card company will notify you as a credit card holder if there's some charge that's an outlier, you know, you say some charge made down in brazil and you're not in brazil. >> i was here. >> end you were here. they call you up. did you make this charge? is this something that you brought. they ask you. you can either authorize or not authorize. but they know. because they've got pretty sophisticated computer system. the thought is maybe we can do some of this is medicare and medicaid and some of the other programs. now that gets into prompt payment, how long is the providerrer -- how long does it take for the provider to be reimbursed and so forth. on the surface, i think it has some appeal. they tried to see what degree that might work here.

: the real time data sharing that he's talking about, looking at an average patterns of the way they identify the senate credit-card is 90 percent of my charges are from washington d.c. and suddenly something shows up

or i have never been up broad and something shows up, they find it -- that's what we're trying to do with sharing data with the justice department and watching billing patterns just for instance in florida a 10% of the patients getting home health care live in the state of florida. 95 percent of the patients who have $100,000 or more in bill leyna of home health care live in florida. so we matched those quickly and kind of went after it but that's exactly the kind of a -- i hope to learn what the credit cards are doing. >> i encourage you to pursue this aggressively. i know i am being corny about this but it's the taxpayers' money here. >> you bet. >> we can stop a lot of this brittle enhance credibility of the program. >> getting out in front of it is absolutely, right. >> as you have said several times. >> pay and chase is not as

attractive. >> there are clever and find ways to cut and run. basically could you outlined for us, remind us what some of the early deliver bills would be in health care reform. our furl -- outlined for us early delivered. >> assuming the passage of health reform soon in the year 2010 is anticipated that we would have a states put together a high risk pools, affordable coverage for the relief uninsured chronically ill folks. often who don't have coverage at all right now. endeavor of the significant insurance reforms would occur so the people would not any longer be able to eliminate insurance coverage for children with pre-existing conditions and would have to be covered.

you would have to remove the payment caps that currently interrupt cancer treatments and chronically ill services for people who have insurance coverage. children could stay on their parents' policy is. the twentysomething, as a mom has a 25 year-old that's really interesting to me, but until 26 or 27 you could be covered as a dependent under your parents coverage. we would begin to institute medical loss ratios for insurance companies so you'd know how much they're spending on benefits for patients and how much is going to overhead and ceo profits which right now is enable it to be determined. so preventive care would cease having co-pays runaway speeeleven >> merrilee deliverables. >> and the fraud and abuse would crack down on this.

>> thank you very much. senator carper. >> it is good to be here, i apologize for arriving late. >> we love to have you here. >> i had the pleasure of welcoming to delaware on monday in number of high-school students exchange students from countries all over the world. i was struck at thank you and a session in the state senate of a legislature, general assembly legislative hall in dover and we asked questions. one of the issues was health care. they were curious aboutç health care and health care reform and curious as to why we spend so much more money than other countries. there are curious as to why we don't get better results and there were three from japan, a couple from okinawa, and i said we spend half as much as you do, about 16% of gdp and in japan about 8%, they said according to

a different kind of measurements that we have a wellness, life expectancy, infant mortality and so forth they actually beat us hands down and spend half as much in the cover everybody. they don't do it through like a socialist system, they have private insurance companies. i believe that have private providers. but i was struck by that conversation. today i come down to washington on the train as i do almost every morning of the week. the train goes by york, delaware before you hit to the maryland line and there is a big chrysler plans to use to be a chrysler plant that is closed or 4,000 people used to work every day. today nobody works there. it is a time when we are really concerned about making sure that people have jobs again, the loss of manufacturing jobs. can you help us, you may have

done this but i ask you to do it again,. >> to the dots for us here. quality health care, how does it to have the needed to create jobs and create a nurturing preservation for job creation at. >> senator, i think there is no question we spend almost twice as much and get worse health results. any other developed nation and private is that we continue to pay more than anybody in the world for health issues that really don't result in people being healthier so we overpaid for products and services. we pay for procedures and not for quality outcomes. which encourages i think more testing, more protocol, sometimes with suggest even more hospitalizations but not necessarily keeping people well in the first place. we have not invested as many

people have in health and wellness. and a large part of that health and wellness is a huge gap in who has access to preventive health services, health homa follow-up care, so that when we have 46 million americans without health insurance at all they enter the health system in more serious shape and more chronic conditions and use of an emergency rooms as the least effective and most expensive way to get health care treatment. some of it clearly has to do with diane, we don't eat nearly as much to ness the japanese and that would make us a little healthier. but the jobs i think are directly related because our manufacturing sector has been the first to be absolutely uncompetitive in a global marketplace when chrysler was competing with companies around the world who weren't layering

on $3,000 in health care costs on every car that was sold or not try to compete so we have to get to a strategy where have a healthier nation. a more equitable share of all the expenses campaign for outcomes and quality and finding ways to lower the deficit and the long run of which will make us not only healthier and more prosperous but certainly more competitive. >> thank you. i think i have shared back in august and september time frame i held a number of town hall meetings, different than any before. we did telephone town hall meetings and the first we have 4,000 people on the call in the second 6,000 people and i was struck by the hunger of the people and i stayed about what was really going on and what we are doing. one of the aspects of the legislation we are passing is something designed to help make better ensuring going after fraud particularly with respect to medicare and medicaid and is provision in our bill supported

by senator baucus and senator whitehouse and all my states. previously the states has 60 days to identify fraud and collect the money and turn half of it to the federal government. as a result they did almost none of it. rather they could do it in 60 days. they just let it go and what we're doing is under the legislation change it that you have a year to identify and go after the money and get it back and then that is on the legislation. there is a $250 million increase to fight wasted. will you talk about that because we all know it is your job there and i think we're using private contractors to recover at least in three states the last couple years the money, fraud and taken out of medicare recovered a $700 million alone and we're taking that too all 50 states. can you talk how these resources and the partnership will help us get back more money.

>> well, senator, the president's i think takes very seriously that we be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and certainly anyone stealing out of medicare or stealing from a this a partnership with medicated stealing tax payer dollars and jeopardize in the trust we have with seniors. so this budget has an 80% increase in resources, new data systems, a new sharing with the justice apprentice, the attorney-general and i at the president's request are now leading a joint justice hhs average where we now have a strike forces in seven different cities to try and not only send a strong signal that we take this seriously but have been enormously effective so far. this will give as much bigger footprint around the country. sharing with chairman baucus, shared data real-time, watching average to billing practices and go after them. we're going to invest in saint

partnerships that the medicaid level knowing that having this footprint on the ground, having u.s. attorneys as well as state attorney general who can be very aggressive partners in pursuing fraud is all to the good and we know that there's a huge return. it's estimated anywhere from $2 back for every dollar we spend to $4 packages with attorney-general says to every dollar we spend so this is money that not only makes sure medicare and medicaid will be there long term but also allows us to prosecute the criminals and prevent fraud in the first place. >> one of the things i've been fascinated with my colleagues heard this before, how to harness economic forces and market forces to drive and good behavior and a good example is the medicaid deal. before now even out in the current law because we have a senate-passed bill and signed into law but even now states on incentivize to go after medicaid

fraud. can i close with one --? if i may, there is i think a provision under current law that says that private citizens are burt -- are to report fraud. they don't have to, they are encouraged to. one thing allied for us to think about incentivizing behavior. rather than saying we encourage you to report, why don't we say we want you to report and are expected to. but also say if you do just like with whistleblowers we incentivize them because we get them to keep some percentage of what ever is recovered and we may want to do that in terms of people who blow the whistle in medicare fraud and make sure that we incentivize not just to do the right thing but if they do that will benefit from that financially. >> we actually, that's a great idea and we will take a look, we have a great senior's army that are trained volunteers to go and

then to their friends at neighborhoods and they have become a tremendous sort of strike force. we have 20 million undercover cops on the ground and if there's anybody who takes stealing from medicare seriously, it is those of medicare beneficiaries who are very aggressive in their efforts and has been a huge help to tipping us off to their billing practices to fraudulent activities and people who would steal idps, a whole host of issues. >> keeping up. mr. chairman, thank you. thank you for your patience with me. >> thank you mr. chairman. it's been a very good hearing and got a lot adam and i thank you for doing this. >> we will do more. >> i will be here with a. madam secretary, i want to ask you about an area and that is an enormous amount of expense and frustration of four of the millions of people who use our

health care system, especially the providers and patients, is a staggering a ray of different billing systems that we have for american health care. and as you know, getting a standardized billing system has almost been of the longest running battle since of the trojan war. i was actually reading some history on this recently and one of their predecessors, louis sullivan, made this the top priority. this is what a wonderful physician wanted to get done and here we are practically eons later and we are still wrestling with us. i think it would be very helpful if you would do two things. one, give us an update on a clear we are at this point getting a standardize billing process and second, i am curious whether the wall in your staff are taking a look at some of the

efforts around the country that look like they're bearing fruit. the one i've been interested in is minnesota. in minnesota, it seems to have come up with a standardized billing process and then it limits the insurance companies from coming up with sort of exceptions which invariably jack up rates and make things more complicated. but start if you would by giving us almost a stage of where we are coming 2010, on getting a standardized billing process so that we in this bureaucratic water torture for the providers and patients who constantly tell us about all these forms, different paper, and the like. where are we today? >> senator, the good news is there's administrative simplification mandates in both the house and senate's health reform bills which i would

suggest will greatly accelerate progress in this area. absent some kind of a lever, it is a difficult task. it's one that i know personally well because i worked on it in kansas and i think i'm safe in saying that kansas now like minnesota is about to have a uniform billing system. but it is not an easy -- everybody is fine with doing it. once they come to the table as long as you use their system. and as soon as you begin to deviate a little bit -- i'm convinced him that is a huge cost saver and a huge as you say torture saver for providers and patients and one at that we have been anticipating implementing through the house reform strategy because i think that that give us leverage to then have a congressional mandate and follow ups and assure that we can get the providers -- judy

the providers and payers all at the table simultaneously to figure out a strategy of timetables that work. but it's something that i take very seriously and really look for to working with you to implement. >> i think the provisions in the legislation both bills are good. what concerns me is that absent the kind of leadership you are talking about will take another eight or 10 years just to working through those models and somebody else will be in your seat and will ask almost the same questions. >> we don't intend to take that long, senator. the states are well ahead. >> hi like that part. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you. it is true, we hear it all the time as do that all the paperwork, all of the forms, it is a mess.

i remember in the early '90s, 93 or 94 during the last health care reform era, one floor was filled with people doing paperwork. and i went up to canada to poke around at a hospital. there are three people in the whole hospital the much larger than the montana hospital, doing the paperwork. three people, that's all it was. we all know about the administrative cost in the american system compared to other countries. i urge you to -- use of this thing. we have to do this once and for all and you said that states are doing much better. clearly we have to pass health care reform to help make this happen because one's health care reform is passed it will force more simplification because more insurance companies will be forced to kind of an -- have

quite as many different alternatives and options and it co-pays and deductibles and pre-existing conditions and all that stuff. so i really urge you to light a fire under people. to get this done. because we know how bad it is. we know that the american people are fed up with it. rightly so. so i am urging you in the strongest terms possible and to get this done. we want to work with you. in a shared effort to hear. and but we need to do it together and get it done. so you need to tell us what you needed whether it is legislation , but i strongly urge you to do that. i think we're going to get health care reform passed. i'm very confident we will pass health care reform this year. but i will ask you this -- if you could say on a biannual

basis just to give us a progress report to on standardizing forms and getting rid of a lot of this paperwork it would make a huge difference and the point is not to put you on the spot, the point is to let us know what the progress is so together we can solve this. >> senator, i think he made a big step. one is paperwork and one is the numerous forms so how records, electronic health records and standardize nation as you launched in the recovery act will go a huge way down to eliminating a lot of the paperwork and standardizing operations and driving protocol but that doesn't get rid of the 15 different -- if you will not electronically is still does the so we've got to do both simultaneously. >> but i personally want to quantify and to, one of the

major drivers in a results is quantified. benchmarks, standards, quantifying numbers. how many forms, how many lines? all that kind of thing. >> a lot. $0.30 out of every dollar we figure is overhead. >> i virginia on a biannual basis to get back to us, the benchmarks set out for yourselves and the progress you are making are not making, it gives us something we need to do. thank you. second of the same is fraud, waste and abuse. a lot of questions here have been about waste and fraud. and abuse. so i would like you to again on a biannual basis just quantify it which you think, your best guess what the waste is and all the programs under your jurisdiction. but the fraud is an quantify abuse. you've got to quantify in a number of dollars.

again and we will work together as we get improvements. i would like you to give us a goal. zero is unattainable so if you could give as a goal, what percent, by what date and benchmarks because that is the only way to get results around here. it's one thing to talk about things and something else to quantify it with numbers. because we understand numbers. working together on a six month basis and will be back here again i am sure some time in the next years. we will have a chance to talk about this. but again we want to work with you. this is not to pursue on the spot but to work together. >> i look forward to it. >> and i have a last point? i wanted to come back to that point, we have a loss of a federal property that we don't use in our inventory. senator baucus knows we're trying to confirm an

administrator for managing thousands of federal properties across the country. we have a lot of them that are vacant or not used or underutilized. we pay utilities and security in all kinds of other costs that relate to the facilities. when agencies want to even if they want to sell them and spruce them up and get them ready to market them, and the properties sold, the agency doesn't get any money back to pay their costs or fix up costs. they don't get any money to underwrite the cost of their program so as a result we end up carrying on our books not just hundreds but thousands of properties which are on the treasury. at least one agency has to figure out how to give permission and use market forces with incentivizing the veterans administration. we allow them to keep 20 percent of the proceeds on the properties they sell, they used to pay for the fix of cost and

use the money to also go into their programs to help supplement the appropriate funds. that's the kind of thing that i think we need to be doing more of it. i think i learned all that in new governor school and you probably did to and need to put more of those together. thanks very much. >> i encourage you to break out according to major categories as determined and so forth and so it's not just a gross number. the average is sometimes prevents effectiveness. to figure out some reasonable way to segment to eat, how much and which departments have fraud and which departments have a ways to and so forth. just kind of break down in a manageable way. thank you. >> sounds reasonable. thank you. >> i deeply appreciate you taking the time to come and talk

to us. >> i look for to working with you. >> we have a lot to do. >> absolutely. >> it meeting is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] ..

>> now for educators come c-span offers the new c-span classroom.org. we redesigned the website to

make it useful for teachers with the most urgent is the c-span videos for the classroom. watch the video clips organized by subjects and topics. the latest education news plus the chance to connect with other c-span classroom teachers and it's and it's all free. sign-up at the new c-span classroom.org. >> today at the state department, special representative to afghanistan and pakistan, richard holbrooke called an attack killing two u.s. military employees and pakistan agree tragedy. the event was a briefing by agriculture secretary tom vilsack and mr. holbrooke on agricultural assistance programs in afghanistan. it's about 35 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> all right, now we know who the intrepid journalists are they get up at 9:45 in the morning, in unheard-of power in

the profession. but good morning welcome to the department of state. we have a promised last month when secretary of agriculture tom vilsack visited with you prior to his trip to afghanistan that we would bring him back to record on what he's seen in the progress in developing, redeveloping the agricultural sector of afghanistan as a critical part of the administration strategy and president cars i strategy for the future of that country. so we have him back with us today a lot with our special representative, the intrepid idiot tartabull richard holbrooke is going to start and put them in the context first. >> thanks, p.j. well, this is really the secretary of agriculture's chance as we promised to report on this trip. and i just want to give you the overarching view here before you that i want to say a word about

the events in pakistan as i'm sure you all know three americans were killed, two wounded, not life-threatening they been evacuated to islamabad. there were two military -- three military. they were on their way to did not duration of the bill school in the western area of pakistan, obviously agree tragedy and we are deeply regretful of the loss of life and we are in contact with the embassy to talk to ambassador patterson this morning on it. it was an ied that did it. i just want to let you know [inaudible] >> three military. i miss spoke. the military word from two

different of the military advisory group said we have in islamabad. and i don't even know the exact destinations of where they were. thank you american personnel in pakistan were doing training. so it's a very sad event. >> ambassador holbrooke, is there any indication they were directly targeted? b. might be ambassador does not think they were directly targeted, but that is my only source of information on the question. >> has there been any claim of responsibility? >> no. >> pardon me, the televangelist and responsibility responsibility for this attack and >> and they are to claim that? well, then you're ahead of me. >> they also took the terry is

taking lead in the operation of in the lead. that's what they do there. they adapt to propaganda and disinformation but the facts are the facts and in the appropriate moment the next of kin i'm sure their names and exact rank will be publicly disclosed as we always do. there is nothing secretive about it. >> three were killed who are members of the military? >> two injured. >> and were they members of the military are not? >> i think the two injured were also military. >> so five of the military, three killed, two injured. >> yeah. this is in lower dare. i think it was rather revealing they were under which the not duration of the school.

it was a girl school. that's what americans try to do. and ever since i joined foreign service, we've had people who've given their lives and the cause that we believe in. i'm not a very good segue into secretary vilsack because one of the most moving moments of the strip, which he will describe a few with setting up a memorial to a u.s. department of agriculture employee who was killed. this trip represents a very big step forward in the furtherance of what was our number one not a charity priority in afghanistan. when i say nonsecurity i want to put that in quote marks because of course agricultural insecurity we did in a country that is nissan agriculture. our goal is nothing less than to

help afghanistan restore if i were cultural fact your two d. vibrant and export economy at one time which was progressively destroyed in 1978. that this wasn't undertaken earlier remains a mystery to us. but we elevated are your cultural to the top of our priority list, as the law now, and the u.s. sort foresight to ratification in the secretary will speak about the relationship between those two items in a minute. secretary clinton and i are enormously grateful that secretary vilsack take a time from a very demanding schedule to make this trip. there will be more efforts. you outline some of the goals, one of the most important we've had for this year to help the afghans stand up the

agricultural credit banking institution, which was created in the 1960's and distort in the 70's, 80's and 90's. but i will leave the rest of it to the secretary and with my appreciation again, tom. thank you for doing this. good >> good morning to everyone. i want to thank the ambassador for the opportunity to spend a few days in afghanistan. there's so much written about stuff denniston that is focused on the negative aspects of the challenges in afghanistan but hopefully this is a report that reflects on what's happening in a positive way. the purpose of the trip was to spend a good deal of time with mr. rahimi with agricultural administer in an effort to determine whether or not progress was being made in afghanistan as the ambassador indicated this is our number one priority for my nonsecurity standpoint. and it is very clear that agriculture is critical to

future success of afghanistan. 80% of afghans either make their living or their livelihoods from agriculture or something connected to agriculture. so it is important and relevant for this country to spend time and resources to try to help the afghan cultural opportunity. i want to say that we see this in the context of the afghan led effort. it is important and necessary for us to know precisely what the afghans asked i didn't want adversity parallel our efforts and to cooperate with them. so we were very pleased with minister rahimi after he was confirmed as an initial member of president karzai's cabinets. then he laid forward a framework for progress in afghan agriculture and it is an important framework. most importantly of all, of the four in my view is the need to increase productivity among the afghans. i think he recognizes and appreciates that there is tremendous opportunity, but it

is necessary for the afghan agriculture to take a step forward in terms of productivity. we saw examples of u.s. assistance in that regard. i met with usi representatives who were working with grape farmers for example in afghanistan who are working on trestle incoming rudimentary steps that are significantly increasing the size of the grapes and the quantity and quality grapes. this is important because, at one point in time come afghan groups are really sought after in the asian market. and this represents a tremendous export opportunity and potential. a second aspect, once productivity is increased, is the need to reinvigorate the afghan agribusiness, the ability to get the supplies change in place to allow the domestic market needs to be met in at the same time to create export opportunities. probably the most significant step that has been taken recently with the establishment of a juice factory in kabul here

this juice factory essentially takes apples and pomegranate on contracts for farmers over 50,000 farmers contract with this particular juice factory. they take the fruit and they basically create juice concentrate, which is exported all over the world. employs 300 people for nine months and they have a vision of expanding the facility with the assistance of usaid and usaid to a place where individual juice cartons can be developed for the afghan market itself, which could be 100-dollar market. this is a very interest unturned interesting opportunity to meet the afghan farmers are contracting with the juice factory. they like the idea that got for contracting opportunities. they like the idea they have already presold their crop for the next several years. it was an interesting opportunity for me to talk to afghan farmers and to realize that farmers in afghanistan

aren't a whole lot different from farmers in america. what are the afghan farmer said you're not doing enough, you're not doing enough, you never help us. and i turned around and i said, this factory right here, right behind me. i said, we just helped build that in a factory is by your fruit you're in the ghost gap i guess that is all. [laughter] you know, some things are different. you have to sometimes point things out to folks. but there was a vendor recognition and understanding the government was attempting to create opportunities for these afghan farmers. and reinvigorating their agribusiness is an important component of the strategy. but their strategy has to do with a commitment to renew their natural resources for far too long they have been in a deforestation mode, millions of trees have been cut down in afghanistan. that impact not just the afghan landscape, but also impacts the capacity to preserve and conserve water.

which is an extraordinarily important component to agriculture obviously. i met with usda and representatives there who were working with afghan youth to clean thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of trees in the northern parts of the country am i recognizing the importance of restoring those natural resources. and finally, the last piece of their framework is a reflection of the need to bolster the ministry itself. administer rahimi understands and appreciates that there is some serious challenges within the structure of his ministry and so he has embarked on a change management effort which we are facilitating. during the course of my business, we made an announcement of an additional $20 million of assistance and help as part of the change management effort. we are also detailing specific experts in specific areas of this framework to work with the minister in the capital, in the ministry, so she is more free or

freer to travel around the country to talk to his farmers. we saw in helmand province a tremendous example of the example of his getting out and visiting with afghan farmers. this is a very significant visit, a significant visit to the part of the country but a year ago may not have been possible. but we spoke with afghan farmers who are now planting wheat instead of poppy. the reason they are doing this with the assistance of the u.s. government the afghan government is providing incentives for wheat production. i think it's important to recognize that when afghan farmers make the decision to produce poppy, they do so because there are certain incentives built into that crop. the incentives involve providing input cost in advance and delivery of the crop of the farm gate. so the challenge for the afghan

and foreign is to figure out strategies and structures that will reprise those incentives for legitimate crops. and so, when we provided we feed and her life there but substantially produced cost afghan farmers responded in the province was reduced by a third in a single year. now we want to work with those same farmers to diversify their crop come into focus not just on staple crops but also cash crops will create export opportunities. there are several challenges that will need to be addressed. the ambassador focused on one of them, which is very significant, denis to established before my skoda process. that will take obviously time, but it is clear that they need some kind of credit bank, a long-term financing and structure that will guarantee afghan farmers the capacity and the resources to put the crop in the ground. in the meantime, will continue to work with vouchers and other smaller techniques to encourage

crop production. will need to continue to work in a very formalized way to help them at your occasion issues dear to their irrigation systems were destroyed during the conflicts of ruby is complex and were in the process of focusing on farm and regional water issues and irrigation issues. we'll continue to work hard to create an extension presents. i think one of the challenges that we identified him that mr. rahimi identified with the fact that there needs to be people on the ground, afghans on the ground providing technical assistance and help. and i think underscored in our visit to not walk, where folks said they need more people on the ground helping us make decisions. they are very favorably inclined towards her extension model that we have in the united states in which we often take for granted. the assistance to the farmer on the farm.

and i think they are also challenges with reference to tray, the need for a continued promotion of trade opportunities in all parts of central asia. i will tell you that i am impressed with the commitment of the people from the usda. the ambassador mentioned the memorial service rehab for tom stefani. tom was a forrester who was killed in afghanistan as a result of an explosive device. his only goal there was to try to make a difference. his only goal was to try to help people understand the importance of trees and forestry. he was beloved by the people who were there. we had a substantial outpouring of support for the award that we established in his name to reflect that there are many different uniforms that are being worn in afghanistan. and all the people who service in uniform number regardless of whether it's the worst service

u-uniform of u. s. t. u-uniform r. military universe put themselves on the line to make a difference in their understand it to appreciate the people of afghanistan but also the united states in this effort and we are extremely proud of our usda presence there, which will grow over the course of time. we anticipate by the end of this month to have as many as 64 usda workers there. and as the process ramps up we would expect and hope we could contribute more. it is important for us to parallel our increased commitment with afghan commitments. i would also say in the last thing i'll say is that i've been very impressed with administer rahimi and his commitment when he was addressing the parliament just before his confirmation he said two things which i think are really important. one is that he will always tell the truth even if it is the hard

truth. i saw examples of that where you'd knowledge publicly the weaknesses and challenges of his ministry. that's not often -- you don't often see that. kelso said he would root out corruption and i believe he is true to that as well. he understand there is a limited period of time in which he has to work. so with that, i'd be glad to try to respond to questions. >> i'm sue pleming for rutgers. how big a role for the agriculture play in the reintegration plan seen as agriculture is the key of ministry for most afghans and what sort of money or setting aside from that? and if i might ask him is turning up on the the true transit agreement with pakistan because that can terms of opening up markets of india. >> i'll let the ambassador respond to the trade issue because it's got more up-to-date information on that than i do. i think it's there to say, when 80% of the afghan livelihood and

income is implemented in some far up agriculture that the key strategy to getting stability within the economy is a strong and strengthen agriculture. that involves farmers being encouraged to produce the right kind of crops and a diversification of the scots, not just focusing on staple crops but also cash crops. and we showed a chart which was very and start it. as you know the value of some of those additional cash crops can be substantially higher than poppy and opium production. so that's the first set. the second step in doing that is you have to recognize the challenges they face with its irrigation or storage facilities and things of that nature which is why we people on the ground trying to respond to those individual challenges. it's also important is that if the supplied change which is why reinvigorating agriculture business is so important. there has to be a market in the market has to be facilitated whether it's domestic or

foreign. and i think it's important and necessary for administer rahimi in particular to focus on those two issues in and be able to go out into the countryside and show examples of where this has worked. this is a big country, pockets of farmers in a variety of different locations or it's not necessarily true that they understand or appreciate that the juice factory has been set up another markets for thousands of farmers. he may not know about the progress that's been made in helmand province in terms of cash and staple crops. and so it's important for us to get people in the ministry that will free up the minister and be able to go out and talk about the progress. >> how many agriculture guts to think you might be able to create to help with the reintegration? >> if you look at the juice factory that's an example. your 300 jobs now and they're just getting started. if they can tap at 100 million-dollar market of industry juice containers brass cans, i mean the skies the

limit. i mean, we talk about storage facilities, processing facilities, warehouse facilities, the skies the limit and when you open up trade opportunities than their souls series of transportation, marketing jobs, regulatory structures. i mean, it's virtually unlimited which is why it's important. >> we have -- to your very important. the reintegration program is separate. but in my view, this program is a reintegration program, but we're not going to call it that. this is a rebuilding agriculture program. but if it works, we will help the afghans created very large large number of jobs. we had it rough estimate last year that there was a potential to create a million jobs, but it's so rad that it would be misleading to turn that into a hard headline.

if the markets mauka, if it creates all the secondary jobs on market and road billing as the secretary said, this guy seems to be the limit. of all the programs the united states supported in afghanistan in the years since this administration took over, this has been the most popular. and it is the highest and quickest impact. and it is also the one most enthusiastically supported by general mcchrystal. and as people who are spending an enormous amount of additional money through cerp to support agriculture. there was a creative tension about whether you want the money to give that feed or distribute seed to the existing system. it's been a -- joe klein wrote a cover story for "time" magazine which discussed that issue about ten months ago and the issue he

identified is fair. so, plus the indians have a large agriculture and they have upgraded, the e.u. is upgrading. this is a big push. and i'm very glad you asked the question because people rarely make the connection, but of course that the connection. it is often a counterinsurgency. it's a good and its own right. it's going to help deny the taliban and other cool of alienated, unemployed youths who go out and get paid to shoot if there's a family plot, family pressures will be that they were, farms, at least earning the appropriate seasons. that's enormously important. on trade transit, the negotiations are continuing. there was another round recently. secretary clinton and i talked about this last night.

we are down to just one or two issues, but they are very complicated and they involve the equities and politics of both afghanistan and pakistan. and i'm not up to speed on the exact standing today, so i'd rather not get into the details. but we are continuing to work on this very actively, and there was a subject of discussion in london also. >> is there another round planned? the last reviewer for them to within dubai, i think. is this another round planned after that? >> tonight pick up -- >> as a follow-up to the previous answer is there any push back yet from the taliban on these programs as you're doing. >> we are preemptively attacking the reintegration program. they started for me, i think

they're clearly battled by it. it poses a direct threat to them and they know it. and that i think you can see if you read the reports. on agriculture, i don't think they've attacked agriculture directly because i would be -- i would not be very popular move, but i may be wrong on that. smacker was just going to other was an interesting conversation with some local officials in ottawa. the difference between marine presence in taliban presence in that area, the local leaders suggested when the taliban has control there was forced labor. they would extract youngsters and make them work when the marines came in they were not interested in enforcing anything. they were interested in assisting in helping an effect that's precisely what they are doing in addition to the usd presents an agriculture we also have these enormously important

and popular agriculture development teams within our teams that are working hard to provide assistance and all. so i figure putting a different face on it and i think with a response to the challenges and the incentives that are inherent in the poppies production i think the afghans are finally seeing that there is a strategy that gets sent to produce legitimate costs and crops that can be far more profitable for afghans and said to production. this is going to be a successful first step. >> on the link between and that ambassador holbrooke did as well between the reintegration program and the importance of arboriculture. where do you expect most of the success to come from? two expected to be drying up from this pool you mention or are you hoping the hard-core taliban now will be coming out on a beating or ied's in the a case into plowshares?

where does that come from? is that the disaffected youth who will not join in the first place because they want to have a job or is it the existing bad guys? >> well, our offered is trying to speak to the people in the middle of all this, whose only thought is, how do i take care of my family? how do i take care of myself? and the taliban and, as long as there is opium production, have a hook on those folks. they have the ability to control their livelihood. given a choice, they don't want that choice. they would prefer another alternative. they would be able to produce wheat or pomegranates or apples or whatever. we have to give them that choice and we have to give it to them in a way that makes economic sense. this is an economic issue.

these people are making a very rational decision and when we come with a credit system, when we come with a supply chain and reinvigorated agribusiness and we come with incentives to encourage them to plant different crops and provide assistance to make those crops more project is all of a sudden they see the potential to make far more money and they're more inclined to make a choice to reject the taliban, so the taliban have no place to go. >> so you're not hoping that this is going to convert hard-core fighters? >> the goal is not to convert hard-core leadership. >> can you go up to the podium? >> i'm sorry. this is such an important issue and i'm glad she raised it. helping agriculture is good in itself, but it's also a core part of the coherent counterinsurgency strategy in afghanistan and i'm glad stanley mcchrystal isn't here to join us at the podium, but i can

assure you that if you are in this country she would want to be here because he believes this as deeply as anyone and i know you talked to isaf command about this. if this program succeeds, and it is right now our most successful civilian program already and it's just started, this is going to really hurt the taliban. no question about it here it but unlike say reintegration which they can attack it harder to attack this one because the country is an agricultural country and how do you attack programs which get people seed and fertilizer and market access? and so this is why we are back at the podium for the second time in a month and why we hope the secretary vilsack will be able to continue bringing public attention to this. this is why we are trying to stand up the anti-credit bank,

which the secretary can explain better than i is indispensable. is this going to take the leaders of the supreme share a and bring them around? of course not, it's going to isolate the more. in the classic or that they will drive the swamp. >> to put a freeze on it, from my discussions with regular afghans i think they would much rather be farmers than fighter's good >> do you have full confidence in national government to deliver the key helping resources and everything that you give them to give the afghan farmers to or would you rather just do with the farmers of the councils directly with them? because this is a huge issue for the farmers themselves. >> i don't think it's an either or. you have to oppose. you need to have a functioning

industry and national government committed to this. i got a sense with my discussion from president karzai administers three and others that there is important and commitment to the framework and a willingness to work within the framework. i think that minister rahimi if you were here would recognize it won't work unless he got folks on the ground working with the afghan farmers on a daily basis providing technical assistance and help that they need to become more to established storage facilities to deal with irrigation challengers and understand these new credit opportunities that we're going to try to create. so it's not an either or situation. he must have both which i think the framework that the administrator puts forward. he is very comprehensive and is very well thought out. now what he needs is the capacity and the administrator that will allow him to go outside and visit with afghan farmers on the ground and basically say this is what we're doing for you. this is where it's been successful. this is what it can do for you if you have not yet implemented this. this is what we're working on.

the politics of agriculture is think or extend important here. and he just flat-out hasn't had the time to commit to the politics of it. our hope is that by the support and assistance of or providing that he will feel more comfortable to do that. >> last one, very quick. >> for secretary vilsack, do you have a monetary value, should the u.s. is putting in to these incentives for afghan farmers? if i could ask ambassador holbrooke to give more clarity on your comments about the taliban preemptively attacking reintegration. can you give a specific examples on those attacks? >> yeah, that's a db specific tolerance of the a but there are various buckets of money and it's hard -- or piece of it is a relatively small piece in terms of money dedicated to this. it's clearly hundreds of millions of dollars, none of fairly and incentives but the entire effort to sort of parallel the afghan framework, whether it's providing technical assistance, whether it's

providing resources, supplies, things of that nature. >> in the interest of time, let me just -- would give you some of the things they've been saying publicly later, okay? >> thank you tiered >> thank you very much. >> bagram airspace is the biggest military in afghanistan. freelance journalist david axe visited there last year when he looked at the medical facilities that treat wounded u.s. troops. >> afghanistan doesn't have much in the way of health infrastructure. it was pretty bad before the current war, but with this conflict, most of afghanistan's doctors for the country. for pretty much resulted in the collapse of afghanistan's health infrastructure. so the biggest and best hospital in the whole country is the air force -- u.s. air force run,

hospital at bagram air base outside kabul. >> permission for joint theater hospital is a role premedical hospital. we have all the specialists they would want for trauma. ophthalmologist, head and neck surgeons, trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons thomas specialties that you won't find anywhere else in the country and so our role is to bring in trauma patient to stabilize those patients and move them on quickly where they can get definitive care. >> and you care for both afghans, american troops and allied troops? >> we take care of american troops, allied troops, afghan nopal nationals, afghan security forces, border police. even enemy forces when they're captured her to mix it with everyone that needs a certain kind of care and can get to you. >> there is no who would refuse care to if we have the capacity to everyone we care for the same

standard of care. >> can you give me a sense of how many people you see on a monthly basis? >> in any given month with the 3000 to 4000 people. to comparison something in the united states if you look at the number of missions, number of surgeries on how critical the patients are, we would be equivalent to about the busiest trauma center in the entire united states. >> right now were in the emergency, pay here when we received patients from the bad back, the helicopters that come into her hospital, the patients are brought in to hear and we divide them by their injuries. the center right here is the most wanted were the worst injuries and then they divide them out. at the emergency room team builds paths by the number of injuries and the things that the patient come in that they have and they're just very, very organized. >> the helicopters land outside to bring the patients writing here? >> and most memorable commission

we just got back from a mad vaccination and heard there was an iep incident. we got lunch on that which is kind of a big deal. in my last couple deployments we haven't watched on an ied mission so i got for us. it was a completely different experience for me because the imap was blown in half and just to see that destruction and what the ied was done caused a lot of awe and surprise nec patient kind of laid out on the ground there in their stretchers, ready for us to come pick them up and, you know, you understand the threats are your real vigilant on the lookout, looking at everyone that standing around just waiting for them to make a wrong move and threats in motion toward theo. your eyes are just going everywhere. your mind is constantly thinking

what will i do in this situation? and then we came and landed, picked up our patients and, you know, as the pjs for bringing them back in to see their clothes torn apart in the pan they were in was a big shock and it was a great feeling just another weaver able to respond to it and get them back here safely. and for the destruction that took a spare, their injuries were pretty minimal compared to that. >> so they made it? >> they made it. they're fine. i got sent to germany for their medical care. no tragic injuries that took ways. >> so what's the workday like? or they're busy. and then there's their downtime? >> it all depends on what's going on on the outside fire. some days are like this where there's nothing too much going on, other days we could get hit

five, six, ten patients at one time. sometimes it's just all day long one trauma after another. sometimes the er is full as far as just regular syncopation that come from the regular workers that come in here, chest pain, stomach pain, those type of things. >> how long is your typical shift? >> usually about 13 hours a day. >> how long are your deployments for? >> six months. >> is it hard keeping your focus and your excitement for a deployment that long? >> no, i mean, there's up and downs. sometimes you are down and sometimes up that everyone is pretty motivated. >> do you go to any special training before coming to this facility? >> new people do usually. this is number five deployment for me, so i don't. do people go to trauma training schools and we go to baltimore to shock, which is a trauma

unit. we usually do a couple weeks there. >> five deployment. all to afghanistan? is a different depending on where you're a ploy to? >> it was different times of the war. last year i was actually shir 14 months ago and the mission was pretty much the same. maybe a little more trauma at this time. but in the past i was in iraq and it was strictly trauma, not in the humanitarians just u.s. coalition troops. >> our workload is heavy, you know, it's pretty variable though. sometimes, you know, depending on what's going on in the aol or, if there's battles going on would get a lot more casualties obviously. other times were completely full with just local nationals. so we have 28 beds here and, you

know, in times of need when we get inundated with asian thought once we throw cost between the beds 2-dollar capacity in a matter of hours. so we were typically 12.5 to 13 hour days and we work -- we get every eighth day off usually. so if were not needed, we get to, you know, go to sleep and do whatever. >> what do you do on your eighth day off? >> sleep mostly, especially if you're on night shift than a lot of us like to stay in shape as much as you can because this is pretty exhausting. so we hit the gym, too. that's pretty much all there is to do. and eat. >> the hospital combined medical care and evacuation role. there is a lavishly equipped and outside the hospital. when the troops come in, seek the care they need and when

they're fairly healthy stable, they moved into that tent awaiting a flight. the flights we frequently. it's actually hard to catch these guys for interviews. these wounded soldiers about the quickly. >> our staff is responsible for launching missions with patients on them and recovery missions and come to hear to provide 24 hour nursing care for the patients. we make sure their preparations for play. we have the medications, food, diet, luggage, make sure there'll product and packaging clinically ready to fly. the patient numbers have increased, we identified the need contingency air meant was a good idea. it actually helps lessen the burden of the hospital. as that of of the hospital holding the amount of patience they normally do they can put these patients are your earlier in the patient can stage out

here. >> our mission is to take the wounded warrior firm forward operating base edge or landing zones to bagram here, get fixed up and fly them back to germany so hopefully they will go back to see their families in the states. >> so you're in charge of this intensive care units in the back of a plane? >> yes, it's a five person crew. we set up like a mini hospital. >> was the toughest part of your job? >> toughest part is seeing these young kids being hurt. that's probably the hardest. >> how do you cope with that stress? >> crew integrity. we do a lot of the crew. it's my family away from my regular home family. >> so you spend a lot of time in the back of these airplanes with these different patients. do you build up a report with the patients? >> definitely. i mean, they're great guys.

they're like brothers. so we sat there in the conversations can be anything. they just are talking to you. sometimes they tell you what happened, sometimes they tell you how they got blown up. sometimes they tell you about the family. they're just awesome guys. i could talk to them for hours. >> you had one particularly memorable mission. could you tell me about that? >> was a second plate alerted for usual mission to go down to take patients from here to kandahar in afghanistan. and my crew, we were taking the patients back to bagram airbase, 20 minutes out over the wire are c-130, on fire. so what we did was we do start checklist. my crew absolutely did a great job. we set everyone not to do an emergency landing, which we went

back to kandahar to do an allergic view banding, do they eat grass and take all the patients off the aircraft as safely as possible. we were told that the aircraft was smoking on the way down, landing the aircraft. there wasn't any really time to think. my crew actually did everything right that was possibly that could be to the checklist. got the patients out safely, we had actually two later patients that we actually had to walk the patients, some of the patients off and then my crew members actually went back on the aircraft to get these patients off. and they actually did a great job saving those guys that day. >> the rules are, you're only supposed to treat afghan civilians if they were injured in combat. so if u.s. troops accidentally

hurt them for the taliban hurt them, then they are eligible to free u.s. medical care. but the doctors there kind of fudge the rules because it's the right thing to do. so if you can make it to bagram injure or hurt, you're an afghan civilian injure herzfeld do what they can for you. a great example of that is a little 6-year-old girl back in march, her house was hit by what appears to be a white phosphorous shell, which is an infinity are kind of like nepal, it's sticky and it burns. and probably a need to show because they taliban probably does not have white phosphorous. the u.s. and nato use this stuff all the time. so somebody accidentally hit her house with a white phosphorous shell. and burn the house, killed some of the family and she was burned over half of her body. and her father brought her to

bagram. actually, i'm not sure if he brought her the first time she may have been medically evacuated by u.s. forces. now he brings her to bagram on a regular basis for care. she's getting skin grafts and reconstructive surgery. now this little girl needs help because not only is her care going to be a very long-term delicate thing, her future in afghanistan is pretty bleak. you know, afghan women for the most hurt have one thing. their society lets them do a muster a comparable resident, well-educated and you have a way out. most also afghan women grow up and get married off and that's what they do. but she can't even do that. she'll never marry, not when she looks the way she does. i had some people contact me and say i can arrange free legal

services for her family to get her out of the country, to get her some sort of refugee status. she can even get care and settle somewhere. in the u.s., europe forever. at the most impossible to make that happen because her family has to handle the process, fill out the paperwork, signed things, handled the communication. it's not easy. her father is illiterate. not only that come he doesn't have a cell phone or e-mail address and there's really no reliable way to contact him. people can only talk to him when he shows up at the bagram hospital with rossi in tow and you find an interpreter and try to explain this to him but it's almost impossible to do. so this poor girl is going to receive excellent care as long as she's able to go to bagram and as long as the u.s. or nato is there. but when that end, what happens? [speaking in native tongue]

>> i think that resource more critically needed are generic competition sessions you can go out into the communities and get a sick health care and teach the physicians to do good health care in the communities. i think that level of health care for the broad population is the most radical need right now. is a great honor to be able to do complex surgeries and to take care of trauma -- traumatically injured patients. the real need is basic health care for the country. >> freelance journalist, david axe visited bagram airbase late last year. to watch more programs added video and interviews from his trip, visit our website at c-span.org. in the search box in the upper right-hand corner, type acts. earlier today president obama spoke at a senate democratic posted conference.

>> now ohio governor tess strickland stated the state of address. he's entering the final year of his first term in office. from the state capitol in columbus, this is an hour. >> thank you. thank you, you are very kind. thank you for the warmth of your welcome. speaker bute-ish, this is the last time that senator harris and chief justice tom moyer will be attending a state of the state address. i would like for the two of them to stand so we can express our appreciation for all they've done for the people. [applause]

[applause] [applause] leader bachelder and later for far out, lieutenant governor fisher, statewide elected officials and members of my cabinet. and af tnks to director terry colorways who is retiring -- [applause] [applause]

kerry is retiring after giving 33 years of his life to ohio into the department of rehabilitation and corrections. we thank you, terry. two members of the general assembly into the members of the supreme court, two distinguished guests, to first lady frances strickland -- [applause] [applause] and to my fellow ohioans, i believe in ohio. [applause] i believe -- i believe in ohio because you can't write the history of the world without us.

without flight, without light, without rock 'n roll, without professional for all, without john gleamed in space and john glenn on the earth. without the tomato, without the underground railroad, without roy rogers, without tigers and ignition switches, without the humble flyswatter, without the richter scale, without jesse owens running for gold and for all of us in berlin, without streetlights, without fire department, without superman. i believe in ohio because ohio will power the future. [applause] the first major glass company to open its doors in toledo was libby glass.

it was energy that brought edward libby here. he brought his company from east coast to ohio in the 1880's because our natural gas could feel his operations at a lower cost. from that fateful decision, more than a century ago, toledo became an international center for a glass production. and while energy ones are out of glass industry, today the glass industry is bringing us new energy companies, making solar panels. that means jobs and solar research and design, production, distribution and installation. that means the renewable source of power that will attract countless industries, industries where there is better access to better energy. the largest glassmaker in the

country, still at home in toledo and once again in the midst of a great energy center. i believe in ohio because we've made a commitment to advanced energy and we are seeing results. when i took office, ohio had the nation's weakest advance energy standard for electricity production. today, ohio has the nation's seventh most aggressive standard. [applause] in 2007, not one drop of ethanol was produced in ohio. today, for ethanol facilities in ohio are producing 295 million gallons annually. in renewable and advanced energy manufacturing projects, ohio now

ranks first among the 50 states. [applause] thank you. the council -- the council of state governments scoured the nation to tally the total number of new green jobs created last year. and what did they find? ohio ranks spurs. ohio ranks first. [applause] you know, we've made it -- we've made it this far, this fast on advanced energy because we pursued smart, responsible policies and we made smart responsible investments. two years ago, ohio was one of the first states to respond to the international economic crisis with a bipartisan jobs bill that made key investments in several high-growth industries, including a

$150 million commitment to advanced energy. and now, quasar energy group is building and anaerobic digester right here in franklin county. the facility will keep waste product from farms, food companies and elsewhere out of our landfills and transform it into fuel and fertilizer. in shelby county, wayne trail technologies is creating a better battery for hybrid vehicles. aided by her jobs bill, energy projects like these are in the works all across ohio. our electricity reform bill prevented the kind of skyrocketing rate increases of 50, 60, 70% that crippled so many states that failed to act. instead, ohio wednesday 10% less for the city than the national average. and i've reform bill, and establish reliability standards

that are essential to ohio's companies. dupont officials testified two years ago that they would not expand their circleville plants because their electricity service wasn't dependable. but just last week, just last week, dupont announced a $175 million investment to retool a facility, a facility that once made components for vcr tapes and they're turning that facility into something that will make film for solar panels. [applause] the company credits are energy reforms, with making ohio a better place for them to do business. now we are rapidly deploying federal stimulus funds to

advance $500 million in projects, supported by an array of energy jobs from cutting-edge research to home weatherization. we have continued the vital work of the third frontier, the third frontier, a program that has made already $150 million in energy technology investments. we brought 15 states and private universities together in the university clean energy alliance of ohio. thank you, chancellor. [applause] and we've done that -- and we've done that to unite our efforts in pursuit of energy breakthroughs. and in our first budget, we dramatically accelerated our school construction program and made it into one of the largest energy efficient building initiatives ever created.

i believe in ohio. i believe in ohio because we are not just sitting back and letting other states pass us by. we are taking the vital next steps to advance our energy economy. i am pleased to announce today that ohio is creating the energy gateway fund. we will make a unique and lasting investment in fuel cells, solar, wind, energy storage of the lake, with $30 million in federal job stimulus funds and $10 million from a state job stimulus program. this $40 million commitment to offer access to capital for new and expanded advanced energy companies. and we will at least double the impact of our efforts by requiring that those seeking state funds will at a minimum match our investment dollar for

dollar with new private funds. revenue generated from the fund's investments will keep our you ohio's economy because it will be reinvested in additional energy companies. [applause] with the federal tax credit currently in place for renewable energy, companies will be making commitments to new facilities in the coming months. but the fact of the matter is that ohio's tax structure discourages wind and solar companies from coming to ohio to generate renewable energy. we should give those companies every reason to choose ohio. and that's why i'm asking the legislature to raise ohio's tangible personal property tax on generation for a wind and

solar facilities that break ground this year, create ohio jobs and begin producing energy i 2012. [applause] . and that's why we are proclaiming ohio status as america's energy gateway. and we will transform turnpike service plazas in wms and mahoney -- ohioans will be reminded that ohio is producing a new kind of energy to power our future. now, there will come a day when ohio will be the undisputed home of advanced energy. a day when we will have cas

off those of a gransta energy. a day when we will have cast off the list to tired little words that have been used to put us down: rust belt. because that is not who we are. [applause] thank-you. there will come a day to the iconic image of the texas oil rig will be eclipsed by the ohio and maine and win the turbine and solar panel. orval right one said that everything that he had accomplished and his wife was the result of his upbringing in

ohio. in ohio he was taught to question, to explore and to seek new answers. i believe in ohio because that is very much alive in our great state today. i believe in ohio because we have laid the foundation for growth and a thriving middle-class. i believe in ohio unconditionally. [applause] but let me say to you, we must not lose sight of the fact that many of our people are hurting right now. the wake of the wall street prices has knocked over banks and mortgage lenders and pension plans. and companies in every sector of our economy.

leaving us in the midst of what is the worst economic collapse in generations. people who have worked hard all of their lives and who may never have bought a stock or a bonnet and certainly never traded in collateralized debt, they have been hit by a storm of agreed and they didn't cause, they did not contribute to, and they would never have benefited from. but for which they must now repair the damage. in and start county just last year 835 people applied for one job opening as a janitor at a junior high school. 835 people. scrambling for one job. one man told a local newspaper that getting the job would be like winning the lottery. now, i want to say something to those 835 people who applied for

that job and didn't get it. i want to say something to every person in ohio who is unemployed or underemployed. i am fighting for you. [applause] i can say it will be today, i can say it will be easy, but we are going to fix this then. and you have my word on this. i will move heaven and earth to create jobs in ohio and i will not rest until it is done. because -- because the stage at our state is unyielding. [applause]

unyielding. unyielding in the face of the global economic turmoil, unyielding in the face of budget cuts and job loss, unyielding in the knowledge that we are more than our challenges. [applause] and unyielding in the belief that all heigl will not always be just our home but our hope. [applause] i believe in ohio. [applause] i believe in ohio because we may have been dealt a tough hand, but we're going to do what of high winds have always done. we are going to play to win. we've had to make tough

decisions. we've had to make sacrifices. but we have work to reduce the blow of this international economic meltdown and the decisions that we have made have position in ohio two not only recover, but to emerge the rebuild and renew. [applause] in our bipartisan jobs plan, we have made major investments in advanced energy and also in logistics' and distribution, public works and other areas. we've made the largest commitment in our history to improving ohio's infrastructure while saving resources in every way possible. in fact, we will increase infrastructure spending this year by 30 percent while operating with a department of

transportation that has its smallest workforce in 30 years. [applause] we have revitalized our job-training efforts to build the skills our people needed for the employment in high-growth industries. all told, we have helped more than 140,000 ohioans receive job training since january of 2007. we have made a commitment to building a tax structure that encourages job growth and disrespectful of our citizens. we expanded the homestead property tax exemption, saving the average senior citizen homeowner more than $400 each and every year. our business taxes are the lowest in the midwest. in fact, every year that i have been in office, we have cut

taxes. now, even with the delay in implementing the final year of the personal income tax reduction, our efforts to carry out the tax reform bill of 2005 have already provided the largest tax cuts in modern ohio history. [applause] we reform our regulatory process to cut down on red tape and to make it easier for companies to business in ohio. in fact, we tossed out 220 stage roles and revised over 1,000 more. i believe in ohio because job creators know that ohio is a great place to do business. the small business and entrepreneurship council that studies the business climate in 50 states, they consider taxes

and regulations and the like and then they ranked the states on whether they are a good place to start and pro business. in 2006, ohio ranked 38. and their new report issued just a few weeks ago, all high-yield now ranks 11th. [applause] and we are among the very best in the midwest and best among the states that border us. i believe in ohio because we have always been a state that invents things, designs things, makes things, and gross things. and the world knows this. in fact, we are the only state in america where exports have grown every year since 1998.

i believe in ohio because i have never met --. [applause] i have never met an ohio when will things we should put in a call to china and ask them if they want more american jobs. because we know there is no product that it wouldn't benefit from having made in ohio stamped on it. [applause] but ohio business leaders have told me time and again that lack of access to capital impedes them from competing in expanding. in our businesses are operating with one hand tied behind their backs because when wall street ran amok and damaged the american economy, it created a credit crunch for even the most fiscally sound companies.

in particular we have many small manufacturers in ohio who cannot afford to expand their companies and call back laid-off workers even as orders increase because they lack capital. if they miss this window to expand and innovate, it could cost ohio jobs for a generation. quite frankly, i am convinced that this is the single greatest factor inhibiting economic recovery. so we're going to do something about. today i am pleased to announce that lt. governor fisher and ohio treasurer kevin voice have been working with a group of ohio lenders to establish a small business growth partnership. the first initiative of this partnership will be the creation of a business lending clearinghouse that point small businesses in the direction of

possible sources for the working capital they need to grow their businesses and to create new jobs. we're also meeting with lenders to establish a working capital and jobs fun. this public-private partnership will become a new dedicated source for working business capital. now, let me be clear. this is not a bailout and it's not a handout. these are loans for companies that could make more products, more profits and more importantly, more jobs if they simply had the required capital. my friends, ohioans have all the skills needed to do jobs that are being outsourced overseas. in fact, ohioans have the skills to perform those jobs better and that's why today i'm announcing in source ohio, a collaboration

between the ohio department of development, job and family services and the border regions. in source ohio will work with any ohio company currently outsourcing or considering outsourcing to demonstrate how ohio's workforce can meet their knees within a business model that remains competitive. [applause] i believe in ohio because our workforce is second to none, but when jobs disappear and we zero ohioans every opportunity to prepare themselves for new employment. and that's why today i am announcing the creation of a manufacturing certificate. those who have worked in manufacturing will be able to

obtain a credential that can take to future employers that documents their full range of job skills and experience of. and certificate holders will be able to earn credit toward additional job training and education. people are coming to our community colleges looking for opportunity. in fact, enrollment is up 23 percent over the last three years. on now lot of folks want to create their no opportunity in that is why we should help them channel their passions into a business. today i am announcing the creation of a new program called build you're own business. in partnership with our small business development centers, are ohio community colleges and adult career centers, will begin offering ohioans courses and training on starting a new business. participants will have access to

business tudors and businessmen doors and to small startup loans of up to $5,000 to help our newer entrepreneurs take their first up support. build you're own business represents a state wide expansion of a highly successful program at lorain county community college where they offer education and support to bunning small business people and where 60 of the 62 businesses they have mentored are succeeding. build you're own business is just one of four significant job training programs i think should be the focus of new revenue which ohio will receive from casino licensing fees. i would ask the legislature to consider implementing our co-op and internship program to give college students an opportunity to get valuable experience in their fields encourage our young people to stay and thrive in ohio. and we should support the highly

successful ohio workforce guarantee, because it avoids layoffs as far as business expansion by providing resources to companies. and i look forward to working with the legislature to create an urban workforce initiative to provide incentives for ohio companies to immediately put unemployed ohioans back to work. i believe in ohio because we favor common-sense solutions over ideological extremes. now with the new regulatory reform and that we are calling fast-track, we will be able to accelerate funding and final approval or are most promising job-creating transportation projects and we will dedicate an additional $100 million in cost savings to these fast-track projects putting more ohioans to work building roads, repairing bridges and making it ohio move.

we created the university system of ohio in order to unify our higher education in our state and to help us pursue the goal of being the best in the nation and turning our university research into new jobs and economic development. and today we are pursuing a ground-breaking agreement that will help our university system term great ideas into new products and new jobs. by administration and attorney-general are overseeing talks toward reaching a standing agreement between the entire university system of ohio and consumer products powerhouse, p&g. with the contract in place we will speed up and strengthen a research collaboration between a university faculty and the company. p&g will get the benefit of our

innovative thinkers of our universities will get the benefits have unprecedented opportunities to collaborate with p&g on the products. and all hyaline -- and ohioans will get the benefit of new economic development. we can use this agreement as a model for other companies in industries that want to work with ohio's innovative institutions. so today i'm calling upon and the ohio auto industry support council to build on this historic agreement and to create a network that will link ohio manufacturers to greater research going on in ohio. [applause] i believe in ohio because we are not passively waiting for a better day. we are pursuing pragmatic solutions and building public-private partnerships that

let us focus the energies of government on the needs of the people end indicted the energies of private entities poured work that advances ohio. with the third frontier, ohio made a commitment to securing our place at the forefront of the research economy. and that commitment has paid tremendous dividends. certified independent analysis shows that overall the third frontier effort has created 48,000 jobs for ohio in a leveraged more than $6.6 billion in outside investments. and the third frontier is a major reason why venture capital investments have grown at more than 20% a year, well more than twice the rate of the growth nationwide. [applause]

this 10 the year investment in revitalizing ohio launched in 2002 under the leadership of former governor bob taft and with the bipartisan support to of the elected officials and voters, it is set to expire. i want to think the legislature for working towards renewal of this vital program and i am hopeful that we will meet next week's deadline for placing the third frontier on the ballot so that voters can consider it in may of this year. [applause] ohio's promise, ohio's opportunity is not to be found

by clinging ever tighter to a fading past. indeed, the scriptures 1s come i do not say why or the former days better than these four is not from wisdom that you ask this. because my friends, our renewal lies before us, not behind us. [applause] and even as we acknowledge the sincere, the sincere shared sacrifice we have endured in recent years, we shouldn't lose sight of the attack that we've accomplished some things that no other state has been able to do. we have followed a plan in the fighter circumstances to protect our investment in the future. california recently announced a 32 percent tuition increase at

state universities. ohio has held to wishing to the lowest increase in the nation, over the last three years. [applause] thank-you and. and my friends, that is one important reason why we now have 655,981 more zero highlands -- more ohioans enrolled in a public colleges and universities and we had in the year 2006. [applause]

next door in indiana they are in the process right now of slashing $300 million in state funds from their primary and secondary schools. in georgia school funding was cut by $440 million and at least 20 other states are inflicting serious cuts on their school systems, but in ohio, in ohio we are not going backward on our schools. [applause] using a combination of state and federal resources, we have increased school funding by 5.5% in the last budget. i believe in ohio because we recognize that a superior education starting from the early stage is the only path to sustained prosperity. so we passed an historic

education reform plan last year that gives our students and our taxpayers is a stunt that is constitutional, accountable and incomparable. [applause] thank you, thank you. using an evidence based approach we have to find the resources our students need inside and outside the classroom. we have redefined our expectations and our practices with one core purpose in mind -- to prepare our students to become critical and creative thinkers who will thrive in the workplace and in life. this month education week issued its annual report card on the

nation's schools. the study looks at more than 150 indicators of school quality and ohio's schools now ranked first in the midwest and left in the nation. [applause] the report notes that ohio standards for mathematics and science have been cited as a model by other states and that our assessment and accountability practices are among the best in the nation. our closing the achievement gap initiative has raised expectations and achievement and african-american students.

over the first two years of this effort, participating school districts and today more than 18% increase in the overall ninth and tenth grade promotion rate. now, listen to this. the highly respected education commission of the state's steady schools and school systems across the country and they then present an award for innovation to the state that has best improved education and put in place what they call, bold, courageous and non-partisan new policies. and just today, just today the commission announced that their reward for the most innovative education system in the country goes to ohio. ohio! [applause]

thank you. let me say to our schools children, we don't know what your dreams will be, but our schools will give you the tools you need. in order to make them come true. in ohio we now better serve those who have selflessly serb domination. we greeted the ohio department of veterans affairs, a veteran services to unite all our state veterans programs into one cabinet department. with the ohio gi promise ohio became the first day in the nation to open its doors and the

doors of our state universities and colleges with free tuition for veterans from across our country. we've made military pensions free estate income tax. so let these policies senate clear message to everyone who has borne this -- one this nation's uniform. heroes are welcome in ohio. [applause] thank you. so today in honor of all the servicemen and women from ohio who are bravely serving mass, i would like you to join me in a moment of silent reflection. let us pray for their safe

return and for the comfort and the strength of those who have suffered loss or injury. thank you. i'm proud today to say that in this assembling a cabinet and appointing judges, no ohio governor has ever chosen advocates to better reflect the great diversity of this great state. women now hold half the seats in my cabinet. [applause]

iman the 40 judicial vacancies that i have killed, more than one-third of our new judges are african americans and more than 40 percent are women. [applause] .. >> thank you. one of my recent appointee represents one of the first hispanics to serve and i have apointed the first two ohio judges who identify themselves as members of the gay and lesbian community. [applause] >> my friends' public servants should look like the public

they serve [applause] >> together we have put a steady hand on the reigns of government, investing on the things that are essential to our future and essential to who we are. we are building a government that works better and works with what's most important to ohio. a government that looks like at works better and works on what is most important to ohio. a government that looks like ohio and access like ohio. ronald reagan once said that no government ever reduces itself in size. a government program, he said, is the nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth. [laughter] [applause]

>> well, today ohio has 5,021 fewer state employees than when i took office. that is fewer state employees than at any time since ronald reagan was in the white house. to keep our budget balanced we've had to make cuts but we are also making better use of the resources that we do have treated costs less to make a copy of the ohio environmental protection agency now because the purchase copy machines instead of leasing them, saving $19,000. the phone bill went down of the department of health because they are placing more calls over the internet instead of over traditional phone lines, saving $232,000, and because there truly is no such thing as a free

lunch, we have saved $1.6 million by limiting where and when state money can be used to purchase food. you know it is a penny here and a dollar there, or in the case of our medicate efforts, its $796 million saved by billing third-party who should have been responsible for that payment. [applause] quite frankly we have tracked down waste and inefficiency like a hungry bloodhound. because our taxpayers deserve no less. [applause] now, not for a moment what i want to understand the serious challenges we have faced in

ohio, the serious budget challenges. but i also think we should understand that responsible leadership makes a difference. in november the pew center on the states issued its report on state finances and state economies. they made an apples to apples comparison of per capita revenue in spending across the 50 states and what did they find? ohio is doing better than most states at maintaining state revenue and balancing the budgets. forbes magazine did a story just a few years ago about the state's people most wanted to live in. florida was right there of the top of the list. today flora is right there at the top of a different list. the pew center list of what they call states in fiscal peril.

florida has a haulier of unemployment rate than ohio. florida has a higher foreclosure rate than ohio, florida has lost more state revenue and has had a gas leak greater budget gaps to fill than ohio. it's true, it's true that in florida they don't have to shovel a lot of snow. [laughter] but, my friends, i would remind you of what hayes had to say on the weather. the climate is perfect because the climate which requires industry to comfort is the very climate which reduces the highest civilization. [laughter] [applause] and by that standard we have reached heights in civilizations you know i believe in ohio because while every state has taken a hit in this economy quite frankly we are tougher

than most. i believe in ohio because the city's shine brightly as commerce and culture. i want to acknowledge the valuable work of the compact with ohio cities taskforce. i want to express my appreciation for the fact that you have made this important subject a priority and i would like to see us move forward on several of the task force recommendations, including transportation, innovation authorities and landau-banks. [applause] the task force also called for action to help prevent foreclosures. both have bills that would reduce for closure in ohio. today i'm asking members from both chambers, both sides of the

aisle to bring together your best ideas and put a bill on my desk that will help ohio state in their homes. [applause] [applause] ohio cities have very different economic identities and it's time we recognize that fact and help build on those strengths by designating ohio's hubs of innovation and opportunity. already in dayton and the surrounding region we have created an aerospace that recognizes the wide array of research and production that goes on. today we are opening the hub

process on the cross ohio. this year all of ohio's eight largest cities will have the opportunity to hold hub status. as a hub we will provide planning money and assistance to build connections between industry strengths anchored in the urban core and the surrounding region. in short we are going to help our cities and regions do more of what they do best. ohio consistently ranks among the top three states in average revenue per minority and we are proud we are the home of opportunity. i'm pleased to announce today a new partnership with the cleveland based nonprofit group jump-start. our pilot project in 20 east ohio counties will assist high potential minority-owned firms and developing business plans for sustained growth and accessing investors and venture

capital. [applause] >> i believe in ohio -- i believe in ohio because ohio eckert culture is so important not only to our economy but to our way of life. we should do a better job of getting ohio grown and raised food on to the dinner tables of ohio families. because ohioans spend about $43 billion a year on food but only 3% of that spending goes to products from ohio farms, moreover, too many ohioans have lived in neighborhoods where fresh produce is hard to find or impossible to afford. today i am announcing ohio neighborhood harvest. the largest effort of its kind ever undertaken to map access to

healthy and locally grown food. [applause] working in partnership with local governments, the private sector and nonprofits we will use our findings to design a state wide strategy to improve access to ohio grown products and ensure people in every neighborhood in ohio have access to affordable health the food because there shouldn't be any neighborhood in ohio where the only vegetable for sale is the pickle on a fast-food hamburger. ohio -- ohio is a sweeping state. we are a corn state, we are eight logistic state right in the heart of it all, and we are

the polymer state. all these things make us the ideal location for an advanced by old refinery that converts farm output into food, fuel and polymers. toothbrushes, cell phones, printer cartridges, there's a list of products as long as my arm made from petroleum based products that could be made from biopolymer and i will tell you this there is absolutely nothing we can do to secure the sustainability of the nation that is of greater importance than depending upon the midwestern farmer to meet our needs instead of the midwestern -- middies durham wheel bearing to do so. [applause]

[applause] a, to the biorefinery, bring the plans to us hubs of innovation, the ohio neighborhood harvest, i believe in el pollo because we will invest in the things we do exceptionally well and we will create jobs. [applause] renewal of the third frontier and advanced biorefinery we will invest in ohio and we will create jobs. the most innovative schools in e skills they need to start a

business, and sourcing ohio jobs, helping manufacturing workers show what they can do. i believe in ohio because we will invest in our people and we will create jobs. [applause] small business growth partnership, a ground-breaking agreement with p ng. we will shackle with those who make things and we will create jobs. [applause] the smallest state work force in a generation, hundreds of millions in savings and unprecedented efficiency, i believe in ohio because we will save taxpayer resources so that we can invest more in the things

that matter most and we will create jobs. [applause] we are rebuilding an economic foundation and we are doing is so that our middle class can once again stand tall. yes, we have been knocked down. there is no doubt about that. but as the legendary football coach vince lombardi used to say it's not whether you get knocked down, it is whether you get back up. [applause] and ohio will rise again. [applause]

because -- because there isn't a single thing that is wrong with ohio that can't be fixed by what's right with ohio. [applause] so, i believe in the ohio, i believe in ohio because everything we've done today will help us to arrive tomorrow. i believe in ohio because we've -- with god, all things are possible. [applause]

one of the main topics at today's white house briefing was the investigation into the attempted bombing of flight 253 on christmas day. a deputy press secretary bill burton spoke with reporters for 45 minutes. >> good afternoon. >> oh, its bill. >> i just want to make one quick announcement before we get started. [laughter]

let's everybody calmed down for a second. >> tomorrow secretaries locke will be giving a speech on a major export initiative. the president laid out a goal for increasing exports, doubling exports in five years and this initiative will leal the path to get there. he has spoken to the winners in the illinois primary, and with that, julie i would be happy to take your question. >> the presidents of this morning he would be open to compromise on health care. what are the areas specifically he will be willing to compromise on? >> welcome as the president has said before he has very specific principles he has laid out. he feels we've got a far way in the house and senate. we've made more progress than any administration in history when it comes to health care but he's not a legislative technician. he's not bring to get into the nitty gritty of with the best way forward is at this point. he's hoping that legislators on capitol hill will work to iron out their differences. >> evin he said he wasn't specific enough in the

negotiations on health care so will he be getting more specific? >> the president as you know has been active in these negotiations in the sense he's making sure folks in the senate and house have a clear sense where the president wants to go but in terms of actually writing the legislation and getting down to the line by line of what the best way to reach the final agreement is he doesn't consider that. >> on aig last year when the bonus for handle secretaries geithner said he wasn't aware of the point of the accident but going forward there would be more flexibility in negotiating the bonuses. was he aware, was the administration aware of the bonuses and was there any negotiations that went on to the amount? >> the news but the bonuses isn't new. what is new is that aig got some of their employees to voluntarily give back $20 million of those bonuses. obviously the president is frustrated and angry about wall street continues to have this sense that excess of

compensation should reward some of the excessive risk-taking we've seen over the course of the last couple of years of wall street, things douglas to the brink. that's why he hasn't stopped fighting to make sure we get the reforms in place in order to get these packages under control. things like say on page, ways we can do this through financial regulatory reform. you know, he's also been serious about making sure we get taxpayer money which is why he instituted the bank to make sure every single line that went from the taxpayers comes back to the federal government. stomaches their frustration that no matter what he says and seems to do at this point the bonuses are still being handed out? >> well, like i said before the news about this isn't new but what is new ways that some of that money isn't going. but is he frustrated and angry about the fact that the bonus structure remains the same that it has been? absolutely. so the president is going to work on those items that i mentioned. >> a couple questions.

one economic and the other four in. moody's, the big bond rating agency has issued a report saying u.s. deficits threaten the country's aaa bond rating, the president's budget plan as just a small step in the right direction. is the administration taking that assessment seriously of that whole possible downgrade in the country's bond rating? and what if anything with the president do beyond what he's already announced to try to address the situation? >> well the president did indeed moody's to tell him there's a long-term fiscal problems in the country. that's why his budget has ways to which we can cut the deficit in the mid to the long term but in this short-term take care of some of the problems that we've got in this economic crisis, putting americans back to work helping banks get more loans out to small businesses so they can create more jobs and things like that. the president is very concerned about the fiscal stance of this country and is going to work to make sure we are continuing on the deficit. >> but moody's specifically says the president's plan does not do

enough at this time to address the problem. is the president going to basically ignore that? >> the president doesn't necessarily disagree that the plan doesn't do enough. that's why he thinks the we need a fiscal commission in place to help get the bipartisan support for elements that we need to put in place to bring down the deficit in the long term. we've gone a long way towards cutting spending, towards being responsible about how we are spending taxpayer dollars, getting rid of duplicative programs of programs that work. but there is more that we need to do, and hopefully fiscal commission will help to do just that. >> on iran, iran said today that they had fired a rocket capable of launching a satellite. what is the administration's level of concern that whether the technology, the capability could be difficult towards military use, even nuclear missile program? >> obviously we have seen those reports and we are still checking out to make sure they

are county because accurate. a logic that is obviously a product of fact. but the president believed that it's not too late for iran to do the right thing, come to the table with the international community and with up to its international obligations. >> the iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad said yesterday that iran was in fact ready to go ahead with a deal that it had reached earlier but yet for alleged on to allow its nuclear fuel to be processed abroad. does the president see that as a serious offer or overtures and what the u.s. take advantage of that in some way? or do they see it as being a way to divert attention of diverting efforts towards a new round of sanctions? >> some of these reports have been pretty fragmented in the sense that we haven't seen the full transcript of a thing he said. but if those comments indicated some sort of change in position of iran, then president mahmoud ahmadinejad should let the iaea nope. >> to topics, first toyota. i wanted to ask you about the

president's transportation secretary today on the hill saying that the people who have toyota's should just stop driving them. since he said that was a misstatement, but i wonder if you can clarify what is the white house telling the millions of toyota owners across the country what to do? >> as you know, nhtsa, the department of national delete cushions the nation has been very active in making sure the americans are could save on the roads. they are forward leaning as it relates to toyota making sure they live up to the safety standards including encouraging them on the recall. as it relates to people who have toyota is now you should go to the experts at the department of transportation to know a lot more about the issue. but all americans should really get their cars to death if they think that they might have -- if they think that they might have a car that is part of the recall. and they should go get it checked out. and if that is, they should get it fixed. and it's not, then they should keep on driving what they are

doing. >> but on the question of why did the secretary stop driving toyotas? and is there a procedure in place your the white house now that -- the government owns a large share of gm -- had about having procedures in place for potential conflicts of interest in terms of commenting on other cars and dealing with those safety recalls should be a sticky issue. >> for starters the secretary made clear what he thinks is the right thing to do which is what i just said. as for being involved in other car companies this is obviously something the president never wanted to get involved in the of course would never have made the lead to any impact on this administration's commitment making sure that americans are could save on our roads. >> can i ask about leslie -- the information that cannot from the white house about abdulmutallab the interrogation had with the cooperation has with the government? there is a hearing on the hill today with the various republicans including mac thornberry was saying was about political cover and that the

white house was trying to like this information selectively to protect the president because he has a political problem right now. >> i would just say that before there was criticism from republicans that we woodring wasn't working. now that people find out what we are doing is working there criticizing the fact that we say what working is in working. look, nothing came out last night that compromise is any of the investigations or any of the interrogations' are currently ongoing. we feel that we pursued the correct course and enter getting abdulmutallab, and through that course we've got a quite a bit of information that's been helpful to both the united states and some of the foreign person keeping the american people say. there's no regrets on that. i will say that it's washington and there's a lot politics that gets played and i was as watching an interview last night on cable news before i cannot hear and you folks or -- >> q knees? >> i never said it but i don't watch cable news in fact it's part of my job.

of which broadcasts to. but you've got people who are criticizing what we are doing in this administration but never criticize things that happened in the administration prior to that exactly the same. and without anything changing in the interim the only thing i can sue am surmises maybe there are some politics at play. >> but it doesn't seem like your -- schiraldi naim that part of the motive here was to push back the president's political critics. and i wonder if by revealing that some of abdulmutallab's family members are called britton with the u.s. government that could not put their lives in danger because al qaeda and others are going to say these family members are helping the u.s. government to this gimmick for starters i will say that the reason these people work told about the success of these interested in have anything to do with politics in the sense that the determination was made here the white house that it was important for the american people to know that we are doing it for the impossible to keep the american people say, and that the interrogations' are working, that we are getting evidence that is actionable, that we feel we've pushed topeka pursued the right course. no information that was given out over the course of those briefings compromises that in any way we don't feel like we are given any information that

will harm our ability to samore. >> i'm confused if the investigation was not compromised in any way but cannot was like we didn't come out a long time ago? what i mean, presumably the reason for keeping this secret was because it could harm the investigation. now comes out and use it didn't harm the investigation. >> as you know because it was said last night i believe this information would not have necessarily come out. >> if it doesn't harm the investigation why? >> in order for the american people to know that we are doing everything possible to keep them safe, and in order for our continued success in this effort we made the determination that it was a good idea to make sure that people knew that our resources -- that our methods here were working. >> wouldn't you want to share with the american people the maximum amount of information possible so long as it doesn't hurt the investigation? >> obviously the president has put a premium on transparency and making sure that people know what is happening in this white house, why he's making the

decisions that he's making. and i would say that what happened last night falls under the rubric of making sure that people know why he's making the decisions that he's made and this success of those decisions. >> why wasn't it done a week or two before that? >> i think that you could look -- to get picked apart any little piece of this process but if you about the way back to december 25th of last year when this all started, we feel like a day-by-day moment by moment we've been successful in getting the information of that we needed on telling the american people exactly what's going on. it's been on the idea and is is is the president completely helpless to do anything about this? >> why wouldn't say he's helpless. what he's done -- will, for starters on the speed -- aig bonuses specifically there has been a success in getting some of those employees to voluntarily not take some of the bonuses to the tune of $20 million which is no small

feat. second i would say that he thinks that the way forward we need to do more things to get these bonuses under control. that's why he is for and promoting say on pay legislation. that's why he is getting some of this through the financial reform. so i would not say that he is helpless. i would say that he's doing everything he can in getting this under control. >> in the past when this has happened, she has come out and voice his outrage. 6' 8, 8 1/2, can do it all.

i mean when i say do it all and do it gracefully. i mean with the greatest of ease. >> benji will, so his game and personality were -- wilson, his game and personality were electric, a future star in the nba until one morning when everything changed. get an inside glimpse at the man the nfl mayors have chosen to lead them in -- players have chosen to lead them in the fighnewtive rgaient. 'll uce emar ith. >> t our stin >> and a truy th abou inws tvie' hello and welcome to this

edition of net impact. we've seen nfl commissioner roger goodell and nfl players association executive director demaris smith exchanging pleasantries through the media and have even been in front of congress as the two sides attempt a collective bargaining agreement and as they do so the atmosphere will get more tense. we know goodell he's within on the job three years now but who is this man that the players have chosen to be their voice in this turbulent time? here's comcast sportsnet's mid- atlantic's jill sorenson. >> for our last practice we could play head coach. >> yea! >> we do head coach. >> reporter: this is fun for demaris smith the executive director of the nfl players association by day and a coach for his 10-year-old son allen and his baseball team in silver vince, maryland, by night.

>> tag -- in silver springs, maryland, by night. >> tag him! >> reporter: the intensity and passion you see here is smith's day job as union smith named the successor to the late and edge legendary gene upshaw in march, the man everyone calls dean has not slowed down. >> i've been on the job six months. i've probably been on the road three and a half, four months solid. >> reporter: he was seen as an outsider to get the job with former players as the front runners. his background as a trial lawyer was far from the experience of an nfl player. >> i definitely think that's a positive that he was an outsider, you know, guy coming in, he doesn't have all the connections or, you know, any preconceived notions of what was happening before and, you know, can he come in and kind of look at things clearly. >> i'm very confident. i'm confident, that you know, he can get things done, whatever that may be. he's presented himself in such a way and i think he's broken it down to the players in such a way that we can understand

it. >> reporter: as much as he's an outsider d. is a d.c. insider having grown up a stone's throw from fedex field. >> you come out of the room in d.c. and get smacked and then you're injected with burgundy and gold. >> reporter: on his resume counsel to then deputy attorney general eric holder and he also served on president obama's transition team. >> business worldwide in some way, shape or form always touches washington. it's one heck of a sports town. so yeah, those are things that are inextricably tied to who i am. does it affect what i do? probably. but hopefully affects it for the better. >> reporter: with the possible lockout on the horizon demorris smith has made it a priority to visit each team to help them understand the process. >> this was in one of the file drawers in our office and it slowly but surely i'm going through every drawer, every cabinet. >> reporter: why? >> a great deal of our history on what we have done internally to be a stronger union is

there. the one thing i'm blessed about is gene was an incredible note taker. here on the back he'd clearly written out in longhand a speech that i don't know whether he gave or was going to give, but the most interesting part at the bottom is you see it in quotes, the nfl has always been willing to take a short loss for a long term gain. >> reporter: in the midst of negotiations or perhaps because of them d. and the union have made national headlines on a regular basis. >> as executive director, my no. 1 priority is to protect those who play and have played this game. to me it is probably a little bit of a combination of half negotiation, half trial lawyer. i mean both of those things are things that are in my dna for some way, shape or form. i think about my grandfather in the pulpit. there's probably a little bit of that, too. as a result, i'm really not afraid of my question.

i want guys to be actively involved. truth be told, i probably lean on them in a very hard way, but this is their union. it's not my union. it's their union. >> reporter: always in the line of fire demorris smith is used to the heat. >> i thought that was a -- 17-year-old ben benji wilson was a rising star, a young basketball phenom with a definite nba future. in fact, in 1984 wilson was the no. 1 ranked high school basketball player in the nation. he'd been described as a magic johnson with a jump shot and kevin garnett with a better handle of the ball and a better perimeter game. luke stuckmeyer of comcast sportsnet chicago shows us wilson's wizardry on the court. >> reporter: chicago may be a football town and baseball crazy in summertime, but at its core in the city basketball is

a way of life. we're not just talking about the m.j. glory days. we're talking about the kids who built their games here like isiah thomas on the west side and more recently dwayne wade and derrick rose on the south side, but 25 years ago somebody else owned these courts in chicago, a skinny silky kid with a smile named benji. >> and center for the wolverines a junior, 6' 7, no. 25 ben wilson. >> if you haven't seen him, you're in for a treat, 20 a game. >> i would go and i want to be successful and i do what it takes to be successful and that is when i go home i study and do my work and go to class. >> kind of corny stuff. >> well, it works. >> reporter: everything seemed to work for benjamin wilson, but especially basketball. >> wilson two. >> reporter: born and raised on the city's south side, he was

the middle of five brothers and it wasn't long before that orange rock was the fiber of his life. >> looked like bruce lee with two basketballs. he approached the basketball hoops. just unbelievable what he could do with that ball three fingers pawning the ball like this. >> reporter: and with ben and his ball around the wilson's neighbors were always up early. >> the neighbors used to be furious about being woke up in the morning because he was always dribbling the basketball and one of the next-door neighbors mr. robertson said benji was the alarm clock to get him up and go to work in the morning. >> reporter: by 16 wilson could still play like a point guard but now he soared like an eagle with his new 7' 3 wingspan. >> bankston drops it down to wilson for a turnaround. >> we used to imitate ben when

he shoots his jump shot. it was like he'll shoot it and then put his wrist back like this and run down the court but everybody used to emulate him in high school. that's how big he was in high school. >> reporter: and everybody wanted to be around him. benji's game and personality drew in friends and admirers from all over including the nba. >> ben wilson steps in, scores. >> 6' 8, 8 1/2, can do it all. i mean when i say do it all and do it gracefully. i mean with the greatest of ease. i mean and it looks so pretty when he was doing it. i mean it was smooth. it was silky. it was just you had to -- he had that camera that captured that moment. i mean he was that type of player.

>> wilson slide down the lane. >> reporter: as a junior he was a starter on a lineup full of seniors. benji was third team all state and the wolverines went 30-1 for the 2a state title. that put simeon on the map. >> i think he helped push simeon into a more global nationwide type school, basketball power. i remember our senior year, you know, we thought we were world beaters, we could go anywhere and play anybody any time. >> reporter: after winning the state championship in the spring of 1984 ben kept improving stunning scouts at the nike all american camp. he left as the first kid from illinois to ever be ranked as a no. 1 player in the entire country. >> he was clearly, clearly benjamin wilson was the no. 1 player in the country.

no one came close. >> reporter: ahead how benji wilson's life changed in less than a second. >> ben's thumb was rising and then at midday. >> reporter: a horrific crime on these streets in chicago is

benji wilson's future seemed secure. just a few years in college before fame and wealth would schuler follow in the nba -- would surely follow in the nba, but it wasn't meant to be. instead there was a tragic turn of events and now 25 years later benji wilson has never been forgotten. let's get back to his story. >> reporter: ben wilson had it all, sizzling basketball skills and an electric personality, but on november 20th, 1984, it was a gray cold fall day a on

the like this one and on vinsenz avenue right in front of simeon high school the day was about to get even darker. >> the old guys, they've served their times and lived their lives, when the sun is eclipsed or the sun is rising it's so different. ben's sun was rising moving towards midday and then it became midnight at midday. >> reporter: at 12:37 on november 20th ben wilson was walking with his girl friend and mother of his 10-week-old son brandon. they were a block from the school. he liked to gather at a small store around lunchtime but benji bumped into two freshmen from calumet high school on the sidewalk. they pulled out a .22 caliber handgun and shot him twice, one bullet piercing his aorta and the other tearing a hole in his

liver. >> to this day i still don't know the story. i've never tried to seek out the story because the only person that could tell is and while the chaos continued at simeon benji's brothers were miles away with a sibling connection that still haunts them. >> i was in library class and i heard somebody say i got shot. i got shot. i was in library class and i was like i'm going crazy, but then i thought about cain and abel when cain slew his brother

and the most high said where's your brother? i heard his blood cry from the earth. right there something let me know that he got shot. >> and as a matter of fact, i had a dream two nights in a row before he died, somebody or something tried to tell me, had a dream that night benji was dead. next day i had a dream benji was dead. at that moment i heard my brother's voice say i got shoot just like i said to you there, came to me like. so this was something there and i was like what the hell's going on here? my mama always say you want the most high to talk to you, you got to be in a quiet place and i was in the library class at the time my brother was shot and i heard him. when i found out, i went be serk. >> fo ery as a

we seen ben on the floor by himself. that's what brothers do. >> they weren't supposed to.

i don't like to talk about that but they had to see him. >> they was telling us that he's in stable condition and kenny allen pulled the sheet back and we saw him. we had to see him and we knew he was gone. >> reporter: early the next morning the day his senior season was supposed to start ben wilson was pronounced dead at the age of just 17. even president ronald reagan called the family to offer h is dead. >> involved in extraordinary young man. >> he was gunned down. >> it's not how long you live. but how well you live.

>> then i seen my brother in that casket. oh, tried to wake him up like man, you ain't dead. get up, man. get up. get up. you ain't dead. get up. then seeing those two guys who did it. >> did you know ben wilson? did you know him? >> reporter: after the shooting cousins billy moore and omar dixon were taken into custody charged with murder and attempted robbery. moore was later sentenced to 40 years for pulling the trigger and dixon 30 years as his accomplice. on the day that benji died his simeon teammates decided to play their first game of the season without no. 25.

earlier in the day students sobbed at simeon simply overwhelmed with grief, but benji's mother stood tall in the gymnasium. >> so today i speak in love of all of you who keep benji's memory and dignity and be strength v and strength and love alive -- strength and love alive. >> reporter: the wake was held on the gymnasium floor and 8,000 people came to see benji lying in his no. 25 jersey. the line stretched blocks outside of the school, mourners waited seven hours. >> i still have dreams about him like, you know, he came back and he was able to play again, but just dreams. >> sometimes i sit down and,

you know, when i'm going through things, you know, i speak, you know, just like i would to my grandparents, you know. hey, benji, how you doing, that type of thing. i just can't forget about him. this is very emotional. >> reporter: still an emotional story 25 years later. there are some updates to this story. at the time of his murder benji

wilson left behind a 10-week- old son named brandon. well, brandon would go on to become a talented high school prep basketball player himself. even played some college basketball at the university of maryland eastern shore but he would leave after his sophomore season according to a school official and as for the two young men convicted of this horrific crime, william moore is still in federal prison for wilson's murder and omar dixon would tack on additional charms when he was arrested for aggravate -- charges when he was arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a separate attempted murder case. let's move on. next summer south africa will play host to the 2010fifa world cup but it was back in 1995 when they hosted another world cup that changed the country, a game of rugby that united 42 million south africans. now clint eastwood's new movie in vic us brings this amazing

true -- invictus brings this amazing true story to life and sat down with matt damon is yuntr >>rep on ma ond sporth r tochan wor >> l s ouiny. rep onat inciple that the movie invictus was born. obviously you're a big sports fan yourself. what did sports do you think has the ability to unite people like the way we saw in this movie? >> weah, spare iqued ted o ite and ela was actually quoted as saying that. i guess there's something about getting, you know, 60,000 people in a space together g fotly sa thou kople ss tcoun caion peooss

the . s cawas thiste >> b me paect faces the daunting task of a vide h afogetin the wake of apartheid. what struck you about this story that made you so interested in wanting to do it? >> that it was true. i couldn't believe it when i read it and i called clint and i said i can't believe this stor ther fog. as hand

th wad thint make no e. leas pre, it kes teso me repomandout th of e taint rugby team. francois is a pretty big guy. how did you get ady ay >>gr world obly t th beey so >> sou i am i am gs d, spiroem. epor lm'stitle us rto aem t mandela used as a sou

inspn anngthg near i because the country didn't fall into civil waby l e tionhould have and it's a decision that every single person in that country made. still to come he's a big and bad offensive lineman in the nfl but what are his keys to success off the field?

take a look at san

francisco 49er eric heitmann and you'd never know that off the field he's a pianoman. here's comcast sportsnet's bay area's brody brazil to show us. >> reporter: this is the side and this is the side most would of eric heitmann people know, an offensive lineman for the never expect, at 6' 3 315 49ers since 2002. pounds he's got the frame of a football behemoth with the hands of a beethoven. >> my mom made me take lessons about 10, 11 years growing up as a kid. right around when i started playing football, football became more of a focus for me and piano you put on the back burner a little bit. it was always secondary for me, always a hobby but something that i always kept up. >> reporter: inside his home today heitmann employs both a piano and keyboard setup inner it connected with the apple program garage band. it is here where the stanford graduate composes his best work in the form of cinematic sound scapes. >> my style is more of a movie

classical theme sounding stuff i guess i would characterize it. >> so dramatic it plays well essentially. it's dynamic. >> yeah. i'd like to think that. you guys can be the judge. >> reporter: while football is the profession and composition is the passion, it's the music that gives eric an escape from life when he needs it. >> i'll be home sunday night or after a big game and maybe there's something you need to crank out on the piano to kind of relieve some emotions or something. i use it as an escape. it's a good way to kind of release frustration or whatever emotions you're feeling at the time. it's something i've done for so long, you know, i've played for so long i don't ever really want to let it go at this point. i enjoy playing and i'm going to keep doing it as long as i can. >> reporter: it's only natural to expect eric's musical endeavors will outlast his football career, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's planning for a future behind the keyboard. >> you never know. we'll see at some point maybe if there's something you can

put out there. i'd love to get in a recording studio at some point, maybe not for profit, just something i could show my kids at some point. i'll continue to do this for as long as i can. >> reporter: brody brazil, comcast sportsnet. >> he's pretty good. his team's not doing bad either. that's going to do it for this edition of net impact. i'm your host and for all of us thanks for watching, see you again next month. ! me! ut.

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