i also just received a huge honor of being selected national high school principal of the year. worcester is the second largest city in new england and worcester tech this the largest high school in a city. with 1400 students in 24 different tactical programs within for small learning communities. 63% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch, 19% our special ed and ethnic background

reflects the city's demographics. we were the lowest performing high school in our city and one of the poorest performing vocational schools in our state. presently we have a 92% first time passing rate in english-language arts, 84% in math, 96% insights, and last year 96.4% of our students graduate in four years. the achievement gap has decreased significantly and in some groups it is nonexistent. students who prepare for success with a rigorous curriculum including a variety of advanced placement courses that combines academic with hands-on experience in school and the workplace through internship and cooperative educational

opportunities. they graduate with all their academic requirements and with industry recognized national certification. our students are graduated college and career ready, 82% went on to higher education, 13% directly into the world of work and 2% joined the military. worcester tech has over 350 business industry advisors that contribute to the direction of the school and the students. it consists of represents a local business and industry related to the programs organized labor and post-secondary institution. parents, guardians, students and representatives of registered programs. they are integral partners are program providing direction on training, equipment, certification, licensure education and career opportunities. each program works to provide credentials as well as college credits to expand each students opportunity for postsecondary success. our allied health students graduate with a high school diploma and seven college credits, a certificate in hotels, certification in cpr first aid, certified nursing assistants, home health aide and emt. in our i.t. program students graduate with up to 18 college credits from northeastern university as was being certified in a+ and the certified network associate it with the assistance of business

and higher education partners we receive new equipment at no or reduced cost or the sponsors benefit by having students trained on their latest equipment. a donation from toyota has allowed us to create a 16 day service center furnishing with equipped state-of-the-art automotive technology, servicing over 250 vehicles a month. we are committed to building partnerships with local two and four year colleges and universities. our animal clinic was greeted by a school partnership with tufts university and provides affordable animal care for low-income families in the worcester a. the university funds a veterinarian to run the clinic and our students work alongside the doctor providing animal care. two years ago worcester tech became stem career college innovation cool -- school to obtain stem jobs upon graduation our study stem really feels and calls. with this focus where trading students to meet the employment demands of interest growing biomedical, and manufacturing

industry. these partnerships will keep jobs in worcester for another 100 years and keep our city strong and viable. through the leadership efforts of our manufacturing construction and structures, our students work alongside elite college in ginning students to develop and build a modular zero energy home that competed in this department of energy solar decathlon which was held in china. this project hope them hone their skills on the latest technologies and see the fruit of their labors in a truly once-in-a-lifetime global cultural experience. successful technical schools require strong links to the committee, business industry and academic institution. our schools and success and the students success are intertwined. worcester tech as part of an economic engine coordinating the needs and desires of industry for our hailes trained workforce with the needs and desires of our students to secure good paying rewarding jobs in the field of their choice. mr. chairman, this concludes my prepared testimony but i'm happy

to answer any questions you or other committee members may have. thank you. >> thank you, doctor. mr. fischer, you're recognized. >> chairman rokita, ranking member grijalva and members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me here today. as deputy commissioner of education of vermont on responsible for our innovation and transformation agenda with particular focus on career and technical education. this year i also have the honor of serving as president of the national association of state directors of career and technical education consortium. as you take up the important work of greek authorizing the federal investment cet i appreciate this opportunity to share insights based upon my expenses in vermont as well as those of my colleagues across the country. let me start by saying the federal investment in cte is on important and has been and continues to be a major driver of innovation. 12 million students of all ages across the country participated in cte programs in every type of community setting the urban,

suburban and rural. and cte programs have delivered numerous types of educational settings at the second and post-secondary levels. this diversity is a strength and a reflection of cte's responsiveness to its committee, employers and students. it is also this diversity that makes us the unity behind the common vision for the future of cte is so unique. and 2010, the state's cte directors from across the country agree to a common vision charting a progressive agenda that leverages opportunities presented in the perkins legislation. this vision which has been provided as a supplement to my testimony seeks to break down the silos between academic and technical education, and between second and post-secondary education. it calls for strengthened partnerships with employers and the metadata driven decision-making.

>> students are often learning and earning at the same time, gaining portable industry impose secondary credentials along the way. duel and conquer and enrollment has been a successful cd policy. in vermont and across the country. researchers found that new enrollment students were more likely to earn a high school diploma, go on to college, persist at that level and have a higher post-secondary grade point average than their peers. not only do these opportunities give students a head start in postsecondary education, and lessens the college the debt owed. at a high school in kentucky students in health science program had the opportunity graduate from high school and earned an associate degree. this is college and career readiness and this is today's cte. with perkins funding and requirements as a national catalyst, cte is transitioning

its delivery model to programs of study. organize around the 16 career clusters. driven by called the college standards to the, career technical core, or strong evidence the programs of study are producing positive outcomes including better test results, better secondary gpas, and improved progress towards graduation. in my state programs of study applying a transformation role in ensuring that our most rural communities have access to high quality cte in urban centers like new york, l.a., chicago ctv is transferring high schools. this is a matter of equity. no matter your zip code, gender, socioeconomic status or race, all students should have access to programs that prepare them to be both college and career ready. finally none of this matters of us with evidence of outcomes. if about the graduation rate for cte students is 93%. compared to our overall graduation rate of 87%. this is not unique to promote.

>> thank you. >> thank you very much, and good morning, chairman rookie and congressman. and the esteemed members of this committee. my name is frank brick. mco and foster one nation's largest and most experienced providers of online and hybrid education and grew technical field. i appreciate the opportunity to share some perspectives this mind regarding this vital part of the education economy. i come to today as a practitioner, as an active observer of cte him a perspective start with several important assumptions. the first is it self-evident cte has worked and is improve the lives of millions of people due to the dedicate faculty and administrators in strong state and federal policies. secondly, given that strong track record there's a lot that should embrace going forward. this is not a part of the education economy that is broken because one that is thriving and can continue to improve with the

future. thirdlyfuture. thirdly, change is upon us. society is changing the education itself is changing and templars expectations of workers are changing and the reality that the ring habits of students evolving a digital were. i think there's a significant opportunity to build on a strong and viable a cte, the one that plays today in schools and a business across the country. i think we need to continue to lay out a roadmap, a platform that will further establish it in a contemporary context. that roadmap should be formulated by the seasoned practitioners in the cte industry as was administrators but also needs to include people from outside the cte industry to help shape the next generation of students and lifelong learners. as you read in my stated remarks with six recommendations. i wanted to highlight three of those. but they share in common, this is an important welcome is all of them have been implemented in other parts of the education economy and in other sectors of the corporate economy. that's an important point. objectives of current best practices with the best

practices from other industries so we can optimize the student experience of cte as was return on investment. we have three recommendations particularly thought worth noting. the first is project-based learning with the best of traditional practices, to better personalize the student expense. this means project-based learning combined with the way traditional ground-based -- number two, we want to embrace digital learning. cte faculty members have always need to embrace new technology, given the disciplines they teach but given the technology and software are essential to countless fields already, we see embedding for the digital tools in a learning context as a national expansion to what happens in the classroom and what should happen out of the classroom going for. the third is change in perception. they are into men, gordon respectable occupation, and drive stable lifestyles but in

many cases it allows people to advance the middle-management even seen mentioned position. as we also know, the degree to pursue for middle school careers are often misunderstood and underappreciated. the reality is that the alternatives, education group halfway is, in fact, compelling to millions of capable traditional learners and adults. needs to be encouraged by people and organizations influence. there's a significant opportunity to make cte a new way to think about the economy for millions of people. we think the perception and the branding of cte needs to be if all. and he's become a mainstream solution that is embrace and same way traditional four year colleges arms race. will know the four year degree may not be distrustful or even practical for every student or in some cases it may shouldn't be the first to. the reality of that is a trillion dollars of student loan debt. students and adults alike should be encouraged understand the alternatives to help them and their families build a more productive life. this is the moment to lean in on a from the power and the promise

of cte enabled careers. in summer where supporters of cte. we don't complain if i wrote and help in this country which is likely to work with the resurgence of u.s. manufacturing. we have 123 year history at or organization including our 100,000 students today to participate in all aspects of our high school, our college as well as our other programs. there's an imperative an opportunity to change ct in this country and we think it's an exciting one that can improve everyone's life to appreciate the opportunity to share our perspectives on that subject. >> thank you. out of respect for and/or to a comedy as many phone numbers as i can, i'm going to hold on my questions and go right to members questions. so first will be mr. thomas, you're recognized for five minutes. >> chairman, thank you. ranking member, thank you for this incredibly important hearing. thanks to the panel for your testimony, your expense today.

this is a subject that i'm pretty passionate about and today we're not just talk about rare opportunity for individuals and families, that's incredibly important but the big picture we're talking about is competitiveness and qualified training workforce. the types of programs the students you touch, the program should touch on the topic we're talking about all serves for america's combativeness. career technical education is not a field of dreams. it's a field of jobs. helping make that connection. first of all trantwo i would ask unanimous consent just to submit a statement from my co-chair, a statement from congressman jim langevin. >> without objection. >> thank you, sir. my first question is one of the key provisions in the current perkins act is to focus on programs of study that stance could impose secular education. have your programs strengthen the secretary compost second a

connection since the 2006 act was passed? anyone who would like to feel that, please do. >> i could address that first. it has been a lever for change, particularly with getting higher and to come to the table and secondary ed to come to the table. not that the reluctant partners but we never had a common vision around that. that provides a common vision. perkins requires that the post-secondary elements of learning must begin in the secondary education field. it was a perfect opportunity starting with tech prep to look at art agreements. now real robust enrollment programs on the industry side working with businesses, apprenticeship programs that can start in high school and move towards a full apprenticeship license to things like that have really sprung up since 2006.

>> we are very fortunate and worst of massachusetts are to have 11 colleges and universities in our city, so we partner and are working very close with all the presidents and have partnerships, for instance, at our community college. they send their instructor to our school during our day and certify our allied health service -- give our students free of charge seven college kids. they also teach spanish went into during the day and her students earned six college credits free of charge. we have partnered with worcester polytechnic will institute where our students actually assist with their engineer students in building a zoo energy solar module home which they competed in china. they actually asked six our students and two of our instructors to go with them to china for three weeks to rebuild the module home and be part of the competition. so that has been incredible. tufts university isn't just about 15 minutes away.

they approached us or our construction students build the veterinary clinic that is at our school that has surgical labs and extra machines and we serve as -- 250 animals for low income families that couldn't afford proper animal care before. >> coming back to the business industry, does that -- that isn't probably important that is how we are preparing people for jobs that are there, whether they're emerging industry, it into she that are recovering from industries that are just a transitional phase in terms of their workforce. so in your expense what role does business and industry play in cte program development and delivery, and how can we strengthen that physical role? >> this is an issue is critical component in the development of

cte. we spent a lot of time developing occupational demands, statistics and forecasts so that we can track technical education programs based upon the demand of the workforce. the technical college system from high school system and our workforce commission are also intimate involved with this, and we're now providing the path forward deployed meaningful cte programs in place in the state to track the occupational dema demand. >> i think we're probably just about out of time, so if i could ask my remaining questions on which is submit for the witnesses to reap be able to respond back inviting, that would be wonderful. i would appreciate it. thank you. >> without objection and the gentleman yield back. traneleven is recognized for five minutes. >> tranone. if i may submit for the record if there is no objection,

statement from the ranking member, and a statement from the association for career and technical education. >> without objection. >> a point i would give my time to ms. davis for any questions or comments she might have. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you've all touched on so many important areas and thank you so much. i think we often read about how we can bring things to scale, how we can take the great expertise that comes with principals and with educators in our system and kind expand is to make sure that they really reach all children with the quality we're looking for here. so when we think about the partnerships and we know we are dealing with what i've always found to be some very, very passionate teachers in this field, and yet what is it that you believe the perkins act can do to drive the best in education in this area, as well

as expanding those partnerships? how would you like to see that? is it a combination of resources? is a combination of rewards and grants that highlights the best practices? how do we redo this to make certain that it's getting at what you all want to accomplish today? >> the perkins grant is essential for the functioning of our school. for instance, in the biotechnology program, our business and industry in central massachusetts, it would be essential where credit a pipeline for those jobs. through perkins money we actually hired a ph.d from umass medical school and started a biotech program with the money. since then artistic has committed to additional features. we have the first graduating class and our students are all going into stem majors, which is fantastic. what i would recommend is that

they are less requirements for the money in regards to having more flexibility. a lot of the money spent on professional development which is essential for our especially technical teachers to stay current, and business and industry expectation. but the ability to use the money in various ways would be very helpful. >> i would just add that the perkins act do so many important things, but there's an opportunity to stimulate innovation in a major way by utilizing some nontraditional practices like innovation grants and prizes it would attract not just traditional cte leaders and innovators to the table, but also people from outside the industry. i think one of the lessons learned across all sectors is you have to harness the best of the talent in the sector but we live in a world that's more connected, more global and that has to be opportunities for the rest of the non-cte education world to be part of that

conversation. and i think there are aspects of the person -- the perkins act that could be directed to innovation and i think would create complementary perspectives to those that the faculty bring today. >> i would agree with everything that's been stated. i would add that under the current perkins we use the reserve funds for innovation grants opportunity, and i would hate to lose that. but i would add that what we needed to also is to build more robust data systems and define what data points we're looking at and what defines success. and when we can do that anymore commonwealth across the state, then we can look at informing the structural improvement providing better professional development, and also engaging with business and industry decide what's the emerging careers that we need to develop programs for. >> mr. bargas, did you want to comment quickly? >> i think that pretty well covered the topic.

in terms of our partnerships we have with public education as those are technical college system, i think that pretty well covers the needs and the discussion. >> i do believe when you have to click the data, you have to make sure it represented a what we are trying to measure. and how we do that, i would certainly welcome some insight about that because that's critical. we are never going to get where we want to go i think without that. you mentioned in louisiana the course choice, mr. bargas, that students have. i'm just thinking, how is all that managed? because in order to have industries using their equipment or engaging students at their site, which really the optimum we can do, that takes resources. that takes -- so how is it that we get there? i see my time is up, but speed

is the gentleman's time has expired. ms. brooks will be recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i should think i know where congresswoman davis was going because i'm curious with respect to the location issues. as we looking at reauthorization of the perkins act, i'm curious what you think the most important thing the federal government can do to help ensure that all students have access to cte type of programs. as mother of a son graduate from high school a couple of years ago, i wished he had done more cte programs, but as you've mentioned, and then i also been employed at the community college system but my point is going back to more with respect to my son, large public high school, and they get cte programs are typically located far, their career at centers far

away from the traditional high school in much of a feckless technical high school, which i love that concept, ma not every child will choose that. and as their explained careers and ideas, if they live in go off campus for that half a day, for those programs, they are missing the other college prep and advanced placement type of courses that they need to go to college. so i think we have a very big disconnect between our other academic programs and these academic programs, which people don't call them academic programs, but actually they should be. i think we have these branding issues, as you've said, with cte's but we also have these access issues for students who can't go and explore it because been there getting off the college track. and i'm curious what her thoughts are and if you understand what my frustration is about career programs being located far away from our high

schools in separate centers, and what should we be doing in the perkins act to fix that? because the programs that cte all for our fabless but not enough to get during the opportunity to explore them because they think they would then get off the college track. i would like to hear from all of you. and i love the technical high school program, but we can't have those everywhere to the exclusion of our other traditional high schools. >> in massachusetts, there's over 60 vocational technical schools. and in worchester, although we are a career and technical high school, we have our academics that's a very different model than around the country. we actually of our students and academics one week and the opposite week during a technical program and the opposite way to go back to the academics. so we have created authentic learning experiences that are project-based learning. what we've done to expand that is because w we've been so

successful, the conference of high schools are now putting in chapter seven programs to give the students the opportunity to be part of the expenses for project-based learning. spent outstanding. others? >> want a question. multiple levels of this. so first of all, rebranded, what career tech is. it's not my father's vocational education but what looks like and what it sounds like and what it produces, the outcomes are big on the the data plays an important role in the. dual enrollment plays an important role in the. recognizing that the delivery of cte can take multiple methods but anytime anywhere learning. we can make better use of the virtual and blended learning. we can also recognize some of that learning doesn't take place within the walls of the school. work-based learning expenses, but releasing this is the 21st

century programs. they are rich and academics, rich and expensive and heavily backed by business. >> how would you rename it, rebranded? i think that's part of the problem. like you mentioned, calling it traditional education i think is taking us back decades and i think it's a huge problem for young people, and so whether it's a comprehensive high school, tech -- i'm curious what you all think it ought to be renamed. >> to thoughts. first of all, there are 5000 career academies in the united states. it's a school within a school where there are both traditional schools and whatever the right term is, vocational school. the future model could be the technology enabled career and college readiness academy. >> thank you spent issued the and, not or. that's an important distinction. project learning models like dr. harrity and others are bringing to life makes that.

because they can increase -- that allows yourself to solve problems and begins to not eliminate the separate disciplines but it begins to integrate the disciplines into real-world problem-solving based approaches. as far as branding, investment remarks i did note an example which is a contemporary one which is the -- is a whitespace if you want to put on the marketing available to rebrand this field and own the jobs brand. i think the opportunity is to bring the private sector together, with a vested interest in an outcome such that to rethink and revisions the brand and the marketing just like the got milk campaign works -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes himself for five minutes. continue on if you will please. >> my remarks are fine, thanks. >> mr. bargas, anything to add? >> to address the issue of

facilities and where they're located, we have taken a hard look at identifying high schools across the state that it either mothballed the technical labs, whether it be in construction, automotive or health care, and working with the technical college system and other partners we have laid out a plan i which we can do what individual and try to reinvigorate these programs to the high schools. in addition, we have passed a huge bond issue to improve our locations of the technical college system. and we would be allowing new construction, but the key is bringing it back to the high schools and not reducing the rigor of the curriculum because that's a key and we don't think that's a topic for discussion. you've got to keep the rigor budget also got the technical education as well. spent i think you for that. what i'm going to do now is read my question into the record and i'm going to ask each of the witnesses to respond in writing them if you would come and then i will yield the rest of my time

to mr. grijalva so we can get some questions in. the question is how can the federal government support more consistency throughout the cte programs, without overburdening states, school districts, or institutions? so if you wouldn't mind, you are great witnesses, your opinion is valued. if you can respond to the committee, that would be appreciated. and with that i will yield the remainder of my time, three minutes and 20 seconds to mr. grijalva. >> thank you very meant. one of the questions in writing -- thank you very much. one of the questions in writing, the impact of sequester, what it's meant to your high schools and what it's meant to programs in vermont. that could be something that the committee could submit in writing. let me submit a general question for anyone who wants to answer. as you look forward to the reauthorization, what are the most important things the federal government can do to help ensure that all students

have access to high quality cte programs? and what are some of the recommendations, some of the ideas you might have as we go through this process? that's open to anyone. >> my recommendations for the perkins, i think the grant in itself is very supportive of the career and technical education and vocational school. we are able to use the professional development to buy equipment. if we could be more flexible in the spending. it is really hard to stay in the 21st century with equipment and technology constantly changing, and it would be very supportive in support of having some more flexibility with regards to the funding stream and where we could spend the monies. >> i would add, too, that creating that are ensuring the

maintenance of the inabilit abie flexible and innovative within this. we can follow that up once again to look at high school, high wage, high demand commuters but many found that data on reflects existing industry. we need to look at the horizon as to what's emerging and that really takes a concerted effort with this is an issue ed and all sectors of the economy. >> mr. bargas, because of the backing of your testimony, everybody agrees the importance of the work-based training with cte. i'm curious what are your thoughts about strengthening these processes, the role of the apprenticeship option for the students in the programs? >> i'm sorry, could you repeat that? >> i talk about the use of the apprenticeship program in the course of study for cte. >> we have, currently, our program has a contract that

includes a four year apprenticeship program. and we also have craft training programs. the acceleration of these learning expenses is brought on by the demand from industry and the need, immediate need for the training skills, kraft construction workforce. >> my time is up. thank you. >> gentleman yields back. they have called votes. i see no other members requesting to be recognized. with that, we're going to wrap up this hearing. no long speech from the other than just to say a sincere thank you for your leadership in the field. we definitely want to continue working with you. i think on a bipartisan basis we believe in the light of what to do with these programs and how integral you are and how important you are to education,

the 21st century, to the success of this nation in the 21st century. so again, thank you all for being here. thank the members are being a to thank the witnesses for their leadership and the expertise, and we look forward to and seeing your answers to questions posed for the record. with that, single for the business before the committee, this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] >> senators return to the capitol today to begin consideration of a house passed bill to fund the federal government past september 30. the bill contains language proposing to defund the health care law. before wrapping up work yesterday majority leader harry

reid took action to set up a test vote on the measure for wednesday. the senate is expected to focus most of its time this week on that bill. >> you are watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs. we case featuring live coverage of the u.s. senate. on weeknights watch key public policy events. every week in the latest nonfiction authors and books on booktv. you can see past programs and get our schedules at our website comwebsite, and you can join ine conversation on social media sites. >> live on the c-span networks at this point a number of events on health care. here on c-span2 a conference hosted by america's health insurance plans. they will hear from the head of medicare and medicaid about medicare and health care policy at 8:45 a.m. eastern. at 10 a.m. on c-span3 the senate health committee looks at how it affects the economy of the health care system. we will also be live on c-span

at 11:30 a.m. eastern for a kaiser family foundation forum on how maryland, oregon and nevada are dealing with the enrollment process for the new health care insurance exchanges. >> nominees for two state department post a question by the senate foreign relations can last week. anne patterson, former ambassador to egypt is up for a assistant secretary for near eastern affairs. and gregory starr is nominated to oversee diplomatic security. we will show you as much of this as we can and to our live event at 8:45 a.m. eastern. >> i'm pleased to bring before the committee two of the nation's most experienced career foreign service officers, ambassador anne patterson is the nominee for assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and gregory starr is no

stranger to this committee as assistant sec of state for the diplomatic security. anne patterson spent last year serving as ambassador to egypt had a tumultuous and transitional time in egypt's history. and i person want to extend our thanks and appreciation for her service. she was in the eye of the storm with the winds of the arab spring began to blow across the region, and her expertise and experience served her well. she has a long record of service as the time she left her home in arkansas and went to wesley. or experience is exemplary of our foreign service officers who put their lives at risk, often a place where an american presence is necessary but not always welcomed. i look for to supporting her nomination, but i certainly in doing so at the same time i want to express several ongoing concerns. as you know, ambassador patterson, the impact of sanctions on iran has been significant, and while i support a diplomatic solution to the crisis and hope that we can find

such an opening with the newly elected government in iran, a candidate we need a partner who comes to the table in good faith and with a real offer in hand and more important that offer of real actions. until then, it is my view we must maintain and increase pressure on the regime in order to ensure the success that we want. i look forward to hearing your views on the situation in iran. isles would like to know your views in the next steps moving forward in egypt to realize the promise we had hoped for from the event in tahrir square in 2011 that gave way to an increasing, there's going to increasing undemocratic and unsecure and fun for all the egyptians. in iraq have several concerns about a diplomatic relations following a drawdown of u.s. troops, and i'm also disturbed by iraq's failure and i want to underscore our backs failure from my perspective to protect the mek commuting at camp ashraf

from camp liberty which resulted in 52 deaths in the kidnapping of seven individuals who remain hostages. and i expect the iraqis to hold the guilty parties responsible for the actions, and also hold the iraqis responsible for the security of those at can't -- camp liberty. i hope the administration will send the same message. finally, on the peace process i support secretary carries efforts in believe that we must continue to keep the palestinians at the table engage in face-to-face negotiations with israel. i applaud israel's courage an agreement to release the prisoners at the outset of negotiations. i hope the palestinians will publicly commit to remain at the negotiating table and not pursue statehood or enhanced status through in the international bodies while this effort is going along. it's only through the hard work of direct negotiations that we will be able to realize the durable and realistic peace. you are no stranger to these complex issues.

you are a decorated foreign service officer and i look forward to your service. let me turn to greg starr, the nominee for assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, who appeared before the committee this summer to testify on a bill cosponsored by senator corker and i and other members of the committee, chris stevens, glen doherty. you provide us with insight to benefit many years of diplomatic security, first as a special agent in the foreign service serving in tunisia, senegal and the democratic republic of congo. he later served in the sector as a security detail and technical security operations, chief of the division for worldwide local part and residential security programs, and as a senior regional sick of the officer our embassy at tel aviv. now you're returning coming out of retirement to be considered for assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, a time when we sorely need your

experience and expertise. let me conclude by saying i said in the past and will say again, lessons we've learned from the tragedies in nairobi, are emblematic of the broader issue we will increasingly face in the 21st century. it will require our full unequivocal and unwavering equipment to fully protect our embassies and those who serve this nation abroad. i will be your charge as assistant secretary, to help strike the proper balance between vulnerabilities and high threat areas, continuing to conduct vigorous and effective diplomacy that serves the national interest. the fact is we can never have absolute in an increasingly dangerous world. that secured him is not our objective. at the end of the day, we need to address both the construction of new industries that meet the security needed, and we need to do what we can to secure existing high-risk pools will meet our people to represent our interests and where new construction is not an option. that's what senator corker and

my embassy security bill seems to do. and my hope is that we -- we can achieve the. we look forward to hearing from you, mr. starr, about the progress we've made, what other challenges we may have. and again thank you both for your years of service. i know senator corker and some original comments. and with that, ambassador patterson, we welcome your statement, both of your statements will be fully included in the record. without objection, the floor is yours. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member corker, members of the committee. it's an honor to appear before you today as the president's nominee for assistant secretary for near eastern affairs. mr. chairman, i would like to introduce if i could my husband david and my older son edward and my daughter-in-law. mr. chairman, i have prepared a longer statement for the committee which i submitted for the record. i am grateful for the confidence shown by president obama nominating me for this position. if confirmed, i pledged to work

with you to advance u.s. interests across an important and complex region that is facing historic upheaval. mr. chairman, the changes taking place across the region carrying the promise of a more democratic little order that will benefit the region and the united states in the long term. however, the region will remain volatile and often violent for some time to come. the challenges we face are complex, but our extensive security, economic and humanitarian interest demand our continued engagement. the region has changed in the past few years, and there's no going back. if confirmed, my top party will be to protect our country and our allies. doing so will require vigorous effort to identify and disable syria's chemical weapons but it will mean continuing to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and we must continue to combat terrorism and confront violent extremism across the region. secondly, we will continue to

promote sustainable democratic transitions. let me stress again how hard this is going to be. the results of elections may not be to our liking and transitions are often played by false starts and reverses. we will continue our efforts to promote democracy and universal rights. and we will stand up for the rights of women, christians, and other minorities. third, we need to support governments and the private sector to great economic opportunities and jobs. many countries in the region need to fight corruption and cut subsidies that spur investment and growth. our global economic leadership and our assistance programs both can play a role. we must press for open business and trade environment so american businesses have their access to growing markets. and forth, mr. chairman, mindful that our country has lost 6007 and 57 men and women in iraq and afghanistan, i would focus on

coping with the enormous sacrifices that our colleagues in the state department, in the intelligence community, and other civilian agencies are making. supporting these professionals and their families as we continue to ask more of them. people working in this region have been deeply and disproportionately affected by evacuations, lengthy separations from family, and the sheer workload associated with living and working on the critical front lines of american diplomacy. mr. chairman, protecting our country courses to practice diplomacy in dangerous places. our people understand this. accepting calculated risk is part of what it means to be an american diplomat today. our bureau will work closely together with our ambassadors, with mr. starr, if confirmed, and our diplomatic security colleagues, and with al all of e elements of government to protect americans overseas.

i understand fully the responsibilities arising from the attack on our nation in benghazi. that resulted in the murder of four of our colleagues. if confirmed, i will work to fulfill our obligations to bring the perpetrators of that attack to justice. allow me to briefly review some of your key concerns. mr. chairman, i know that the secretary of state has briefed you on syria, and that negotiations under way at the united nations and in the hague. i will simply reiterate his point that it can be no room for anything less than full compliance with our consistent goal of deterring integrating syria's ability to use these weapons in the future. the threat of unilateral use of force by the united states remains on the table, should syria not comply. mr. chairman, i have just completed two years of ambassador to egypt. and extraordinarily important country for the national security interests of the united states. that deserves our continued partnership and support.

mohammad morsi was elected as president of egypt in elections that were free and fair. even though the complex constitutional and legal process that produced these elections managed to confuse and upset nearly everyone. is removed from office on july 3 followed an extended series of political miscalculations and an inability to great an inclusive democratic process. in the end, egyptians will be the ones to determine whether the actual is correct. we have made our concerns about this method of government change and about the violence used against unarmed our testers abundantly clear. our response to the situation in egypt will be consistent, our national interest, and our values. at the president's direction we have undertaken a major review of our economic and our military assistance program. as egypt changes, so, too, must

our bilateral relationship. if confirmed, i will continue to urge the egyptian government to move toward an inclusive civilian led transition that guarantees universal rights for all citizens, including women and christians. i look forward to working with the congress to be sure that we have the flexibility to respond to and influence changing events. mr. chairman, the united states is fully committed to helping israel and the palestinians negotiate a final status resolution to their conflict. we are also fully and deeply committed to israel's security. our security cooperation has, in fact, never been closer. israel is a close friend, and the region's only stable democracy. the united states also continued to assist the palestinians as they build governing institutions. as we mark 35 years since the camp david accord this week, the search for middle east peace remains at the very heart of u.s. national security interest.

secretary kerry has worked very hard for the resumption of negotiations, which is required courageous leadership by prime minister netanyahu and president abbas. mr. chairman, iran is the world foremost sponsor of terrorism including in iraq, syria and lebanon. they continued to defy the international community by pursuing nuclear activity and violation of its international obligation. the united states will not allow iran to acquire nuclear weapons. thanks to the indispensable role played by congress and with international support, we have put in place an unprecedented sanctions regime against iran. and mr. chairman, i would like to acknowledge the effort you played in this effort, along with other members of this committee. sanctions have heard iran's economy badly. the people of iran who voted for change in the recent election of president hassan rouhani who i demonstrated a markedly

different tone from his predecessors. but to make progress we need to see concrete actions. mr. chairman, if confirmed, i pledge to work with you to ensure that the resources and tools you provide our bureau are supporting activities that advance our top national interest. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, ambassador. mr. starr. >> mr. chairman, ranking member corker, members of the committee, i, too, and ordered to appear before you today. i'd like to thank the committee for your continued support and the interests of the bureau of diplomatic security programs of protecting american diplomats abroad. this support enables diplomatic security also known as diaz to safeguard american diplomats, facilities for the conduct of u.s. foreign policy mom maintaining a robust investigative programs which serve to protect the united states borders and our presence overseas. as the president's nominee to

become assistant secretary of the bureau of diplomatic security, i am thankful to the president and secretary kerry for the confidence that they place in a chilly diplomatic security during this difficult and demanding times. i have been a security professional for more than 30 years. mike spence both within the department and outside government has prepared me to take on the challenges of leadership. the world is changing and so is the way in which diplomacy is conducted. therefore, the way in which we provide security for our diplomats must change with it. we can never truly eliminate all risks faced by the u.s. government personnel as they advance our national interest abroad. we in the department constantly review evolving threats and seek to mitigate risks as much as possible. the challenges we have faced in the previous decade, over the previous year in particular, have been significant and growing. increasingly, our people are called upon to live and work in difficult and dangerous

environments. we operate in these environments out of necessity, because that is where we must be deserve our nation's interests. i have learned that we cannot shut ourselves inside embassies, and forgo the work of helping build the rule of law and strengthen democratic institutions abroad. it is in just vis-a-vis countries where it is toughest to serve where an american diplomacy pace the greatest dividends. this is the face of american diplomacy today, and it is my job and the job of diplomatic security to keep our people safe while still allowing the important work to continue. as a senior leader within diplomatic security, i can tell you that we're looking towards the next challenges and threats. we must continue to embrace change across the spectrum of security requirements. if confirmed, i plan to focus on three broad priorities, staffing and resources, improving coordination among our investigative elements, and continue to improve our physical

security protection for u.s. personnel serving overseas. in terms of staffing and resources i want to ensure that we have qualified people with sufficient training and the right resources at our posts overseas in order to respond to each posts unique security environments. we improve the training of our foreign of their colleagues by expanding our foreign affairs counter threat courses. on the investigative site at diplomatic security i will continue to ensure that our criminal investigators, background investigated and cybersecurity personnel are working closely together, as well as with other department officers. under my leadership we have the program coordination both within the department and with her in the agency partners in the department of defense and the intelligence community. and, finally, we will continue to work closely with our partners with the bureau of overseas building operations and regional bureaus to provide safe, secure and functional indices and consulates that represent the united states

abroad. in conclusion, i want to ensure this committee that we in ds realize that our work of securing our post and protecting our people will never be done. we take great pride in our accomplishments led we are focused on the future. if confirmed, i pledge that through my leadership everyone in ds will understand that they must lead by example, properly delegated authority and be committed to continually improving how we deliver security to our constituents and achieve our global mission. having said that i want to be clear that i believe the responsibility for the provision of security lies with the assistant secretary of diplomatic security, and if confirmed, i'm committed to shouldering that responsibility. i would be glad to answer any questions you have. thank you very much allowing me to appear here. >> thank you very much. thank you both for your statements. data, ambassador, for the in depth stated that let me explore one or two questions with you.

over the last two months we've had over 1000 people killed in egypt. hundreds have been arrested for their political allegiance. the mubarak era emergency law has been stated come and just extended for another two months. so i look at, our efforts you and i see are canceling brightsource exercises. i see are suspending the delivery of f-16's, and it hasn't at least to me indicated change in much of behavior of the present leadership on this side of the country. so what other leverage do we have here to get back on the track to ensure a civilian government moving towards an inclusive egypt? and what are your views on conditioning or restructuring aid to egypt in the current

environment? >> thank you, mr. chairman. yes, let me say that certainly the incidents of the past few months, killing of unarmed demonstrators and the reinstitution of emergency law have been quite worrisome. but let me also point to a roadmap that the government has put forward, and we will do everything we possibly could, can, to push them along that path of reinstating a civilian government. but this does provide an opportunity to look at the assistance program in a new way. and the president has instructed us to undertake a full scale review of our assistance programs in egypt, and to look at ways at the very least to modernize those to reflect the new reality, particularly in the military assistance package. that process is ongoing, senator, so i can't predict what the results will be. but it is an opportunity to look

at our relationship. and send it to, i might add that it's not just assistance that will i think encourage the government to resume a democratic path. tourism has dried up. .. >> against cutting all aid or freezing all aid to egypt, but i have to be honest, as i see circumstances unfold, i am

increasingly am concerned about whether that now, at this point, is the continuing right decision. and i would look forward to a dialogue with the department to share views about how we move in a direction that achieves our goals on the side of egypt. let me turn to iran quickly. i know that there is a lot of bubbling expectation and hope, and i certainly share the hope that some of the words and limited actions that are being taken are an expression of something deeper. but at the end of the day, only actions as it relates to the international community's position -- not just the u.s. position, but the international community's position -- will lead us to believe that iran is sincere about changing their

course towards nuclear weapons. and their expression that we will never have nuclear weapons is not enough. if the world could just trust everybody like assad who said he didn't have chemical weapons but now be admits that he has it, to say that we'll never have nuclear weapons is not enough. you know, since the iranian election iran has added 2,000 centrifuges including 900 second -- 300 second generation ones. it's looking at a plutonium process which is very worrisome, and yet the administration has issued very few new sanctions. so i'd like to get a sense from you as to what more can the administration do to send a message to the iranians that we appreciate the worlds, but we will only actions that go in line with the international community?

>> mr. chairman, i think that's why we've seen some encouraging signs in the past few days; the release of a limited number of political prisoners, some of the statements by president rouhani about the nuclear program. but the fundamental issue here is that they have to comply, iran has to comply with the provisions of the, tear international obligations both to the iaea and through the security council resolutions. let me say, senators, i was getting ready for this hearing, i looked at the sanctions, and i was simply -- i was surprised at how effective they've been. this is the most effective sanctions program that i can ever remember. the effect on their petroleum exports cutting off iran from the international financial system, the effect on inflation, the effect on the depreciation ott the rial, one might hazard a guess it's brought them to this

point. so i think we need to see how the sanctions regime will play out. there are some targets coming up, there's the evaluation of the reduction in oil imports, so i think we need to give ate little more -- give it a little more time. but again, i look forward, if confirmed in this position, to working closely with you on the iranian sanctions program because, again, i think it's been very successful. and one way, one demonstration of that, i believe, was the election of president rouhani since the iranian people voted for change, clearly voted for change. >> well, let me just close by saying look, i -- sanctions are a means to an end, and as strongly as i have been an advocate and the author of them, if iran were to act in

accordance with the p5+1 positions with the international community's positions, with the security council's positions, then upon acting in that way many a verifiable way -- in a verifiable way, i'll be one of the advocates of seeking to lift those sanctions. because i'm sure the iranians wonder if the sanctions would ever be lifted if they complied. i, for one, would be ready to do so but only, only if, in fact, we have compliance in accordance with the united nations security council resolutions and the efforts of the p5+1. i'll turn to senator corker. >> thank you, purchase. and thank you both, again, for distinguished careers. i think you're both very suited for the positions you've been nominated too. in your case, ambassador patterson, you're moving from, in a way, a field commander's position to a strategist, and

some of us have watched and feel like sometimes our responses to what's developing in the middle are ad hoc. maybe especially so in syria until recent times. i'm just wondering if you get a sense a as to whether there is an overarching strategy in the region or whether, in fact, you know, our foreign policy and our relationships in these countries is more dependent on events as they evolve. and be i'd just like for you to expand on that, if you could. >> thank you, senator corker. yes. i know this is a very difficult issue because, frankly, i think the changes in the arab spring came -- or arab awakening as we now call it came at us very, very rapidly. but i do think there is an overarching strategy toward the region, and i tried a bit to lay that out in my longer written statement.

and the first is to try and promote some kind of democratic transition. these societies aren't going to go back to where they were. they've gotten rid of old autocrats. there's a high degree of violence, there's a hack of institutional structures -- a lack of institutional structures throughout the region. so that, i think, is our first purity, and it's going to be really hard because each country is at a different level of development. and at the same time, we have these he nor mouse security interests in the region in syria and iran and libya, and we're going to have to pursue those simultaneously. so those, i would say, would be the two overriding elements in our strategy, but the implementation of them is going to be extraordinarily difficult. and i might hazard to say that it's going to be expensive at times. look at the syria situation. but i would say those would be our two priorities for the region to, one, promote our

security interests which are going to differ from country to country and to promote an overall strategy of democratization. >> you know, recent observation in the middle east would be that, you know, democracy means to many of the folks in the middle east that, you know, democracy is an election. it's almost rah one and done mentality. the election occurs and then there's the consolidation of power. right now in iraq one of the reasons we're having some of the security issues or they're having some of the security issues they have this is l maliki is focused on concentrating power and appealing to the base. and we have the same thing with morsi in egypt. is there anything you might, is there any light you might shed to us regarding how you see that evolving over time to real governance issues? >> senator corker, that's going to be a huge challenge because these countries' elections, obviously, aren't enough. because these countries have no institutional structures.

i mean, in the most fundamental way they have weak structures even to support an electoral process. so we're going to have to help them develop rule of law systems, to help them develop commercial regulation, to help them develop all the things and participation by minorities which i think is probably the most critical element throughout the middle east, to have adequate participation by minority populations in the overall political environment. that involves working with political parties, it involves working with civil society, andst going to take a really long time because there's no history of this. i don't want to come before you and suggest this is going to be easy. i think we may be aided by having the support of many of our allies in this respect. but it's going to be a long, hard slog. >> appreciated your comments about the sanctions on iran, and i do think they had a big effect, and there's no question of the people on this committee

that have had the biggest role, there's no question our chairman has, and i want to thank him for that. i also want to say that i think the committee's actions relative to syria a few weeks ago had a big effect on moving towards the discussions that are now underway. now, recently i guess i read this morning in the paper and heard through conversations last night that maybe, maybe the iranian issue is now being discussed. do you have any sense of what's happening right mow relative to negotiations and -- right now relative to negotiations and how the syrian issue may lead to other conversations in iran that we might not be aware of? >> no, senator. i don't have any information about that. >> let me ask you this, the arab spring or the awakening as you just called it, as we look -- and i know the chairman mentioned something about how we look at our national interests in egypt -- i, too, felt like at

the time of the debate it was not the time to just cut off all aid, and i think at some point we'll figure out a way to pursue aid in a way that does further our national interests, at the same time does send a signal to the egyptian military. but can you tell with everything that's happened we had a dictator that left, we had an election, now we've got, you know, a different situation. has the arab awakening as you call it ushered in any difference in egypt at this point? has anything really changed? are we back where we started a couple years ago? enter senator corker, i don't think we're back where we started because the population is energized. this huge number of largely unemployeded young men who have now the ability to communicate through means that they didn't have even five years ago, the

population is hugely energized, and at least in egypt believes that taking to the streets and demonstrations is a, the way to express yourself politically. the trick for the international community will be to try to help countries -- and not just egypt -- get past that and channel this enormous enthusiasm and, frankly, frustration of young people which is very multifaceted into a legitimate political structure. so i don't think it's going to go back by any means. but i do think because of a combination of factors we may be in for a prolonged period of instability in this region and not just in egypt. >> i know my time is up, and we have other panelists, and i don't know if we're going to have another round. if we don't, again, i want to thank you both for your desire to serve in this way. mr. starr, i know we talked at

length on diplomatic security, and i know you've emphasized that the buck stops with you. i like that attitude, and i really hope you'll figure out a way to have a different degree of accountability than we now have. i hope that will be a thrust. i think the bill we've looked at here in the senate may help with that, but i do thank you for your willingness, and i look forward to working with you. >> thank you, senator corker. senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you, ambassador patterson and mr. starr, for your willingness to serve the country and take on these important posts at a critical time. ambassador patterson, i especially appreciate the kindness you showed to a number of us when we visited pack stand during your tenure there -- pakistan during your tenure there and your great work in egypt during a turbulent time. i actually want to start, ambassador patterson, by asking

you about the special immigrant visa program. having served in some of the countries that have been critical to the effort in iraq and afghanistan and as i'm sure you're aware, the special immigrant visa program was established by congress to address those people if iraq and afghanistan -- in iraq and afghanistan who have been very helpful to our efforts there who, in cases, risk their lives and their families' lives to help insure that the americans who were on the ground were safe and able to accomplish their missions. and i am very troubled that we are here with the special immigrant visa program for iraqis due to expire at the end of this month, and i'm hopeful that we're going to see a willingness on the part of the house to extend this program. i know that the senate is very committed to this, that there is language on the defense

authorization bill that senator mccain and i have offered to address it. but hopefully, we can reassure those people who are in the queue to come to the united states to safety that they will have our assistance in doing that. and i wonder if you could speak to what might happen to some of those folks if we're not able to extend this program and allow them to come to the united states. >> thank you, senator shaheen. let me, let me start off with my son, who's here today, edward, was a captain in iraq a few years ago, and he sent me an e-mail -- i'll never forget this. he sent me an e-mail about one of interpreters with his unit who had pulled some of the injured soldiers in his unit to safety. so i felt, feel a personal connection to this issue. the administration is asking for an extension. i know the number has been under

the cap, 2500 people have been processed. we are trying to speed up that process, and i hope we can do that. i'll certainly promise you that i'll do everything we possibly can to speed that process up. but we are going to ask for an extension. >> well, thank you, i appreciate that that. as you point out, it's a two-part problem. one is to make sure that the program gets extended, that the authorization gets extended past september 30th, but the other problem is to make sure that at the state department we're processing those special visas in a way that keeps people moving through the queue. sadly, i think that to date the record has not been as good as i would like to see it in terms of addressing the people who are waiting. and i appreciate that there are security issues and that we need to address those, but it would be tragic for us to fail to help the people who helped our men and women on the ground and as

the result, they and their families are at risk and threatened. so thank you for your commitment. >> thank you. thank you. >> can i also ask you if you could give us an upday-to-day on -- update on where the current israeli/palestinian efforts are? i think all of us applaud secretary kerry's tireless work in doing that. but we're watching with great interest and some concern about whether these talks are going to go anywhere. >> senator shaheen, i've talked to secretary kerry about this x he's very optimistic, and i must tell you we all, i think, admire his leadership on this issue that he's really put an enormous amount of his personal prestige behind this. but i, frankly, don't have any details to offer you because he

has said he would like to be the one that will engage on this issue. so i will certainly convey that to him. but i think martin indyk is also -- i think he may be back in town, and perhaps we can arrange a discussion with members of the committee. >> i think that would be with very helpful. i hope, mr. chairman, that you will facilitate that. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm almost out of time, but i just wanted to ask mr. starr one question for you because, um, with the focus on what happened tragically in benghazi, we know that security at our embassies is critical and despite their diplomatic role, that anybody who's assigned overseas is in a risky position, and there's the potential for danger. at the end of the day, it's really our host countries that we depend on to address our

embassy security. can you speak to whether there's more that we can or should be doing in terms of working with those host countries on insuring that our embassies are protected? >> thanks for the question, senator. yes, i think that despite the fact that we work so closely with the intelligence community, with the department of defense, others in the federal government on all of these issues, in cases it really does come down to the state department people on the ground and the host country. we believe that programs like the anti-terrorism assistance program and other programs where we're trying to help host countries develop the capabilities to protect themselves and protect us at the same time and protect our presence are critical. we need to continue those programs. today have been effective -- they have been effective in the past. we look for opportunities to expand those programs and, quite

honestly, i think that's an important factor beyond just continuing to say things like we will hold the host country responsible. we have to help them be responsible. so, yes, there are ways we can do this, and we will continue -- if i'm confirmed, i'll continue to look closely at that. the anti-terrorism assistance program, diplomatic security is the implementer. the bureau of counterterrorism is the director of the programs. we'll work closely towards that. >> thank you. i appreciate that and hope you will share what happens with this committee. >> thank you, senator shaheen. senator rich. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ms. patterson, i have a series of questions for you on syria and on egypt and others, but i'm going to set those aside because i've got to tell you, i'm shocked, i'm absolutely shocked to sit here and have you describe the sanctions against iran after you have reviewed them, as you said, and your conclusion that they've been

effective. and you describe them as successful. you know, i'm one that was a sponsor of those. i've promoted them. i had reservations about them, but i gotta tell you, if this is the administration's view that these have been effective and successful, i hope you'll take the message back to the state department that this is not a mission accomplished moment. i think they've been an abject failure. you heard the chairman describe about the new sentry fumes they brought in -- centrifuges they brought in, about the new technology they're using. i mean, i don't understand this. i'm taken aback by your description of what the sanctions have done. these sanctions were not put in place to impose some kind of pain or something like that. they were imposed to change conduct.

they were imposed in order to make conduct different. they've been an abject failure in that response, and i would really hope that you and the administration if that's their position would rethink this. >> senator risch, i didn't -- i certainly didn't peen to imply -- mean to imply that they have been successful in changing behavior, but they've certainly been very successful at causing pain in the iranian economy. and hopefully, they will bring -- be successful in bringing iran to the table to discuss these other issues, to actually affect behavior. and i totally understand your point, that it's not just to cause pain in the economy. but also to change behavior. but causing pain in the economy is how sanctions work. i mean, the reduction in oil revenue has been dramatic. cutting them off from the international financial system has made it almost um possible for them -- impossible for them

to export or trade. and, again, the distress in the population which we think had an impact on president rouhani's election. so it needs time for diplomacy to work. we think there's still time. but let me again stress, senator risch, the president's position that iraq will not -- iran, excuse me, will not acquire a nuclear weapon. but i certainly understand your point. and let me, let me say that i absolutely -- what matters is results and not just economic pain. >> well, as we all know in this dip plomatic -- diplomatic business, vocabulary is important. i would hope you'd remove the words success and effective from the vocabulary when you're talking about this program, because they are not in any way, shape or form successful or effective in picking these people -- in making these people comply with the conduct that the world demands of them. so i would, i'd hope you'd

review that and instead go back to the point that we were going to try these things first, we were going to try sanctions first but that all options are on the table and every day that goes by it looks more and more as if we're going to have to turn to other options which we don't want to do, the world doesn't want to do, and i guarantee you when we're done, the area yang people aren't going to want to do. so i really hope that you revisit the language and the adjectives and the vocabulary that we're using. let me, let me just finish up with something that's much more parochial. and i understand in this is difficult to do in an open setting as opposed to a classified setting, but we have a -- i have a constituent, a pastor that you're familiar with who's been held now for 418 days in prison in iran for doing nothing butting a christian and -- but being a christian and

speaking about christian matters. i hope you will take back the message again to the state department how important it is that this, that this man be released from prison for doing something that the world doesn't condone, and that is simply for exercising his religious freedom. and my time's up, and i thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator risch. and let me just take a moment, and i appreciate what the senator had to say about how you view the word "success" or "effective." i personally believe if we say that the end game that we want which is iran to deter its nuclear weapons program, have we succeeded in that? no, not yet. but i do believe that as i

understood the ambassador's use of the word -- which i would embrace, personally -- that they have been effective in moving the iranians to a point to understand the consequences to everyday iranians in tear lives and, therefore, to the regime. the regime, ultimately, wants to be able to stay in power. and they may think our efforts as it relates to the nuclear program is about regime change. it is not. it is about, as the international community has said, not to pursue nuclear weapons and nuclear capacity that could ultimately turn into a nuclear weapon. not regime change as much as i may have issues with the e are jeej -- with the regime. that is not the focus. but part of the consequences of sanctions, especially as they continue to be vigorously

enforced and ratcheted up is that the population inside of iran will increasingly clamor against the regime to change the consequences in their lives. and so the regime will have to think about regime change not from without, but from within. and in that context, i think it is very important, and i do believe they have been effective. they can be even more effective. and i would just say to all of my colleagues having just gone through the exercise in this committee about the question of the authorization for the use of military force as it related to syria and each issue is different, but absence of continuing to pursue the sanctions regime to a point that maybe what we see in the election of rouhani, maybe what we see in the comments that have ensued since is as a result of the economic pressures that her facing and continuously

ratcheted up. but if that's not successful, then the only option left then will be a vote for a use of force. and i hope that colleagues who feel as i do, that iran at all costs cannot have the wherewithal to achieve nuclear weapons, will be in a position at that time to support use of force, because otherwise either we have sanctions vigorously pursued -- hopefully, with the goal that we collectively want -- or les only one other -- there's only one other option after that. assuming that doesn't yield the diplomacy we want. >> mr. chairman, first of all, thank you very much or more those words. again, i come back to the fact that i think we should take out of this description of what's happening will the word "success" and "effective." because as you pointed out, they

haven't even been effective or successful in getting them to put their nuclear program on hold. indeed, they are expanding it, as you eloquently described in your opening statement. so i think by using in front of a committee like this, the foreign relations committee of the united states senate for the administration to come here and say, well, we're, you know, we're pleased that they've been effective and successful, i think back in iran who watches these statements very closely, they're going to priest a little bit of a -- breathe a little bit of a sigh of relief and say, well with, you know, i guess they aren't thinking about the other things that are on the table. and be i think people should understand there and should understand in the international community and the administration should understand that the other options on the table, we're getting closer and closer and closer to because of the ineffectiveness and the hack of success -- and the lack of success with the sanctions.

so that's my view of the thing. thank you, much. >> well, i appreciate that, and i won't belabor that we have a disagreement that the use of the word, i think s in the context of having a biteing economic context that may change part of the equation. but the gentleman and i share the same goal. and i just hope that as he and i share the same goal, that others that have expressed the willingness to share that same goal are also going to be willing to be support i of what the president will need if be diplomacy doesn't yield at the end of the day. senator cane. >> thank you, mr. chair and members of the committee. ambassador patterson, thank you for being here today. i look forward to supporting your nomination and working with you in my subcommittee chairmanship capacity. i've decided to give mr. starr his money worth for coming, so i'm going to direct my questions at him, if you don't mind. mr. starr, some things have happened since we went on recess, and i would think it would be helpful for the committee to understand some of your recent actions.

on the 4th of august, the state department ordered the closure of 22 diplomatic missions across the middle east and north africa. if you could in unclassfied way, just quickly walk us through i making that decision and how you made the decision about when to reopen those consulates and missions, please. >> sir, trying to keep this unclassified will be difficult. we had specific threat information that was credible. it was not specific to where something might happen against us. and in close collaboration with all of our partners, decisions were made that closing some of our facilities would give us time to develop what that threat information was, to more adequately put protective measures in the place, work with host governments to protect us while we worked to determine and counter that threat. i think it's important that we

have the capability to do things like that. i would like to put something on the record which is that oftentimes we're -- we say, you know, an embassy gets closed. in cases we may have to close our operations to the public, but the essential work that goes on in many of our embassies continues in cases. we don't abandon our facilities. wills much that still -- there is much that still goes on while we may be closed to the public. but you are correct. there was specific threat information. we needed a broad brush to address that specific threat information, and i think it's indicative of the administration's willingness to balance the fact that, yes, we need to stay there and we immediate to be able to continue in the long run, sometimes we need to take short-term steps that are effective and help us mitigate threat against us. >> mr. starr, also within the last week there was a significant attack on the consulate in afghanistan's herat

province. there were no u.s. casualties, i think, because of a very strong response both by embassy possessor mel and others, and i was -- personnel and others, and i was hoping you would just describe that attack and how state department personnel and others worked to make sure it was rebuffed without any u.s. casualties. >> sir, at approximately 5:30 in the morning a group of individuals which we now belief were probably led by haqqani or sponsored by the haqqani network using taliban personnel attacked our facility in herat first with a very large truck bomb that exploded at our front gate and then followed up with attackers wearing suicide vests, carrying automatic weapons, a large variety of mines and rpgs. that post is one of our posts where it is not protected by the department of defense, it is

diplomatic security along with a cadre of very experienced contractors. it is a post that benefited from the fact that the nondefensive personnel that are assigned there, the regular foreign service officers, had gone through what we call our fact training beforehand. at the moment that attack commenced, every one of them donned their protective gear. they had been drilled to make sure that they got immediately to the safe havens which is exactly what they did. the drilling on the part of the regional security officers and the defensive personnel that we had was incredibly effective and, in fact, we neutralized the threat. i believe the total number was eight attackers that our personnel neutralized. i would like to go on record saying that it was not without casualties to our side. when we look at the afghan national police and guard force member manies tarp killed in -- members that were kill inside that attack, some of our own afghan national employees that were translators and security

possessor mel and some other personnel that were wounded, it was significant, but the defense of the facility was effective, our personnel were not injured. >> a very grim reminder of the channels of the job and. of the challenges of the job. it sounds as if it was a job effectively done. and finally, mr. starr, we've talked before -- most recently in july at a hearing -- about future embassy training needs for state department personnel. is it still the position of the state department can, i know there's additional dialogue, is it still the position of the state department that the best option for the training of embassy personnel in the future is at a fort in virginia? >> it is certainly my feeling, sir. we very much understanding that our world has changed, and with that world it's not just a question of training diplomatic security agents, but it's the entire foreign service that needs to be prepared for the places that they work.

we believe the equities of having a consolidated training center in the nearby area to all of our other equities, the foreign service institute, the department of defense, the intelligence community, the marine corps bases in quantico, it's still the most effective solution. >> thank you very much. thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you, senator. i have just some final questions. first of all, ambassador patterson, will you commit to me that upon confirmation that you will make an effort with the iraqis to make it very clear to them that they are equally as responsible for the security of those individuals at camp liberty and also to do all that they can to both pursue the attackers at camp ashraf and to return the hostages that, the seven hostages that were taken out of camp ashraf?

>> yes, sir, i will. >> and i want to ask both of you what i ask every witness. if confirmed, will you be responsive to questions and inquiries from the committee? >> certainly, mr. chairman. >> absolutely, mr. chairman. >> all right. and then, finally, mr. starr, how often does state now plan to review presence of high-risk posts through the high-threat board mechanism? >> we did the first review earlier this spring, sir. we have just finished a worldwide review of our threats against all of our posts overseas. it's something we call the security environment threat list. once we have that out -- and it will be out by the end of this month -- i intend to conduct another review in october of our high-threat, high-risk posts in junction with the regional -- conjunction with the regional bureaus, the other sections that are critical, with usaid, with our intelligence partners, with

the peace corps and others. it'll be this october. >> uh-huh. okay. now the department's six-person panel to, quote, thoroughly review the diplomatic securities organization and management structure concluded its work on may the 3rd, i understand. i'm not aware that this report has been released publicly. is there an intention to release it to the congress? >> it is an unclassified report, sir. i believe it will be released to congress. i believe at the moment what we're doing is going through our responses and trying to line up what we're doing in regard to the recommendations. but, yes, i believe that ultimately this report is release bl. >> okay. well, i would ask the department to release it upon its completion. i understand four of the thirty-five recommendations were not accepted by state. is that a final determination. >> more or less, sir. >> you speak to why -- can you speak to why those four were not accepted? one was a specific reference to

putting a chief of staff position for the director of diplomatic security. we don't usually have chief of staff positions in the department, it's just a technical response. the other was about whether the diplomatic securities intelligence and threat analysis section should be part of the intelligence community. there are pluses and minuses in our minds of being part of the intelligence community when, in fact, what we are is users of intelligence. and over the past year, one of the things that we have done best is to increase our reach and depth into the intelligence community and expanded our collaboration with the intelligence community. we at the moment don't necessarily believe that it's the best answer to try to become part of the intelligence community, but to expand our contacts and make sure that we're getting the intelligence that we need. >> have you had any obstacles in getting the intelligence that you need? >> no, sir. >> okay. >> we are linked very closely.

>> and then finally -- well, two last things. the august 29th report of the independent panel on best practices for security at high-risk, high-threat posts of which the committee has not received an official copy, but has had to rely on al-jazeera america's leaked copy -- says a lot -- recommends that a new position created for an undersecretary of diplomatic security and the responsibility for diplomatic security be shifted from the undersecretary of management to this new position. do you have views on that recommendation? >> sir, as i'm up here trying to, hopefully, become confirmed if your committee concurs as the assistant secretary, i think that's my first hurdle. looking at that larger question of whether or not my position should be an undersecretary position, i think that's a larger issue that the department needs to look at holistically.

i will tell you that one of the reasons i think that recommendation was met was to insure that the head of security had access to the secretary of state and other senior officials if they needed it. i think it'll be a long process to determine whether or not we need an undersecretary of state for security. it needs to be closely looked at. what i would like to do is assure you that i have the access that i need so far, and should i be confirmed, i absolutely believe i will have the access that i need to have to the secretary when necessary, to the deputy secretaries, to the assistant secretaries and the undersecretaries in this department. i think that's the critical issue. >> well, i would expect you to have that access. and in the absence of it should you be confirmed, i would expect you to, upon review of this committee, to let us know if you're not. and then finally, with reference to the marine security guards which i applaud, but my

understanding is that two such detachments of the 35 new marine security guard detachments are in place with another expected by the end of september. that's 3 of 35. how long is it going to take to get the full complement? >> i hope to have another 6 or 7 activated by the end of this calendar year. we believe that's possible. there are issues that we have to undertake such as leasing the facility for the marines to live in and making sure it's safe and secure and altering the embassy or consulate profile so that they have the right place to work out of. that does take a little bit of time. ultimately, we believe this will be a three-year process to put all 35 detachments out there, but as i say, by the end of calendar year 2013 i hope to have 6 or 7 more for a total of 9 or 10 activated this year. >> is it because of the physical

aspect that you just described as part of the process or is it resources? >> it's not resources, sir. it -- well, first, we have to have the facilities. we have to lease the facilities, we have to alter the embassy property or the consulate property so that we can have the post and the electronics in it. that takes a while. second, the marine corps is upping the numbers of marines that they can provide for us, and this activation plan is in accordance with how many marines can be turned out of the system and given to us in a timely fashion. thirty-five detachment is the a lot of detachments. i believe it was the '90s, sir, when we increased from about 112 to about 150 detachments. we've done this before, and there are problems -- not problems, there are issues that come up that we must solve. and we think that the three-year time frame is a realistic time frame. i would also note, sir, that there are other programs such as

increasing the number of marines that we have at our existing detachments at our highest threat posts which are also a very high priority for us. and in some cases instead of activating another detachment, we're taking the ma enradios that could -- marines that could be available for that and increasing the number of marines that we have at an existing facility to improve the protective capabilities that we have. >> all right. well, obviously, the committee wants to work with you to insure that we can effectively but as quickly as possible achieve these goals, and let me just finally say we appreciate the men and women who serve in the dip lo tomatic security having -- diplomatic security. having traveled to many places in the world, we see firsthand their efforts, and we appreciate that. senator corker. >> yes, sir, very briefly, and i appreciate your patience in being here today and your service, mr. starr, we talked a little bit about one of the positions that you need to fill, the deputy assistant for high

risk, high threat posts. and i guess we passed a piece of legislation out of committee that'll go to the floor that has some relations about -- recommendations about the qualifications for that person. i know you had some concerns about that. for the record, would you briefly state what those are? >> sir, i want to thank the committee for all of the work that has been done on the embassy security bill. i think it's an excellent opportunity and gives us resources and gives us guidance that helps us go in the right direction. the deputy assistant secretary position for high threats, which reports directly to me, is a very good position. it's something that we need, and it works very closely. i think that the committee was trying to insure that that position met the highest of requirements. but i think in trying to do that, some of the requirements were very prescriptive, and i have some concerns whether or not i can meet some of the prescriptive requirements that were put down for the deputy

assistant secretary position. .. to make it work is also a goal, and either since we will be able to resolve that issue. we also talked a little bit, there've been some concerns about the narrowing down or shortening the training program down to 10 weeks. i know we have thought maybe that had been done solely for monetary purposes, but you really do believe the length of the training and what's being

implemented, or what's been put forth in the training program is exactly what you need for the folks that are moving into diplomatic security posts. >> yes, sir. at the current time is 10 weeks that we're putting our agencies -- agents through is what we need. i will submit to you though that what i've committed to is to run to iterations of that training. two classes of it, and then do a review of the train to determine whether or not we got exactly opposite what we needed to do. we will be doing a review after we run it twice and make sure that's exactly what we need. >> the you would share with us after those two iterations your sense of what the shortcomings and pluses are, we would appreciate it. one last question. we will have a debate about egypt or i don't know when it will occur. i know you all are trying to think through the best way to handle that. and we talked a little bit about that yesterday, or the day before. a lot of times people go down to

the senate floor and they talk about our influence on egypt, regarding the eight. and i think on the other hand some of us talk about our national interest relative to aid. we just for the record talk a little bit about the influence component with other countries supplying other types of aid, and whether that's a we should look at or whether it's our national interest in how that aid is flowing? >> senator corker, let me talk about our national interest, and particularly vis-à-vis the relationship with the egyptian military. and let me say that i have been deeply influenced by some of these issues by my experience in pakistan, where we cut off assistance to the pakistani military for 12 years would, in my view, disastrous strategic consequences.

>> we will leave this hearing to go live to a health care policy conference taking place here in washington. focusing on medicare and the role of health plans as the new state insurance exchange sites get underway on october 1. the featured speaker this one will be marilyn tavenner of medicare and medicaid services administrator. this is hosted by an american health insurance plans. it is just getting under way. >> check your iphones, blackberries, whatever whatever to make sure they're on silent. just as a tourist to the speakers and everyone. and your fellow colleagues. everyone appreciates that. so i was thinking this morning as i got stuck on the metro that if anyone in this audience is having a difficult day thinking that you just have too many things to do in 2 2424 hour period, can't quite figure out how to do it, just take heart, think about marilyn tavenner. think about what her date must be like. maryland has served them as you

know with distinction, leads the mess, ceo of cms which is providing services as anyone in this audience knows to more than 100 million americans, 10 regional offices and more than 4000 employees. if she wasn't busy enough, marilyn that has also taken on the job of implementing health care reform with an extraordinary set of responsibilities, and a very short timeline to get that done. she's perfectly positioned for this job, given her blend of private and public sector experience but i think everyone knows that marilyn began as a nurse, worked her way up at hca, to be the leader of a very large number of hospitals as the regional ceo. she also had served with distinction in the virginia department of health, and has

served on a number of boards and committee base organizations. so in a town that is bipartisan, marilyn tavenner has decided -- has done what very few people have done. she was confirmed with bipartisan support, which i think is a credit to for workstyle, a credit to her talent, and a credit to her work ethic. we very much our industry appreciate the openness which marilyn has done her job, the opportunity to confer, and her most importantly, as far as i'm concerned, her acronym in the. so please join me in welcoming an individual who has served and will serve with distinction, my friend and colleague, marilyn tavenner. [applause] >> good morning. first of all, i would like to

say thank you to karen, and each of you, for several things. as i was telling karen earlier, i went into work sunday because i was actually having problems with my blackberry with synchronization. that should make you feel good about things in the marketplace. [laughter] it reminded me that i can still be brought to my knees by a malfunctioning blackberry. blackberry. so i went in to get that straight, and sitting there looking through, and realized with action a great sigh of relief that we were at that time 10 days or so from the opening of the exchange of the marketplace. today, this morning i continue to be calm, because i realize we are one week from the opening, and i am so ready to quit talking about are we ready, and

switch to here are the things we need to resolve, here's the mitigation strategies, here's what we're doing to identify and correct the problem. we would not be where they are today without each of you in this room. because many of you have been silent partners. many of you have been out for partners. i just want to say, again, a heartfelt thanks. it is a very exciting time, and i try to remember that we are going to be talking about how insurance works, or how hospital coverage works, and how do you get individual signed up for health insurance. how do you help individuals who, before, were either embarrassed to ask or couldn't afford health insurance? and how many of you are going to be out there leading the way on helping those people get beyond their embarrassment and helping them understand if they're eligible for help and how to go about getting that help.

so no matter how bumpy the tour, what a great statement about us can each of us and a willingness to help people get things done. i look at the agenda today. very impressive. i mean, you all are doing, started sunday, go through the week, a lot of work. and there are a lot of my coworkers who i hope will contribute to the. i know don plum is working. i know ted has a piece on fraud. melanie is talking about duels, talking about medicaid. then we have several subject matter experts are either part of panels are doing some individual work. and that is nothing i want to say thank you for. when i was in the private sector, we always thought of cms as someone very far away who handled reimbursement, and hopefully when they called on you it was not a bad thing.

and now what we are seeing is active partnership where we're reaching out to you all. you all are reaching out to us. we're trying to make rational, if you will, a system that been very complicated for very long time, and i think most of us realize this doesn't happen overnight. we didn't get here in a year or two but it will take more than a year or two to get where we all want to kill by think we would all agree that changes need to be made. we may disagree on how those changes are made, but i think we would all agree that they are critical. the way i like to describe what we are doing is kind of a three-legged stool. they're always ask me, as ask me, as cms have a strategic plan? indeed we do get and the strategic plan is really built around the three-legged stool, which i will call access, cost and quality. they are not unfamiliar terms.

most of you have heard of these terms of use over and over again but what does it really mean? so the way we look at cost-containment is really through a nearly did of paths, but i'll try to talk about two or three. obviously, there are ways we can approach lower in costs that none of us are crazy about, which you can just start by making cuts and lowering the payments. and certainly we have done some of that through our own work. we have done some of that through laws passed by congress, signed by the president. that's probably my least favorite way to go about it, but sometimes it's necessary and sometimes we were overpaying for services. the second way, the way that i much prefer, is realignment incentives. and i know that beginning with tim and others, this whole agenda is really about relying or aligning incentives so not only can you look at, i think we

all understand the cause continued increase in the number of beneficiaries, especially in medicare and medicaid expansion are going to continue to increase. so how do we look at the overall cost trend on a -- had we look at the results of? so the way i like to think about aligning or realign incentives starts with sharing data. and i think cms still has to work to do in that area, and i'm the first to say that. while we have begun to use share some data, i think the work we've done with acos among others has taught us that we have much work ahead, much system changes underway in order to have timely data, not only time in terms of historical, but timely in terms of relief. and also how to go about releasing that david at a price individuals can afford? and in a way that still protects the identity in some ways for the consumer.

we have work underway there. once we figure out how we reduce it, how do we share it? the second area where many of you have done a great deal of work has been around consumer engagement. i personally believe that until individuals understand what they are buying and why they're buying it, they cannot help us beat active consumers in this cost quality scenario, if you will. i also believe strongly in the multi-payer approach, and some of you have been working with us on some of the innovative, innovations work around the multi-payer approach where we just kind of hit the tip of the iceberg if you will, with seven or eight markets but with much more work to do and we're looking at some of the work around the state innovation projects to give us a better glimpse if you will, a more data as relates to the multi-payer approach. i think we all would agree that we need to get more value for the dollars we spend, even if we

can agree that the cost of health care is worth it. i think we would all struggle with, well, if the cost of health is worth in the united states, then why isn't our quality number one or number two in the world? i think we agree that the cost is going to be the site, our quality has to match it. a lot of the work you will see is focused in that area, and we want to work with the private sector. not only do we want to work with the private sector, we work with the private sector every day. if you look at medicare advantage, look at part d, this is medicaid managed care, we are your partners for better or worse. in almost everything we do. so to the extent we match incentives or lease we understand incentives and quality measures, we will take down the burden and also have a set of products over all. fraud is another area where we worked together in the public-private way, and we have a lot more work to do. and i always thought when i was

a hospital ceo, i understood how prevalent fraud was in the industry. i had no clue into went to work at cms help prevalent fraud is an industry and how much work we all have to do. so i think that's a i look at it from the cost-containment side. from the quality improvement side, i think some of the work we've done with partnerships for patients, some of the work that we're doing with acos, bundle care delivery, but we have much more work to do. and part of the reason that we just recently sent out the rfi anywhere in the process of reviewing the second round of innovation grants is we realized what we've done a lot of work around medicare part a., if you will, their judgments about of work to do in the part d space and the post-acute space and home delivery space where we know not only do we want the area to grow because we would prefer home and community based settings over educational

settings but where the opportunity for fraud, overpayment and abuse also will become common and we need to stay focused on that. the last area i'll talk about, quality improvement and and when i talk about quality improvement, the partnership for patient is one way, the hospital value-based purchasing we began last fall, the second way, reignition penalty, if you will, not everyone agrees this is the greatest measures and no one likes negative measures. but they are start on the work that we have ahead. and i would also make the argument that it is impossible to separate quality and cost-containment. it is impossible to separate innovation and quality, and one of the reasons i became natural to me is patrick conway, is we realized a couple things inside cms as we've gone along.

first, patrick is fantastic. second, quality and innovation if you tied them together on the front end, it's is a whole lot of we work on the backend. the second thing is what we really need is inside innovation center are the tools that measure, evaluate to make sure that we're doing the right work and we're getting the right results. and many times we already have the expertise in what i will call traditional cms or traditional medicare so we can learn the expertise about new models but we really needed to work to go on around the research, around the evaluation and the tools. because this will become the measures that we will share with congress, share with the secretary, and decide what to move forward in meaningful ways. and then the last area that i want to talk about is access, and it would be hard for me to stand up here today and say i'm not really excited about october 1, because i'm really, really excited about october 1. and sometimes we get so caught

up in the dialogue we forget, i want to give the a couple of real-life examples. if all of us can go back to real-life examples we are a lot better off. lastly i went to talk to the greater philadelphia chamber of commerce, and so these were a lot of small businesses. and so i started talking about individual enrollment and shop, eddie became obvious to me that even though we spent the last three in f. years talking about shops, we really still have a lot of confusion around small business and what small business needed to understand. so what i was seeing is not a negative reaction to shop, but this news help me understand is my business qualified for credit, is what i'm doing the right thing, and this is where i think -- can be so helpful to us as we go forward with shop. yesterday i was in florida, looking at their retail centers.

they obviously will use the retail centers to sign individuals up for coverage, which makes me very excited. but what was even more exciting is in the work that is going on in medicare advantage, the work that's going on in terms of community education. it really was the complete package and i think that's what all of us are moving to is this complete package of how do we get the individual engaged, had we help them understand what's important to them. yes, we are using many methods to do that next week and next week is this the beginning. yesterday, i think it was yesterday, i saw 100 days to the launch. 100 days that '70s but really it is 100 days for the coverage actually begins, '70s and we actually, people can start to enroll. and so we will continue to work on this throughout the next six months. so everything from the website to the call center to councils

were trained inside hospitals, folks who are trained inside insurance companies or other venues from federally qualified health centers to health departments to social services. everyone is going to be learned is as we go forward. everyone from the navigators who have grants and training on down to the individual, such as you or i or helping a friend signed up, or a neighbor signed up, we are all going to make a difference. and it will take a while for us to get there. some of the greatest questions i get are, well, did we go from four insurance in one market to 40? no, we didn't. that's not overnight to each of you all know that. you have been an industry for a long time. but what we are seeing is more transparency, more data, more interest in entering markets, and individuals asking a lot of questions. antony that's what it's all about. you are learning as you go. you're learning how to sign up

and you're learning how to make the best decisions for you or your family, or your business. so again i will just end by saying thank you for what you're doing. ibook forward to being in the state over the next several months, and getting to know, maybe senior products at an individual level or at a market level, and getting to work more closely with each of you. i will say that ahip has been a marvelous partner. we would not be where we are today without your help, and i know that and i'm very appreciative, so thank you. [applause] >> given all that's on marilyn tavenner's plate, i very much appreciate, and i know i'm speaking for anyone in the audience, that you have taken this opportunity to be with us. marilyn needs to go back to the ranch, as you can imagine given what is on her plate. she will not be taking questions. we will be a journey just for a few minutes to the foyer for

coffee. i just want to say as i listened to marilyn's remarks, i think what really is very, very clear is that you approach this not only from the prism of your training as a nurse but it's very personal. and its striking a we very much appreciate your leadership as well, so right back at you. please join me in thanking marilyn tavenner. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> if you missed any for marilyn

tavenner had to say, this is available in the c-span video library. go to c-span.org. president obama is in new york city to take part in the united nations general assembly. he is one of several speakers today including the brazilian president of the new iranian president. we will have the president's remarks live for you at about 10:10 a.m. eastern on c-span. little player is for health related event with a good looking at health care related. how the impact become an health care system. you can see that live starting at 10 a.m. these are on c-span3. later, a discussion on how states are given with health care insurance exchange enrollment. that is hosted by the kaiser family foundation. we will be live at 11:30 a.m. eastern back on c-span. >> and as a look at the u.s. capitol this morning with the senate will gavel in for business in about 45 minutes or so, lawmakers will consider judicial nomination before returning to work on the temporary federal spending bill

known as the c.r. the first vote is expected tomorrow. you can see the senate live at 10 eastern here on c-span2. >> c-span online archives will redefine social studies education in america. >> go to c-span.org and go to the video library to watch the newest video go down to the most recent tab, click on what you want to watch and pres pressed . you can search the video library for a specific topic or keyword. or you can find a person. just type in their name, hit search and go to people. go to their bio page and scroll down to their advances. you can share what you're watching a naked clip. use the set button or handle, and a title and description and then click share and send by

e-mail, facebook, twitter or google+. the c-span the library, searchable, easy, and freak. created by the cable tv industry and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. >> up next a bipartisan policy center's commission on political reform continues to look at ways to end partisanship and politics in government to do some of the commissioner from a panel of former governors on public service and the value of cooperation. this is just under one hour. [inaudible conversations]

spent a good afternoon, everyone. welcome back after our break. it was a very exciting morning. i'm delighted to be here this afternoon. i'm diane, for much of the national association for women business owners and i'm also delighted to say that i'm originally from philadelphia. this is exciting for me to be back home, yes. [applause] well, as we continue this discussion on public service here at the national constitution center, our conversation on american communities, today, thi is how n we will talk about the governor's perspective. as you can see i'm joined by three distinguished former governors from states across the country. let me introduce you to each and everyone of them but you get more information of them in your bios. their bios in your materials as well. to my far left is governor dirk kempthorne from the state of idaho and one of the co-chairs

of the commission on political reform. [applause] >> and to his right is governor jennifer granholm from the state of michigan and a fellow member of the commission on political reform. [applause] >> and governor ed rendell from the state of pennsylvania who needs no introduction to this hometown crowd. [cheers and applause] >> well, as we go start your we want to invite everyone at the national constitution center on our webcast to join this conversation. if you're physically here as you know you can fill out one of the cards that should be left around the seat. i know many of them have fallen off but they should be there. or if you're joining us by webcast, send us an e-mail or a tweak. our twitter handle is

@bpcbipartisan. i'll ask some your questions and read some comments at the conclusion of our conversation. but first i like to start with governor rendell and doesn't focus on the governor's perspective on public service in the state. why don't we start with you if you want to give us your perspective and we were talking about the political discord at the federal level, and if the ways we can address that. but let's hear from you how you first got into public service and what you think is different that is happening at the state level. >> today, much the same problem exists in sacramento in springfield in albany and harrisburg as exist in washington, d.c. you look at what's happened in state capitals the last few years. it's amazing, the battles that are being fought with no real

interest in moving the state forward, dealing with the real problems of the state. take the issue of abortion. abortion is dominating a lot of state legislators and governors offices right now. while the economies continue to stagnate, they get nothing through politics but we don't seem to be able to get anything done anywhere. on it, take pennsylvania for an example. we have three important initiatives. whatever you think of issues, there were major initiatives. they want to privatize the liquor stores. they wanted a significant transportation bill breaking a well thought out governor nordqvist tax pledge he was willing to put two-and-a-half million dollars of taxes and fees int and/or transportation infrastructure that is desperately needed. and then pension reform. and unless we agree to pension reform to build on some the things we did when i was governor, states will be

bankrupt. those were crucial initiatives and we couldn't get votes on one of them. we never even got a vote on the floor before the summer recess. that's true in michigan and all the other place. so i think i could lock based on ideology is strangling washington, we all know that but it's also having a dramatic affect on state governments as well. >> that's interesting based. >> that's interesting a somewhat we are hearing this morning. and before we hear from our other two panelists and let's take a moment to hear what our online audience has to say. you can vote at bipartisanpolicy.org-mac backslash engaged u.s.a. the question is, does your state government function better than the federal government? well, look what we have here. 80% said yes and 20% said no. but then want to comment on that speaks i would say i think

you're right, ed, but the gridlock is happening at the state level except for in many states, unlike when you and i were governor we had legislatures of opposite parties, or we had, you had to forge some kind of compromise. in pennsylvania are both chambers the republican? the same thing in michigan. our republican governor has been pushing for an extension medicaid and he cannot get that to be able to serve the poorest citizens under the affordable care act even though he has the majority of republicans but he can't persuade them. >> transportation also. >> and transportation as well. he had to go to the citizens and get it on the ballot. but he was even amplified even more i think when there was opposite parties and that's what the president is facing as well. and the question is how can you get people in office who are willing to compromise, at that,

that's the reason why i am sitting here with a bipartisan policy commission is that there are people who think that compromise is weakness and that compromise is somehow bad. but if you have people who will not cover mods on anything, you will get nothing done. and so -- >> in washington, this is a fairly recent phenomenon, although i would like to hear what dirk has to say. you think of president bush's major initiatives, leaving aside the war for a second, his three major initiatives are the tax-cut, he got about 35% of the democrats in washington to support them. medicare part d, about 85% of democrats supported medicare part d. and no child left behind, that was the congressional sponsor of no child left behind, ted kennedy, the epitome of a progressive democrats working with a conservative republican president. so how did it go wrong in such a short period of time? >> let me if i made kind of wrap

a couple thoughts into this. when i was a member of the united states senate, here i came from the west, all right? a conservative republican. i had been mayor of boise, and i decide that we ought to stop these unfunded federal mandates on cities and states. it had been tried for 20 previous years, but i did a really good allied. here i was, the republican senator, and i had this major intercity democrat mayor he was my partner, ed rendell. [laughter] and we had john glenn of ohio. we had rob portman of ohio. he had to be bipartisan, okay? and guess what? we got the job done and bill clinton signed it into law, and it actually works. still on the books. this point about does your state government work better than the federal, without question. i'm one of those on people that

made the decision to voluntarily leave the united states senate to go run for governor. i happen to believe in the 10th amendment of the constitution that those rights not specifically delegated to the federal government are repaid by the states. and end states we had a wonderful keynote speaker where one of his key points was the federal deficit in the states, by law, you have to have a balanced budget. know it's and's or but's. you have to be effective, plus at the state level you know who your governor is or your legislators are, and governors work together your may be in a minute we could talk a minute we get chocolate about katrina and what governors did, didn't matter, republican, democrat. you're an american and you do it right. >> and you're closer to where service is provided. so even though there's gridlock at the state level i would say that states are by far or where

the action is, and i think most governors would feel like they can provide the service better than anyone else, including the federal government. and would like some flexibility in delivering services because we can make sure that democracy works and then perhaps they can be taken to skip. >> although i will say on the affordable health care, governors have performed -- this is only in my judgment, sony of them refusing to take the medicaid expansion and even though for the first three years is 100% federal funded, and for the next seven it's 93-97%. we normally pay about 50/50 with the federal, for medicaid. secondly, how many states now, everybody knows this, jumping, but how many states have given over the exchanges to the federal government to run? if we do things better than the federal government we should want to run those. there's no way and god's earth i would've ever given the

pennsylvania exchange over to the federal government. and i was working on it in 2010 and we passed the committee on to governor corbett to do what our governors doing? what i governors doing today? ideological statement that are costing our states billions of dollars in hurting people. >> clearly there's lots of issues that states can work together on by the recent issues, questions on health care and others, but it appears the governors tend to work together, that they don't ultimately that they have -- >> on many things although it is hard to be completely exempt from the huge acrimony that's happening that you see played out every day in congress. there is, so that does lead in but on most things governors want to deliver service to the people and we want to be able to move congress in a direction that enables us to do that. >> before we go move forward, let's go back to our question. our poll question, does your state government function better

than federal government, and let's see what our results are. what a surprise, right? 75% say no, and -- no. 80% say no. so it started out higher. >> in the course of the conversation i think -- [talking over each other] >> the question is better, it's not worse. it's better. they are both failing, there's no question about that. they are both failing. >> and while we are here we also want to talk about a question that submitted on twitter from commonsense action, a group bringing -- the ask governor rendell, what did you do to promote civic education in your state? >> we actually had in michigan before race to the top for education, we had one, only one state requirement in education, and it was a class in civics and that was it.

that was the one state requirement. we had to change everything so that everybody -- it was a little bit different for us. do you know what you guys had before that's the crux we had he very little, and we put into the curriculum before kids graduate that they pass a basic civics test. my wife, of course she's a federal judge, she wasn't allowed to advocate on any legislation or anything, raise money for any projects done by she took on as her sole portfolio civics education, particularly in elementary schools. and she worked with sandra day o'connor to start bringing in these kids. nothing is more important, there is no reason, no reason we should exult, and 64% of people vote in presidential election, and that 64% of the registrati registration, its action on the less than 50% of all the eligible voters to think about

other democracy in the world. its abysmal. that starts with a kiss not understand their basic rights early on. >> in the fourth grade in idaho, the course is on idaho history and how the system works. one of the years i was governor, children discovered that we did have an official state fruit so they decided it out to be the huckleberry, that little purple fruit that grows wild in amounts. anyway, it got through both legislatures, so i decided i would sign up near the canadian border so i flew up there. when i walked into the elementary school auditorium of 600 kids all wearing purple -- [laughter] they all stood up and sang the states on. that's civic. >> that's because you in part of the kids. when i became mayor, i don't know if any of you remember, but

we took the mayor's name off all of the welcome to philadelphia signs and as a contest, we had one for schoolkids in one -- there was a fourth grade class in northeast philadelphia that one, and they were as divided as to be. their parents were all there. i visited the first official suntech if you empower kids and give them some sense of doing stuff, and that translates don't you think through college gets? >> it does. my oldest child is so civic minded, she just got the state motto tattooed on her arm. i like -- i appreciate the civics, but -- [laughter] spent may i give a to go to the governor of philadelphia? because of this magnificent facility, this national constitution center, one of the prime instigators as you know

was ed rendell. we really owe him a debt of gratitude nationally for helping to make this a reality. >> you lobbied senator camp for that. >> we have this banner back in the bipartisan, but it is defined partnership. when i was secretary of the interior we had a program and we were looking for partners. the ben franklin museum was in desperate need of freshening of a remake, and so i said, the federal government will be one-third. ed rendell said, i'll do a third, and the pew foundation says we'll do the other third. and so many of you remember mary who was the superintendent, but anyway, that's how this thing should work. that's how the country should work is partnership by the republican, democrat. it does not mean that you

surrender your principles. that it means that you also are pragmatic and deliver the results wish people hired you to come about and achieve. >> those partnerships can do so much. we all talk about a high speed curiosity rail from bosch and -- from boston to washington, d.c. we can do that. we did two major freight projects with norfolk southern and csx. six states each on each project, the federal government kicked in and the real roads kicked in. we could build high-speed rail with private involvement, states putting up the money, and the feds putting up some money. i'm going to japan in november to see, there's goes three and 10 miles an hour. if we have it on the east coast, philadelphia to newark would be 23 minutes. >> can you get federal funding for that in congress of? >> well, i think you can if

there is private money. could you get from amtrak? i don't think so. but if the states ponied up, if the states ponied up and the private dollars, then you have a much better chance of convincing the public and congress to put up money. >> there are lots of wonderful examples of how states work together with each other. can you maybe talk about ways that the states can sort of maybe take which will do with each other and sort of apply that to the federal level? is there a way we can bring that back to washington to change what's happening? >> i think the national governors association is a great opportunity for states to lead up if you will if you consider congress up, to be able to challenge -- [laughter] to be able to challenge congress as we been together to pass things that will allow us to serve citizens better. the nga is supposed to be doing that but one of the ways that i

think states would be enormously supportive if congress were to lob some competition to the governors and allow them like they did for race to the top, to choose to opt in or not. it easy some of the biggest problems in the country being energy, lack of an energy policy or lack of a jobs policy, lob a few small competition to race to the top with 4.5 billion which is only one-tenth of 1% of federal spending. if you have that level of competition to the states, the governors are totally competitive with one another. you know we would go to her state legislatures, we would bust through the bureaucracy, whatever it was. if the governors could ask congress for that, i think we could help to lead to having a bottom-up solution for many of the nation's problems. >> think it's a great idea. it was something called next generation that was under president bush. it was a competition among basically whole states.

because -- whole states. because he was seeking to find a way to sequester carbon in the coal burning process to capture and to sequester the ground or find some way to dispose of it without putting in the atmosphere. if you can get technologically then all of a sudden the fact that we are the saudi arabia of coal can we've used all of our goal and to be an incredible and to our economy as well as obviously a huge improvement to the environment. i'm sure senator snowe it, it was $4.5 billion set aside for the wednesday. illinois one, but then congress, not the congress but the bush administration withdrew the funding. and 4.5 million, tried to go down the road to something that would really unlock so much for america, gosh, but governor granholm was right. the competition. >> forty-eight states participated.

48 governors convince 48 state legislatures to adopt this high standard curricula. it would never have happened were it not for this ability to compete for a pot of money. you could build strategies from the bottom up like that. >> so based on this discussion and what we're talking about earlier, how would you suggest, and we will start with you, governor kempthorne, getting folks involved in public service? with the start of the state level? it sounds like there might be more opportunities. what would you do? >> there's nothing more important than your neighborhood, your community, where you live, where your children go to school, the school boards that need to the people that serve there. volunteers that simply help the school. sometimes you need of someone who will go to the classroom and be there with the teacher during certain period of time. that's how simple it can be to get involved. it can be -- put it this way. if he wondered if he should get

involved in a nation that is a democracy, think about that. if you don't, someone will. because that's how we are constructed as a nation. and if you don't like the rules, well, if you didn't try to do something about it, someone else will make the rules. i remember when i ran for the united states senate, and i remember thursday afternoons putting my suitcase in the back of an el camino to start driving around the state. and inevitably when i would be putting that suitcase in the back of the el camino i would see my neighbors putting the soccer bags and the little league bags with bats and balls in their trunks. i had been my kids at soccer coach. i wasn't going to get to do that now. i was going to instead drive around. i would never going to county fairs. i don't know about you, jennifer

and ed, but they are lovely. because you are seeing beautiful families at the fair and you're standing there at the midway shaking hands and your family is back home your there is a sacrifice that i think often the sacrifice is your family members that wish you were home. but somebody is going to serve. and in a democracy it's the citizenry. so i think you have not only an opportunity, i really think it's a responsibility to shoulder part of that magnificent burden called democracy. >> i just want to give a plug, as some of you heard on the previous panel, the goal, the big goal of getting a million young people deserve in either a miracle, the peace corps, et cetera. i got my watch on because two of my three children have been through city year. and it has been so transformative for them but also for the younger brother who saw

them to a year of service. so they are modeling the way for the kids down. i'm sure with all these kids who participate, whether it's teach for america because it's all about leadership. so much of the training in those programs involves leadership. to me, if we're going to focus on anything as a country or a state to get young people to have the opportunity in a year or two or service is exactly where we should put, in terms of the bang for the bok spent i would just add, and then ed, a month ago i was invited to speak to 125 university student body presidents. what an amazing group and i wondered, would this be woodstock 2? you know, i walked into the most wonderful a group of young people, young men and women that had the most astute, wonderful questions. and that has been because i've been headed to the aspen

institute to talk about this. and they said, what message should i deliver to those that are think about doing this, general mcchrystal, et cetera. and they said please tell them we have a hunger to serve our nation, and we would like different opportunities that come in addition to the military, please provide us. young americans, there's nothing wrong with young americans. we just need to make sure that we don't raise expectations and don't perform. let's make sure we have the infrastructure so that when they receive the call to serve we are ready for them to serve because they are ready. >> yeah, i would echo what both governor granholm and governor kempthorne said. in my book i wrote my book for a number of different reasons, but one of the reasons was i speak what is the name of the book?

[laughter] >> they will never buy it. but in my book am one of the reasons i wrote it was to try to inspire young people to get into public service. public service doesn't mean necessarily be governor or mayor or senator. it can mean being planning director for a small township if it can be an assistant secretary of the vp for your state. it can be so many different things. and it's true as tragedies is, there are tremendous sacrifices. sacrifices in so many ways. you are not fully appreciated. but as i said in the closing paragraph of my book, i said, i've been out of law school for 43 years i've never made anything close to what our society would call real money. the sacrifices are significant, like everyday i got up and i knew i was getting paid to try to make people's lives and. most days we succeeded not all the time.

not everything we wanted to do and that's an incredible feeling. it's an incredible way to live your life. what i do it over again? you bet that i would. that's the message that people like the three of us and others have to keep conveying to our young people. it's very, very important. but in addition to public service i want to say one other thing. we've got to convey to other folks, you've got to vote. you've got to vote. you've particularly got to vote in primaries to everybody, senator snowe and i were on a tv show yesterday we taped for sunday on nbc, and we were at the crime, or i was decrying the fact that we lost mike castle, a term congressman, a tour of the governor in delaware he would have been in the senate, am i right? someone who would have reached across the lines and try to build that bipartisanship. to boston for a wide -- a right wing candidate who is an honorable woman meant to do well but she clearly wasn't qualified. why did mike castle lose?

because 30% of the republican voters turned out in a primary. the other 70% voted he would have won in a landslide. we can't keep complaining that if we want washington to change, we have to send a message to washington. we had to send a message loud and clear that if you don't cooperate and if you don't try to do things that are good for the country and not just for your politics, we don't want you around anymore. until we do that that's a form of public service, to. intel we do that nothing is going to change. there has to be consequences for bad actions. >> you know that when you raise your children, and the same thing when you're running a government. >> are those of you don't know, the book is "a nation of wusses." [laughter] >> thank you. >> governor kempthorne, i want to toggle a bit about your opponent process and recruiting

folks who run for office. voting is important. but your state is dominated by republicans, i' idaho it doesn't mean your appointments in legislations always fell through? >> no. when you have that many of one party as opposed to being so close you've got to win this for the gipper and hold them together, you can have friendly fire. however, i think that when you have stability of the state level, i mean when you can sit down with the committee chairman, with the ranking member, good citizen, and that's the thing, when you have appointments that are within your states, what people bring much no one another, and when you're asking someone to serve, they no that's an obligation. and they are ready to in make that obligation and i think by and large you have a legislature that says good for them.

yes, we will do the due diligence, make sure they're qualified this isn't just someone out in left field. but let's just make sure that we have the proper procedure. at the federal level it's taking longer and longer to get somebody approved, to the point that some good people really, their life is put on hold. they may be an attorney that's been nominated for a u.s. attorney post, or a judge post, and who's going to take them back home as an attorney? how can they sign up additional clients when they just may get the call to serve nationally. and so you have a lot of good people then ultimately before there's ever a vote to withdraw their name. one of the things that i suggested, because if you look at this is real simple. if your party has the white house, then you think you should

move a president's nominations quickly. but when you don't have it, then you delay. what i suggest is we ought to just say we will move them quickly, make it effective after this current administration is out of office we don't affect anybody. who knows what party will have the white house? >> [inaudible] >> a vote up or down, yeah. >> governor granholm and rendell can your states are not dominated by one party and often flood control from one to the other. is the nomination process just as contentious in the states as a result of that? >> even though when i was governor and had a republican senate, which was really where the confirmations would go through, actually we fought on a lot of stuff but on the nomination process, there was a good deal of cooperation, i'm happy to say. wasn't too on the budget but it

was on the nomination process. >> in idaho, i had republicans there for all eight years i was governor and we had to do deals. they held us up and they could'vcouldhave held us up for. the way we did it was there were six judges to be nominated from various counties. in a, i would say okay, you give me these two counties can you give me a judge. as long as they're qualified and pass the bar association test, i will appoint them, you vote to confirm these for democrats. maybe that works, maybe it doesn't, maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong but you've got to do it. i said i in my book when i was a young district attorney, there's a change in the law that decisions have come in full force and i needed 25 new assistant das and my office will about 125 so i have to go to the city council to ask for the money. the city council president was george schwartz who later went

to federal prison, and -- [laughter] and after my test when he said we will table this come make an appointment and come see me. so i came to see him and he said, we will give you the 25 assistant das we want to name five. and my first reaction was, you know, i was a young idealistic guy, go stick it up his rear. but then i thought, i can get 20, 20 qualified attorneys serving to protect people. if i don't take the deal, i'll have none. and maybe i'll get lucky and some of the fight and they won't be terrible. so i did a deal coming to of the five were not terrible. three of the five i had a way of sticking them into things that were not quite as crucial as other positions for attorney general's. we made it work. so politics is by its very nature is the art of the

possible. and less you understand that, you going to go down in flames. you can be the smartest person in the world, you can have the greatest ideas in the world, but he can't effectuate them you're going to go down in flames. and you know, senator snowe and i talked about leadership, and leadership has to come from legislative leaders budge by ths to come first and foremost by the chief executive. the example i gave, can you imagine what would happen if president obama stood up and said, look, i know that the affordable health care act is imperfect and i know it needs modifications and changes. i'm advising republicans. i'm advising republican leadership and chairman of the various committees to come to camp david over a long weekend, give me your ideas and let's try to work together to modify and unmanned the affordable care act to make it better. first of all, the nation would be stunned. same action you have. there will be silence all around the nation. then where the republican leadership have any choice other

than to cooperate. >> would have to go to camp david spent and tried to make it work but it comes from the executive. president obama has had a tough road to hoe when mitch mcconnell two months into president obama's first year in office seven of one priority is to making a one-term president. know, senator, i saw your job description and your number one priority is to do things to benefit the american people. but still, you've got to reach out and it comes from the executive. we all did a pretty good job when we were governors reaching out to the other side. >> that is true but i would just add that you can reach out and reach out and reach outcome at some point somebody has got to grab your hand but if they don't grab your hand, then you are, all you're doing is this. so it does take two to tango. the other side, both sides have got to move, and once i figure when doing moving and the other one is rigidly standing there, that's a problem.

>> let me -- let me give you a little flicker of hope though. in washington, d.c., when you look at whether or not it happens, tax reform, and i think we all have a problem with the current tax code and the irs, but when you look at how chairman camp is working with max baucus, chairman of the senate finance committee, a republican and a democrat, they are working well. the house ways and means committee has had 11 working groups, bipartisan. these are good folks. so we need to also -- >> talk about the house. >> no. that was the house. the house ways and means. i mean, both are trying -- >> camera get the same kind of spirit in the senate? >> well, all i'm saying is when

you do see something good come you ought to acknowledge it. >> true, i agree, totally agree. >> actually to follow-up on that, senator hatch and senator baucus have adopted essentially the same thing that simpson-bowles recommended, zero base on all tax expenditures. $1.3 billion a year, out of the treasury with the tax loopholes. so they are saying all of them are gone. you have to offer him to come back and justified and if you want them put back in the tax code. oh, boy, that's exactly the way to do it. and when you go through that 1.3, if you cut out 200 billion, what would that be? less than one-sixth. that's $2 trillion over 10 years. bingo. >> if you had a tough issue, if you asked haley barbour, the former national chairman of the

republican party, and ed rendell, the former chairman of the national democrats party, put those two people together, they will find a solution to they will find a solution. that's what this bipartisan politics is about. you do not abandon your principles, but you do find solutions and results. because after that why are you taking the steps state was the same thing with governors. >> governor kempthorne was talking about our immigration task force, the bbc's immigration task force. also has condi rice. and take immigration as an issue. i would love to see a comprehensive immigration bill that has increase border security, e-verification, and also obviously eventual path decisions. but let's assume we're not going to get the senate bill, then let's get something. there are so many pieces.

if we break that down piece by piece it's amazing how you get beyond pieces of the bill. you would make some progress and you've got to get some things done. when i was governor i had the republican legislature, yet every single thing i talked about in the 2002 campaign i make progress on. maybe not 100% of the progress i talked about in 2002, because i had to make compromises to get it done but every single element we made significant progress in my years because we compromised and moved the ball ahead. we didn't make a touchdown on every play but we moved the ball ahead significantly. i think that's what we've got to start doing and i think you'll find, jennifer, even in the house you will find allies for that. the worst thing in the world, the two worst things in one or the filibuster rule innocent and the rule in the house but if you put the senate immigration bill as is to a vote in the house, no committees, just up and down

vote in the house, it would pass, right? republicans and most democrats would raise their hands and vote yes. but what's stopping? the unwritten asher grow. filibuster, finding you in the constitution that says in one case president obama's first two years 40 senators representing 17% of the american people could stop anything from becoming law. tell me where the constitution allows that to be. so those are the type of things we've got to get over. but the hazard rule is pooled -- tulia caucus will, right because it's in the house. >> we are wrapping up our time here but before we go, governor granholm come you had publicly said in 2010 it is a surefire antidote for the negativity and pain of democracy. pictures act of all, service to

others to how can this commission spread that message further? >> well, what we've been doing today i think is important. i do want to say one additional word about recruiting amendments to run for office. because if i look back at my legislation and ther the with te tough things had to happen, there were two women, a republican and democrat, house and senate like a and senate like it is tested and they would do the hard work of, you know, announcing the stakeholders in crafting the compromises. if we don't have people at the table who represent all of us, if the leadership doesn't look like america, we're not going to be heard. and so women often have to be invited to run, and often when you ask women why aren't you running, they will say, well, i am happy to be behind the scenes into the work, but i don't want to put myself out the.

i don't want to be the person. when i was young my mom used to say to me three things. she used to say, don't talk about yourself, because people don't want to hear it. if a stranger asked you for money, don't ever ask strange for money, i should say but and if you're into competition with a boy, let the boy when. now, how i ever got elected with those three pieces of advice i will never know. [laughter] but there is a socialization that women still face often, and i'm still so grateful for title ix and for competition among young women who feel like they can get out there. but truly, women as chris marvin said on the previous panel, women have to realize that it isn't about them. if they to give the about the future of this country for their children, or for the sisters aren't for their sons, they have got to serve. it's a form of service in the same way that serving her military is, your country needs

you to raise your hand. i want to make a strong message for you young people out there, for you old people out there, but particularly women out here, to consider serving their nation in that way. because we really need you. [applause] >> if i may, first, you need not look any further than this room to see to outstanding role models of what jennifer just spoke about. olympia snowe quiet the great honor of serving with in the senate, and jennifer granholm who i had the honor of serving with as a governor. so here's my footnote. there are two birthdays that i want to acknowledge. one is shane, who on sunday turns 13, right? this is the wonderful sound of our wonderful moderator. [applause] >> and he's going to go to the

national game. is a good baseball player and they think he is bryce harper, that's cool together for the which i i will run back to the capital to join in the celebration is bob dole. a former republican nominee for president, but i will tell you, just a few years ago when i was at a national amphitheater in arlington cemetery that seats 2000 people, and there were 2000 people seated that day on that memorial day. bob dole came in unannounced and quietly just kept moving over to seed, and one by one people began to see it was bob dole. and americans began to applaud and a standing ovation of 2000 americans in acknowledging a true hero. that's where we want to always be as a united states of america, that we still have hero's and we will still acknowledge them.

and that young people like shane will know that they have a future because this country is the best in the world. >> thank you. that's all we have time for today. spent i just wanted to add, what governor granholm said is equally important to we are 47th out of 50 states of women in our legislature. it's an absolute disgrace. it's got to change, and both parties are looking for good women candidates. and i told them, right now we've got a lovely cauldron am a teacher community. and i said to my democrats, go out and find a committee teacher who wants to change the way we deal with education in this state and run them. that would be great, and particularly women teachers. so if you know someone who was interested in running for office, get them to the right people. get into the different parties, republican, democratic, doesn't matter. women deal with family issues so much better than men. they have so much inherent

understanding that men lack. >> thank you, governor rendell effort of governors. please join and thanking them for being with us here today. [applause] >> and pakistan i would like to welcome the secretary dan glickman, who is co-chair of the commission on political reform and a senior fellow at the bipartisan policy center. >> thank you very much. on behalf of the on behalf of the bpc i want to thank all of you for coming, especially our commissions and the wisdom of our governors who are here. let's get again for all of our speakers. this is one of the best things done. [applause] i also want to thank our partners at "usa today," especially susan page and a host of national constitution center. i heard 10 big words today that i think may some of their finger. the art in no particular order, but leadership, empowerment, respect, civics, duty, service,

democracy, engagement, stability, and sacrifice. and thinking o sacrifice and i think of president kennedy's words, ask what you can do for your country. and he remains what you can do for your society, what you can do for everybody here, and i'm looking at my friend who worked for president kennedy and helped to create service in this country. and it really is an amazing thing that this great country of ours has the opportunity to change the world and in the process of change our own lives. and i think that's what we're talking about. three quick anecdotes. dirk mentioned bob dole. abdul told me to go when i was perhaps talking too much. he said you have one mouth and two years for a simple reason. and i quickly got the message. the other ronald reagan said, i would rather get 80% of something than 20% of nothing. it's symptomatic of the words of everett dirksen was a great

conservative, i don't know why i quote all three republicans, dirksen said he once put a water project in a bill in illinois and his colleague paul douglas was a conservative said, you're a conservative, you get the $100 million water project in the state of illinois. he said i thought you were a man of principle. and he says, i am a man of principle. and my first principle is flexibility. and so i think to some extent that's what we're talking about is reasonable since the people making reasonable and sensible decisions and in the process perhaps taking some courage as well. so we are going over all these recommendations. we will go ahead and go to ohio state on october 15 to talk about political reform and campaign reform issues. >> we will leave this discussion at this point. you can see it in its entirety at our website at c-span.org. the u.s. senate is about the gavel and for general speeches

before lawmakers turn to a judicial nomination at 11:15 a.m. a vote is expected at about 11:45 a.m. the chamber will take a break for party lunches as you should be on tuesday between 12:30-2:15 eastern and then it returned to work on the temporary federal spending bill known as the c.r. the first vote on the measure by which is expected tomorrow. now live to the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, supreme source of light and love as the american people experience jitters because of an impending government shutdown, we look to you the foundation of wisdom. give our senators the wisdom to know what is right and the courage to