 2017 and ask my colleagues to join me in voting against the rule and the underlying bill. i yield back. the speaker: the gentleman from new york. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield three minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. woodal. the speaker: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. as member of the rules committee and the budget committee, i'm excited to be down here today. you told us, mr. speaker, when this congress began, that we were going to witness one of the most open congresses in this country's history. and you have delivered on that each and every day and i'm one of the new guys in congress. i've only been here about 125 days. but what i saw talking about budgets today, what i saw in the budget proc

thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. this week three middle schools located in pennsylvania's fifth congressional district, park forest and titus middle school have been named three of the top performing middle grade schools in the country by the national forum to accelerate middle grade reforms. i rise today to congratulate these schools for this north worthy achievement. the national forum to accelerate middle grades reform is an alliance of more than 70 educators, researchers and officers of the national associations and foundations dedicated to improving schools for young adolescents across the country. every year the forum through their schools to watch program identifies schools across the united states for their high performance. the forum's numbers believe that three things are true of high-performing middle grade scoofments they are academically excellent, developmentally responsive. schools that are sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescents and socially equitable. schools that are de

mr. thompson. let me just look at some of the conditions. when i was in the state of texas i used to chair the budget for the prison systems. texas has a pretty good sized prison system. i've gone through the prison system, i've spent a lot of time there trying to see what conditions there are and i think whether it's in texas or anywhere else, you have certain things that come into play. the conditions, recidivism rates that we look at, and i think all of you are very familiar with it. when you go in there, you know, we're talking about not only the prisons at a state level but you look at the federal level and i know you're at the federal level, we're looking at this particular issue, but when you look at the majority of the prisoners that we have, there are in the state prisons, is that correct? compared to federal? so how do we address the issues that you all want to bring in or the issues of criminal gangs, the mexican mafias, whatever it might be, how do we address the issue when is most of the prisoners are at prisons where we have to

thompson thompson -- mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. this week congress sent a message to the white house that we need to address our debt crisis and get serious with real budgetary reforms so we can meet our credit obligations at home and around the world. there is good reason why the dollar is still the world's gold standard when it comes to credit ratings and the u.s. is seen as a wise investment around the worrell. a first rate credit -- around the world. a first rate credit rating means there's nothing for lenders to worry about, how a borrower can pay back a loan and they can receive a good return on their investment. that's why i can't emphasize enough the importance of our nation's credit rating. a downgraded credit rating will reduce certainty for businesses and investors at home and abroad. we must work to ensure that this never happens by reforming spending and fixing our debt problem. make it so there is not one doubt when it comes to the credit worthiness of the united states. in april, standard & poor's lowered the outlook

mr. thompson: i rise in opposition for the amendment. i've been on the committee of homeland security since its inception. we've gone through hearing after hearing, looking at this issue of collective bargaining for t.s.a. employees. i might add the rationale for offering this amendment has been completely refuted by every hearing eve ever had in the committee. i'm convinced that our men and women who work for t.s.a. do a good job. however, the documentation is clear, they need additional training, they need a number of other items that collective bargaining can get them. for instance, they have a different personnel system than other fellow employees. they have have a different salary schedule than other employees. all those things lead to reduced morale for the employees. more importantly, we have collective bargaining rights for customs and border protection employees, the fellow protective service, and nowhere have we ever found where our good men and women in uniform cannot perform admirabley in any situation. the record is clear wh

thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i serve as co-chairman of the congressional career and technical education caucus with my friend and colleague, jim langevin of rhode island. the career and technical education caucus is a group of members seeking to broaden awareness here on capitol hill on the importance of career and technical education. i take the floor today to offer yet another example of the critical role that career and technical education plays in helping individuals remain competitive in a constantly changing work force environment. on june 7, 2011, history was made at the central pennsylvania institute of science and technology. two young ladies, anna kreshak and trisha wright combrad waited from their automobile program at the highest possible level. these nontraditional students in the technology program earned their diploma along with state, national and world certifications in their field of study. the most amazing part about their accomplishments with a their path to success. anna had only one

. >> the gentleman from california, mr. thompson, is recognized. >> is it not true that whenever a new lot results in a savings to medicare part a that those savings improve the possible insurance trust fund finances regardless if the savings are used elsewhere in the budget? >> yes, that is true. >> my friend from wisconsin raised that issue. that is out the accounting system works. that is out it has been treated in many on this budget bills in the past. >> correct. >> my friend also used the balanced budget act of 1997 which was passed under the republican controlled house as an example. that included $994 billion in medicare savings. to the $92 billion of that was used for a tax cut. -- $292 billion of that was used for a tax cut. i guess the other guys are critics. in the sheet here that was prepared by our side's staff. reporthe trusty's starting in 1970 and running until 2011. i would like to get you to look at it and let us know if this is accurate. based on this, it has always been projected to reach insolvency at

he said mr. anthony does not know mr. thompson, does not recall speaking to him, does not recall ever receiving phone calls from him. so obviously a very big discrepancy when the defense here is saying that they have george anthony's cell phone records. so i think this is going to be one of the big issues we're going to hear about tomorrow in court. >> okay. and then this is something a lot of folks on our team were talking about today. there was this odd exchange between casey anthony and her mother cindy yesterday. what happened? >> well, if we have the video. we saw cindy anthony on the witness stand after her testimony, which she was a little bit evasive. she mouthed the words "i love you." those words. casey anthony, on the other hand, just sort of, i don't know, her reaction was very odd. she just kind of -- didn't really do much. so yeah, everyone is thinking that was really very interesting. cindy anthony trying to reach out to her daughter. was she trying to help her with her evasive answers? who knows. >> we're

. >> the gentleman from california, mr. thompson, is recognized. >> is it not true that whenever a new lot results in a savings to medicare part a that those savings improve the possible insurance trust fund finances regardless if the savings are used elsewhere in the budget? >> yes, that is true. >> my friend from wisconsin raised that issue. that is out the accounting system works. that is out it has been treated in many on this budget bills in the past. >> correct. >> my friend also used the balanced budget act of 1997 which was passed under the republican controlled house as an example. that included $994 billion in medicare savings. to the $92 billion of that was used for a tax cut. -- $292 billion of that was used for a tax cut. i guess the other guys are critics. in the sheet here that was prepared by our side's staff. reporthe trusty's starting in 1970 and running until 2011. i would like to get you to look at it and let us know if this is accurate. based on this, it has always been projected to reach insolvency at

. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and mr. thompson. let me just look at some of the conditions. i used to chair the budget for the prison systems and that's a pretty good size prison system. i've gone through the prison system and spend a lot of time trying to see what conditions there are and i think what is in texas or anywhere else you have three things that come into play. staffing issues is one of them. the conditions of recidivism and all of the markham ended with, so when you go in there we are talking about not only the presence of the state level, but you look at the federal level not only the federal level we are looking at this particular issue but when you look at the majority of the prisoners that we have and the state prison is that correct compared to federal? so, how do we address the issues you want to bring in or of criminal gangs of mexican mafia, whatever it might become how do we address the issue when most of the prisoners are etched prisons where we have to deal with budget cuts and have to deal with issues like that, how long do we address this issue and

thompson, mr. towns i think pretty well covered this. when you are dealing with the york city dettive, new york city police department's detective, undestanding because this person identified as being the criminal here was a new jersey, they wen't going to be presenting it, irs would. were you tol over the phone by the irs that they would be pursuing it, or were you told by the detective that his understanding from the irs? >> when the to irs agents came a couple months ago to talk to us, they had told the detective that he could not arrest her, that the irs would. >> okay. so and i was kind of what we engage from a casework standpoint, they came out to look into from the philadelphia office of? >> yes. >> but you're not received any feedback from that? >> nothing at all. >> the and let me look you a second. a final question, ms. petraco. when you in the york office and understandably, you are trying to figure out what's going on here, and then already being a little concerned and then being told that you are a victim of identity theft a

. >> the gentleman from california, mr. thompson, is recognized. >> is it not true that whenever a new lot results in a savings to medicare part a that those savings improve the possible insurance trust fund finances regardless if the savings are used elsewhere in the budget? >> yes, that is true. >> my friend from wisconsin raised that issue. that is out the accounting system works. that is out it has been treated in many on this budget bills in the past. >> correct. >> my friend also used the balanced budget act of 1997 which was passed under the republican controlled house as an example. that included $994 billion in medicare savings. to the $92 billion of that was used for a tax cut. -- $292 billion of that was used for a tax cut. i guess the other guys are critics. in the sheet here that was prepared by our side's staff. reporthe trusty's starting in 1970 and running until 2011. i would like to get you to look at it and let us know if this is accurate. based on this, it has always been projected to reach insolvency at

thompson, mr. towns i think pretty well covered this. when you are dealing with the york city detective, new york city police department's detective, understanding because this person identified as being the criminal here was a new jersey, they weren't going to be presenting it, irs would. were you told over the phone by the irs that they would be pursuing it, or were you told by the detective that his understanding from the irs? >> when the to irs agents came a couple months ago to talk to us, they had told the detective that he could not arrest her, that the irs would. >> okay. so and i was kind of what we engage from a casework standpoint, they came out to look into from the philadelphia office of? >> yes. >> but you're not received any feedback from that? >> nothing at all. >> the and let me look you a second. a final question, ms. petraco. when you in the york office and understandably, you are trying to figure out what's going on here, and then already being a little concerned and then being told that you are a victim of identity t

>> i am barbara thompson, i was sworn in previously. i do not have any business relationship with mr. yassir, i am familiar with him. i hope this board will take a look at what i have seen

>> i am barbara thompson, i was sworn in previously. i do not have any business relationship with mr. yassir, i am familiar with him. i hope this board will take a look at what i have seen being here for three meetings. what are the only people that are coming before you people of mideast turn dissent or asian? this troubles me as a resident of san francisco. it is fair and equitable enforcement of a loss because those are not the only retailers in san francisco, but why are these the only people that are being stung in these operations and only coming here before you? and listening to the tapes because i did request the tapes of hearings at department of public health on one day. all the names were of similar dissent -- descent and that troubles me and i do not know how that could be fair and equitable given the demographics of the city. in order to have to practicdue , they do not deliver their letter brief says required of the appellants, they send them out by mail, and when they send them out and they are late and they do not comply

thompson, mr. towns i think pretty well covered this. when you are dealing with the york city detective, new york city police department's detective, understanding because this person identified as being the criminal here was a new jersey, they weren't going to be presenting it, irs would. were you told over the phone by the irs that they would be pursuing it, or were you told by the detective that his understanding from the irs? >> when the to irs agents came a couple months ago to talk to us, they had told the detective that he could not arrest her, that the irs would. >> okay. so and i was kind of what we engage from a casework standpoint, they came out to look into from the philadelphia office of? >> yes. >> but you're not received any feedback from that? >> nothing at all. >> the and let me look you a second. a final question, ms. petraco. when you in the york office and understandably, you are trying to figure out what's going on here, and then already being a little concerned and then being told that you are a victim of identity t

which was transferred into mark's chairman act and i want to thank the mr. chairman tore including me in this discussion today. there are a number of actors who seek to do harm from foreign national station and hackers and disgruntled employees. and as threat and capability both grow so does the risk to our critical infrastructure. now, this threat is not new. in the 110th congress as chairman of the homeland security subcommittee with jurisdiction over cybersecurity, i conducted a details examination of cyberthreats to our critical infrastructure. and i want to reiterate what i made clear in my previous testimony before this subcommittee. i believe there's a threat to our security and even the american lives. and the vast majority of our critical assets are in private hands. and because fixing vulnerabilities can be costly, security confines itself with conflict with other priorities, profit, competition and accountability to shareholders. sadly, the american people are the ones placed at risk when the owners of our critical infrastructure failed to appear

mr. lieberman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. mr. president, it's my honor now to rise as chairman of the homeland security and governmental affairs committee to speak on behalf of s. 679, the presidential appointment efficiency and streamlining act of 2011, and i do so with great gratitude toward senator alexander, who is here now on the floor; senator schumer, and others who worked together to clear away procedural obstacles to focusing on this piece of legislation. this is a noble effort that's been tried before and failed, but i'm confident that this time, with the support of our leaders, really our bipartisan leadership -- senator reid, senator mcconnell, senator alexander, senator schumer, not to mention senator collins and me, in our committee role -- we're going to get this passed. this is a bipartisan effort to solve a problem, or a

. >> mrs. obama has been in africa for the past week, promoting youth leadership, education and health. >>> france has halted the sale of sprout seeds from a british mail order company called thompson and morgan. authorities say at least two of those sickened had the same strain of deadly e. coli that killed 44 people in germany. >>> the number of adults around the world with diabetes has doubled over the last 30 years. that's the result of a new study fromlanden. researchers say 347 million people now have the illness. an aging population and rising obesity rates are being blamed for the illness. researchers say diabetes is likely to become a rising health issue over the next decade. >>> free hiv screenings offered in two locations at the crane center on lensen avenue from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and at a mobile clinic at st. james park from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. all tests will be free and anonymous. >>> it is rumored that he killed 21 men. the lone photo of one of the most famous outlaws hi

cuellar: i want to thank my colleague mr. farne farenthold for the leadership -- mr. farenthold for the leadership he's provided and i join anymy colleagues across the aisle in supporting this bill to are name the post office. our colleague, representative thompson, from the state of mississippi, introduced a companybill to this measure in the form of h.r. 1072, both of which aim to acknowledge spencer byrd powers jr. by renaming the local post office in cary, mississippi in his honor. with his father and other relatives serving in the armed forces, spencer byrd powers continued the legacy by serving in the united states army up until his devment he was the first member of his family not to return home from serving in war abroad. spencer byrd powers was killed in an offensive attack in the vietnam war. i ask that we come together as americans to honor mr. powers' sacrifice so that those who continue to serve after mr. powers can understand his commitment an courage to serve on bhoof this beautiful country we call america. i urge my colleagues to join me in honoring th