a legislative fix, i'm sure mr. thompson and i can draft something different. now that it's happened, i think it's going to happen again. it may see it more. it's really important that the initial assessment report that was done in september of 2020 about covid, hasn't been update ed. it you tell me the initial assessment report? do you plan to update it? >> so fema did an initial report prior to me getting here that really started to capture what i would call the initial lessons learned from our response. we're undergoing a more thorough assessment of the overall response as far as fema's role is concerned. so we will be releasing something when that is completed. >> do you have an idea of the timeline? >> i don't, but i'm happy to get back to you with where we're at in the progress. >> i think it's going to be important. there was a sea change nationwide. i want to make sure we're giving you the tools we need. i hope that's what we see. >> one of the witness was from my county. he testified to the struggles of many officials faced. he specifically testified t

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member for yielding. and i thank the gentlelady for her sponsorship of this. i -- mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 4300, the veterans in parks act. across the country, our national parks provide endless opportunities for americans to learn about our nation's history and culture. the national parks generate opportunity which encourages visitors to spend time outdoors. to the allegany railroad to valley forge, pennsylvania is home to 19 national parks and seven heritage areas, providing these benefits to pennsylvanians throughout the commonwealth and visitors alike. as representative of pennsylvania's 15th congressional district, it continues to be an honor to serve our veterans, active duty service men and women and proud military families. this legislation would simply give veterans and gold star families free access for life to public lands and also provide free annual passes to active duty service members. studies show outdoor recreation is an effective way to decrease symptoms of ptsd and h

benny thompson, the chair of the committee, called mr. kinzinger a fine representative and the type of person who would be good for this committee. speaker pelosi a couple of days ago joked that everyone else seems to think he would be good. the bottom line is this is a decision for the speaker and the speaker alone to make and she's not given any indication that she will add new members to the committee. the eight appointees of hers are a quorum. they will have their first hearing on tuesday. and the reason for all of this, the speaker and many democrats want to bolster the bipartisan credentials of this committee to maximize the chances that the american public trusts its finding. you recently had congressman marc veasey on. i want to play some of what he said about that. >> we want this to be something that all americans can have faith in, we want all americans to see democrats and republicans on this panel asking real questions, not being sensational or silly, like oftentimes you'll see jordan do and how you see banks, when he says, y

bennie thompson. mr. chairman, grateful for your time today. when you listen as you did right there to the former president over the weekend doubling down, tripling down, i don't know what to call it, on the big lie in the context of your investigation, do you feel any burden to look back to bring people in to document, again, unfortunately, that the election was fire? trump had every chance to challenge it. he lost in court. do you feel that because of what he's saying and is going to continue to say that you need that as part of the record, or will you start with the morning of january 6th and go forward? >> well, you know, thank you for having me, by the way. the charge to our select committee is to look at the facts and circumstances surrounding january 6th. to some degree we'll look at information sharing, intelligence sharing. we'll look at the collective data that we've been able to pull together. and go from there. part of what you are hearing now is the misinformation. so much of that misinformation started before january 6th and it co

if mr. thompson joins us, we will go back to him. i welcome our panel of witnesses. the first witness is gary. he served as the acting assistant for terry for the u.s. department of homeland security countering weapons of mass destruction office. he previously served as the acting assistant secretary of cwmd from october 2019 to july of 2020. prior to his role within cwmd, he assumed the duties of the u.s. coast guard deputy commandant formation support deputy, personnel readiness in 2018, and has experienced working within the transportation security administration. he has also served as an active duty coast guard officer for more than 20 years and the subcommittee appreciates him for his service. mr. rasicot, thank you for joining us today. our second witness is chris for curry. he served as the director of homeland and justice division within the u.s. government accountability office. in his role, mr. curry leads gao's investigative work on emergency management, disaster response and recovery, and management of the department of homeland security. mr. curry began

thompson for a hearing next week. but the leader may want to rescind those names. i'm ready to have them be accepted on the floor of the house. so we'll see. we'll see. i mean, there are some members who would like to be on it, but we'll see. yes, ma'am? >> can you elaborate more specifically what actions caused you to -- >> i won't. i'll just give you their statements. i'll give you their statements. one of them, i think, was sort of the -- mr. banks was that the biden administration was responsible for january 6th. there was no biden administration on january 6th. let's not go into that. have you -- are you up-to-date on their statements? i would like you to see them, because they completely just make it impossible for them to exercise judgment. again, this is about seeking the truth. and it's about not -- as i said in my comment with respect for the integrity of the investigation, with concern that the american people want to know the truth, and in light of statements and actions taken by them, i could not appoint them. i said that while this may be unprecedente

and mr. thompson, which will be starting on the 20th, i believe is that person. another thing that i thought it was very important to do is just communicating different-based things to the community. we have updates about our office hours, especially now that some of the covid restrictions have lifted. we sent out a communication flier to all residents, letting them know the property office number, how to contact services, how to contact the police department for emergency and non-emergencies. how to get in contact with our tenant association, and that's something we will continue to do just as reminders to the community. another thing that i thought was extremely important to do as we were here, was to get out additional notices for rent relief. we definitely have gotten some positive feedback about that, and residents are responding back with the need assistance. and because i have already gone through the state program process and started receiving funds, it was important for me to get the ball rolling here and start helping some of our residents with their in

is constrained not to entertain the request unless it has been cleared by the floor and leadership mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house i recognize the anniversary of the signing of americans with disabilities act .... i've experienced firsthand how with the right tools and accessibility, americans can live a life of independence, self-sustainability and pride. the americans with disabilities act is a monumental piece of legislation opening the doors to millions of american who was a disability whether it be physical, learning, cognitive or any other. whether it is protection from discrimination in the workplace, additional support in the school, or added acome daitions in our public venue, the a.d.a. provides support to better empower those individuals living with disabilities. while we saw this landmark legislation signed into law 31 years ago today, we must continue to advocate for the rights of americans living with disabilities. the a.d.a. is an american milestone for americans living with disabilities but there's still more work to be done. we can all con

i have no doubt that mr. thompson will do the work that needs to be done. too bad it's not independent commission. still have the opportunity to do that if the leaders stand up and lead. but in the meantime we'll move forward with talented investigators and legislators who want to make sure this never happens again. >> and i can sort of see -- republicans very good at showmanship, not governing, their jobs, but showmanship. if he decides to have six empty seats on one side of the commission, reality is the commission will still be bipartisan because liz cheney is there, a republican. if he fills the seats, only one more democrat than republicans, nancy pelosi gave up one democrat seat to liz cheney. is the argument of bipartisanship moot because of that? >> i think it is. and because again of their actions. this is the mr. mccarthy who deputyized representative katko to set up and negotiate with thompson the independent commission, would be equally populated by both parties, equal subpoena power, everything set in place. then mr. mccarthy pulled the rug out

let me now recognize the gentleman from california mr. thompson to inquire. thank you mister chairman. thank you mister secretary for joining us. it's good to see you back. i have two questions, i will give them both to you, you can respond. first, i would like to stop -- talk about telemedicine. one of the silver linings in the covid-19 pandemic. i'm glad to found the's telemedicine caucus. telemedicine is available to insure all americans. it was my bipartisan legislation that was signed and law at the start of covid that authorized medicare to expand tally health for the duration of the pandemic. unfortunately, the telehealth it is going to expire once we get out of this emergency. i introduced another piece of legislation along with my friend on this committee, that will ensure that patients can continue to add telehealth services. can you talk about how you view the next steps for telehealth and how does the administration envision including telehealth into the medicare program? second, we have got this huge number of ongoing health issues in our country

thompson to inquire. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary, for joining us. it's good to see you back in the ways and means space. and i've got two questions and i'll give them both and you can respond. first i'd like to start talking about telemedicine. it's been one of the silver lining in the covid-19 pandemic. i'm proud to have founded the congressional telehealth caucus which is a bipartisan group and working to ensure high quality telehealth services are available to all americans. and it was bipartisan legislation signed into law the start of covid that authorize medicare to expand telehealth for the duration of the pandemic. unfortunately the telehealth flexibility currently in place are going to expire once we get out of this public health emergency. i have introduced another piece of legislation along with my friend mr. schweikert on this committee that will ensure that patients can continue accessing telehealth services. so my first question would be good you talk about how you view the next steps for telehealth, now does the administration envisio

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote no on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. moolenaar: thank you, mr. speaker. as the member designated by mr. aderholt of alabama, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. aderholt will vote yes on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from missouri seek recognition? mrs. wagner: mr. speaker, as the member designated by mr. graves of missouri, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. graves will vote aye on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, as the member designated by chairwoman carolyn maloney of new york, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that chairwoman maloney will vote no on the motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: for what purp

mr. thompson. >> thank you very much, madam speaker. i thank you for your steadfast commitment to getting to the truth behind the january 6th domestic terrorist attack on the capitol. next week will mark six months since the world watched in horror as americans violently stormed the citadel of our democracy to try and stop congress from carrying out our constitutional duties to certify a presidential election. over the last six months, at every turn, you've been laser focused on doing whatever it takes to get to the bottom and to deliver the truth for the american people. you met republicans, more than half way in an effort to stand up in a bipartisan independent commission, the reason i say that is i participated in negotiating what was to be negotiated and you did a good job. i thought from the standpoint it should have been approved. we passed it in the house. unfortunately we could not get the senate to do likewise. so we come to where we are today. your source of the select committee and the approval by the house in doing so and th

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate the career of dr. brian toth and spent 35 years in education and passionate and dedicated. he started his career in 1983 as a math and computer teacher in the altoona johns town school system. he taught in five school systems and reached the rank of september. and proud graduate of penn state university, st. fran is university. his dedication to his students and community to which he worked is admireable. aside for serving as a superintendent, he is former president of the pel school administrator's and a governing board member where he represented i.u. 8 and 9 and former vice president and a former p.a. investment on the american association of school administrators, governing board. the former president of pennsylvania study council and vice chair of the community education council. thank you, brian for your continued service in education and dedication to your students. enjoy your retirement. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from

>> we've had conversation with mr. bordeaux. >> police also needed to have a conversation with kelli's boyfriend, justin thompson. little did they know that justin had a huge new lead waiting for them about the night kelli disappeared. >>> coming up -- >> you get vibes from people sometimes. i could see it. it was weird. >> a new possible suspect. >> he is the last person that is seen with kelli. that was very concerning to us. >> why something in his past would trigger even more alarm bells. >> it certainly was a red flag. >> when "deep in the woods" continues. woods" continues. and one that's forever wild. but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure. ♪ ♪ you get both. introducing the wildly civilized all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l. ♪ ♪ don't settle. start your day with secret. all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l. secret stops odor- causing sweat 3x more. and the provitamin b5 formula is gentle on skin. with secret, outlast anything. no sweat. secret. all strength. no sweat. (vo) convent

mr. thompson. mr. thompson: thank you very much, madam speaker and i tank you for your steadfast commitment to getting to the truth behind the january 6 domestic terrorist attack on the capitol. next week will mark six months sibs the world watched in horror as americans violently stormed the citadel of our democracy to stop congress from carrying out its constitutional duty. over the last six months you have been laser focused on doing whatever it takes to get to the bottom and deliver the truth to the american people. you met with republicans more than halfway in an effort to stand up in a bipartisan independent commission. the reason i say that is i participated in negotiating what was to be negotiated and you did a good job. i thought from the standpoint, it should have been approved. we passed it in the house. but we could not get the senate to do likewise. so we have come to where we are today. your choice of this select committee and the approval by the house in doing so and the membership behin

mr. thompson: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote yes on the amendments en bloc 5. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. jeffries: as the member designated by congresswoman grace meng, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house that congresswoman meng will vote yea on the amendmentses en bloc number 5. as the member designated by congress member steven horsford, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house congressman horsford will vote yea on amendments en bloc number 5. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does -- the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. stanton: as the member designated by mrs. kirkpatrick, pursuant to h. res. 8, i inform the house that mrs. kirkpatrick will vote yes on amendments en bloc number 5. as the member designated by mr. grijalva, pursuant to h. res. 8, i inform the house that mr. gr

mr. thompson: very good. mr. browne, ms. kennedy, thank you for your time. madam chair, my time has expired. chair plaskett: for the ranking member of the full committee, you get len yhency -- leniency in more ways than one. congresswoman kirkpatrick. mrs. kirkpatrick: thank you, chairwoman. i thank you for having this hearing. i have a multigenerational family of ranchers. we had an enormous ranch. and ranched cattle. it would always be there as a kid. it's interesting to me that times have changed. so anyway, my question is for mr. shannon. you know, livestock producers are serving local markets, often have a difficult time getting a market-ready product produced, requiring meat slaughtering and processing as well as aggregation of local meat products for sale at the wholesale market. so can you describe some of the challenges facing local meat producers and how that impacts business decisions? mr. shannon: yes. thank you for that question. one of the biggest things that we face at this time -- we've been using a usda inspected processor for many years and

i salute our chairman, benny thompson, and mr. katko, the ranking member. even though it was something that was bipartisan and yielded on many points to republicans in order to get bipartisanship, the leader of the republican party whipped and voted against the commission. we had the votes. 35 members on the republican side voted with us to send it to the senate. it was very hopeful we could pass it there. we had seven republican votes but not 10. we needed 10 to get up to 60. hopefully one day that will still -- that opportunity will still present itself. but because it was not possible in this time frame, last month we passed our legislation for a select committee. the select committee is bipartisan and it has a quorum and it will do the job it sets out to do and that is to investigate the causes and -- of what happened on january 6, to find out how it was organized, who paid for it, who messaged to get those people here for the assault on the capitol. as you well know over 100 people were injured, some died. it was a horrible, horrible thing. i'll never

thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i rise today to recognize july 20 as national pennsylvania day. pennsylvania's nickname, the keystone state, represents a central role we played in shaping our nation. our great commonwealth was the second state to join the uniand continued -- union and continued to lead the way to making history. the first capital of our nation, many great decisions were made in philadelphia. it was there our founding fathers authored the declaration of independence and constitution, forming this great nation. pennsylvania served an important role in key military operations. valley forge tells the story of sacrifice, leadership, grit, and determination. when our rag tag military was attempting to defy history and defeat a global superpower. the battle of gettysburg marked a turning point of the civil war, providing the union with the momentum to bring our great nation back together. our state continues to carry the legacy of many firsts. from the american -- first american flag. benjam

chair now recognizes the chairman, mr. thompson. >> thank you very much, madam chair. let me thank the witnesses for their testimony. mr. lajoye, are you satisfied the present uptick in travel that tsa will be able to accommodate demand our requirements going forward to address this? >> i am, mr. chairman. so year to date we've hired about 4700 officers. just this last two weeks, we track at every two weeks ago we brought on almost 500 officers, and we are on pace to meet the 6000 number that we know we needed through the summer. but again, i do recognize that we are facing the same challenges that many are in competing for talent and so this is really been a focus of ours because while i'm confident we have plans in place for the summer i also recognize that as a get closer to the fall and winter as business travel continues as well as international travel picks up we're going to have to continue working with the airlines to make sure that in the fall and winter continue adequate resources in our airports. >> so as you compete for taleno you make some analysis of why

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today with a heavy heart to remember former senator mikencey of wyoming. the senator was an exemplary statesman, whether promoting a responsible budget as chairman of the senate budget committee or fighting for wyoming's energy sector -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order, please. the gentleman recognized -- is recognized, when you are ready. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today with a heavy heart to remember former senator mike enzi of wyoming. senator enzi was an exemplary statesman, whether promoting a responsible budget as chairman of the budget committee, or fighting for wyoming's energy sector, he was always putting wyomingites first. he served two terms as a mayor, time in the wyoming legislature and four terms in the senate. the senator was a problem solver, always willing to work with others to get the job done. in his 24 years on capitol hill, he had more than 100 of his bills signed into law by four different u.s

mr. thompson: i rise to celebrate the career of don parrish. he is a champion and friend of the u.s. agriculture industry through and through. his legacy spans a variety of poppics but particularly for his work on the clean water act and waters of the u.s. his integral role as loader -- leader on this topic led to him being named as a top five player. anyone who knows john knows his deep love for his work and family, whom he feectly brags on. the u.s. agriculture industry is better today buzz of his fierce dedication and advocacy. i thank you for your partnership and the work you have done to improve the lives of america's farmers and ranchers. we wish you a fulfilling retime. you've earned every bit of it. thank you, madam speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. i'm pleased to see that this week we are taking up h.r. 67 #, the phone act. this bipartisan piece of legislation is commons

thompson, thank you. mr. davis, who is our final representative, is now on zoom. representative davis, you are recognized for your five months of questioning. rep. davis: thank you very much, mr. chairman, for calling this very important hearing. i certainly want to thank all of our witnesses, especially those who came all the way from texas, and i don't really care how they got there, whether it was by plane, train, even if they had to walk, i think they would have been there just the same. i thank them for taking their time and for coming. as a matter of fact, i called them i and -- i called them my heroes and sheros. dr. king was fond of saying that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. and so, even though we have been talking about texas, but there are many places throughout the country where there are efforts to suppress, deny, delay, and take away the rights of people to vote. and certainly not to enhance them, which is what it seems like we really ought to be doing, is trying to make it easier for people to participate in public decision-mak

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize pennsylvania's 15th congressional district, 2021 congressional art contest winner, isabella. the annual art competition organized by the congressional institute showcases the art work of high school students from across every congressional district in the country. isabella just graduated from richland high school earlier this month. her art work entitled america's working woman is an oil paint on canvas. her work was selected by an independent panel of judges from 70 entries, the largest group of students to participate in the 15th district's art work competition. all the winning pieces will be displayed for the year in the cannon tunnel where they will be viewed by members of congress, staff, and many visitors of the capitol every day. congratulations and congratulations to all those who entered in pennsylvania 15th and throughout the nation who participate in this competition and express their creative skills. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balanc

we brought to this floor with mr. katko and mr. thompson agreeing on the process, offering to the house an equally divided five-five commission. the five being totally in the republican -- republicans being totally in the hand of the minority leader. we brought to the floor the subpoena power being equally divided between the parties and having to cooperate in accomplishing the issuance of a subpoena. and very frankly although there was some discussion of it, there was no doubt that the staff would have been resolved question of being equal staff on the republican and democratic side would have been resolved in the senate. i see the gentleman shaking his head. i can tell him i know it would have been resolved. period. and the republican party objected to that commission. equally divided 5-5. with the minority leader strenuously lobbying against it being passed in the united states senate. it was not passed in the united states senate. the press asked me if it's defeated in the senate what are you going to do? i said we are going to

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? mr. balderson: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. amodei, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. amodei will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? ms. underwood: as the member designated by mr. rush, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. rush will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. moolenaar: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. aderholt, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. aderholt will vote yes on s. 1910. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from virginia seek recognition? ms. wexton: thank you, madam speaker. as the member designated by mr. mceachin, pursuant to h.r

and it was bipartisan in terms of the committee and i salute our chairman benny thompson and mr. cavco the ranking member. even though it was something that was bipartisan and yielded on many points to the republicans in order to achieve bipartisanship, the leadership of the republican party in the house opposed and whipped against the bipartisan commission. still in all we have the votes. 35 members of the republican side voted with us to send it to the senate. it was very hopeful that we could pass it there. we had seven republican votes. not ten. and we needed ten to get up to 60. hopefully one day that will still -- that opportunity will still present itself. but because it was not possible in this time frame, last month we passed our legislation for select committee. a select committee is bipartisan and it has a quorum and it will do the job it set out to do. and that is to investigate the causes and that of what happened on january 6th, to find out how it was organized, who paid for it, who messaged to get those people here for the assault on the capitol. as you know, well

it is a joy -- mr. lejoy, are you satisfied with the uptick in travel that tsa will be able to accommodate. going forward, to address this? >> i am. we have hired 4700 officers. we have brought on almost 500 officers, we are on pace to meet the 6000 number that we note we need -- know we need through the summer. we are facing the same challenges that many are in competing for talent. it has been a focus of ours. while we are confident we have plans in place for the summer, as business travel continues as well as international travel picks up, we are going to have to continue working with the airlines to make sure we have continued to have adequate resources. >> as you compete for talent, do you make analysis of white tso -- why tsos leave tsa? >> what our internal scores show us is that our officers are dedicated. and they leave because of pay. -- they leave because of pay. there are other organizations that would love to have a tsa employee or for them. they are leaving because of inadequate pay. >> a