talking about energy production and our opportunities for exports, there is our renewable energy resource. there is renewable technology. producers of wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies also reduce our trade through our exports. so when we're talking about energy exports, let's truly talk about all of them, including our renewable technologies. i think that the general lack of trade restrictions on renewable energy technology products doesn't immediate to be modified. if renewable technology is the future, then it needs to be competitive. and then finally, the last area is nuclear technology. the united states has been the undisputed leader of nuclear technology throughout the world. we produce more nuclear power than any other nation. and as the global nuclear trade has developed, what we've seen

is that the u.s. market share there has declined. i think that the federal government must continue its efforts to help develop small modular reactors, and i think that we can do this without putting international security at risk or violating nonproliferation controls. mr. president, the energy resurgence has fueled a beneficial expansion of u.s. energy trade, and the evidence is clear that exports can help facilitate enhanced production by opening up u.s. supply to global markets. trade is creating jobs, it's increasing supply, it's enhancing our nation's security, without doubt. competition and efficiency are the strengths of the american economy system. they're not defects. trade and consumption will occur

with or without us. so the question here is whether or not we can enhance or whether we will demote our global position. and to the extent that american-made energy can displace other less clean sources, then the global environment will benefit from enhanced u.s. trade. people come first, though, we recognize that. the nation's opportunity to help us alleviate energy policy is one that we should not miss. i believe, mr. president, that we need to send a powerful signal to the world that the u.s. is ready to reassert its role as a leader on energy, the environment, and trade. and, to me, that is a signal worth sending. and so, as i've said, this is a debate worth having here in the senate, here in this new year. and i look afford to joining my colleagues. i know that there are many who

on the other side have differing views when it comes to our fossil fuels. but i think we would find alignment in other areas, when we are talking about our energy exports and great po potential. so as we are trying to build our nation's economy, as we are trying to strengthen jobs across the country, let us not forget the enormous potential, the enormous growth potential that we hold when it comes to our energy production and potential for energy export. with that, mr. president, i thank you for your attention, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i always appreciate the comments of senator murkowski, who is always thoughtful and works across the aisle as well as as anyone here. i appreciate the wo worveg worke dis. dis-- the work that she does. i join with senator merkley to

mark the 50th anniversary of u.s. surgeon general dr. terry's groundbreaking report on the dangers of smoking. the report concluded something that was almost revolutionary at its time, and was revolution near in its impact. it said smoke is a health hazard of significant importance to warrant appropriate action. we know how or views have changed about smoking. but we also know one other thing. 400,000 people every year die from smoking-related illnesses. you know what that says, mr. president? that says that the tobacco companies have to find 400,000 new customers every year, and the people they had tried to seduce into smoking are not people my age, they are eight pages' age or even younger than the pages of this body. those are the people that they aim at to teach them to start

smoking, if you will. it's not just -- it's not just young people that they are trying to get addicted to smoking. the tobacco companies. it's also what they're doing t n the developing world. i was in poland in 1991 working for ohio state university right after the polish communist government -- after the communist government in poland fell. all over eastern poland and krakow, the first billboards were tobacco. most american tobacco companies, the british tobacco companies, those were the first billboards up. the tobacco companies try to is seduce young people in our country to smoke. they've in some sense attacked the developing world to get people to smoke there. one of the ways they've done this, mr. president, is by using our trade agenda to weaken public health laws in other countries. some developing countries, some

poor countries have enacted public health antismoking laws, and the u.s. tobacco companies and tobacco companies from other countries have tried to weaken, sometimes successfully, those laws. it's important that we close loopholes in our trade agenda that allow big tobacco corporations to undermine these health -- these global health standards. this administration's decision not to exclude any one product, including tobacco, from the transpacific partnership, a proposed trade agreement among the u.s. and 11 other countries, is a disappointment. it opens up years of antitobacco public health policies to attacks by big tobacco, because under the t.p.p.'s investor state provisions, tobacco companies could quhal public health clause -- could challenge public health laws in the u.s. and abroad. a number of cases were filed last year according to the u.n. cfntion oconference on trade and development. the public health campaign

against tobacco continues in our country and people like senator blumenthal have been a leader in this for well over a decade. and it extends to our international politics, our international trade regimen. we have a lot of work to do. that's why i'm pleased to join senator blumenthal and senator mercury in their discussion today honoring the 50th anniversary of dr. terry's report. i yield to senator blumenthal. mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, blood pressure. i'm proud to be with public health advocates like the presiding officer, my very distinguished and eloquent colleague senator brown, and senator durbin, who was on the floor earlier today on this very subject, which remains one of urgency and profound importance to the public health of this nation. indeed, if there is a public health threat, enemy number one

in the united states of america, it continues to be tobacco use and nicotine addiction. we talk a lot in this body and throughout the congress and throughout the nation about reducing the costs of health care. if we were to cut tobacco use and nicotine addiction, it would drastically reduce those diseases like cancer and heart disease and lung problems that reduce longevity of life in this country but also create enormous costs in treating these medical diseases. the cost of tobacco in health care to this country is about $193 billion a year, not only in direct medical costs but lost productivity. i am proud to have fought and fought successfully through many

of my years as attorney general of the state of connecticut working in alliance with other attorney generals, with private health advocates like the campaign for tobacco-free kids, the heart and lung associations, the cancer society, and throughout the country these private advocates who have achieved so much. and when we doubt our achievements on this 50th anniversary of the annual surgeon general's report on tobacco and health, we should remember the days when 43% of adults smoked cigarettes and were addicted to nicotine. we should look at madmen, the very popular tv series, where tobacco use and smoke something ubiquitous. there is barely a scene without t anit. and those were days when doctors

in their medical offices smoked cigarettes. the days when big tobacco denied fervently and vehemently denied that tobacco caused cancer or any of those other diseases. in alliance with attorney generals and eventually the department of justice, we fought successfully to bring out the truth and to help not only change the ads and pitches and promotions of big tobacco but also eventually to pass the family smoking prevention and tobacco control act of 2009. and yet for all the progress that we've made -- and, a indeed, the rate of smoking has gone from 52% in 1965 to 18% in 2002 among adults -- we are still lagging.

we are way behind where we should be in preventing all those diseases that come from tobacco and protecting the public. the state of regulation and protection in this country is anemic compared to the danger and the threat. between 2000 and 2012, cigarette use declined nearly 35%. but in that same period of time, cigar use rose by 124%. and especially among young people, cigar use is increasing. there are new fronts and new frontiers in the fight against tobacco addiction. and the public health consequences, the disastrous and catastrophic health consequences that come from lifetimes of nicotine addiction and tobacco use. big tobacco continues many of

the tactics that caused so many people to become addicted and die, because it is the only industry -- it makes the only product that kills the customer, so it must replenish its customer base by luring new people, new users, and its target continues to be young people. the young people who are lured into cigar use and then cigarettes by the use of flavors and all kind of pitches and promotions that make these products seem more like candy and fruit than they do like the killers that they are. and we must accept that a major part of the responsibility belongs to the f.d.a. and to the federal government, because

there are no deeming regulations that are necessary to regulate cigars in this country. with 3,000 new people under the age of 18 trying cigar smoking each and every day, the fact that we do not have deeming regulations and strong regulation of tobacco products is simply unacceptable. deeming regulations forthcoming from the f.d.a. would allow it to regulate these other forms of tobacco, whether it is cigars or spit tobacco, also known as chewing tobacco, all forms of tobacco and tobacco-like products that threaten the health of young people. and i have been consistent along with many of my colleagues in calling on the f.d.a. to issue these regulations and hope that they will do quickly. let me mention finally another growing new frontier and threat

in this country involving cigarettes. e-cigarettes. these new products offer in the rhetoric and pifs and promotion o-- andpitches and promotion ofa way for people to quit smoking and yet they are often pitched to young people with flavors and other gimmicks. they are for those young people a gateway to smoking and nicotine addiction. companies that make e-cigarettes -- not coincidentally -- are being purchased by big tobacco, the makers of tobacco cigarettes, and the influence of these companies can be seen in the advertising and marketing pushes and campaigns of these products that feature celebrities and

candy flavorings and purport to offer a safer alternative top smoking. -- alternative to smoking. the ability of big tobacco to market these products, just as they were able to market cigarettes to children, gives them the ability to create a new generation of people who are addicted to nick tenge and success september -- to nicotine and susceptable to going to other forms of tobacco product. i call on the f.d.a. to act and to reach a determination that will enable it to regulate e-cigarettes and protect young people and all of us against the dangers and the cost of these new products that are unknown in their ingredients. many of them may contain the same or similar carcinogens. somebody using e-tobacco

products has simply no way of reliably knowing because they are unlabeled. and the amounts of nicotine are also unknown and unlabeled. studies of e-cigarettes have found products claiming not to contain nicotine actually do often. and the amounts of nicotine may vary widely across products. what is known beyond any doubt is nicotine is highly addictive. in fact, probably the most addictive legal or illegal drug there is today, and we cannot sit idly and allow this new product to addict a new generation of american children. i hope that this year's surgeon general's report will remind us of the accomplishments made but the dangers and the challenges ahead that we must confront. and i am proud to yield to one of the great public health

affects -- advocates in this body, my colleague and friend senator merkley. i would ask unanimous consent that senators merkley and i be permitted to follow, to speak for up to five minutes and that following our remarks the senate stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon is recognized. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to utilize a visual aid in my presentation the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i am very pleased to be here with my colleagues from ohio, the senator who is sitting in the chair; the senator from connecticut who just spoke to draw attention to this incredibly important health issue here in america.

addiction to tobacco and the diseases that come from that addiction to tobacco. now we're here to commemorate a report put out 50 years ago by dr. terry, the surgeon general. his report was called "smoking and health." and the contents of that report shocked the world because it was issued in defiance of a powerful and profitable industry that had repeatedly denied that there was any link between smoking and disease. this report made national news by telling the american public things that we now take for granted. that smoking is bad for the heart and lungs. that smoking causes cancer and that lives of americans are routinely cut short due to the use of tobacco products. this single report created a

powerful ripple throughout society, a ripple that has continued in the decades since, growing into a away that has transformed public health in america and saved an astonishing number of lives. thomas freedan, current director of the center for disease control, said no other single report has had as large an effect on public health. the journal of the american medical association estimates eight million lives have been saved by the antismoking measures that were launched directly or indirectly out of this report. and that's a reminder of how far we have come in identifying significant risk, understanding it, educating the public and reducing the consequences. there would have been millions of lives lost had a brave attorney general not acted 54 -- 50 years ago in 1964. if that surgeon had said, as

others before him, that is just too sensitive, that is too provocative, it will be too much of an irritant to a powerful industry, how many lives would we have lost? and if we do not act now to address tobacco addiction from new forms of the product, how many more american lives will be lost? we must take the courage from 50 years ago and challenge in to the courage of today to address a significant health risk and to educate the american public and to change the consequences. the best way to save lives and improve the quality of life 20 or 30 years from now is to prevent young americans from taking up tobacco products

today. but tobacco knows this is true. they know the best way to create lifelong reliable customers for their deadly products is to get kids hooked as young as possible because in general people do not take up tobacco products after the age of 21. these children are what the industry calls replacement smokers. it's what i call children today who will suffer from tobacco addiction, disease and death tomorrow. so the tobacco industry is working night and day to come up with new strategies to create more children as replacement smokers to keep their industry alive. and they have come up with quite a variety of strategies, and i thought i would share some of them with you today. this poster is of a product that is essentially presented as a

minute. here you have an orb, or a mint, with a clever little dispenser, shaped like what cell phones were shaped like six years ago when they went in your pocket. the understanding was that if kids had this in their pockets, the teachers would think they had a cell phone and, therefore, they wouldn't get busted at school. it seems kind of incredible that dissolvable tobacco has developed into mints to addict our children; that you eat them. i have one of these right here. these were marketed in oregon. these were marketed in oregon as basically an experiment to see could you get young people to consume them and become addicts to tobacco. or how about toothpicks made out of tobacco, called sticks. or how about -- and this is

unbelievable -- breath strips that you put under your tongue. or how about flavors of all kinds. i'll note that our time is running out, but can i ask the chair for unanimous consent to speak for three more minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. chair. this is an example of the cigarettes -- or cigarillos my colleagues were talking about. this one is flavored apple and this one is flavored sweet cherry. and how about this one that's strawberry. these products are all about addicting our children. and here is the long and short of it. in 2009 this chamber and the house signed a bill that gave the f.d.a. the power to regulate these products. the president signed that bill, and since then the f.d.a., the food and drug administration,

has done nothing to utilize that power to regulate these addictive products that are going to destroy the health of our children in the years to come. finally, from june of 2009 until october of last year, so more than four years, they finally sent a draft deeming regulation to g.a.o., general accounting office and there it sits. so to summarize, let us not accept inaction by the f.d.a.. let us not accept inaction by the g.a.o.. let's have the courage that the surgeon general had 50 years ago to take on dangerous products damaging the health of americans so that our children will live better lives. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired.

under the previous order, the senate stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. try to

process that. but came to the floor this but came to the floor this >> when i came to the floor this morning to talk about another very important piece of legislation that we do have very deep and very genuine bipartisae flood insurance provision, the homeowner affordability act, which will correct some of the more egregious provisions of a bill that passed a year and a half ago called biggert-waters. the bill biggert-waters that was passed, named for the two passed, named for the two the bill that was passed, named for the two members of the house that lead that effort were well-intentioned.

in fact, i have had many wonderful conversations with maxine waters, the absolutely distinguished congress will in from california whose name carries that bill. and she has wonderful intentions because california, like louisiana depends upon a program that is sustainable, affordable that has been so gracious and had time to come to louisiana and say that we intended for this to fix the problem, but i will admit, we made it worse, end the way that fema has interpreted some of the things we have done him any work in the fact that the federal government continues despite our efforts to recognize. so she has agreed to help lead our efforts to reform bill that she and congresswoman biggert past year-and-a-half ago. so i want to start by commending

the leaders. in the house the leader is cars woman waters and congressman gramm. there are chairmen of standing committees that are working with them as we speak to figure out how to move forward in the house in the senate we have been working so well together despite all of the commotion and adversarial positions on other issues. we have put together a very excellent coalition of about 200 organizations, and i am going to read those names in just a minute. 200 organizations that have been working with us to fashion a reform bill that meets these objectives. madam president, you have spoken on the floor of the senate now at least a half a dozen times that i have listened to you speak on the floor. you know.

you said it even better than i can, but the provisions that are and our reform bill for flood insurance the important goals. first of all, affordable to the middle class people are required to have a winner. that is the most important thing . that it be affordable to the people required to have it. yes, there are some very wealthy families that live in mansions on beaches. there will have no problem paying it is substantial premium . but there are millions of middle-class families, many of them in louisiana, that don't lead anywhere near the water and they most certainly do not live in mansions on the beach. the live-in middle-class neighborhoods and nowhere near the asian -- notion that have

found themselves caught up face in paying premiums that we can't afford. so if we don't fixes the premiums coming into the program will be less and less. people will be defaulting on homes, banks, communities will take a downward economic fall and the program itself collapsed. now, we cannot have this program collapse. even though our critics say -- and this has been in the newspapers, they said that we are trying to have saddle taxpayers with a huge debt, nothing could be further from the truth. we are trying to save taxpayers from the big bailout by reforming the program that needs to be reformed in fixed so that middle-class people can afford it, banks can operate well with it, home builders in up to five builds homes with the tory letters to sell the homes with the program, which they're not able to do know.

everyone can get back to work. value can be reduced and give us some time to figure out how to reach those two important goals. from the taxpayers don't have to bail us out of homeowners and businesses can afford it. i'll take that still much to ask. happily, happily said germany and days, two veteran leaders of the senate here have put a very big bill together and we're ready to vote. ready to vote. we can vote right know. a few things worked out. i like to talk go with their publicly so that people could start working them out. because more things that are transparent around here the better we are.

days done in secrecy usually problematic. the base bill is some still basically what everyone understands to be, visible for weeks now. that bill by far is the basic essence of the. [inaudible] worked out with the extraordinary leaders as subcommittee chair. that is the basic bill. there are amendments that people want to author happily. and to my knowledge as senator isaacson has worked through this , there is provision about requirements we think we should vote on. we're not sure how that vote will turn out, we are happy to vote on it. there is blood amendment --

blonde amendment that the national home builders has suggested we have an amendment done. we could vote on that as well. there is an amendment in the works. some of these have been filed. some of them are just in form. there is a critical amendment that would object the rate increases in the underlying bell whom. there is a lead amendment from ryland. this would require the met to conduct a study of the viability of community-based flood insurance policies. broad support for that.

there is also an amendment being discussed. now, those are the only amendments that we know about. so if there is anybody else that has an amendment on floods that would like to offer or have it considered, the next couple of hours to be the last the opportunity to get those amendments in. i know everybody is busy, everybody has lots to do. i have cleared my calendar. i have meetings. i cleared my calendar to do this today because it is important that we not just get so busy with other things that we leave this place and not get it done. we are working transparently, openly so there are no games to

be played by either side year. again, i want to repeat, the hagen amendment pending -- not pending, but that we know of. rubio-nelson, reid of rhode island, cobra, berkeley, bud, and then to me who was just on the floor has indicated that he wants to offer a substitute to what we are proposing. i am not the manager of this bill, so is not my authority to make these definitive statements. senator menendez and senator isaacs and will ultimately decide the strategy, but as far as i understand because we have all been working very hard to gather and move this bill to final passage year, as far as i understand these are the only amendments that people would like to offer, and there does not seem to be any objection to offering them. in addition, it people what 51

votes or 50 votes, we are very open to that as well. we could pass the bill with 51 votes. we can pass the bill with 60 votes. so we are open. you know, that is the game is played here. we won 52 of 51. we can take it in in the arithmetic anyone wants to give us. fifty-one votes, we will deliver them. we have done the homework on this bill working with coalitions to malarkey with homeowners and businesses from south dakota, north dakota, new jersey, new york, mississippi, louisiana, california and oregon . there is no disagreement. there is some disagreement, but there is not enough to -- disagreement to overcome a great coalition that has been put together here, which was evidenced by extraordinary press conference as a couple of days ago when we had almost 20

senators showed up say were ready to go. so my message on the floor today -- i don't know how many more minutes i have. >> the senator has used 12 minutes. >> i would like another five, unanimous consent. >> without objection. >> what was evidenced earlier and the coalition knows this is that there is broad consensus. there are a few senators that want to vote against this bill. there are a few senators that want to offer amendments. fine. let the record show why these amendments could be offered -- these amendments germane to this bill in any that would come to us in the next, you know, our so that are germane to this bill, we can take these amendments and have a 51 vote, i60 requirement vote, final passage of 51.

let's just get this done. and there should be no confusion at all about this. and i am glad that no one of the opposite side is here debating the of this. that is a good sign. there really is only one side to this story. this is the facts. in trying to be as fair as i can i have named the people who have amendments to our knowledge. we, the democrats to have said we have no objection to offering those amendments. if he won 51 votes, if you want 50 votes, just let us know. i feel confident that our coalition can hold against any government that would try to get this bill. we will let people know what those amendments are to is offering them. because we think that this is absolutely the right thing to do for the country, for our states

that we are representing, and for the taxpayer. just give us a little time to work together to figure out how to strengthen the national flood insurance program without bankrupting 5 million families. because if we don't stop this train that has already left the station, we have to stop it, reverse it, and put it back in the train barn. it is going down the track pretty fast. this is not a good place to be. as i said, we probably should never have passed this bill, but it was put in a conference committee report. that was on amendable. and some provisions of it were indecipherable at the time. that is a little strong a word, but there were not understood. there were not well understood.

as the bill got red and implemented, people started realizing, oh, my gosh, what have we done. this is not going to work. they're right. so i am going to stay on the floor this morning. if anyone from the republican side wants to come down, 81 to anyone can disagree with what i have presented or challenge would i have presented, please do because i want this to be a very open process. there is nothing for us to hide from. that is what a democracy is about. there are some people that want to vote against a bill, fine. go ahead and vote against it. we have the votes to pass it, 60, as i said. we may even have more than 60. if we don't all i can say is we tried our level best. we just don't have the votes to correct it. i don't think that is the case.

so i am not going to allow the smoke that is around here, the confusion and all the hot air to confuse the coalition that has worked too hard. they need to hear my voice very clearly, which is why i'm here. there is clarity. there is no opposition on the democratic side to this bill. we are waiting for a few clarifications from the republican side. we hope to get those. the only democrats that have amendments that i know of a senator a good -- senator hayden, senator reid from rollins, and senator wrigley. we have no objections of the democratic side for this bill, and only three members that have amendments, and we are happy to have a vote on those amendments.

they're not really controversial someone might find a problem with them. they don't cut the bill. there is no problem with the bill. it is the republican side that we are waiting. again, i know how busy everyone is. i know the senator from pennsylvania is working very hard on -- he was just to speaking about on the unemployment insurance. i know that is a very, very important issue to the people that he represents and louisiana a little time to work on this amendment that we think he wants to offer of floods, we are happy to have his amendment. we will vote on it. we will decide on when and how and what the number is. i believe, let me just speak for myself, that it does not matter. we have the votes to not allow it his intention was to get the bill, the bill will not be

gutted. if his intention was to strengthen the bill, then that is a definite possibility. but people are desperate to get an answer from congress now. we should have done this for months ago for these rate increases. escrow accounts are being collected now from people. bills that they were paying $500 a year. now they're paying 5,000. according to the law, the banks have to go get that $5,000 put it in the bag now to pay that insurance. that is a hardship on people. we need to stop that, figure this out. i think i have extended my time already, icky. we have -- we delayed this fix too long, and we need to go ahead and take care of it. so this morning, i will

periodically bring everyone up today. let me close with reminding people what we are talking about these are the new flood maps in the united states that are either in effect, purple, proposed in green, and new flood maps and yellow. there is not a state that is exempt from what i am speaking about. the amazing thing is to see this cluster in pennsylvania and new york and ohio. everyone thinks about this as texas, florida, louisiana a shoot. when you see the inland states being affected by flood maps that has never been an issue before, being issued without good data because the man does not have the science and technology are resources to do this directly at, the affordability setting has not even been done and they just did not do it.

we need to put this train back in the station. it is not ready for primetime. people can afford them, people can be notified, and other things to be taken into consideration. louisiana would like levees recognized. we have spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money building them, we would like them to be recognized. if you are behind the lobby you don't have to it take $15 a year because you've already paid for the levy. you don't pay twice. taxpayers should not have to pay three times. they're happy to pay their fair share. most everyone i know is happy to pay their fair share. under biggert-waters id is not fair, and it is not shared. it has got to become a you know, pushed back, not completely repeal, but delayed, which is what our bill does until we can fix it. i'm just trying to stay down

here. someone else comes to the floor, that's fine. will talk again about this because it is important for us to get this done and now we have an appropriations bill. i am an appropriate. but this bill is almost as important, not as the whole appropriations bill, but for the 5 million people that they're getting ready to lose their homes and businesses demint is really important to them. it is important for us. there does not seem to be any real, serious objection to work hard to get it done. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. >> the senate is in recess subject to the call of the chair while democrats me with the president at the white house. our cameras are outside the white house wedding for comments from members after that meeting. live coverage of the u.s. senate when members return here on c-span2. tuesday's senate republicans blocked a bill to extend unemployment benefits which expired in december citing

concerns of the process for how the bill was being handled on the senate floor. this morning the democratic leader and with who laid out their thoughts on the bill negotiations and republican leader mitch mcconnell responded. this is ten minutes. >> i would like to ask the majority leader through the chair for clarity. is this a republican filibuster holding up unemployment benefits for over 1 million americans? >> up to about one-and-a-half million now. >> so the refusal to allow us to vote on the decision of a extension is denying unemployment so about one half million americans. >> that is true. >> i would like to ask the majority leader this question

set. is it not true that the initial complaint of the senate republicans was that this payment of the unemployment benefits was not paid for? >> that is true. >> is it also true that the democrats came up with the page for that would have paid for the and employment benefits as the republicans fit. >> originally by paul ryan. >> after the democrats came up with the page for, the first demand of the senate republicans to stop their filibuster, the dissident republicans join us in calling this friend repeat the question. mr. durbin: as we came up with a pay-for, that the senate republicans insisted on, did they stop their senate republican filibuster on unemployment benefits and allow us to move afford? mr. reid: no. mr. durbin: i'd like to ask the senate leader, it is my

understanding that the republicans came up with a new demand that they be allowed to offer new amendments to the unemployment insurance package before they would drop their senate republican filibuster that was stopping unemployment benefits for 1 .4 million americans. mr. reid: that is true. and the biggest advocate we had for that on this side of the aisle was the whip, the senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i'd like to ask the majority leader this question: is it not true yesterday that in response to this republican demand, that you offered a unanimous consent request which would have given, in fact, up to 10 amendments on each side of the aisle, democrats and republicans, to this measure and that the democrats did not specify what the amendments would be, that it was really the decision of the republicans to offer those amendments? did

the senate majority leader offer that to the senate republicans so that they would stop their filibuster of unemployment benefits? mr. reid: the answer is yes. and in addition to that, there would be available on each side, if they wanted, five side-by-sides as we call them here, so that could be a total of ten amendments on each side, so 20. mr. durbin: senate republicans insisted on a pay-for. the senate democrats provided it. the senate republicans still refused to stop their filibuster. then the senate republicans insisted on amendments. we offered up to ten amendments on each side. can the senate majority leader say after offering that unanimous consent, did the republicans agree to it and stop their filibuster of unemployment benefits? mr. reid: i already said they did not. mr. durbin: i would ask the majority leader at this point in time, what are we waiting for? what are the senate republicans now demanding to stop their filibuster providing unemployment benefits to 1.4

million people across america? mr. reid: i have no idea. mr. durbin: i would say to the senate majority leader, it strikes me as unfair, if not cruel, that we are holding 1.4 million unemployed americans hostage to this continued political negotiation where each day the republicans come up with a new demand before they'll stop their senate republican filibuster. i would ask the senator from nevada, our majority leader, does he believe that a majority of the members of the united states senate would vote for the extension of unemployment extension of unemployment does he believe they would vote for the extension of unemployment benefits to these americans if the senate republicans would drop their filibuster? >> no question about that. >> i think the majority leader. >> finally, let me just say to us like you.

and my republican colleagues,. [inaudible] >> call the roll. [roll call] >> let me just say in response to the colloquy we just heard, as he put it, if you don't want to of fight fire, don't become a firefighter. if you don't want to cast tough votes, don't come to the senate. obviously those days have changed. what really happened over the last week is the refusal to have

an open and in the process, the refusal to treat both sides the same, the final proposal we objected to yesterday required all the amendments to get 60 votes by final passage. only 51. still has not restored the senate to the way it formerly function to. any member of the senate ought to be able to have a fair chance to get his or her amendment adopted. that is the least to be around here. and before the majority leader decided to dictate everything everyone does. and so we are seeking here is fundamental fairness, and on this particular bill in the open amendment process, an opportunity to pay for it, and that think the real concern was the majority leader was afraid that some of the republican amendments might actually pass and enjoy bipartisan support. so we will get back to that bill. it is a very important bill, but if anybody had any doubts that

washington democrats wanted to see the unemployment insurance bill failed, well, i think we just had those doubts erased yesterday in by the comments that were just made. it is just the latest example of senate democrats putting politics or policy, and in this case it is doubly tragic because this time they're putting politics over struggling families who deserve some certainty congress. look, it is no secret that our democratic friends plan to spend the year exploiting folks who are still struggling in this economy for political gain. they have been telling reporters that for a week. it is no secret. but that does not make it any less disturbing. it is still wrong. i probably want to be talking about something other than obamacare, to, if i voted for it. they want to talk about anything other than obamacare. but to create a conflict with

the possibility of agreement being so close while more than a million people are stuck in the middle is just simply outrageous . making pawns out of these people stuck in the middle of this political gain, and here is the larger issue. here we have the sixth year of this administration, and we are still talking about emergency unemployment benefits, six years into the obama administration after all of the stimulus bills and all of the other big government solutions that we were told would help a little guy. we are still looking at record long-term unemployment. we are still looking at hundreds of thousands of able-bodied men and women basically giving up on finding work in this economy. last month alone in just one month. one report i saw even suggests that about half of our nation's counties have yet to return to their pre-recession economic.

half the county's in america. bottom line, the obama economy just is not working for middle-class america. democrats tell us again and again and again that their policies will help people who are struggling. yet we always seem to end up in the very same situation, debating whether or not to provide more emergency help instead of talking about how to provide a long-term solution and a stable economy that does not require permanent, permanent life support from washington. what is needed here is a fundamental course correction. what is needed is for our colleagues to finally, finally acknowledge what has failed and actually work with us on the underlying problem. that is what republicans are saying in this debate. all we are saying is, how about actually trying to create jobs for a change.

>> the senate is currently in recess subject to the call of the chair while democrats me with the president at the white house. our cameras are outside the white house waiting for comments from members after that meeting. live coverage of the u.s. senate when members return here on c-span2. this morning the governors of oklahoma and colorado spoke about some of the challenges states are facing while criticizing inaction by the federal government. the chairman of the national governors' association and governor john hagan cooper is vice chairman. this is one hour. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> great to see such a good crowd here this morning. we appreciate all of you joining us here today. i am governor mary phelan from the state of oklahoma, and i wanted thank you for coming to our annual state of the state address by the national governors' association. it is my privilege to serve rally as the governor of the state of oklahoma, but the

national governors' association share. joining me today is the vice chair, the governor of colorado. governor, welcome. [applause] as governors, we have to make government work. we do not have the luxury of inaction. we have to lead our states while also balancing our budgets. we are now midway through the 113th congress, and governors are frustrated. despite the recent budget agreement to a partisan gridlock continues to prevent long-term policy solutions. no, we are doing our part as governors to create jobs and address the challenges, facing our states and this country, but we also believe that now it is time for our federal partners to do their part and to take action . but in taking action the federal government must technology and

learn from and work with the states that develops solutions facing our nation. at the end ga we call this partnership flexible federalism. it is a willingness to give states flexibility to improve programs and policies and to support them in those efforts. for example, governors have outlined what flexible federalism would look like in relation to the issue of deficit reduction. we believe a couple of principles, one is that federal reforms should produce savings not only on the federal side, but also for the state. deficit reduction should not be accomplished by shifting the cost to the states and also through unfunded mandates. states should be given increased flexibility to create the efficiencies and to achieve results. congress should not impose maintenance efforts provisions on states as a condition of funding to the states.

so let's go back and look at one year ago. one year ago last january i stood before you, and we reviewed the challenges that the states faced, and we highlighted our challenges for our vision for 2013. congress had just had and cat a last-minute new year's deal to resolve the budget impasse one year ago. congress avoids a march 1st sequestered by implementing solutions to reduce the deficit and promote economic growth. in february that it -- we join several other organizations in urging congress to complete a long overdue reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act, fixing the flaws in the no child left behind bill. ..

and restore the 15% set aside and the cash set aside or governors to create jobs to spur economic growth, to grow family income and to help get people back to work. @, the senate passage or the marketplace fairness act, which upholds the principles of federalism and legacy playing field between main street and e.

street. in june, governors reiterated the call for the secretary of defense and congress to protect national guard. we asked them to protect the carbon disproportionate and damaging reductions to ensure the capacities and quality of our national guard. i have to stop and tell you that in oklahoma, we certainly benefited from a strong national guard during a very tough time for our state in may when we had tornadoes and several others times that went through oklahoma. governor hecate latour also saw the great value of the national guard during his devastating floods distract the state of colorado. we believe it is important to have a strong national guard or governors. but the non-august, at the nga summer meeting, we stress the need for certainty in a long-term solution to find our aging infrastructure.

in september, we return to the budget debate about warning congress that the effects of our state of the federal shutdown. we called on them to resolve the budget issues than the m. pact and to put the budget on a sustainable long-term fiscal pat. despite all of this coming year we stand today with essentially the same to do list sitting before our congress. states have been dealing with short-term extension and long-term uncertainty. we are a quarter of the way through the fiscal year 2014 and just this week is now anticipated that washington may pass an omnibus bills to fund 2014. however, major reauthorization bills governing key state and federal programs are stacking up. in my state of oklahoma and

states across the country, the most liberal democrats in the most conservative republicans can agree moving from one crisis to another without any long-term plan or vision is a recipe for trouble. washington's short-term thinking and continued inaction are hurting states economy. they're requesting job growth and hurting american families in every state. so, he spent much to the state to charter your own path and pursue policies were partisan gridlock has left washington unable to address many of our nations problems. for governors, and action is not an option. with the federal government will not act, states are stepping up and they are stepping in. our message for 2014 is clear. the states are leading and we encourage our federal partners to work more closely with us and

to take note and use the policy ideas coming from the state partners. and above all, please do not give away. let the states work to solve problems and be a partner. states also leading the charge forward in providing solutions to improve the nation's future workforce. we know that the best way for american workers to find good paying jobs is to boost their educational attainment. similarly in the best way to help american businesses is improve our workforce. states are leading the way by improving education and using our educational system so that a highly skilled work force for the coming decades. it is a critical ingredient in the recipe for high wage jobs and also to increase america's competitiveness and improve our standard of living for all of our families. that is why has the nga chair i

chose as my initiative america works education and training for tomorrow's jobs to focus on our workforce and nation and our jobs and making america more competitive. it is about making significant improvements to our education systems and workforce training programs into alignment with the needs of our business is in the labor market to benefit our citizens and also to benefit our state economies. here is why the status quo won't work in today's workers. when you're navigating a pathway to prosperity as an american citizen, it is much more challenging than it was when our parents were growing up. we know that a high school diploma is no longer a guarantee to a good job for middle-class life. we know that the new minimum for economic success is either a two-year or four-year degree or

some type of relevant work for certificate. some kind of postsecondary education, our children and working adults will find that hard to achieve the american dream and also to just gain access to a middle-class five. if we don't respond to this new reality, our nation will lose its competitive edge when it comes to a global economic climate. just as troubling, we will fail to arm the next generation of americans, both men and women with the tool they need to enter and remain in the middle class or to achieve better. preparing america's 21st century workforce to keep pace as an issue that not only calls for national attention, the gubernatorial leadership. my fellow governors are responding. staying competitive as the nation starts at their schools, which is why governors are committed to buying a

world-class education for all burst events. we know the responsibility of education the next generation has always been our responsibility as state and local governments. for this reason, governors are focused on raising academic standards for all students to ensure their success in college or a career that the career training program. our commitment to education is why we came together years ago to raise academic standards and to increase classroom rigor and to ensure our students could compete on their own and our states, but not only bad to compete with students around the world. those higher standards are called common core states standard. they outlined what students need to know to be college or career ready. however, it is less strictly to individual states, two districts and schools and educators to

evaluate the quality of their students education to meet these rigorous and relevant standards. i want to be really clear. common core is not a federal government program. it is driven and implemented by states that choose to participate. it is also not a federal curriculum. in fact, it is not a curriculum at all. local educators and school districts will design the best lesson plans or choose appropriate textbooks and will drive the classroom learning. the goal is to ensure that our children finish high school with better critical thinking skills in the tools they need to succeed and higher education or enter into the workforce. in addition to pursuing higher standards, governors along with other states and local elected officials are also calling on congress to fix the long overdue elementary and secondary

education act better known as no child left behind. while the law's original intent was to, changes must be made to make it work. today there are 41 states that are operating with waivers to the tree and three. that is nowhere to run a program. while esea works for some states, it will forever stay. waivers are many short-term fish entrée at six to a long-term problem. congress should emphasize flexibility and local control for the states, wishing to pursue innovative policies that make their own unique needs. only after make any sixes should congress reauthorize esea. however, governments realize that education -- excuse me, education does not stop at the schoolhouse door.

in our highly mobile and technologically driven society, workers of all ages must continue to learn and honing their skills. that is why governors are working directly with business leaders and educators to ensure of our citizens have the skills they need and knowledge required for the 21st century workforce. states are also focusing on supporting, cultivating much burn yours. they play a key role in helping process the objective is economic growth and creating high wage jobs. high wage jobs are concerned. governors understand manufacturing plays an important role. jobs are generated not only in the factories, but also in research and development and new products and new services that support manufacturing. the nga has worked with demonstration project with california, colorado,

connecticut, illinois, massachusetts, new york and pennsylvania that recently developed strategies that sizing advanced manufacturing. those in other states are creating public-private partnerships with industries and advisory councils to guide state policy related to manufacturing by working to connect manufacturers, workforce talent and supply chain report. in order to fire both large and small businesses must be competitive in this global economy. small and medium-size businesses in the united states totaled nearly 30 million employ about half of the private-sector workforce and also the payrolls. yeah, when you look at those businesses, only 10% of them export their goods. governors are promoting growth by leading efforts in the export of goods and services and attract international investment. in today's world, our economies are global.

our effort to support growth and identify opportunities for businesses must be global. congress needs to reauthorize the workforce investment act and provide states with flexibility that we need to be able to offer the most relevant workforce training programs to our citizens. now, there are differences between the house and the senate and their purchase. the governors do agree that and streamlining the funding and restoring the governors 15% set aside to her stay workforce, will help us to create innovative programs. governors facts to innovate and produce results is exactly the type of flexible federalism we've been talking about and that is needed for a healthy state federal partnerships. the workforce investment act is not the only way that congress can help put people back to

work. the authorization of the state trade and export promotion grant program beyond 2014 will ensure continued growth in the nation's global competitiveness. it will also help us maintain the programs operations and outlays and most important might create jobs. the nation as well as in the midst of an energy revolution that generates revenue and also creates jobs. it is never in our country from scarcity to abundance, from dependency to self-sufficiency. an aging policy is another area where governors have been reading the charge despite the absence of a comprehensive national energy plan. for some of us, that is just fine because we are moving ahead. governors have crafted many of them their own energy plans. comprehensive plans that are innovative, better helping our

state support home-grown energy production and energy efficiency needs. these efforts are helping to advance economic development, lower cost and improve reliability and resiliency. in the process, they're also creating american jobs and also generating state revenue. while state efforts can go a long way, federal policies must complement our state efforts to improve the nation's energy security and support our diverse range of domestic energy resources. many states have taken the lead by setting energy efficiency and renewing energy goals for their in-state operations. in my own state of oklahoma, which called for a 20% cost reduction in energy use in our state buildings by the year 2020. you'll find similar bipartisan programs throughout the nation and states around the country like new york, alabama, iowa, california and colorado.

another great example of governors, the stately wayne innovative public policy is our multistate member brenda of understanding which midprice chairman, governor john hicken looper of colorado and i have initiated to set the stage for states to affordably convert their state systems in automobiles to cng vehicles. there are now 23 states using their combined power to save taxpayers money to also encourage a clean source of energy, to encourage the development of technology and infrastructure enhancement and frankly to take advantage of an abundant low-cost natural gas resource being developed by dozens of states. in fact, shell gas development is an area where states are leading on promoting responsible practices that address potential

environmental concerns and other impacts, but also supporting jobs and energy independence for a nation could this fall, governor hicken looper and i lead a bipartisan torment shall energy in colorado. we also brought together with officials from 20 different states and we shared best practices and learn from each other new approaches to responsible development. governor, i want to thank you for hosting the shell gas development has fallen for your work on behalf of the national governors association. it's a great pleasure to work with you. now i would like to invite up to the podium are vice chair of the national governors association, governor john hicken looper of colorado. governor. [applause]

>> akin is governor fallin's glasses if i need them. governor fallin, thank you for leadership. thank you for your friendship. it's great to be your neighbor, to work together and solve the problems of our state side-by-side. republicans and democrats worked together as governors as they don't think they do in any other part of our national life. we saw this the first time that we had our class we had the first three states that offer to help us except national guard support for oklahoma, wyoming and utah all with republican governors. governors don't really worry about the party were trying to get this done. thank you for helping organize the recent shale energy forum in colorado. as governor fallin noted, governors are a good beginning of the trend for energy boom.

and colorado we have increased a reduction of natural gas by 30% since 2005. we are seriously considering the opportunity and the risks associated with these new drilling technologies. for example come up a strong disclosure rules in place to access transparency about the ingredients in the hydraulic fracturing. improved oil inspection processes and required groundwater testing for pre-and post-drilling. most recently, we have prepared wilson concert with the community and industry to reduce the release of volatile organic compounds and methane during the production and transport of natural gas use of advanced technologies to detect and address leaks. what the rules will help address concerns about local air quality can help stem guesthouse in

missions and trust between industry and the public. across the nation's come a governors are leading the effort to make full use of every energy resource of natural gas, oil, wind, coal, nuclear, solar and to reduce, if governor fallin said, the amount of energy we use. our effort to develop along with those who promote domestic energy resources and energy efficiency are strengthening the nation's energy independence. several recent predictions, including those by the international energy administration have predicted the united states will have the potential to become net energy sufficient by the year 2035. we are to produce more energy than the import. that's the first time in many years. it bodes well for energy prices and overall economic growth. another governors at the forefront is in maintaining and protecting our army and air

national guard. never before has the national guard been so well trained and experienced as they are today. as commanders in chief of our army and air national guard, it is an honor and privilege to stand with our men and women and to thank them for their extraordinary effort both abroad and at home. in colorado, the guard was front and center during the flooding. last fall, alongside other first responders, the national guard help families reopen roads and reach communities cut off by rising waters. indeed the national guard from utah came in with a team of engineers and worked 12 hour shifts seven days a week to make sure we got every one of our broken roads open before december 1st. the guard is ready, capable and experienced fighting for us, but they're also essential to the states and communities here at

home. for this reason, we continue to actively and loudly champion our national guard as troops come from abroad would call congress and administration to recognize the value of maintaining an active and ready national guard. reductions in personnel and equipment are inevitable as we transition from war into peace, but they should not adversely affect states at the expense of less capabilities. we would like to work with our federal partners to ensure that the guard remains ready for both their state and their federal missions. the next is likely not a feel or town, but a computer network that supports our critical infrastructure. as a nation balusters legacy to cyberattack him in the car should be mobilized to support federal state efforts to protect networks and be able to respond

to incidents. the federal government seeks to clarify how it will work with the private sector and states to better secure cyberspace, states are already moving forward to develop and implement new policies to protect their economies and ensure public safety. to facilitate progress on this front, ngo launched a research center for cybersecurity -- state cybersecurity by governors martin o'malley and rick sander of michigan. state teams met to share best practices and devise ways to guide their efforts and make sure we measure progress. jerry released a call to action for governors for siebel security come which give recommendations for governors to develop and implement a state cybersecurity strategy and allocate resources. they implement those strategies

in the energy sector. robust approaches to governance come examining how to leverage the support of fusion centers in keeping with the theme of governor fallin's initiative, advancing education and workforce strategies will help meet the growing need for well-trained cybersecurity experts. finally, for veterans, governors welcome all of them home. at the state level, governors are leading efforts to improve outreach to veterans and their families in a variety of ways. flexible federalist call for the departments to break down the silos than impede veterans access to benefit and to access the services that they have rightly earned defending our country. the federal government must work closely with states left by federal programs and to better target services to at-risk veterans like our wounded

warriors. often one of the biggest challenges facing our veterans is finding meaningful employment , recognizing how critical this is true transition or military service to civilian life, governors are particularly focused on getting our veterans back to work. partnerships with u.s. partner flavor from the nga is working with the member states to identify best practices and facilitate the transfer of terry's lsats to the civilian workforce. this project will help veterans leverage their military training to gain the necessary civilian credentials to perform jobs in industries such as transportation and health care. our goal in colorado is to have every returning to what it is here. for the men and women who served in the country remain for governors. priorities would be complete without a mention of health care

like education and jobs. health care remains one of the core issues facing the states. the politics of health care have become divisive, but the proven proven systems and hoping i states become healthier is not. we as governors should focus on the issue that unites us with the issues that unite us, not those that divide us. there is a sufficient cost effective should be our common goal. in 2013, ngo hosted more than 52 separate health care meeting with various state officials. these meetings include leadership trainings coming year-long policy academies in and see technical assistance and webinars. in october, ngo joint recommends institute for several retreats

designed to do through different ways to transform their health systems. the first retreat with father that can't do with governor scott walker. and national experts. we hope to do several more days across the the country. today we are holding a national state leaders in transforming health systems. the purpose is to share state-level innovation and ideas across state lines as we were collectively to reduce the cost that at the same time improve quality of health care in all of our states. states are also leading the way in stemming the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse. last year i had the pleasure of cochairing, along with governor robert bentley of alabama and nga initiative to help fight this growing problem. implementing strategies that will hopefully lower the number of deaths and emergency room visits for drug overdoses while

getting access to necessary medications. finally, governors came together to identify best practices as part of a health care sustainability task force led by governors john desalvo of oregon and governor bill kaplan of tennessee. the task force is developing recommendations to frank and the state government and improve quality of health care will at the same time again reducing costs. training for the task force will be discussed by all governors at our february meeting in washington. governors are also taking a variety of different leads on this issue. last week, peter shaman of vermont dedicated his entire state of the state address to the issue of drug abuse, including prescription drugs on how that leads to more serious concerns of heroin addiction. if you haven't read his state of the state address, i advise you to do so. it's a remarkable address. another top of my nation is the

nation's infrastructure, which provides the structure that connects us to one another. when we talk about infrastructure, we think about highways, transit systems and bridges that connect people and places. infrastructure is more than surface transportation alone. it also includes the nation's utility systems that connect gas to power and water in the polls and public outings that connect us to opportunity and participation. i states in urge from the economic downturn, it's critical we work with our federal partners to rebuild and invest in road, rail, bridges, airports, waterways and energy infrastructure. we have a steep funding gap estimated to be as high as $1.6 trillion by 2020, factoring in the $3.6 trillion projected to be part of our infrastructure systems based on reliable minus for revenue.

for service transportation alone, the federal highway trust fund faces another perilous fiscal cliff later this year. projected receipts including fund transfers will be less than outlays. infrastructure is about the future. economic prosperity and innovation rely on a robust and sustainable infrastructure as their foundation. at the state level, governors are leading the way by creating new approaches to fixing, funding and financing infrastructure to help meet the needs of the 21st century. those efforts include carefully managing cost, identifying opportunities for new revenue sources, using advanced technologies to improve performance and lower lifecycle expenditures and using public-private partnerships to speed project delivery and lower overall costs. several governors, including

those in illinois, maryland, north carolina and colorado are participating in a new effort to help state and how they can employ innovative project delivery and financing strategies to deliver infrastructure. we've seen success already with that approach in colorado. the governor will have a new commuter per linux mansion in pursuing another public-private partnership to improve a major role between denver and boulder. beyond that, we are looking at how other types of infrastructure, including public outings, water and wastewater facilities as well as schools can benefit from the same public-private model. governors have long called for legislation that ensures long-term certainty and stability so states and communities can invest in the long-term surface transportation projects only possible with a consistent and reliable federal

partner. yesterday, governor fallin testified before the house transportation and infrastructure committee about the need for a long-term reauthorization of these critical programs. her message with an insurgency over infrastructure at the national level forces is to act to fill in the void. governors agreed the state action is not an invitation for federal disengagement for devolution. infrastructure requires an intergovernmental partnership. again, infrastructure is about more than just rose. congress is working hard to reauthorize the water resources and development act from a key piece of legislation that will accelerate action to address infrastructure systems. we applaud the house and senate for passing bipartisan bills to reauthorize and call on congress to complete the conference and send a bill for signature to the president. it is very strong partnership is even more crucial is it in our state budgets.

governors were pardoned and dismayed when commerce reached his budget deal last month. that deal brought a glimmer of hope that washington could work together to address the fiscal problems facing the country. today was supposed to be another critical deadline for the date of the federal government closes doors of congress and the president couldn't agree. the state and federal government are inextricably linked. more than 26% in the state budgets come from the federal government. the politics of fiscal responsibility can no longer be similar but preseason deadlines and we applaud the budget agreement reached by congress. but now we have to build on that success. the budget raises important questions for the country. which services government should provide and that we will, how we should pay for them which reforms are necessary to modern economy. the area of tax reform governors recognized the federal tax code.

last year we created the tax reform to make recommendations for the federal tax code intersect state policy. to start recommending emerged from that group. one, maintain interest earned on municipal bonds. for more than a century to municipal bonds have been used for this country. roads, schools and hospitals have been built thanks to the unique municipal bonds. federal laws and regulations should not increase issuance cost to state directly or indirectly, nor diminish market demand for the bonds issued by state and local governments. if infrastructure is a priority for the nation and has to be a priority, tax exempt status of municipal bonds must be preserved. likewise, deductibility of state and local taxes from federal

income tax is a part of the federal tax code since its inception more than 100 years ago. eliminating federal deductibility would reverse the historic separation of taxing authority and double taxation upon taxpayers. one thing congress can and must do is partner with states to pass the marketplace fairness act. this past holiday season, internet retailing set new records with consumers paying for more than $509 worth of online goods. and while a mainstream source reporter communities and decorate our street and collect local sales tax, the internet competitors do not. marketplace fairness is just common sense. it is legislation opposed principles of federalism and is so simple and good for business. it's not like the internet

domain to lift up. it helps states and encourages competition and preserves mainstreet jobs. oceanus unfair loophole is an issue around which congress can and should come together. the senate overwhelmingly passed legislation this year. now we hope it is the house's turn. as you can tell, we have a lot to do. governors integrated the state level and continue to push federal partners for solutions that support innovation at the federal level as well. we don't want to return a year from now with the same to-do list. we want to move our nation forward by putting people back to work, educating our children and improving our security. thank you all for being here in this lovely, wonderful place. governor fallin, thank you so much for being such a remarkable leader, not just for oklahoma, but all governors.

thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, governor hickenlooper. we appreciate your great comments. i would be happy to take a couple questions from the press. yes, sir. if you could identify you or whitcomb would appreciate it. >> herb jackson with the bergen record in new jersey. as you run for reelection, are you worried chris christie campaigning for you and the severe problems for you looking towards november? >> it is very unfortunate what happened in new jersey. i think the facts are still i'm determined as far as all the details. no governor ever wishes that upon any governor to have to go through that type of circumstance and waiting with the details are. in the meantime, anytime public-policy hurts the public

itself, which it appears they did, infected to do that and that's not right. we still don't know the details that relates to governor christie. he's been a strong leader. he saw his leadership during hurricanes and he when he helps us take it back on its feet. he certainly amanda speaks his mind and sometimes that also ruffles feathers. we'll have to just wait and see. >> ana maria greer with fox news channel. can you tell us a little bit about health state exchanges, health care state exchanges and how it's working in both out of their safe and the problems happening across the country for different dates in exchanges? >> as governorstrains have invested in his comments, all governors want to improve

health. we are concerned about medicaid costs. while concerned about rising health care costs. we all want to make sure not only individuals, but businesses have access to quality care and we have seen is the rollout of the affordable health care act, it has not been smooth and that is both a republican and democratic governors alike and certainly each governor has chosen their own path, whether it relates to forming their own state exchange are moving into a federal exchange. we appreciate the fact that all governors have different economies, different budgets, different situations to deal with and preferences on how a health care system is mr. in my state of oklahoma, speaking for me as a governor of oklahoma, i did choose not to expand our federal medicaid system because i am concerned about the cost. i'm concerned about congress keeping its promises on appropriations and i also did not choose my own state exchange. we met with the federal exchange. the same oklahoma and our

citizens voted overwhelmingly not to support the affordable health care act in our state pass a constitutional amendment in oklahoma. what happens at oklahoma is different than colorado. all at the governor speak about his state. in general, the ng respects other governors in a different budget situations are different opinions about public policy. we do have agreement on a nuclear medicaid cost, to improve lower in the and improving the health of our citizens. >> and it is obviously been difficult. our local exchange fared much better than i rollout was smoother. not without bumps, the smoother than the national rollout. we are now up over close to 150,000 people between people who didn't have the expanded medicaid or people coming off and didn't have insurance for other reasons. one thing that gets lost in the discussion too frequently, five

years ago, before obamacare was even fully expressed, 90% of the doctors in the united states of america used paper for not just prescriptions, but for medical records. 80% of hospitals used paper. we forget that. a good part of the affordable care act was to get federal expenditures to incentivize and really push modernization of how we do not assume. obviously we're coming out of recession, but other sessions before. if you go back over the last 50 years and the cost of health care for this still rising. over the last three years rising over a slower rate than the last 50 years. it is clearly disruptive, difficult time. change is hard, but each governor, republican and democrat share that goal of improving quality. if you're not improving quality

of health care, it's going to get worse. at the same time, trying to figure out how to lower costs. when you expand the number of people come in the opportunity to get health care, this is the perfect time to use scale and technology to lower the cost, to figure out better ways and systems of doing this. it's good bright state for the laboratory of innovation in democracy really is in the states. out of a single governor right now that's not spending a great deal of time figuring out how we can do this better. [inaudible] >> no. obviously, we want more. we had close to 800,000 people. we have a long way to go. are we happy or content without? we are not. we quite candidly don't have as many young healthy people signing up. although we saw in massachusetts it took a couple years.

there's a process by which young people become aware of this and how we communicate with them. we are certainly not satisfied. >> can mail me with the bond buyer. i know that you have met with president rabbani yesterday. i want to know if he talked about his upcoming budget request and if he was planning on continuing proposing a 28% cap on the bond interest? >> i don't remember him mentioning anything about on interest and cash. what we did talk a lot about with infrastructure for our nation. as governor hickenlooper mentioned a few moments ago, i had the opportunity yesterday to go in for the infrastructure committee to testify on the governors. talk about the importance of the

reauthorization of the service transportation bill and how are states need certainty when it comes to funding our nation's infrastructure. whatever form of infrastructure that might be. it talks about infrastructure internation. job creation, education, workforce needs. those were some of the key issues we visited with him about. we also express as governor as we believe as we have outlined in our talks about various issues, there are solutions coming from the state with the rest of the nation that we do believe there needs to be more collaboration, more cooperation between the states and federal government and that is why you see the national governors association does last year and this you're doing something different was never done. that is having the state address the national media and key groups to talk about some of the

challenges our state face of the challenges we need washington to address and frankly her frustration that washington does not address those things and we need a seat at the table to be able to discuss these ideas, to help bring solutions forward. we don't have the luxury of inaction by congress as many times on many key pieces of legislation. we have to act. we have to balance their budget. we have to work on problems we have to find solutions. we believe is for governors to sit with the president and vice president, but also with the congress and the senate. u.s. house and u.s. senate to talk about overdoing on our states. governor hickenlooper and i gave several examples. one is the states came together with the nga to hold 52 different meanings related to health care cost, health care

systems, lowering medicaid costs, making our systems work on the better part of the inner states. we've also talked about substance abuse in our nation, some of the initiatives are governors are taken. governor hickenlooper and i have talked about energy policy and how we do believe america has great resources so we can have energy independence and more economic security for nation. we've led an effort encouraging federal governors to look at cng vehicles to save taxpayer money and utilize the natural resource is very abundant in our nation. >> it is safe to say the president committed himself to support every priority of the nga. no, i'm just kidding. [laughter] as you think it is fair to say the president and vice president -- we were there for an hour, hour and 20 minutes. they listened hard and asked a lot of questions about her

points. governor beebe of arkansas and governor herbert at utah both talked about some of the wagers on health care policy and why did they have to be so hard, long. in our case it wasn't. in both cases, in many cases whether talking about waivers or health care or streamline the process for infrastructure projects, the president was at the points they not give you my cell phone number. if the federal bureaucracy is blocking u. governors from getting stuff done, let us know and we are going to get on it. i think we all heard that with gratitude. both vice president haydn and president obama were clear about us get past the basic stuff and start trying to get things done and i think they recognize we are in kind of a unique relationship with each other.

governor fallin and i wait 18 months ago to detroit to talk to senior executive of general motors and chrysler, ford. again and again come a couple fed governor fallin, i.e. republican? archery democrat? were you doing here? we are trying to move our state forward. were trying to get you to produce vehicles to burn natural gas because it's cleaner than what we've been using. is that that's the case and now gm is putting impalas off the assembly line to vote for natural compressed gas. >> christ? >> i've got to get my oklahoma guy here, you know. >> governor hickenlooper coming to mention the state of the state address by the vermont governor about prescription drug abuse.

you know people make the same argument about marijuana being a gateway drug. i do make a distinction and governor fallin, d.c. and it antigen the state governor has legalizing marijuana? >> so first, i thought governor shawn lentz courage to really direct almost entirely his speech to this epidemic, really a crisis of drug addiction. a lot of people were concerned restarted using fake again and prescribing these opiates has been released that there could be significant unintended consequences. what he finds that with very stark language as we are seeing dramatic increases in people going for these prescription drugs right into the air when and the number of young people, the last, the accidental deaths, the suicides. all of these are jumping dramatically. not just in vermont.

we see it to maybe not the same extent, but we see it in colorado. as governor backing and i worked on her prescription drug abuse task force, we see it over the united states. the point is very, very relevant and something every governor is looking. in terms of marijuana, having almost every elected official in colorado will oppose this. not that we don't recognize the war on drugs was an abject failure. they did not do what it was intended to do and had any come in many negative consequences. even though we oppose legalization of marijuana, it is now in our state constitution. i think our legislature takes it this is the will of the people and this is going to be one of the great social experiments this century. we take being first with a great deal as fear of censure responsibility and obligation. we are going to regulate the living daylights out of it.

i spent 15 years in the business and about restaurants who brew their own, brewpubs. i can guarantee here, when you're making alcohol, they are not lives in how they inspect your premises, how they tax you. if your restaurant sells liquor to a minor, generally they will suspend your license. second or third offense you lose your license completely. we are going to be no less relentless of marijuana. we passed last year five mammograms standards. if you are driving while high, we will lock you out. our focus is to make sure we keep correction out of the process, we guarantee it doesn't get to case. a number of top neuroscientists now are concerned the high thc content has the potential with people whose kids under the age of 25 that multiple, within a

week, several exposures to the high thc marijuana has the potential to diminish long-term memory permanently. kids don't understand this. they think because it's legalized that there is no real danger. that is not true. we get a serious tax increase on marijuana. tax at 25% plus local sales tax in colorado. we are going to use that money to create a regulatory framework that will ensure we don't have corruption, that we protect minors and don't have people driving high for other places worth of the public public at risk. again, we didn't choose to support it. now that it's here, we are going to take it very seriously. >> as long as i'm governor in oklahoma, i'll do everything i can to prevent the legalization of marijuana. >> i think we have one guy over

here. i can't see you out there. >> thank you. kelsey nelson, "politico." as becomes increasingly clear that tax refund is not likely to happen at the federal level in the near term, what can states to the meantime to shore up revenue streams? how much do you think that interstate tax competition is going to play a role in the year going forward? >> it does not look like we are going to see tax reform this year. you do see a lot of tax reform among the various states in a very state-by-state, governor by governor, party by party. that is all fine. states are competitive and governors are very competitive. i've been working on my way in our tax rate in the state of oklahoma, prioritizing different

services and are steric education health care, transportation and things that are core services in our state. balancing our budget, also created efficiencies in state government this past year in our state recombines 75 different agency boards and commissions to save money so we can put the money back towards tax cuts or prioritizing our different government services. you will find in each state they are doing their own thing. we also compete. when we attract jobs are talked to other companies about why they should move to another state, we saw those different features in our state that we have lower taxes, reform pensions, we've been working on increasing our academic rigor in our classrooms and with great infrastructure. whatever the issue might be come the states are competitive. governors are competitive. i personally believe tax rates to matter in keeping taxes low on businesses while providing

for this essential services as a governor of oklahoma is important to me. >> it is a healthy competition certainly. states always brag on if you look at all the taxes for together, property tax, sales tax and income tax, oklahoma, texas and colorado. we talk about that all the time. it's not just to try and attract companies. states talk about that, but the real competition is each state is trying to create an environment that is going to attract entrepreneurs. the next generation of job creators because that's what really drives your economy. it is not just texas. i agree completely. one of our toughest, we could be day in and day out with utah and they have a higher income tax in us, but other taxes are lower for the same in taxes. we are often competing for the same type of company or the same

demographic. fairly aggressively with oklahoma as well. those competitions to keep above board, friendly and respectful. there are few exceptions on this. [laughter] >> not in the room. >> not in agreement certainly most of the states are mostly directly compete with. [laughter] i think that focus coming in now, when you get an advantage you try to talk about it. we want to have the best of his whole system because that is what young entrepreneurs care about and that is what is going to generate the next workforce. even though you want the lowest taxes come you want to make sure health care system works better than the other guys and you can demonstrate. we tried make colorado -- we have another advantage because young people want to climb mountains. in three years we patmore 25 >> 34-year-olds moved to colorado than any other state in

the country. we're not the healthiest state theatre prescription drug abuse is, low birth weight. we have a low percentage of vaccinations with their kids. by most objective measures, we are not the healthiest day, but we're working together. that's what makes a better country. if oklahoma's competing with colorado and each other to have the best public education system and began using the common core objective measures for we say how much we are failing. we hold ourselves accountable. the world standard. >> thank you. thank you for your time today. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> in the meantime, senate judiciary committee ranking member charles grassley discussing the nsa surveillance programs and potential legislation. this is about 50 minutes. >> everyone's welcome back to our table, senator chuck grassley, republican of iowa. you're the ranking republican in the senate judiciary committee. yesterday you heard from the president's task or city put together on reforms to the nsa surveillance program. i want to share it to the front page of "the new york times" this morning. senator baker and charlie savage has some details about the president's speech that is going to give on friday. mr. obama plans to increase limits on access to telephone data, call for privacy

safeguards for foreigners and proposed the creation to represent privacy concerns that a secret intelligence report. what do you think? >> guest: well, i think first of all, more access is very legitimate because i think transparency and more oversight by congress is very important. and if there had been more of that, i don't think we did the uproar now from the grassroots when snowed in -- snowden made public. two things the president might come up with, president advocacy under certain circumstances would be appropriate. if it is in every instance, i think that there might be some concerns about that. and i don't quite understand what the constitution doesn't attacked foreigners with the concern is they are about

limitations on foreigners. ..of people outside of the united states want to hurt us. there is something left out of their that i have a strong feeling, based upon meetings that several of us had with the president last week at the white house, but the president is going to be very strong in support of what we call the 215 program, but not necessarily the way it is right now. the president did make clear , but he was very usong in his statements to about the importance of metadata. host: about collecting it.