mr. thompson. mr. thompson: thank you very much, madam speaker and i thank 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 since the world watched in horror as americans violently stormed the citadel of our democracy to stop congress from carrying out its constitutional duty. with the presidential election. over the last six months, at every turn 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. unfortunately, 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 th

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

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

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

i noted our ranking member, mr. thompson was with us earlier. but right now, i would like to call on mr. scott for his testimony. mr. scott of georgia, but i always say the younger scott, right? >> fair enough. >> scott the younger. >> fair enough. thank you, and i want to talk briefly about the supply chain a little bit. i can't talk about this without the american farmer watching. the american farmer gets less at the grocery store. probably even less than that right now, the increased cost of transportation and what is happening with inflation at the grocery store. the american farmer is not seeing that revenue. i went to the local grocery store on this past weekend. i passed over the state because it simply cost way too much. i looked at the pork, and was pork was unbelievably high, and i ended up with $5 worth of chicken that i think i paid 7 or $8 for, and so when we talk about supply chain, it's not limited to the farmer. the american consumer is feeling the brunt of this when they walk into the grocery store, and i want you to know as the

let me now recognize the gentleman from california mr. thompson to inquire. jothank 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 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. sub

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

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: 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

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: 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

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

. >> 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

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.

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

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

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

. >> so, mr. chairman, you're chairman of the select committee, bennie thompson, has said publicly that there's supposed to be a meeting between select committee democrats and the department of justice to see how willing they are to cooperate with your investigation. has that meeting happened yet? >> well, our chairman, bennie thompson, wants to make sure that we are coordinating with the justice department and has made outreach to the department. as a committee, we have not yet met with the justice department. i'm not sure whether our chairman has any discussions of his own. but as we have in other investigations, we want to make sure that we're working collaboratively with the department, that nothing we do, for example, interferes with their investigation and prosecution of suspects. at the same time, they possess information that will be of great value to us, so we need to have an open line of communication. >> what's your sense of what the most important piece of evidence that the doj may hav

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

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

was mac he's not known as mr bipartisan on the democrat side? ida. he's not known as mr bipartisan on the democrat side?— he's not known as mr bipartisan on the democrat side? no, he's not and i've known the democrat side? no, he's not and i've known the _ the democrat side? no, he's not and i've known the chairman _ the democrat side? no, he's not and i've known the chairman for - the democrat side? no, he's not and i've known the chairman for many . i've known the chairman for many years. he is an outspoken partisan democrat, but he's also a nice guy. if anybody spent time watching the hearings today, he came across as being very fair and very reasonable. yes, did the speaker take a risk? yes, did the speaker take a risk? yes, but did he report himself well today? i think he did. i yes, but did he report himself well today? i think he did.— today? ithink he did. i agree. i think one _ today? ithink he did. i agree. i think one thing _ today? ithink he did. i agree. i think one thing is _ today? ithink he did. i agree. i think one thing is

judy: celebrating mr. heinrich. we are in awe of your energy. and in another note, when my interview with bennie thompson, i asked him about raising cases of mississippi, which has the lowest vaccination rate in the country. this is what he had to say. >> our governor refused to take the fema money to help, to go out and identify those vulnerable areas. i have four counties in my district out of 26 where we didn't have a single vaccination site. judy: you can find congressman thompson's for response on our website, pbs.org/newshour. i am judy woodruff. please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding has been provided by -- ♪ >> consumer cellular, johnn & johnson. financial services firm raymond james. bnsf railway. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, demratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org. the target foundation, committed to creating the change required to shift systems and accelerate equitable economic opportunity. and with the ongoing suppor

ranking member thompson was with this earlier paired right now i would like to call on mr. scott for his testimony paid mr. scott of georgia i always said the younger scott. >> fair enough. thank you. want to talk briefly about the supply chain just a little bit. i cannot talk about this without reminding the american public, the american farmer gets a little less than 10 cents of every dollar you're store.g at the grocery probably even less than that right now. the increased cost of transportation what is happening with inflation at the grocery store, the american farmer is not seeing that revenue. out to the local grocery store this past week and intending to buy steak i passed over the stake is simply cost way too much. i looked at the pork and it was unbelievably high. i ended up with $5 with of chicken i paid sevensu or $8 for. we talk about supply chain is not limited to the farmer for the american consumer is feeling the brunthe of this when they walk into the grocery store print i want you to know asas a consumer is not seeing the price increases you are seeing. we

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.

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. latta: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield to my good friend, the gentleman from michigan, one of the co-leads on this piece of legislation, five minutes at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my two good friends for allowing me this opportunity. i rise today in support of h.r. 3119, the energy emergency leadership act. i'd like to thank my good friend from illinois, mr. bobby rush, for continuing to work with me to get this bill across the finish line. this is a third congress in a row we have introduced this bill, each time passing the energy committee with unanimous bipartisan support. and frankly, given what we have seen just over the last few months in disruptions to our energy supply, including the colonial pipeline attack, it is well past due for this important energy security measure to be enacted in law. . the health and safety of the american public depend upon the reliable and uninterrupted supply of fuels an