mr. bush: a good speaker, yeah. david: when you lost, you ran the house seat, and you lost. mr. bush: 1978. david: did you say, i'm out of politics? mr. bush: for a while. but it turns out, like bill said, it was one of the best things that happened to me. as the guy that beat me said, if i hadn't beat bush, he would still be on the agricultural committee. [laughter] david: when you decided to run for governor against incumbent ann richards, your mother and father said you have no chance of winning. mr. bush: the father did not say that, the mother did. [laughter] david: what did you say when you won? mr. bush: i said, are you going to come to the inauguration? [laughter] mr. bush: look, you know my mother. you never pop off to her like that. otherwise, she'll floor you. [laughter] david: when both of you became president, your father had been president, you had not had a father who had been president, but you had been around government. what was the biggest surprise? the first day you are in the oval office, you learn the secrets, the nuclear codes, you learn about all the cris

mrs. trump: thank you. [laughter] mrs. trump: good morning. good morning. so nice to meet you. hello. how are you? you are doing a great job. what are your plans for christmas? >> i'm going to go to new york. mrs. trump: new york, wow. to see all my family members. >> i have no idea. mrs. trump: no idea? will be a long letter? maybe, i don't know. do you like it? show me what you are doing. >> [indiscernible] mrs. trump: we are going to do a tradition. >> i have a question for you. mrs. trump: lions. they are beautiful. >> i don't have one. mrs. trump: you don't have one? >> i have a dog. mrs. trump: what do you do for hobbies? >> i like music. >> [indiscernible] beautiful. beautiful. can you take it home? what are your plans? what are you going to do? >> stay home. or go to church. >> i will go to church. we will go to a service and then spent time with the family. and you don't have school at that time. it is good to study hard, right? very nice. have you been to the white house before? >> no. mrs. trump: you must be special today for you. how old are you? >> nine. mrs. trump

mr. roskam: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding. we've heard some strong language for the past couple of minutes. this has been described as ideology, and now deceit. where is the deceit? the deceit is in the assumption that we can live with the status quo, mr. speaker. the deceit is a blindness to the recognition that we have a tax code that is literallydy solving underneath us -- literally desolving underneath us. and this congress has an opportunity to do something transformational. and i propose be along with my colleagues, to be transformational. and opportunistic. there's a lot of discussion in the subtext of this about class envy and opportunity and so forth. here's what i know. it is the status quo that is serving the few. it is the status quo that is so offputting and unsettling and keeps people at arm's length. and what we're proposing is something very different. mr. speaker, we're proposing the economics of opportunity. not the economics of envy. the economics of buoyancy and he economics of participation. therein lies t

mr. roskam: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding. we've heard some strong language for the past couple of minutes. this has been described as ideology, and now deceit. where is the deceit? the deceit is in the assumption that we can live with the status quo, mr. speaker. the deceit is a blindness to the recognition that we have a tax code that is literallydy solving underneath us -- literally desolving underneath us. and this congress has an opportunity to do something transformational. and i propose be along with my colleagues, to be transformational. and opportunistic. there's a lot of discussion in the subtext of this about class envy and opportunity and so forth. here's what i know. it is the status quo that is serving the few. it is the status quo that is so offputting and unsettling and keeps people at arm's length. and what we're proposing is something very different. mr. speaker, we're proposing the economics of opportunity. not the economics of envy. the economics of buoyancy and he economics of participation. therein lies t

thank you, sir. [applause] mr. young: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank all these guys standing behind me these ladies, , the people who helped me do this. this is 37 years i tried to get this passed. it proves one thing, perseverance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. [laughter] mr. young: i thank the president, i thank you mr. president and my two senators. this is a team that cannot be beat. this bill does what's right for this nation and great land. we will be great again. thank you, mr. president. [cheers and applause] president trump: he's a pretty popular guy. pretty good. i want to ask orrin hatch, a special friend of mine. i can tell you that, somebody that spoke really well of me when it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. he was just always in there, always fighting for all of us and did a fantastic job for all -- did a fantastic job as chairman. orrin, say a few words, please. senator hatch: mr. president, i have to say that you are living up to everything i thought you would. of a leader and we are all benefiting

mr. goodlatte: mr. hastings, as you and mr. nadler have noted, with regard to driver's licenses, states have cooperated with each other. but it was noted here that 10 states are completely unwilling to recognize the constitutional right, constitutional right, of people to travel with their firearm outside of their home state into the other states. so even if that state in every state but one has a concealed carry permit process that one state being vermont, and they have constitutional -- mr. hastings: reclaiming my time, so you do agree that's there's no state boy state hotline for example to confirm that a permit is valid? mr. goodlatte: it would be great if more efforts were taken to improve that but that is not a necessary thing. wasn't necessary when driver's licenses were first recognized across state lines. mr. hastings: you mean to tell me if a police officer stops somebody, they claim they have a carry permit, that a police officer shouldn't be able to determine whether or not that is valid? mr. goodlatte: they cannot

thank you, sir. [applause] mr. young: thank you, mr. president. i thank all these guys standing behind me, these ladies, the people who helped me do this. this is 37 years i tried to get this. appearance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. [laughter] mr. young: i thank the president, i thank you mr. president and my two senators. this bill does what's right for this nation and great land. hank you, mr. president. [cheers and applause] president trump: he's a pretty popular guy. pretty good. i want to ask orrin hatch, a special friend of mine. someone who spoke really well of me when it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. he was just always in there, always fighting for all of us and did a fantastic job for all of us. orin, say a few words, please. senator hatch: mr. president, i have to say you are link up to everything i thought you would. you are one of a leader and all benefiting from it. this bill couldn't have passed without you or the delegation from alaska and the house and the senate, paul ryan and mitch mcconnell and the other

thank you, sir. [applause] mr. young: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank all these guys standing behind me, these ladies, the people who helped me do this. this is 37 years i tried to get this passed. it proves one thing, perseverance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. [laughter] mr. young: i thank the president, i thank you mr. president and my two senators. this is a team that cannot be beat. we will do what is right for alaska. this bill does what's right for this nation and the great land. we will be great again. thank you, mr. president. [cheers and applause] president trump: he's a pretty popular guy. pretty good. i want to ask orrin hatch, a special friend of mine. i can tell you that, somebody that spoke really well of me when it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. he was just always in there, always fighting for all of us and did a fantastic job as chairman. orrin, say a few words, please. [applause] senator hatch: mr. president, i have to say that you are living up to everything i thought you would. you are one heck o

thank you, mr. speaker. members of thank you, mr. speaker. members of congress on both sides of the aisle, including the republican leadership, went to puerto rico. they looked the puerto rican people in the eye and promised to help. this bill betrays that promise. it treats puerto rico as a foreign jurisdiction, leskying new taxes on companies operating there. creating intendtifics for them to leave the island. all told, this provision will cost puerto rico more than $2 -- 200,000 jobs. that is how you help puerto rico? this bill is morally bankrupt it. harms american citizens everywhere, and especially the 3.5 million citizens in puerto rico. i yield back. vote. no the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. brady: thank you, mr. speaker. very proud to yield one minute to the gentleman from arizona, mr. schweikert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for one minute. mr. schweikert: thank you, mr. speaker. and mr. chairman. look, i'm going to give everyone a slightly different view. there was an inter

thank you, sir. [applause] mr. young: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank all these guys standing behind me, these ladies, the people who helped me do this. this is 37 years i tried to get this passed. it proves one thing, perseverance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. [laughter] mr. young: i thank the president, i thank you mr. president and my two senators. this is a team that cannot be beat. this bill does what's right for this nation and great land. we will be great again. thank you, mr. president. [cheers and applause] president trump: he's a pretty popular guy. pretty good. i want to ask orrin hatch, a special friend of mine. i can tell you that, somebody that spoke really well of me when it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. he was just always in there, always fighting for all of us and did a fantastic job for all -- did a fantastic job as chairman. orrin, say a few words, please. senator hatch: mr. president, i have to say that you are living up to everything i thought you would. you are one heck of a leader and we are

thank you, sir. [applause] mr. young: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank all these guys standing behind me, these ladies, the people who helped me do this. this is 37 years i tried to get this passed. it proves one thing, perseverance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. [laughter] mr. young: i want to thank the president. i thank you mr. president and my two senators. this is a team that cannot be beat. this bill does what's right for this nation and great land. we will be great again. thank you, mr. president. [cheers and applause] president trump: he's a pretty popular guy. pretty good. i want to ask orrin hatch, a special friend of mine. i can tell you that, somebody that spoke really well of me when it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. he was just always in there, always fighting for all of us ended -- and did a fantastic job as chairman. orrin, say a few words, please. senator hatch: mr. president, i have to say that you are living up to everything i thought you would. you are one heck of a leader, and we are all benefiti

mr. kelly: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. chairman, thank you so much. i wasn't going to speak tonight because i was just trying to figure out what it is we are trying to get to here. if it's not our bill, just not the bill we want, and when we talk -- talk about a rush to judgment, a rush to judgment, for 31 years we have postponed the inevitable. we no longer can compete globally because of our corporate tax rates and the regulations. our people -- and i don't care if the republican voters or democrat voters or people that don't vote at all, isn't it time to give them a little bit more money in their take-home pay? isn't it time to let them get up in the morning with an idea that i can actually be better at the end of the day that i started? ntand isn't it time for us to talk about bringing millions of jobs back to the united states as opposed to sitting here and trying to battle back and forth about something that is a political -- it doesn't make any sense? for the fox that are sitting at -- and for the folks that are sitting at home, do you realize

mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker, thank you, mr. capuano. i want to extend my gratitude to the gentleman from missouri. this has been a three-year journey for this particular legislation, not uncommon in this environment. but it was a difficult journey at times. at no step along the way did the gentleman from missouri ever waiver from his commitment to working as collaboratively as possible and a willingness to work to find a solution. and he did just that. i thank him for that and i also want to thank ranking member waters for her efforts without which this bill would never even have made it to the floor. i do believe that this bill is stronger as a consequence of the amendments that we have made, the changes that we have made to it. and most importantly, those that do not -- will ensure we do not interfere with the important work of law enforcement. i have been upfront about this, from my perfect i, my interest in this bill grows out of my work on helping my state find ways to make sure our state regulated marijuana businesses have access

welcome. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, ranking member nadler, members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. this is my first opportunity to appear before this committee. and i look forward to our discussion. let me start by saying that it is, for me, the honor of a lifetime to be here representing the men and women of the fbi. there is no finer institution than the fbi and no finer people than the men and women who work there and are its very beating heart. almost 37,000 men and women with a fierce commitment to protecting the american people and upholding the rule of law, in all 50 states and in about 80 countries around the world. men and women who face the darkest that life has to offer, with unyielding integrity and honesty and dedication. and i am both humbled and inspired to be back in public service working alongside them. i would like to take a step back to consider the serious challenges that we are facing and to remember the millions of people that we're protecting. on the national secur

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. administrator, for making the extra effort to come back and take all of our questions, and thank you for your strong leadership at the agency. i appreciate also your efforts to make the epa focus on air and water and soil contamination. my state in north carolina's been shaken by the discovery of a chemical called generation x in the cape fear river. i know my state reports that again x is no longer getting into the river and the treated drinking water is within state health goals. the previous epa administrator permitted use of this chemical without conditions in 2009. can you say whether the epa discovered gen-x was used in this fashion? >> i don't have that information, but i can get it to you. >> i appreciate it. i understands the epa has updated its risk assessment of gen-x and has set up analysis for it and water samples are being collected right now along the cape fear river, including wastewater, surface water, groundwater and treated drinking water samples. are there any find

mr. nadler: thank you, mr. chairman. i appear today in opposition to h.r. 38, the concealed carry reciprocity act. because it bill would not protect us from gun violence but would make us far less safe. under current law, each state makes its own determination about who may carry a con center field firearm in public -- a concealed carry firearm in public. this bill would eviscerate the core public safety determinations that each state makes concerning the concealed carry of guns in public based on the unique circumstances in each state and the desires of its citizens. in fact, the standards and requirements adopted in the states vary dramatically. 31 states and the district of columbia require gun safety training to carry concealed guns in public. 21 of those states require live fire training. 27 states and d.c. prohibit individuals convicted of misdemeanor crimes of violence from concealed carry. 28 states and d.c. prohibit convicted stalkers from carrying concealed weapons. 34 states and d.c. prohibit those under 21 ye

mrs. brooks: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you, mr. chairman. i rise today in strong support of resolution 630, introduced by my colleague, barbara comstock, which mandates anti-harassment and anti-discrimination education for all members of congress and their staff during each session of congress. i commend my colleagues, representative comstock and representative speier, who have worked on this bipartisan resolution together. both know this issue too well from the member and the staff level. both have seen firsthand how our current process has failed to protect many who devote their lives working on behalf of the american people in the house of representatives. the resolution they have introduced is an important and appropriate first step to educate members and staff on inappropriate workplace actions and on how to report such conduct. it is absolutely unacceptable to be subjected to harassment or discrimination of any kind wherever you are or wherever you work. importantly, this resolution requires all who work for the house of representative

mr. kelly: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. chairman, thank you so much. i wasn't going to speak tonight because i was just trying to figure out what it is we are trying to get to here. if it's not our bill, just not the bill we want, and when we talk -- talk about a rush to judgment, a rush to judgment, for 31 years we have postponed the inevitable. we no longer can compete globally because of our corporate tax rates and the regulations. our people -- and i don't care if the republican voters or democrat voters or people that don't vote at all, isn't it time to give them a little bit more money in their take-home pay? isn't it time to let them get up in the morning with an idea that i can actually be better at the end of the day that i started? ntand isn't it time for us to talk about bringing millions of jobs back to the united states as opposed to sitting here and trying to battle back and forth about something that is a political -- it doesn't make any sense? for the fox that are sitting at -- and for the folks that are sitting at home, do you realize

>> thank you mr. speaker. i can tell the honorable member with the australian people are sick of, the dishonesty. [inaudible conversations] >> the member will not bark instructions that me. >> i apologize mr. speaker. >> the prime minister has the call. >> thank you mr. speaker. he said the labour party has a strict bidding process and we have a strict vetting process and there is no cloud over our people. let's be straight here. that includes british citizens and mr. speaker the labour party candidates has been extremely and that's why this hasn't happened. i'm not going to jump every time some liberal gets up with the complaint and says because it's a matter of fact that we've got a good bidding procedure. again and again but it seems to overlook the member and he lost his paper and -- [inaudible conversations] mr. speaker, this is where we have the leader of the opposition now. dean in turning in his own incompetence. he has a number of members we all know knew they were and were citizens at the time they n

mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to evise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on senate 1393. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consumer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: mr. speaker, senate would exempt current members of the armed services o members of the armed services or reserve components from certain testing requirements for commercial drivers' license it is they had qualifying experience while serving in the armed services and reserve components. this bill also expands the types of medical professionals that the department of veterans that who can certify veterans meet the physical standards required to operate a commercial vehicle. these commonsense changes will help remove barriers to employment for men and women who have served our country in uniform. this bill is a

mr. newhouse: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. mcgovern. it's early. a little early in my estimation for four-letter words but if that's where you want to go i understand. this is a passionate issue. everybody feels very passionately about this. what are we waiting for? well, that's a good question. there's many people in a bipartisan basis working very hard on this issue. they really are. my understanding is that just in the last few days a bipartisan group of senators met at the white house and i don't know what was agreed on specifically but apparently there's some commitment to work on this, get this done in january by those individuals with the president. so if that's the case, the pressure's off from the senate. it wasn't our doing. it was something that was already worked out that there's going to be something happening next year. so what are we waiting for? i guess that's what we're waiting for now. we've been continuing to work on this, as you know, many of us in this room have been working on it for a long time and still want to get it done.

levin. >> thank you, mr. neil. mr. neil, i want to yield to ter terri sewell, back from the front line of alabama. [ applause ] so my question is to our economist. i know that you, mr. fuhrman, have had the opportunity to advise both presidents. if you were looking to provide economic growth, what would you be advising this administration to be doing? at the end of the day, we know that we've gotten out of our worst recession since the great depression, and we are on the rise. unemployment hasn't been as low as it's been in decades. and so what would you advise this administration to be doing? because i agree with you, mr. fuhrman. not only is it the chances of economic growth paying for itself, through this tax cut, not only is it as impossible as 60 degrees in boston, it's almost as impossible as a democrat winning the senate seat in alabama. but things do happen. so i would like to know from both of you, what you would do if you were advising this president on developing better economic growth. >> so, first of all,

thank you, i yield back. >> think you, mr. carson. mr. gowdy. mr. gowdy: think you, mr. chairman. -- thank you, mr. chairman. i have worked for the better part of the last nine months with my friend connecticut is always prepared. he is thorough, he is every bit as effective as a questioner but i would tell my friend from connecticut, there were republicans who told president trump that he was wrong when he accused president obama of wiretapping trump tower. there were republicans who said contemporaneous with the claim. i would ask my friend connecticut -- i would ask my friend from connecticut, no matter how heated the political debate may get, don't ever lose sight of that fairness and don't lump everyone together. there were republicans who said there is no evidence to support that, and if there is, produce it immediately. to my friend from california, i would say, you are correct, you are correct. we have spent the better part of the last nine months looking at issues unrelated with this precise re-authorization. my friend from california is also experienced and bri

mr. neal: thank you, mr. speaker. with that i'd like to recognize the gentlelady from california, the distinguished leader of the democratic party, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. once again i commend him for o being a champion of middle class families -- >> mr. speaker, the house is not in or. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house is not in order. members of both parties will take their conversations off the floor. the gentlelady from california. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. lewis. i want my colleagues all to hear the esteem which we hold our democratic members of the ways and means committee. i thank you. thank you very much, mr. neal, for being our ranking member for your extraordinary leadership on behalf of america's middle class working families. and that concludes -- includes millions of veterans. thank usm today is a very sad day in the history of americ

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, as i think you well know and everybody at this table understands, this conference -- so-called conference committee is a farce. according to media reports, the final legislation has already been completed. this legislation, which will have a major impact on our economy, has not had one public hearing. not hearing from economists, from governors, from mayors, from the business community, from ordinary americans as to what the impact of this legislation will be. this is legislation written for wealthy campaign contributors and i want to congratlation sul of my republican colleagues for being honest. when they said publicly is if they don't pass this bill, their wealthy friends will stop contributing. i appreciate that honesty. this legislation in fact not only had no public hearings, but it did have some 6,000 washington, d.c. lobbyists working on it behind closed doors. mr. chairman, every poll that i have seen shows that by overwhelming numbers the american people do not wan

thank you. mr. boustany: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you -- mrs. bustos: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, congressman lahood, for putting this together, as we celebrate the 200th birthday of our great state of illinois. the congressional district i serve stretches from rockford to the north, the western border is the mississippi river. and then we go into central illinois, as congressman lahood said, to the city of pee pouria. and -- peoria. and i'm very proud to be able to share that city with congressman lahood. my congressional district also represents the quad city, which is where i call home. between is scenic n farmland and f.b.i. rick towns. we are a proud region with a proud history of manufacturing and agriculture and service to our nation. let me tell you about the congressional district i serve. we are the home of cat pillar and home of the iconic sock monkey, which was created in rockford, illinois. we hosted the nation's very first first national football league where the rock island independents defended the st. paul ideals. so more than 40 years ago,

justice roberts: mr. yarger. mr. yarger: thank you, mr. chief justice, and may it please the court, a decade ago colorado extended to lgbt people the same protections used to fight discrimination against race, sex and a person's faith. masterpiece cakeshop is a retail bakery that is open to the public and subject to the colorado anti-discrimination act. yet, petitioners' claim that they can refuse to sell a product, a wedding cake of any kind in any design to any same-sex couple. justice kennedy: i don't want to -- justice roberts: counsel, take an organization -- i think there are many different faiths, but catholic legal services, they provide pro bono legal representation to people who are too poor to avoid it and they provide it to people of all different faiths. so let's say someone just like respondents here, except needing the pro bono assistance, goes into catholic legal services and say, we want you to take this case against masterpiece cakeshop. and the people at the -- the lawyers say, well, we're not going to, because we don't

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker mr. speaker, i rise today in hopor of the 381st birthday of the national guard. component of the united states army, the national guard is primarily composed of citizen soldiers who hold down full-time civilian jobs or attend school. at the same time, national available to re provide support and protection for their states or to be called for military operations for the country. they serve their community and their country. each once, district of columbia, commonwealth of puerto rico, territories of guam, u.s. virgin islands maintain both an army national guard and air national guard. the massachusetts general court issued an order on december 13, 1636, requiring all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 to create a standing army for protection. with that order what we now know as the america's national guard was born. the idea was simple. establish an army of citizen soldiers who could be called upon to fight when needed. in honor of the national guard's birthday, here are some s

thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. . i want to thank all of these guys standing behind me, these ladies, the people that help me do this. this is 37 years i tried to get this passed. proves one thing. perseverance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. [laughter] i want to thank the president, i want to thank you, mr. president and my two senators. this is the team that can't be beat. we'll do what is right for alaska. this bill does what is right for this nation and the great land will be great again. thank you, mr. president. [applause] >> he's a pretty popular guy. pretty good. i want to ask orrin hatch, a special friend of mine. i can tell you that. somebody that spoke really well of me when it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. he was just always in there, always fighting for all of us. and did a fantastic job as chairman. orrin, say a few words, please. [applause] >> mr. president, i have to say that you're living up to everything i thought you would. you're one heck of a leader. we're all benefitting fro

thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. cohen, this is a very important hearing. i think we have seen it before with tim mcveigh. rabbi, thank you for pointing out my father's sort of i view legacy of 32 bombing missions over the nazis. for the life of me, i don't understand this mindset of hatred and revival of the nazi spirit. that i thought we crushed in world war ii. i was recently there six months ago to see the evil that was perpetrated by the nazis and my father worked to defeat. when i see skin heads and neo-nazi's, and white supremacists, i am confounded how this could happen and it's immoral and unacceptable. my grandfather was persecuted by the klan because he was catholic. hatred in all forms, whether it be radical islamist ideology or this type of hatred cannot stand in this country and we need to unite as a nation. i want to thank all three of you for your testimony. first i want to ask the chief, you had what could have been a similar charlottesville on your hands. you had 3000 people show up to protes

to you, mr. president. thank you president trump for allowing us to have you as our president and to make america great again. [ applause ] >> thank you, diane, very much, and we can say, merry christmas again. people are saying merry christmas again, and we like the sound. i want to ask lisa murkowski and dan sullivan to come up from alaska. they've been really working, and if don young is here and i think he's around here. the three of them. come here. >> dan an don -- >> dan, get over here. >> yes, sir. >> lisa? >> you get right here. >> thank you. >> you'll get my name right. >> i did, actually. >> mr. president -- i don't know if you recognize -- this is is a very historic day, of course, but it's also the beginning of winter solstice. it doesn't feel like it right now, but the winter solstice is the shortest day, darkest day, and for us in alaska we've had pretty dark days recently. but with passage of this tax bill, with passage finally almost 40 years later to allow us to open up the 1002

mr. collins: you would think so, wouldn't you? david: what happened? mr. collins: here i was as a graduate student sort of working late at night at 2:00 in the morning and there is another guy one floor above me also there in the middle of the night. he was working on d.n.a. the more i read about it and talked to him about it and began to read articles about it the more excited i got. this is an area of science that is ready to burst forward with all kinds of potential. frankly i was feeling a little bit lonely and a little bit like what i was pursuing in terms of quantum mechanics and second order differential equations that nobody could solve, maybe that wasn't going to be my way of making the world a much better place and maybe there was something else i could do. david: so you got your medical degree. mr. collins: i was trying to figure out how do i put this all together? my appreciation and love for digital information, for mathematics which is what i got out of chemistry and physics with this messy thing called medicine. where does it all come togeth

that, yield back, my chairman. >> thank you, mr. slaughter. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. brady, why didn't carried interest get removed? i know the president campaigned on it. mixed it several times and seem to be a primary interest of his, that go away. >> so, to this whole process we listened, and what we learned is people didn't want hedge fund being able to get carried interest so they don't. we heard -- we want people to make capital investments, put it at risk, work to grow that and only if they held it long-term should by be able to get cap gains. the decision was bread to put a three-year holding period to ensure that you had to put capital in, and that only if you were in that investment for the long term would you be able to benefit. that was a common ground that eliminated abuses of carried interest but preserved it for, for example, the real state partnerships in your town that invest in that local industrial park or build that strip center or that movie theater. these are long-term investment is. they're not abusing anything and they're not gaming anything. t

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. bradie just feel compelled to ask you, it's been 31 years since major tax reform has been done. there is a reason why you take so long to do major tax re form? >> so, dr. burgess, this began as chairman ross said more than five years ago. we have had 40 public hearings inies and means committee on tax reform. on these very issues. we have the markup four full days in daylight where every amendment was offer and at the end we said there are anymore you want to offer? anymore? that you want to offer? in all have been offed. that is a fair and open process. i'll just close with this. your point is i think a great one. less talking, more doing, it really is time to change this tax code. that's what we're doing. >> thank you. >> might i? there were no hearings on this particular bill. mr. ross you heard mr. mcgorge's views and your furiously scribbling notes. do you have some observations you wanted to share? >> the irony is it was leader pelosi who when she was speaker said we have to pas

thank you, mr. president, for all you are doing. [ applause ] >> first of all, what this represents is a promise that each and every one of us made to the american people last year, is a promise that is kept today. [ applause ] something this big, something this generational, something this profound, could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. mr. president, thank you for getting us over the finish line. thank you for getting us where we are. [ applause ] i just want to quickly say a thanks. because this has been such a team effort from everybody. i want to thank gary cohen and steve mnuchin from the president's economic team for what they did to get us here. [ applause ] i want to thank my partner mitch mcconnell over in the senate to getting us to where we are. and i want to thank the two chairman orrin hatch and kevin brady ch brady. thank you so much for your leadership on this [ applause ] " it is really simple the message to hard working people of america, it is on the

>> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm not going to do labor this bus i think it is interesting that as we talk about this, political terms but ms. my friend from florida just made a point to say that basically out of -- whether we agree or disgreet about long term effects and she said none of us know what the next two yearsing are going to look like. we no it could be good or bad. we don't know. i'm in the military, nix day would could have a blowup and be in another war or kite actually work like what has been said. and we also know that is a fact that some people are going as we look at this, people are going to see real factually, and i think it's interesting to wish that to be bad, but, okay, i'll take my chances. i appreciate what you have done, chairman brady. mr. neil, one of the better witnessed from your side to couple here and i appreciate that. disagree with you've but that's okay. that's why we're here. that is -- i think i would rather choose to hope on the better angels. would rather choose to

. >> thank you, mr. president,

you want to? come on. thank you very much. mr. glick: well, thank you, mr. president. it's an honor to be here. on behalf of the good people of lancaster county, my family, and, specifically, my grandmother, linda martin, well done. many of your predecessors promised that this reform was coming, but you did it. we are greatly excited about this. with the tax savings that we are going to see, we are going to put that money into home renovations. and i'm excited that you were the one that got it over the finish line. thank you, mr. president. [applause] pres. trump: the kovacs family also joins us today from ohio. that's a great state. a lot of success in ohio. adam is a veteran who works in telecommunications, lindsay works in administration admissions at a university, and they have two beautiful children. this year, they're currently in the 25% bracket and pay nearly $14,000 in taxes. our plan gives them their time back because they won't have to itemize, and it gives them nearly one-third of their money back, more than $3500 for one year. i'd like to invite the kovacs

thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator cruz. >> thank you, mr. chairman and i'd like to take a moment at the outset just to thank for holding this hearing and to say that i think your decision on the blue slips was the right decision to make. i would note as you observeded in your opening remarks that the practice of blue slips has been employed for 100 years and in that century, only two chairmen of the judiciary committee, james eastland and pat leahy have treated it as an absolute veto barring a hearing. every other chairman has agreed with the decision you made today that not returning a blue slip is a statement of a home state senator's objection to a particular nominee, but it doesn't precleed a hear collude a hearing and the committee voting on that nomination. indeed, i would note that former judiciary committee joe biden, whi which by all accounts, remains a democrat in good standing. expressed a policy quite clearly to the first president bush where he stated that a negative blue slip would be quote a significant factor to be weighed by

thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you, madam chairwoman and mr. secretary i would invite you to come to eastern connecticut and see a sizing up of apprenticeship programs seeded by federal dollars through the work force innovation fund using fitzgerald act standards which applies not only to the shipyard i wr we're recapitalizing the submarine force with the virginia class program rngs but also the supply chain, the small guys, who begin, had initial fears about taking out apprenticeship regular lations and found the process was very flexible and manageable. i think you would benefit from seeing a sizing up, dramatic sizing up, 3,000 hires this year as again we move forward to enlarge our undersea fleet and i have a letter from the eastern connecticut work force board that has data and statistics about the again tremendous success that's happening with fitzgerald act standards in place. madame chairwoman. >> without objection. >> the other question i want to jump in is a number of us have been working on work place violence trends that are happeni

thank you, mr. chairman. there are contracts between the department of defense and the very large number in australia did everything further to add a taken on notice and bring it back to the chamber. >> thank you, president. it's on about the danger associated with people since at least 2000. some certainty for the 2015th senate inquiry that stated the government commit to voluntarily acquire property no longer the purpose to the contamination. why are you still dragging the chain? thank you, mr. chairman. i would note that as i said the largest single national environmental investigation as far as we are aware, mr. president, we are investing substantial resources in the investigation and decontamination will invest in remediation management activities as required. as the senator is well aware, the coordination including what the senator has raised is implemented through the department of prime minister and cabinet in the matter is undertaken by them and the defense will assist in any way they can. >> still

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as individuals near the country travel and far to be with loved one this is holiday season, i ask that we remember our military personnel who will not be surrounded by family and friends this christmas. instead, our military men and women will be stationed all over the world to protect near and far to be with and defend the united states of america. there are about 1.3 million military personnel on active duty who serve in more than 170 countries. while it is not easy to be away from family, it is especially difficult during the holidays. mr. speaker, events like america's red cross holiday mail for heroes card signing campaign lets our troops know that we're keeping them in our houghts and prayers. since since twetch, holiday mail for heroes program -- since 2007, since twetch, holiday mail for heroes program -- since 2007, holiday hero program has expressed well wishes to service members, veterans, and families. last year the red cross cards ted thousands of to troops acros