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

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: 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

so that's what i think what mr. thompson is talking about. and another example, lake ontario two catastrophic floods in the last four years and i think you know that because you're a regional administrator up there. it caused hundreds of millions of damage to lake front property and communities. yet, it didn't qualify for disaster declaration. so i would very much like to spend more time on this, perhaps, in another setting with the chairman and maybe you can sit down with us, because this is a very serious problem. obviously, the big communities, expensive communities, the beach front communities, when a hurricane hits, obviously, that's a disaster. but what happens to the small towns from an economic standpoint, the disasters are stunning and they can't recover from them. and i'd like to ask about that going forward, fema should have some flexibility with regard to that. >> ranking member katko, we really have an opportunity right now as we've learned so much in our response to covid-19 and seeing the impacts that our underserved communitie

mace: thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to thank ms. thompson. i was a state lawmaker for three years before i came to congress. i represented the first congressional district of south carolina. south carolina has had its own history, very bad history with black south carolinians, black and brown african-americans. i recently took a vote to remove one that wrote the dred scott opinion, black and brown and african-americans could not become citizens of the united states of america, i voted to remove his bust. someone like hampton who encouraged the murder of over 150 black south carolinians during his run for governor. so i appreciate your comments about the 1960's. i was not around then, but i watched and read a lot of the history and seen the videos and seen the moments of violence against black america. so i applaud your work on that. my understanding is that you were elected in 1972 in texas, is that correct? ms. thompson: that is correct. ms. mace: i applaud you for making history, i would imagine, in texas and being a strong voice for black

mr. thompson, mr. thompson is that okay? is that ok? >> >> if it is the. >> vice chair, alarm go over because he is the vice this one, chair, or let him go with this one. go ahead, go ahead mr. gardner. mr. congressman. >> thank >> you, mr. torres. and i thought thank you mister taurus you, mister, and i chairman, you are thought you were gonna call me going to call the aid a new yorker which new yorker, which of course, would of course been would have been deeply insulting deeply assaulted. , but if you thank you didn't compared compare me to mr. garb to me to mr. reno, that would've been bahrain, which would have worse. i been wet. i appreciate you appreciate you organizing organizing this important this report hearing to discuss how and this we can strengthen the hearing and, how we can department of homeland security and confront new and strengthen homeland security, emerging threats and and confront new challenges. as we know, the emerging threats and department was challenges. as you know the established in department 2002, in the

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

mr. thompson: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. desaulnier, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that mr. desaulnier will vote yes on the amendments en bloc 1. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. jeffries: as the member designated by congresswoman grace meng, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that congresswoman meng will vote yea on amendments en bloc 1. as the member designated by congressman steven horsford, pursuant to h.res. 8, i inform the house that congressman horsford will vote yea on amendments en bloc number 1. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. correa: madam speaker, as the member designated by congress member napolitano, pursuant to house resolution 8, i inform the house that congress member napolitano will vote yes on the amendment en bloc 1. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. evans: madam speaker, as the member designated by mr. lawson of florida, pursuan

thompson: i'm not aware of him making that statement. mr. bernal: are you talking about application or a ballot? representative: a preprinted mail-in ballot. mr. bernal: application yes, ballot no. representative: with respect to the assertions earlier, the chairman put in videos and statements from texas constituents. i would ask to insert into the record a document that i have outlined a number of examples of voter fraud, including statements from black witnesses who testified about voter fraud. chair raskin:. . without objection -- chair raskin: without objection. representative: demetrius quoted , you are making a mockery of my suffrage to use it to your own advantage to keep my seat. it is not about the people. aubrey taylor, election's are being stolen, get ready to lose the state. jerry wayne munro, my community is suffering they cheated. he said he witnessed ballot harvesters taking $22,000 in pay, that they were soliciting nursing homes, he testified that a voting location had spare ids available for voters if they did not have one.

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

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

mr. thompson: i rise today to address the growing crisis on our southern border. despite the rhetoric, the families and children are arieivelg at our southern border in greater numbers than in past decades. june saw 450% increase in border environs counters. i have seen more than 1.1 million illegal crossings. customs ann border patrol has seized more fentanyl than in all 2020 and higher positive activity covid-19 rates and undo the hard work. the biden border crisis is turning deadlier. and this is a direct result from the biden administration and vice president harris she claimed and the numbers don't lie and the migrants, little progress has been made. securing our borders is the first step in much needed reform and this will allow us to address that and best chance of a prosperous future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. gentlewoman is recog

mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, the house agriculture committee has held countless discussions on ways we can empower our farm families and build a robust rural economy. earlier this month we made good on our word. i'm proud to work with all members on our committee and support the broadband internet connections for rural america act, which provides significant investments into the deployment and development of broadband to rural america. this legislation reflects many of our shared priorities and shared work, and in many ways is similar to the bipartisan legislation i introduced earlier this year. i want to thank all of ow members -- of the members of the agriculture committee. i know this issue is so personal to each of us and the constituents we represent. the house agriculture committee is considered one of the most bipartisan committees in the house. this bill is proof we can reach agreement during extraordinary times. i hope we can keep this bipartisan spirit as infrastructure talks continues. t

. >> are you sure, mr. torres? >> yes. happy to -- >> okay. thanks. mr. thompson, is that okay? >> since he is the vice chair i will let him go with this one. go ahead, mr. gottheimer. >> thank you, mr. torres. i thought, mr. chairman, you were going to call me a new yorker which would of course have been deeply insulting, as long as you compared me to mr. garbarino that would even be worse. i just appreciate you organizing this important hearing to discuss how we can strengthen the department of homeland security to better confront new and emerging threats and challenges. as we know the department was established in 2002 in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on september 11th as was just mentioned with a necessary focus on countering threats mostly from foreign terrorist groups. today nearly two decades later the threat landscape looks different. for instance, we have seen the rise of a diffuse, domestic and homegrown terrorist movement, especially white supremacists and racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists which director wray have testified were the primary

thompson is talking about and another example, lake ontario, he's had two catastrophic floods in the last four years. catastrophic floods cross hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to the property, yet it didn't qualify for disaster reclamation so i would like to spend more time on this perhaps for the setting. this is a serious problem and big communities, expensive communities and beachfront communities when a hurricane hits, obviously that's a disaster what happens from the economic view, they can't recover so i'd like to talk more about that going forward because i think we must should have flexibility in respect to the . >> ranking member, we have an opportunity right now as we've learned so much in our response to covet seeing the impactsun underserved communities have, we do have the opportunity right now to reflect on that and see what we can do to incorporate better methodologies into the way we determine disasters going forward so i continue to have that discussion, i recognize that from my time in colorado as well where these rural communities have a harder time meeti

. >> let me recognize the gentleman from california, mr. thompson. >> thank you mister chairman, thank you for holding today's hearing. madam secretary, thank you for joining us today. and thank you for your comments on the green book. i want to just know that it's the first green book we've seen in four years. madam secretary, when it comes to paying for infrastructure, one of the simplest and easiest and least controversial tools at our disposal is making sure that everyone pays the taxes that they already owe. now we know from the work that the investigative process have done, and from your agency also that this isn't the case. just this past week, we saw a revealing article in the new york times about not only people not paying their taxes but the use of waivers in order to create this convoluted web of partnerships that allow people to avoid paying their taxes. what a subcommittee hearing on this matter just recently and i think everybody agrees that people need to pay their taxes. i'm pleased that the president has put forward in his

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. fallon: democrats against the voter i.d. bill at the time and that is completely out of step with texans because texans believe for voter i.d., 74-75. representative thompson, do you believe the current legislation being proposed in texas has an adverse effect on turn youth? >> i do. >> voter i.d. in 2011. it was fabricated because from 2008 last time we had a presidential election in texas that didn't have voter i.d., turn out went up and our population did rise. but still outpaced 2-1 and the same doom and gloom we are hearing now how it's going to affect voter turn youth. i would argue you are wrong now. mr. chair, i yield back. mr. raskin: thank you for your reflections and chair of the full committee, chairman ma lonnie for her questions. mrs.maloney: thank you, mr. chairman. this hearing is not the first time that the oversight committee has investigated voter suppression efforts in texas. in march, 2019, my predecessor launched an investigation into the state's failed attempt to purge nearly 100,000 voters from the te

mr. secretary, first, this is my moment to also thank mr. thompson for his sort of dogged focus on telehealth, and it worked. we did something amusing a couple weeks ago. we looked at the previous couple years of memos and those things about telemedicine and how skeptical many of our staff and brothers and sisters were now that we've lived through it, and we realized what a plus it was. i desperately hope you'll join us in getting it so it's extended, it just doesn't come to an end, the expansion once the pandemic is declared over. and, mr. secretary, one other thing. and this is sort of the big picture. both in reading your budget over the weekend but just even our own conversation we're having today, main many of us talk about health care and affordability in a light of who gets subsidized, who does not get subsidized instead of what we pay. and i will beg of you, start thinking about what we pay. because over the next 30 years, the hundred plus trillion dollars of u.s. sovereign debt that will be on the books in today's dollars, 67% of th

mr. representative, thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it. let me start with the latest twist, the authorization for the sergeant-at-arms to come track all of you down, try to bring you back to the state. what powers do they have to do that, what is your plan over the course of the next week as they try to figure out how to bring you all back to texas to get the session started again. >> well, thank you, kasie. the sergeant of arms has the authority to make arrangements for our return and possible detention by our state police, that would be department of public safety, there will be paperwork like a warrant, have some civil demand for return to austin, and then they can go pursue the requests like investigations. unfortunately, they're going to be limited to state of texas. it was tried before in 2003, troopers tried to enforce paperwork in state of oklahoma, were turned away. of course, the same troopers tried to prosecute or use demands to bring back senators from new mexico. they were denied by state of new mexico. i guess if they want to

mr. gonzalez, is recognized for five minutes. mr. gonzalez: thank you, madam chair. welcome, secretary fudge. my friend. good to see you. we miss you in cleveland, but cleveland is still very proud of you and grateful for your continued service to your country. i want to talk to you -- start off by talking about something we have spoken about in private which is veterans' homelessness. that's something that's a big issue in our country. certainly a big plyor of mine -- >> we'll leave the hearing in order to fulfill our long-term commitment to live coverage of congress. you can continue watching the hearing live online at c-span.org. the house about to gavel in. today expecting debate on several bills including one that would allow the federal trade commission to sue in federal court on behalf of victims of consumer fraud or scams. votes expected late afternoon. live to the u.s. house. the precious entity of our time with friends, everywhere we are we find ourselves in your compassionate p

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate stand in recess until 1:55 p.m. today. i further ask that all postcloture time on the wilcox nomination expire at 2:45 p.m. today. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. durbin: i have 12 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the north and majority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. durbin: mr. president, yesterday congressman ben any thompson called to order the first hearing of a special committee that most of our republican colleagues tried to block. the select committee to investigate the january 6 attack on the united states capitol. it continues to amaze me that an independent bipartisan committee to investigate the worst assault on our democracy since the war of 1812, an assault that left one police officer

mr. chairman, thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate your time and certainly hope to have you back. i know it will be a busy couple of weeks for you, appreciate it. >>> we have a lot more ahead coming up on the show including president biden moving up the final date for u.s. withdrawal. our richard engel live on the ground in kabul as the taliban keeps making advances but next up, whether you need a booster shot to protect against the delta variant. why some experts are saying hold off on that as first responders push for others to get vaccinated at all, period. >> i would equate what's happening in my community right now as a mass casualty event that's happening in very slow motion. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literally riding together. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack of friends. can you help me out here? no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year.