Earl Blumenauer: “I hope that we stop defending east Germany from western Russia.”

These things aren't going to get enacted into law, they are not going to make a difference to the American people. It is a distraction, it is a sideshow.

We have $163 billion a year that is not paid by the top 1 percent of American taxpayers.

I find this hearing very meaningful.

But reauthorizing the programs without improving them is a missed opportunity.