before? isn't that true? >> i don't know that. >> you don't know that? i received an e-mail from a constituent of mine when know very well. his premiums in marcher going to triple command is deductible is doubling. that is lesser coverage at a greater cost. there is one. i will tell you that i have received numerous communications from members of my district, people live in my district along those lines. yes, there are some winners, but there are also many losers, and the shocks me that you cannot acknowledge that here today when you are testifying under oath in front of this committee. there are losers under obamacare , aren't there? >> can i answer? >> it is yes or no. you know that there are losers under obamacare. >> if not allowed to answer. >> the answer is either yes you know there are or no you don't. it yes or no, sir.

>> will the gentleman yield. >> i will not yield. >> i think you need to define loser. losers led him to pay more for coverage. i just gave him an example that he bought a knowledge that he knows of anyone in the united states in that circumstance. >> i'm sure there is someone in the united states in that circumstance. >> if have you read the reports of other people who have had successes are wears under this coming year have also read reports in the media of people who are losers, have you not? >> the problem that i have is that i don't know what all of the options that might be available for that person. it is difficult for me to answer without knowing the full situation know what might be available to that person. anniston that there are people who have coverage and received a notification from their insurance company that there were being put to a different plan. absolutely that has happened. >> you have reason to believe those people up paying more.

>> i don't know the details of what the plan is that they were en, the details of the plan is that they were being offered, and i don't know the details of what other plans might be available to them that might enable them to avoid a situation. i think it is a little bit more complex than you are presenting it to be. that is all. >> i would submit that it is more complex and all of these situations because we have 2,000 some page bill that is hard for people to get there arms around this talk about the sharp exchanges. >> the online capability is delayed for one year. yes. >> many of the other delays for a few weeks and months. why was this program delayed for one year? >> given everything that we needed to do to get the system

working well for people on the individual market we made a decision that in terms of allocation of resources we could not get the shop online functionality built in time for this year. so we are relying on the traditional agents and brokers who historically have always been the way -- >> a complicated situation that you had your hard time getting your arms around and maybe if he sat down and learn all the aspects of the you can advise. >> we had to make a choice. >> i was being sarcastic. i apologize. the delay was announced the day before thanksgiving. >> i believe. >> do you know if there were conversations before mr. how long in advance the decision was made? >> i'm sure that there were conversations. i would not be able to tell you exactly when, but i know that

into november there were conversations. decision was made and then it was announced. >> there is a great concern for a lot of us that a lot of these announcements come. even made comments of the hearings. first to you agree that is not an appropriate to run the operation known as pay attention. accurate information so that people can understand what is happening. >> i now recognize mr. tantillo for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chair. thank you, director : for your testimony once again before this subcommittee. i believe that we should have civil discourse with you. will try to conduct myself accordingly. before i get to my questions are just wanted to share with the committee in obamacare success story i recently received.

brian from the city of schenectady road to me that he had been paying a must be entered $60 per month for a plan with the dental or vision coverage. new york state on-line exchange able to get a better -- medical plan and purchased until coverage for $290 per month as he described to me, more coverage for less money. able to complete the process in less than two hours. because he makes only $11 per hour the difference in premiums is having a huge impact on his budget. he is not alone. as of january 1 with an 2,415,202 new yorkers were heralding quality low-cost health insurance coverage to my house exchange. more than 6500 dagen notes in my district now have health insurance to their parents' plan in more than 12,001 of the seniors the district receive prescription drug discounts worth $60 million. 124,000 seniors and now losel

for medicare preventative services without paying any copays chemical insurance, or deductibles. i could go on and on, but the affordable care act is here to stay. it never ceases to amaze me how hard our republican colleagues work to avoid a knowledge in the benefits. i've never heard them admit that this law help the millions of americans of pre-existing conditions within the longer be this tremendous against. can you summarize for russell of the important new protections that are now in place under the affordable carry? >> certainly thank you. the issue of pre-existing conditions is a huge one. previously people could be denied insurance altogether, not even because at the time that there are playing with that they had some commission in the past

notwithstanding whenever that could be, they could be charged significantly more as a result of that. women were being charge substantially more than men. being a woman was deemed to be a pre-existing condition. all of that is gone. the last one is very important. in the past people could find that if they did become seriously ill the insurance would run out because they had either an annual limit of how much it would pay or a lifetime limit treatment that was necessary. all of a sudden the insurance company stopped paying and that they were responsible for the costs on the road. that cannot happen anymore. >> thank you. drive home how important these new provisions are.

and as some stories have recently been posted. twenty-nine and denied coverage last year because of a pre-existing condition. forced to enroll in the short term catastrophic plan the constant to under $80 per month and that determination date. because of the hca he now has better coverage with lower out-of-pocket costs and will not be kicked off this coverage. war stories each and every day. cover for the first time in his leg because of the hca. never know what could happen. have you heard other stories accused iraq. >> we are seeing them through social media to lessen the misters stories on health care. there's a place where you can provide your story.

i must say they're extremely heartening. >> and, you know, what did they say to you about the importance of the affordable character back >> the affordable characters literally life-saving for many, many, many americans to without it would not have the ability to get the health care that they need, and it's going to be a financial lifesaver for many americans who otherwise would have faced bankruptcy as a result of medical costs which was the leading cause of bankruptcy in the country parts of the hca and woman see that changed dramatically. >> i just wish our colleagues would admit free to this law is helping millions of people and we could move forward and have a national co rescission. >> the gentleman yields back. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

one person that does not think this is the less savory never is brenda from my district. brandes been fighting a very rare for a cancer the last seven years she is in the high-risk group. when she found insurance she found out she could no longer go to lower raw carcass sought to seek treatment from the specialized doctor that is literally capture a lot less seven years. they gave for three months to live when first diagnosed. she got active comment she's mid to late 50's. back then she was the early 50's, 50 years old. she decided it was not time to die. down in little rock, arkansas. she called me from her keynote chair, texas mecham e-mail me

telling me that she lost her insurance. when she fell new insurance because of the high risk pools, she found new insurance commissioner was told that she could no longer seek treatment down in little rock, ark., from this doctor who is one of the few in the country that does it. and that you say. there are good cases. there are people that are picking up insurance. there are also people that this could very easily cost them their life. i am concerned for people like brenda. >> we certainly would like to keep -- hear from you about the situation. >> and i appreciate that. >> very happy to do that. >> i gave a speech on the subject a month or so ago whenever she first e-mail me. she was literally in the kaynine chair taking the treatment.

she said all the nurses set up and cheered. there are serious, serious concerns for people sticking with the high risk pools. i know that this new national high risk pool as opposed to the state ones that ran and at the end of december have been extended until the end of that. >> the end of march. >> the end of march. how are those being paid for? where are you getting the money to pay for those? we cannot give any answers, at least my staff cannot. >> that -- $5 billion appropriation. that is the entire amount of money, the appropriation that is paid for the program. we head -- >> i hate to interrupt you. it is not my style.

the $5 billion, wasn't that for a set amount of time? we keep getting these extensions that don't seem to be paid for. >> instead she says that we can use that money to easily transition into the new market. what we found was we had enough funding based on the number of enrollees we and the costs that we were occurring to allow the benefits to continue through march. at the end of march, by the end of march everyone in that program needs to get to you know, private coverage. >> are there will be able to see coverage that's the rub. the ranking member said earlier and my friend from floridian made reference to the fact that there are all these people that have -- all these people that have enrolled in the affordable

care act but did not have coverage of four. how can we drill down and figure out what that number is? just because 146,000 signed up in december, how do we know that those people did not have insurance and how do we know they are not like brenda, for stuffer plan and complete can find another plan. is there a way to ascertain if these kutcher numbers to really people covered for the first time ever and now have health insurance but never had before? >> it's a really good question, and we are working on being able to provide data as to the number who were previously uninsured verses the number may have been injured before and the switching to new coverage. rio vista and that is an important issue. >> if you can work on that. you know, one side tells one side of the story. one side tells the other. usually the truth lies in the middle.

when i hear how many people never had covered before lost it thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> the gentleman yields back. >> thank you. they've you for your testimony today. i promise that you will be regarded as one of many people in this administration and across this country who were on the right side and helped millions of americans get insurance. you're doing the right thing and i wanted thank you for what she do is. mr. chairman, this is getting ridiculous. my friends just won't let go. made reference to it a few minutes ago. let me try to put this in somewhat of a context. yesterday new york times wrote but carolina senator kay hagen more than 3500-that's about the affordable care act since june

june 1st. that amount, negative ads, more than three times as much as any other member of congress. $5 million have already been spent on negative ads related to obamacare in my state of north carolina sen. the fact is, mr. chairman, the affordable care act is the law of the land. it is working in my state. the brand in my district is named carl stevens jr. i drove up to an exxon station a few days ago in tell me how excited he was that he had signed up with the affordable character with told me that he was paying $700 a month for he and his wife, the premium was going up to $800. he enrolled in the affordable care act and is now paying $240 per month. the fact is commander reason mr. cohen had difficulty in trying to describe winners and losers is that each case is

unique. you have to compare the coverage , the cost, the circumstance. and so the brand in my district is carlton stevenson mantillas getting insurance for to under $40 per month. of all states participating in the federal exchange for my state had more than 107,000 enrollees from october to december which constitutes the most enrollees in the federal marketplace per capita. 89 percent of those enrollees are lower federal income and qualify for a tax credit for their plan. but carol indians are having tremendous success with the federal marketplace. in fact, north carolina leads of the states in health and human services region four with more than 61 percent of individuals a completed application selecting a marketplace plan. nationwide that trend is very similar.

by the end of december nearly 2 million had enrolled in several hundred thousand more have enrolled since then. tuesday's washington post cover story stated that dated shows a sevenfold upswing in enrollment in the federal exchanges from the first two months of the web site's performance improved. in so, i want to ask you, can you describe for me the trend and the number of adults 18-34 who have selected these marketplace plans? >> i think we reported an 18- 18-345, 24% of the enrollments and that that was very close to the percentage of that age group in the general population. so we were quite pleased by that the expect to see, you know, that number increasing. >> talk to me about some of the national campaigns which will help to begin to get you

enrollment up higher than even 24 percent, perhaps 40 percent. >> i know that we are going to be doing a lot more paid media, specifically around the olympics which will be starting in a couple of weeks. and around other, you know, sporting events and activities that we would expect young people to be particularly interested in. and now we have been and are doing an increased amount of out reached through social media, facebook, twitter, all of that sort of thing. another we are, all of our advertising is very targeted to try to up reach the population. we obviously want everyone to in robo want to focus on the young people. >> leslie i made reference to my home state of north carolina and am very proud of the enrollment rate. i have several hundred thousand people in my congressional

district, and i tell you that 100,000 of those 700,000 are uninsured, and this is making a difference. what factors do you believe contribute to north carolinian choosing market rate plans? >> i have to believe that in places where the need is the most, you know, that's where we're seeing the biggest response. in places where the rate of uninsured was high, think that is where we're seeing the biggest response. >> t know how much we're spending? >> of sure we don't. >> now recognize the and ready for north carolina. >> they key, mr. chairman. to my colleague from north carolina, i am going to kind of extends some of the questions to you.

>> and adjoining districts, we might add. >> mike colleague pointed out that about 107,000 have enrolled that is the figures we are seeing. however, ford and 703,000 received cancellation notices for their health care policies that they already had. even though that may sound impressive, we are way behind on those who have had their policies canceled. there's a lot of making up to do of want to get back to some of those numbers. correct me if i am wrong. how many people in america did you believe have signed up for coverage? >> well, the most recent figures that we put out word to million, and that is just in the marketplace. >> 6 million figure the key perry today, where is this coming from? >> that is taking the two and adding four.

>> okay. so basically what we're doing is culminating. are you aware that the "washington post" gave three pinocchio's to this number? by you going to keep this figure? >> i did not see the pinocchio's . >> you agree with the 6 million figure? you believe that there have been 6 million? >> i believe that as we reported to my tooth million enrolled in marketplace plants and about 4 million had enrolled in medicaid command at the medicaid number was only through november >> now, of those who signed up for medicaid how many of them could have previously signed up for medicaid that did not before obamacare was instituted? >> i don't have that number. >> you don't have the number. can you give the? >> i can certainly ask my colleagues in medicated they have it. i don't run medicaid. >> that does not fall under you?

>> no. so now we have a situation where we have a number of medicaid that have signed up. wonderful. you want to make sure that people have coverage. is this going to play into the cost factor? you know, when we don't really know where the numbers fallout as far as those who could have signed up before but did not for whatever reason and now have. >> the state's that expand, the newly eligible will be paid, you know, 100 percent. >> the newly eligible, but those who could have received coverage before, the states will be responsible for a percentage of that. >> that's correct. under the usual match. >> usage you don't have the number or the figure. when we head secretary kathleen sibelius, she said she did not have that number. billy she actually said that they could not get the number.

i would appreciate if you could get that to us in the committee because i think -- and i will disclose the washington post fact checker. basically what he said is this number tells you almost nothing about how the health care law is affecting medicare roman. reporters need to stop using it because basically it is very misleading. no, i want to get back. have a little more time. we are all sharing stories about our constituents. i want to hit on the issue of the change for women. i keep hearing about the issue about, you know, bringing down. i have a woman who was formerly in my district, not now from rocky mount north carolina who basically reached up to my office. through personal situations, lost her health care coverage and now the plan -- she was

paying $2,504. national have to pay 610. she simply cannot afford it, will probably have to choose to not take coverage. how when we continue to claim that health care has improved for women when, you know, mammograms, when we call these things freak, how do we go from to order and $54 a month to $610 a month and still climb a she is getting free services. >> again, i cannot address an individual situation with of knowing more of the specifics. i'm happy to have folks talked to her. >> i would appreciate that. i will have my staff kid that information to you in your office so that we can work because of we're really going to take care of women in this country health care issues for women, let's be straight. let's make sure we're getting the points across because

women's health is important, and this is very misleading. with that i yield the remainder of my time fish. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to talk a little bit about constituent service where it comes to health care. long before the affordable care act i talked with the issuers,

the pharmacies, the hospital association. lynyrd from them is the nature

of the problem we're seeing as we move into january and people using their coverage are no different from what has happened every year as people get it coverage. there are always issues in terms of people being able to verify and roman, see there doctor, all those kinds of issues. we stand ready to help anybody if a possibly can. >> i know that in my state democrats and republicans are working very hard to help their constituents, and so i am hoping that everyone on the other side of the aisle on this committee is taking advantage of the constituent service that is available and then also through the insurance companies and the farmers -- pharmaceutical companies. i wanted to again the issue of termination. insurance companies that we talk to said they expected almost all

of their current customers to stay covered. have you seen evidence of that? >> absolutely. it really is not accurate to think that because the plan was no longer being offered the that means the person is not getting coverage. >> it is not offered because it does not need the criteria -- >> that's right. and so in every instance that i am aware of the carrier offered the person the new plan that in some cases automatically enrolled in a new plan so that there would be no gap in coverage. and then in addition to that, of course, through our traditional policy remain it possible for people to keep their existing plan if that is with the insurance company wants to offer >> my understanding of this issue of a grandfather option enables about half of those who

received cancellation notices to renew there plan. has this been happening? >> that's right. >> and roughly half the remaining group that got cancellation letters, my understanding is they are able to actually get a better deal to the federal and state placement because they're eligible for tax credit or medicaid. they get better coverage for a lower and often much lower cost. >> people or eligible for the subsidy, absolutely we expect that they pay less than in many cases get better benefits than what they had had. >> finally come in december, the president announce that individuals with cancel policies would be eligible for hardship exemption so that they could approach a low cost catastrophic plan and how this will change the options available to those that got canceled. >> with that basically means is anyone in the attic insulation and feels that the plans that are available to them about

affordable can claim the hardship exemption and then roll in the catastrophic plan which is a high deductible plan but will cover them in the case of any serious illness. those plans are generally very affordable. >> thank you. i yield. >> the chair recognizes mr. johnson for five minutes. >> thank you. i too would like to thank you for being here today. you know, we had a long and arduous journey since this all started. ..

over regulating policies of this administration not very million of those folks get a second chance. only in washington, d.c., do we see a constant pattern that somebody else's expense. in this case it's the american people's expense. so i submit to you that what we should have done -- what the administration should have done is roll up the sleeves and do this the right way in the first place. let doctors and patients manage their health care. we have a private sector health care system that has provided the best health care in the world. it did not have to be done this way. let me get to a few specific

questions. since the launch of health care.gov, mr. cohen, has the sit been subject to any security breaches? >> no. >> no security breaches. >> there have been no breaches in the sense of anybody attacking the site and being -- >> there have been no incidents of people attacking -- >> no. >> that's what you said. >> no. well, because you interrupted me, congressman. no, there have been no successful attempts where anyone has been able to attack the system and penetrate it. >> that's contrary to what we've heard in other testimony and what is widely known in the media. >> mr. chairman, i respectfully disagree -- >> claiming my time. claiming my time. what is the difference in, in your opinion, between a security incident and a security breach? >> you could have a security

incident where because of an error or mistake or somebody said -- sent something to the wrong place. which was a isolated specific situation. >> a breach. when i hear breach. >> how do you relay it back to the testimony we've heard before the energy and commerce committee where security was never factored in and tested prioring to setting up the website. can you promise the american people today, right now, that their personal information is secure on witness.gov? >> yes. >> i can't promise there won't ever been an incident. i can promise their information is secure. i can promise -- >> that's like an oxymoron to me. you can't assure there's going a breach, but their information is secure. a followup question. can you promise to this congress if health care.gov is subject to a breach or hack or any security failure that you'll alert the congress as soon as you find out

about it? >> we follow normal procedures and protocols for when those incidents happen. >> but the american people need to know and the congress needs know. can we get your agreement that you'll notify congress? >> we'll certainly work with you to make sure you get that information? >> okay. whose job is to to inform congress and the american people when the security breach occurs? whose job is that? >> cms has an office of security responsible. and is today in the case of the medicare system where we have 50 billion -- 50 million enrollee. >> i got it. cms is responsible. who is responsible for the overall cybersecurity of the health care.gov? i i couldn't tell you a number of people.

i know, we have a dedicated security team. we have people watching the site -- >> do you have any contractors involved? >> do you know how many contractors were involved? >> i don't. do you know how much money is being spent? >> security? i would have to get that number for you. >> does anyone report to you regarding the security of the site? >> my office is not responsible for the security of the site, but i am given reports on -- >> okay. can you give us examples of those reports so we can see what those reports include? >> i can certainly take that request back and see what we have. >> okay. they come to you, so you ought to be able to release them; right? >> i'm concerned to take your request back and see what we have. >> okay. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> go ahead. >> i was going say the number of report on attempt to hack in the system are classified. and we can -- we can make that available to all members to know there have been multiple attempts.

there's not been a breach but i'm sure. much is classified. >> mr. chairman, on that vein, last week democratic staff of the subcommittee and full committee prepared a memo of information that was provided in the classified briefings, which is not classified. the information -- a lot of information -- i was at the classified briefings, a lot of that information not of a classified nature, and so -- what that information said is there are no successful hacks of health care.gov. it further said that there -- that surprisingly there have been no additional attempts and other government websites. and so i would ask naments -- unanimous consent to put the memorandum which is dated january 9, 2014 to the record. >> we will also remain vigilant. we suspect there will be attempts. there is time left on the floor for votes. as members, we can adjourn to vote and come back and complete this -- >> i think we should --

>> would you like to continue? >> thank you, mr. cohen. i would like to ask a few question. you touched on earlier in response questions about risk -- >> okay. >> it's a program to offset huge costs and being the temporary quarter program, where, within the administration, is this program housed? hhs, cms, or where? >> it is under my program. >> okay. >> and the individual in charge of that program would be who? >> the person who works for me who is responsible for that program. her name is sharon arnold. >> is that one person that would be in charge? >> well, she -- >> she reports to me. >> okay. >> so. i'm responsible but she works for me.

that's her program that he's managing. >> thank you. >> with other people. with her staff. >> threne are -- and there are multiple staff that help her to run the program. >> that's true. >> would you be able to provide us a complete list of the staffers who do perform any service connected to the risk quarter program? >> yes. >> thank you. under this program, if insurers are hit with costs greater than 103% of the premium, the government will give them money, am i correct? >> that's right. and a little more complicated than, but yes. >> i have a couple of followup questions that may allow you to answer that. how will the determination be made of what the costs are? , i mean, is there a form or? >> the insurance companies will have to present data to us. >> and then it won't be until 2015 we actually make any payments under the program. >> so can you tell us exactly

how the insurers will report this? i know it has to be -- they have to report it. how are they going report it? >> there will be a, you know, forms or templates or whatever they will have to provide to us -- the accounting information that will tell us what their health care spending has been. >> i have followup on enrollment questions. if i can shift over to that? >> sure. >> the most important number has been reported by many news outlets is whether individuals have paid. does the administration collect this information? i'm asking do you collect this information? >> right now, we're not, but we will be. >> when? >> as soon as that functionality is built. i think i answered some questions about that earlier. not all of the functionality is built yet. >> will it mean we have to go back all enrolled to find out whether or not they paid. we'll have to go back to those already in? we're not collecting that hasn't

occurred. >> we will ultimately, will reconcile to make sure that the advance premium, tax credits, for example, are not paid -- that's a requirement that you pay the preyum in order to get the tax credit. >> what department -- what department would this data? >> it's going to come to my office. >> who would be the individual be in charge of that? >> that's also sharon arnold. >> we don't know how many at this point how many people have paid for coverage? >> that's right. >> so are you telling me you don't have any data -- you haven't received any information as to who has paid? or you haven't compiled it? >> we have gotten enrollment data from the issuers with with respect to the aptc payments we're going to be making next week. it's not on the individual basis, umm, so -- they've told us the number of people who are enrolled have paid. we don't have it on the

individual basis. ultimately with will. >> i didn't mean to cut you off. are you telling me you're going to be playing insurers without knowing whether or not the insured have been said. >>? 0. we're relying on data from them as to who paid. we don't have an automated system. >> if you are re-- we will reconcile that as soon as -- to make sure that those numbers are reconciled and are correct. once we do have the capability of receiving the addition -- >> go you know the total amount of paid from each at this point? >> since you're relying on that data. >> we have -- yes, we have information on what we're going to be paying in the first group of payments that is going on next week. we have that? >> can we get the data you have? whether it's compiled or not? >> i'm sure you can. >> okay. i believe my time is almost expired. i yield back. >> he yield back. recognize the gentleman from colorado. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. cohen, for your time today. i, too with received my

insurance cancellation. have you ever met anybody who had their insurance canceled? >> you may be the first. >> that's pretty shocking. 335,000 people in colorado alone this their insurance canceled. the letter i got, that told me it would be canceled included this option. it includes purchasing another health plan from us, another cashier, or purchasing a new plan through connect for health colorado. was the president's promise to keep the health care upheld? >> we talked about this a lot. the law provided that insurance companies could keep the existing plans as long as they didn't make significant changes to benefits and cost sharing. insurance companies made different choices. there are a still the of grandfathered plans out there. those maintain. but then there were other plans that did not continue in to 2014. in symptom cases, the plans were

canceled. >> was the president's promise upheld to me? i don't remember the president saying there's qualifications if you like your health care plan. there's no asterisk. >> the law made it possible for everyone who is in an existing plan as of the time it was passed for that plan to be maintained. but it didn't require insurance companies to continue offering them. what we did in november was we offered another opportunity to say to insurance companies you can keep those plans in place even if they didn't meet the requirements of the grandfather. >> so these challenges to -- changes -- these are big changes so you to -- a $5 change require them to discontinue the plan? >> it was a percentage change that was in the regulation as to how much -- it wasn't a change in premium. it was change in benefit or cost sharing. >> so a copay of $5. that would require you to lose your insurance then? >> i think that was one of the requirement. >> it it a significant change to the insurance policy? >> a cobay was $20 and it goes

up $5 that's significant. >> the president's promise -- so in your mind he shouldn't have had to apologize. he didn't do anything wrong? >> i think the president said he recognized that what he had said did not prove to be true for many americans. as a result of that, we offered another policy to make it be more possible for more americans. >> do you have legal opinion that give the president the authority to makes the extension of changes? could you provide me with the legal memo? >> i have to -- i don't recall where -- >> thank you. you testified in september as we talked about before the committee talked about everything, going fine when did you first know it wasn't going fine? was it september 27th? 28th, october 19st? >> october 1st. >> you had no indication friar october 1st? >> i had no indication friar october 1st we were going to have the, you know, major, major

when do you expect ?awz small business to start canceling? >> throughout the course of the year. they don't all tend come up for renewal in january. many were renewed early in 2013 so they will continue. >> how many do you anticipate being canceled? >> i don't have a number of that. we can look to see if we can come up. it. >> if you can provide an estimation of how many additional insured you think will be canceled nap would be create. we have an idea how many signed up through the federal exchange? i know some we have talked about. how many people signed up? >> through december 28 it was 2.2 million in the federal and the state.

of those, it was something over 1.19 million in the federal. >> okay. so about 1.1 million in the federal. 1.19 million in the statements -- states. >> roughly. >> how many signed up were not previously insured? >> i don't have that. >> how many were previously insured but had the insurance canceled? >> i don't have that number. >> how many saw their insurance rates go up? >> i don't have that number. >> but you said you know a significant number of people that saw the rates go down. as we've been hearing. >> you continue know if narrates went down. you are hearing ante-dotely. >> with e are hearing ante-dotely. >> you continue have any concrete numbers whether the rates went up or down? i think we know for people who are eligible for a subsidy that, you know, for those people it is, you know, almost certain

their cost would have gone down. >> you have some numbers but you don't know how many went up. okay. so of this supposed 45 million without insurance, how many people now have insurance? >> i don't think we have that number yet, but certainly we're going try to come up with the data as we can as we go forward, you know, to the end -- >> how do we know the law is working? >> well, know the law is working for many people. we know that -- >> but you don't know how many of the uninsured are insured. you don't know how many people saw the rate goes up, versus go con. insurance company aren't being paid yet. what is -- let's talk about the risk quarter period. what is the probability of risk quarter provision being utilized or activated? >> utilized? >> what is the probability of the risk quarter language being utilized? >> i think there will be a risk order program. >> no, but, i mean, what is the payment being made from the

government to insurance companies? what is the probability of that? >> that will happen. >> you're saying that the government will be paying private insurance companies? >> how likely it will be there will be claims on the program? >> yes. >> i think we anticipate there will be claims on the program, but there also may be some whose costs are lower than what they anticipated. and i think the estimate was it was budget neutral. >> gentleman time expired. a followup question. we're interested in any legal memorandum you have been advised of or briefed on that giant authority under the fracted to delay implementation or the authority to exercise enforcement discretion over enforcement provisions. we all know this law that was signed march of 2010 bears no resemblance to what is actually going on today because the variety of enforcement discretions and delays. it will be implemented by the

administration. we would like no know under what legal authority you are operating or what you have seen that gives you the legal authority to do so. thank you, mr. chairman. >> you'll provide that for the ?rord. >> we'll certainly take that request back and work with you. >> i would like that followup with the other questions that members asked on both sides of the aisle. as far as we would like to know his answers. how many people of the 45 million that originally supposed to have signed up. if it's more or less expensive for them. i ask unanimous consent the written opening statements of other members will be introduced to the record. in conclusion, i would like to thank the witness and members that participated in the hearing today. and remind members they have 10 business days to submit questions for the record. sky mr. cohen if he agree to spond promptly to the questions. with that, this committee hearing is adjourned.

[inaudible conversations] next on c-span2 prawment and first lady michelle obama push for programs to try to help lower income students succeed in college. then secretary john kerry talks about negotiations between assad government and syrian opposition groups. and later, republican senators talk about a recent report on the attacks of the u.s. consulate in benghazi. coming up on the next "washington journal" a discussion on net neutrality

rules. yes, internet service providers are gate keepers, and they also are two-sided networks or two-sided gate keepers. there is somebody on one side and somebody on the other side. and so the situation then is very similar to the credit card industry. so we all have credit cards, and then there's the credit card company. on the other side of that there's the restaurant. it's very useful for restaurants

we have credit cards and useful for us that all the restaurants will take them, but it's not so useful if the gate keeper says some of these restaurants we're not going allow them to participate in the system. translating that to the present, if the internet service provider were to say, you know, not all the people that are putting the content on their computers -- we don't want all of them to be to be have access to all of the users. that is a problem if the gate keeper behaves this way. a look at the impact of the broadband. saturday morning at 10:00 eastern. on c-span2 booktv author gary young exam the speech, the part of three days of programming this holiday weekend. and c-span 3 american history tv look at emancipation reconstruction and race. atlantic after the civil war. sunday morning at 11:00.

president and mrs. obama hosted a meet of business and education leaders to discuss new ways to make college for assessable. from the eisenhower executive office building, this is 40 minutes. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> ladies and gentlemen, mr. troy simon. [applause] good morning. my name is troy simon, i am from new orleans, louisiana. i couldn't read until i was 14. i was held back twice and developed aggressive strategy skills. to hide my literacy. my report card would routinely

confirm my failure. on days attended school, i started fights with shoved desks, and wrote on walls. anything to get myself out of the classroom. looking back, i could offer a portfolio of excuses of why i fell behind. my parents split, my mother was in poverty. i was shuffling between relatives, the devastation of hurricane katrina. we lived in an abandoned building for a year. my cousin and i tap danced in the french quarter to earn money. but at 14, some of my brothers and sisters headed down the same path as me so i knew they had to make a better example for them.

i decided to change my life. i got connected with my fifth grade teacher and worked on after school assignments and studied in the library. and i know that it would be hard to catch up, so we devoted much of our time to write an essays and study for hours. i enrolled in an academic support program which helped me academically and socially from that moment on. college track help me discover myself through writing. college track has gotten me through college, and college track is still getting me to college -- through college. now i'm at college on a full-ride scholarship. i'm happy and excited about that! [applause] now that i am in college, i'm a

member of the posse program, which is a group of 900 students who are helping each other succeed to earn a college degree. i know that it took me to be committed to education, but i also know that it took others to help me. i couldn't do it alone. no doubt. at college track, i met with my mentors who helped me and guided me along the way. i connected with my former teachers who helped me as well and guided me along the way and told me that i could be my best self and i can do anything if i put my mind to it. these teachers have been a biggest help to me. they show me that i have an unbreakable support system. they have taught me to live out

the quote that is failure is inevitable that quitting is not an option. is not where you stand in time of comfort and convenience but the time of challenge and controversy. between these programs and my former teachers, there is no doubt that i will succeed. today's event is not about me, but it's about every kid in the united states of america ensuring they will succeed and get a chance to reach their intellectual potential. so it is my pleasure to introduce someone who has shown great support and confidence in our nation's young people. someone who is working to help other students. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our first lady, michelle obama. [applause]

[applause] [applause] thank you very much. [applause] thank you. thank you very much. it is really great to be here today with all of you. we have with us today college and university's presidents, we have experts and advocates and civic and business leaders. i want to thank you for taking the time to be here, and for working every day to help young people pursue their education and build brighter futures for themselves and for our country. i would like us to give a really big hand to troy. [applause] [cheering and applause]

that is pretty powerful stuff, and presented so eloquently. i met troy yesterday. he was nervous. i don't know why you were nirve -- nervous. you are pretty awesome. >> thank you. >> troy's story reminds us all of the limitless capacity that lies within all of our young people. no matter where they come from or how much money they have. troy is an example of why we all should care deeply about this issue. and troy and millions of others like him are why i care so much about this issue. and why in the coming years i'm going to be spending more and more of my time focusing on education. because as everyone here knows, education is the key to success for so many kids. and my goal specifically is to reach out directly to young people. and encourage them to take charge of their futures and

complete an education beyond high school. i'm doing this because soften when we talk about education, we talk about our young people and what we need to do for them. we talk about the programs we need create for them, about the resources we need to devote to them, but we must remember that education is a two-way bargain. while there is so much more we must do for our kids, at the end of the day, as troy described the person who has the most say over whether or not a student succeeds is the student him or herself. ultimately, they are the ones sitting in that classroom. they're the ones who have to set goals for themselves and work hard to achieve those goals every single day. so my hope is that with this new effort, that instead of talking about our kids we talk with our

kids. i want to hear what is going on in their lives. i want to inspire them to step up and commit to their education so they can have opportunities they never even dreamed of. i'm doing this because that story of opportunity through education is the story of my life. i want them to know that it can be their story too. but only -- only if they devote themselves to continuing their education past high school. and for many students, that might mean no matter what they do, i want to make sure that students believe they have what it takes to succeed beyond high school. that is going to be my message to young people. but here is the thing, i know that message alone isn't

enough. like i said, this is a two-way street, that means we all have to step up. because make no mistake about it, these kids are smart. they will notice if we're not holding up or end of the bargain. they will notice if we tell them about applying for college or financial aid, but then no one is there to help them choose the right school or fill out the right forms. they will notice if we tell them that they're good enough to graduate from college, but then no college asks them to apply. no college invites them to visit their campus, and 0 we've got recommit ourselves to helping these kids pursue their education. as you discussed in your first panel today, one of the first steps is getting more underserved young people on to college campuses. the fact is right now we are

missing out on so much potential because so many promising young people, young people like troy who have the talent it takes to succeed simply don't believe that college can be a reality for them. to many of them are falling through the cracks. all of you know that too well. that's why so many of you finding new ways to reach out to the under served students in your communities. you're helping them navigate the financial aid and college admissions process and you're helping them find schools that match their abilities and interests. and i know from my own experience just how important all of that work is that you're doing. the truth is if princeton hasn't found my brother as a basketball recruit and if i hadn't seen that he could succeed on a campus like that, never would occurred to me to apply to that school. never. and i know that there are so

many kids throughout just like me. kids who have a world of potential but maybe their parents never went to college. or maybe they have never been encouraged to believe they could succeed there. that means it's our job to find those kids. it's our job to help them understand their potential and get them enrolled in a college that can help them meet their needs. then we know that just getting in to school is only half the story. because once students are there, they've got graduate. that's not always easy. especially given what many of the kids are dealing with when they get to campus. just think about it. you just heard a snippet from troy. just to make it to college, these kids have already overcome so much. neighborhoods riddled with crime and drugs, moms and dads who aren't around, too many nights when they had go to bed hungry.

as i tell these kids when i talk to them, we can't think about those experiences that they've had as weaknesses. just the opposite. they're actually strengths. in facing and overcoming these challenges, these kids have developed skills that many of their peers will never be able to compete with. never. when they get out in the world, those are the exact skills they will need to succeed. they will succeed! but imagine how hard it is to realize that. when you first get to college. you're in a whole new world. you might have trouble making friends because you don't see any peers who come from a background like yours. you might be worried about paying for classes and food and room and board because you have never had to set your own budget before. you might be feeling guilty when you call home because mom and dad are wondering why you didn't

get a job so you could help support their family. those are the kinds of obstacles these kids are facing right from day one. let's be clear, all that have isn't just a challenge for them. it's a challenge for folks like us who are committed to helping them succeed. make no mistake about it, that is our mission. not simply giving speeches or raising money or hosting conferences, but to take real meaningful action that will help our young people get to college. and more important actually get their degrees. and here is the good news, time and again you have shown you have the experience, the passion, and the resources to help these young people thrive. for example, in recent decades, you realize that students from across the economic spectrum have been coming to campus with more and more issues like eating disorders, learning

disabilities, depression and anxiety and so much more. luckily, you all have not shied away from these issues. i've seen it. i worked at the university. you haven't said these aren't our problems. we're a university not a hospital or counseling center. no, you stepped up. while there is still work left to do on these issues, we're working every day to support these kids through treatment praments and outreach initiative and support groups. you know the issues have a huge impact on whether students can learn and succeed at your school. so now, as you begin to see more and more underserved students on your campuses, we need you to direct that same energy and determination toward helping these kids face their unique challenges. fortunately, you have already got the expertise you need to address these issues. and simply by building on what you're already doing best, you can make real differences for

these kids. .. so that these advisers can connect more easily with students in need some extra encouragement or academic support. in every college has orientation programs are learning communities to help students transition to college. many of the schools here today are supplementing those programs by partnering with organizations like the posse foundation so

that under stirred students can connect and build a social network before they even step foot on campus. and those were the types of resources that helped a kid like me, not just survive, but thrive at a school like princeton. when i first arrived at school as a first-generation college student i did not know anyone on campus six of my brother. added another pick the right classis, find the right buildings. i did not even bring the right size sheets for my dorm room bed i realize that the beds or so long. i was a little overwhelmed and bill isolated, but then i had an opportunity to participate in a 3-week on-campus orientation program that helped me get a feel for the revolt of college life. one school started and is covered the campus cultural center, the third world center that i found students and staff who came from campus in communities that were similar to

my own. they understood where i was going through. there were there to listen when i was feeling frustrated. there were there to answer the questions i was too embarrassed to ask anyone else. and if it weren't for those resources and the friends and mentors, i honestly don't know how would have made it through college. instead, i graduated at the top of my class, would tough law school, and you know the rest. [laughter] so whether it is aligning with an organization like posse or offering a new advising or mentoring program or creating a central students to connect with another, you all can take simple steps that can determine whether these kids give up a dropout or step up and drive. and that is not just good for young people but for your schools because if you embrace and empower the students and make sure they have good campus experiences, then they're going

to stay engaged to do school for decades after they graduate. they will be dressed up in school colors that oncoming games, asking to serve on the committees in advisory boards and doing their part with fund-raisers it -- when fund-raising season rolls around. believe me, these are some of the best alumni you could possibly as core because after everything, these kids love overcome to get into college for , they will have all the skills they need to run the businesses in our labs and teach in our classrooms and lead our communities. just look at me, look at troy, and the countless success stories from the organizations and schools represented here in this room. that is how we will win this country. we will win by tapping the full potential of all of our young people so that we can grow our economy and move this country forward and that is something

that my husband understands deeply because his life story, just like mine, is rooted in education as well. and as president that is what drives him every single day, his goal of expanding opportunity to millions of americans who were striving to build a better future for themselves for the families and for our country as well. so now is my pleasure to introduce my husband, the president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. welcome to the white house. let me begin by drinking troy,

sharing his terrible story. they could not be more inspired by what he has accomplished it cannot wait to see what he will accomplish in the future. my wife, it is hard to speak after her. gene sperling he did the extraordinary work putting this all summer together said everybody is so excited that michele this year. i said, well, what about me. he should be excited about her being here. she brings a passion, a body of experience and a passion to this issue that is extraordinary.

i could not be more proud of the work she is done in the work the issue will keep on doing around these issues. she did leave pointing out of her speech. it is her birthday tomorrow. i want everybody to keep that in mind. we are here for one purpose. we want to make sure more young people have the chance to earn a higher education. and in the 21st century economy we all understand is there been more important. the good news is that our economy is steadily growing and strengthening after the worst recession in a generation. we created more than 8 million new jobs, manufacturing is growing, led by a bull ring of industry thanks to some key public investments and advances

like affordable energy and research and development. will we have seen is not only in energy revolution in this country the boswell for our future, but in areas like health care we have slowed the growth of health care costs in ways that a lot of people would not have anticipated as recently as five or two years ago. so there are a lot of good thing is going on in the economy. and businesses are starting to invest. overseeing our business is overseas starting to say instead of outsourcing let's in source. all of that bodes well for our future. here's the thing. we don't grow just for the sake of growth. we grocer the thicken translated to a growing middle class, people getting jobs, people being will support the families, and people being allowed to pass

something ought to the next generation. we want to restore the essential promise of opportunity in a probability that is at the heart of america, the notion that if you work hard you can get ahead, you can improve your situation in life, make something of yourself. the same essentials story that was told about himself. the fact is to mate has been getting harder to do that for a lot of people. it is harder for folks to start in one place and move up that ladder. and that was true long before the recession hit. and that is why i have said that in 2014 we have to consider this a year of action, not just to grow the economy, not just to increase gdp, not just to make sure that corporations are profitable in the stock market is doing well in the financial

system is stable. we have to make sure that that is broad based and that everybody has a chance to access that growth and take advantage of it. we have to make sure we are creating new jobs and that the wages and benefits that go along with those jobs to support a family. we have to make sure that there are new ladders of opportunity in the middle class and that the wrongs on those letters are solid and accessible for more people. i will be working with congress where i can to accomplish this, but i will also act on my own if congress is deadlocked. i have a pen to take executive action is for congress won't, and i have a telephone to rally folks around the country on this mission. and today is a great example of how without a whole bunch of new legislation we can advance this agenda. we have philanthropists and

business leaders, leaders of innovative nonprofits, college presidents from state universities and historically black colleges time the league universities and community colleges. today more than 100 colleges and 40 organizations are announcing new commitments to help more yen people, not only get to, but graduate from college. that is an extraordinary accomplishment. we did not pass a bill to do it. everybody here is participating, believe, because you know that college graduation has never been more valuable than it yesterday. unemployment for americans with a college degree is more than a third lower than the national average. income twice as high as those without i school diploma. colleges that the only path to success. we have to make sure that more americans of all ages are

getting the skills that they need to access the jobs that are out there right now, but more than ever a college degree is the surest path to a stable middle-class life. higher education speaks to something more than that. the premise that we are all created equal is a line in north american store. we don't promise of comes, we strive to deliver equal opportunity. the area that success does not depend on being born into wealth and privilege. depends on effort and merit. a keyboard and work your way into something extraordinary. if you're a kid that goes to college maybe like michele, that means everything. the fact is, we made a commitment as the country has done more of our chlamydia few

of you would not be here today. my grandfather was a ridge immobile when the cable from the war. i grew up with a single mom with that might have waylaid education for did bill above their worst charges in place the latter the golan. machel's death was a shift toward iraq that the city water blended. they did not go to college bill of that do work structures in place those of the show and no one was going to handle something. education was not a path to enterprise.

egested your head over and someone pours his vacation interior. have to work for it. i told the story of what my mother was working overseas. she would wake me up before dawn to do correspondence courses in english before went to the other school. but with her hard work in scholarships and student loans and support programs in place where rebel to go to some of the best colleges in the country even though it did not have a lot of money. every child in america should have the same chance. over the last five years we worked hard in a variety of ways to improve these mechanisms to get young people where they need to be in to knock down barriers that are preventing them from

getting better prepare for the economies that there will face. clear higher standards in schools. forty-five states and the district of columbia have answered that calls so far. research going with training math and science teachers. the private sector has already committed to help train 40,000. we have taken new steps to help students stay in school and today the high-school dropout rate is loises been in 40 years. the dropout rate has been cut in half. but we still have to hire more good teachers in pay and better. we still have to do more training and development and is sure the curriculum's maximize the chance for students success. when you're in people properly

prepared we have to make sure that they can afford to go to college. we took out a student loan system that was giving billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars to the banks and said let's give that money directly to students. today more young people are earning college degrees than ever before. so we made progress there was as i discussed with some of you, we're still going to err make sure the rising tuition does not price the middle-class out of the education. i've laid out a plan to bring down costs and make sure the students are not saddled with debt before they even start out live. even after all these steps taken we still have a long way to go

make sure they're ready to walk through those doors, the added value of a college diploma has nearly doubled since michele and i were undergraduates. unfortunately only 30 percent of low-income students enroll in college rector and his cool and far worse by their mid-20s only 9% earn a master's degree. if we as a nation can expand opportunity and reach out to those junk people and help them not just go to college but graduate from college university it could have a transformative affect that we are not stepping. what this tells me is we have dedicated citizens across the country are ready to stand up and meet this challenge. what i want to do is highlight

some of the commitments that had been made here today. so we know that not enough low-income students are taking steps to prick -- required to prepare for college. the place where michele and i both work in the past it's why i mentor -- a mentoring program that began in the south bronx has committed to matching 20,000 students with mentoring in more than 20 states of the next five years. we also know that too many students don't apply to this pools that are right for them. then may underestimate where they could succeed, where they could go. there may be a mismatch in terms

of whether as operations are and the nature of the school that is close by. they have to assume that is the only option. so they will experiment with new ways to contact high achieving low income students directly encourage them to apply. organizations like the college board are going to work with colleges to make it easier for students to apply to more schools for free. i know sometimes for those of you in the university administration, underdog application fees is not a big deal. for a lot of these students that is enough of a barrier that they just don't have enough to apply. we know that when it comes to college devising in preparing

for tests low-income kids are not on a level playing field. we called these standardized tests. they're not standardized. by the time they're in seventh grade they are already getting all kinds of advice in this and that in the other. cerf's the degree of preparation it is not fair. it has gotten worse. i was barely able to bring a pencil. that's a much preparation and it the truth of the matter is we don't have a level playing field when it comes to a so-called standard as tests.

we have a young man here today who knows this better than most. he went to the university of georgia like a lot of first-generation college students. he had to work to part-time jobs to make ends meet. at one point he had to leave school for your while the help support his mother and baby brother. those are the kinds of just day-to-day challenges that a lot of these young people with enormous talent had to overcome faugh. he stuck with it. he graduated, but now he is giving back. he has made it his mission to help other young people like him graduate as a college adviser at clark central high school. today the national college of verizon corporation, the program that plays lawrence in park central has plans to add 129 more advisers who will serve more than 80,000 students in the next three years.

finally we know for that once low-income students arrive on campus -- michele spoke eloquently to her own experience on this, even if they are at the top of their eyes to glass they still have a lot of catching up to do with respect to their peers in the classroom the first year. this is a sampling of the more than 100 commitments that your organizations and colleges are making here today. that is an extraordinary first that.

we have more colleges and universities run the country. more business leaders from the country. and so we have to think of this is just the beginning. who want to do something like this again in what even more college universities and businesses and not for profits to take part. for folks who are watching this who were not able to be here today, we want you here next time. such thinking about your commitment now. it was a joyous. for those royal to make commitments, thank you for doing your part to make better the life of our country what you're doing here today means that a bunch of young people like troy and michele and me who suddenly

may be able to see a whole new world opened up before them that they did not realize there. i will end with a great story this speaks to this. a former teacher here today named nick. where is neck. so here he is right here. five years ago he founded the new york city nonprofit. they're record recent college graduates to work as teaching assistants in public chemicals that serve low-income communities teaming up to help students build the skills that they need to enter college ready for college. the first purpose is to work with those teaching assistants are seniors now. one of them, stefan rodriquez, gun looking guy right here. [laughter] , could not speak a word of

english when he moved to the united states and the dominican republic at age nine. could not speak much more by the timeliness six great. today with the support of a tightly knit school community committees one of the top students in the senior class a washington heights expeditionary learning schools. last month he and his classmates put on wheels to my unfurled a banner, waved flags and marched on the streets of washington heights to cheering crowds the crown on the sidewalk were parents and teachers and neighbors, college students, the march was to the post office with the male then their college applications. [applause] and the son of a factory worker

who did not speak much english six years ago won a competitive scholarship to dickinson college this fall. so -- [applause] everywhere you go you go stories like choice. we don't want these to be the exceptions. they want these to be the rule. that is what we owe our young people, and that is what we of this country. we'll have a stake in restoring that fundamental american ideal of says does not matter where you start. what matters is where you went out. as parents and teachers and business and philanthropic and political leaders and the citizens we love our role to play. and going to spend the next three years as president and a look forward to working with you on the same team to make this

happen. thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> president obama will announce changes to government surveillance programs and data collection. the president is expected to focus on steps that increase oversight in transparency. live coverage tomorrow from the justice department at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. in the afternoon also on c-span we will get reaction to the president's speech and proposed changes to federal surveillance programs. a former cia analyst and british defense official will be at the brookings institution. live coverage a 2:00 p.m. eastern.

attending peace talks next week in switzerland. his remarks and next. and in a few minutes republican senators talk about a recent report on the attacks of the u.s. consulate in benghazi. senior administration official testifies without the implementation of the health care website. >> watch out program on first lady nancy reagan saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2 and live monday night our series continues. >> because i'm not truthfully that every single problem in america would be better if more people could read, write, and comprehend. i just know that we would be a will to compete with the rest of the world. it would not have these children who are committing crimes because their families don't have jobs.

they don't have jobs because they can read, they can't write, they don't understand, and i think every thinking american is coming to that conclusion. we have got to educate our children, andrea got to educate the now. it is not just a whim. it's a necessity. >> first lady barbara bush monday night live, also on c-span radio and c-span.org. >> next to the secretary of state john kerry urges the syrian opposition to attend a conference next week in switzerland aimed at ending civil unrest. that civil opposition has the power of veto names for the transitional governing bodies as does president bush are alice aunts government.

>> did morning, everybody. let me to say that i know you would like to ask some questions unfortunately i will have an availability tomorrow in the morning when we have our friends from mexico here. all take a couple of extra questions. so let me make it clear here today, from the very moment that we announced the goal of holding a geneva conference in syria, we all agreed that the purpose was specifically and solely to implement the 2012 geneva one

key nikkei. that purpose, that sole purpose could not have been more clear at the time this was announced, and it could not be more clear today. has been reiterated in international statement after its initial statements that the parties have signed up in venue after they knew and resolution after resolution, including most recently in paris last weekend when both the london 11 in the russian federation reaffirmed their commitment to that objective, the implementation of geneva one. so for anyone seeking to rewrite this history or to muddy the waters, let me stay one more time what it's about. it is about establishing a process he said sell to the formation of a transition government body, governing body

with no executive powers established by mutual consent. that process is the only way to bring about an end to the civil war that is triggered one of the planet's most severe in humanitarian disasters which has created the feeding grounds for extremism. the syrian people need to be able to determine the future of their country. the voice was be heard. any names but ford for the transition must, according to the terms and every one of the reader rations of that being the heart and soul of geneva, those names must be agreed to by both the opposition and the regime. that is the very definition of mutual consent. this means that any figure that

is deemed unacceptable by either side, whether president aside or a member of the opposition cannot be a part of the future. the united nations coming united states and russia, and all the countries attending know what this conference is about. after all, that was the basis of the u.s. invitation sent individually to each country a restatement of the purpose of implementing geneva one cover independence by both sides of the parties can come only with their acceptance of the goals of the conference. we, too, are deeply concerned about the rise of extremism. the world needs no reminder this area has become a magnet for jaundice and extremists. it is the strongest magnet for terror of any place today. it defies logic to imagine that those who recall the created

this night it, how they can never leave syria away from the extremism in toward a better future beyond any kind of logic or common sense. and so on the eve of the syrian opposition coalition general assembly meeting to decide whether to participate in the peace conference the united states for these reasons urges a positive vote. we do so knowing the geneva peace conference is not the end but rather the beginning of a launch of the process, the process that is the best opportunity for the opposition to achieve the goals of the syrian people and the revolution and the political solution to this terrible conflict that has taken many, many, many too many lives. we will continue to push in the meantime for vital access for humanitarian assistance. i talked yesterday with russian

federation prime minister in an effort to push still harder for access to some areas where their regime played games with the convoys taking them around a securities root is set of directly in the way that the opposition had arranged for and was willing to protect. it is important that there be no games played with this process. he will also continue to fight for cease-fires are we can achieve them and continue the fight for the exchange for release of captives journalists and aid workers and others in order to try to improve the climate for negotiations. obviously none of this will be easy. ending a war and stopping the slaughter never is easy. we believe that this is the only road that can lead to the place where the civilized world has joined together in an effort to lead the parties to a better

outcome. and to the syrian people, let me reiterate the united states and the engine national committee will continue to provide health of support as we did yesterday where we pledged $380 million of additional assistance in order to try to relieve payment. we will continue to stand with the people of syria, all the people in an effort to provide them with the dignity. dinkey. i would be happy to answer questions. [inaudible question] >> secretary of state john kerry will host the canadian foreign minister and the mexican foreign secretary to mark to discuss updating the north american free trade agreement. after that meeting should end at

about 930 eastern there will talk to reporters during live coverage here on c-span2. later also the congressional internet caucus advisory committee will host a discussion about the future of the internet following a court ruling this week to said the fcc had improperly tried to regulate broadband internet connect to the providers. live coverage at noon eastern. >> up next to gop senator john mccain then she ran and achillea talk about a recent senate intel's support of the september september 2012 attack and the u.s. consulate in benghazi. they were also critical of a recent new york times article which concluded that al qaeda was not involved in the attack which killed four americans, including ambassador chris stevens. >> mr. president, some of us have been speaking out for more than a year about the terrorist

attack of september 11th 2012 that took the lives of four american public servants including chris stevens. spoken now because of the many questions still remain unanswered into this state we have spoken out and will continue to speak out despite proxy's to sweep all of this under the rug. the reliable surrogate of the obama administration which published a long report challenging some key facts about the benghazi tax. senator daniel patrick moynihan used to say everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. the facts are stubborn things. the reality propagates myths. the times claims the following,

investigation centered on extensive interviews with libyans in benghazi. the context turned up no evidence that they had any role in the assault. they go on to quote that they were not infiltrated. here are the facts. al qaeda affiliated groups were present. there were involved in the attack of september 11th 2012. the new york times's self reported on october 209th 2012 american officials said the attack included participants from the network, all of these groups affiliated with al qaeda. the new york times quotes republican arguments appear to conflate purely local exchanges to organizations with the

international terrorist network. again, here are the from califoa acknowledged correctly that ansar al shari'a which played a major role in the attack is linked to al qaeda. the chairwoman is drawing on the work of our intelligence committee which yesterday released its report on the benghazi attack and i aftermath. in that report, you will find numerous references by the intelligence community before the atack that make clear the nature of the al qaeda threat in bebenghazi. the claims that al qaeda had not intill greated benghazi rest on the same rhetorical sleight of hand that holds that while groups may align itself from al qaeda, may shire similar terrorist goals as al qaeda and may evening call themselves part of al qaeda, but if they are not sitting along the

pakistan-afghan border, are not part of so-called core al qaeda or al qaeda senior leadership, then somehow they are not al qaeda. this is the same bizarre language and logic that may have led then-ambassador to the u.n. susan rice to claim just days after the attack that -- quote -- "we've decimated al qaeda. this despite the fact that al qaeda-affiliated groups are proliferating all across south proliferating all across south the fact is, the attack against a diplomatic facility on september 11th was carried out in part by al qaeda-affiliated terrorists established a safe haven in parts of eastern libya. as the senate intelligence committee report finds, the intelligence committee provided ample strategic warning about the negative security trends in benghazi and the likelihood that

they would further deteriorate. this was the opposite of an intelligence failure. this was clear as day. despite these clear warning signs the state department was unprepared, our diplomatic facility was unsecured, and it had already been attacked multiple times. our military is not postured and ready to respond to contingencies in the part of libya were attacks against westerners and western interests and already occurred and what the threat has grown. the false narrative that the new york times to so happens to align with the obama administration's account of events. again, facts are stubborn things from a senate intelligence committee report clearly supporting the conclusion that the ministration knew or should have known of the terrorist threat during the relevant time and should help reposition the assets were made other present to the preparations to better protect our people serving

there. the administration and its allies will continue trying to sweep in gauzy under the rug including the fact that we have still not received testimony on the presence of the individuals who were present and moved to germany the day following the attack on the embassy and the deaths of four americans. contrary to the president's repeated claim that that time of war is receding in contrary to his administration's talking point that al qaeda has been decimated, the reality is that al qaeda affiliated groups are emboldened from central asia to the middle east and north africa all the way the west african countries like nigeria and molly . indeed, nothing brings this, more tragically and watching the black flags of al qaeda hoisted over the iraqi city of pollution . ninety-five brave soldiers and americans died.

600 or wounded. today we see the black flags hoisted over the city. the problem is getting worse, and that is in large part due to this administration's dissing david from these regions. look at libya today. a country that we and our nato allies intervened to save from the lack of an anti-american tyrant who is now characterized by chaos and lawlessness in and governs bases here are exploited by those to see to do harm to our nation and interest. according to the senate intelligence committee report 15 libyans who cooperated with our investigation into the benghazi attack had been murdered. the administration can blame them for this problems just as they blame the iraqis, but they cannot escape their share of the blame for failing to support these people who want and need

our help to secure their countries. that is why chris stevens was in benghazi. that is why he risked and ultimately gave his life, because he believed it is in our interest to leave the events in the world and support our friends and those who wish to be our friends in their efforts to build stable, successful societies with effective, democratic governments. the greatest week in honor his sacrifice and those of his colleagues is buy every committing ourselves to the mission of less america actively supports those in the broader middle east who wish to replace to spare and a gesture mizzen with hope and freedom. i fear the tide of war will eventually hit us again. i know that my colleague, the senator from new hampshire, i would just ask her and perhaps my colleague from south carolina , is it not true that in

this intelligence report, committee report which is very encompassing that except in for one mention in the minority view there is no individual who is held responsible. now we have a situation where bureaucracies are responsible but individuals are not. i find that intriguing. also, my friend from south carolina who has been trying to give witnesses for a number of months if not years as to who were there at the scene of the attack, moved to germany the following day and isn't it true we have never been able to interview those witnesses which could've clear that any arguments or any doubt about what the attack was all about. >> a cue for the question. i finally got to interview my

first survivor about a month or so ago. after all of these years and months, if i cut i want to thank the intelligence committee for doing a lot of hard work. let's not lose sight that this is not just about -- my focus is going to be comprehensive. senator mccain has called for a joint select committee along with myself and senator a yacht for over a year now. you don't want to stovepipe this. here's my question in the 14 september white house meeting with the intelligence committee compared talking points a clearly established this as a terrorist attack with al qaeda people involved, who change those talking points? i have an e-mail that i hope will come here in a moment from

general patraeus basically somebody in that meeting or before the meeting is inquiring. the white house wants to take references to al qaeda out and basically sanitize the talking points. he is upset. go ahead and do with the one. no one agnon's to add more than i did, but quite frankly someone needs to revisit. where was the intelligence community for two weeks when the president of the united states was telling the entire world, we think this was a protest with the intelligence community knew differently. such to my friends in the toes is community, you need to answer that question. what input did you get it? you need to tell the president to quit doing that because it is not accurate. another question of the 15th

and 16th, and 17th of september all of the survivors were interviewed by the fbi a jury. i talked to one. i can tell you in a quick summary, the man was brave, people on the ground in the state department deserve medals for going through what they did. let me tell you this. there was no protest. there is not one report coming from benghazi about a protest around the embassy. the turkish ambassador left not too long before the attacks. you think the ambassador would have gone to bed if there had been a protest to be the people in charge of security never reported a protest because there was no one. he said, i saw on my screen, and he was in charge of security, 16 to 20 heavily-armed people running through the gate carrying the banner in arabic at the time i did not know what it said, but it was the banner of

the al qaeda affiliate. end journalism has died at this paper. do you really believe this was not a preplanned terrorist attack with al qaeda affiliates in charge? that john and said there were four gunshots around the compound. a coordinated military attack and there were lucky to have survived. he started this? to plan this? i cannot say his last name. the man who started came from did know, a former detainee who would back to libya started this group. the 60 minutes report identified him as the organizers of this attack. all i can tell you is that there is no mystery about who planned this. it was a al qaeda affiliate in libya and 16 august, a cable was

sent back from christina's to washington at the state department saying we cannot defend the consulate because training camps exists in benghazi. the flag is flying. by the way, the red cross has left, the british have left. this was long before september the 11th. so don't tell me we don't know. we do. it was a former detainee who was the bodyguard of babylon. they guy that was there that we let go was court al qaeda. .. that we let go was core al qaeda. he was bin laden's bodyguard. caught him in pakistan. fought in afghanistan. now, what we don't know in this report, who in the white house changed the talking points.

you want to know what chris christie did? fine, absolutely fair game. we know what he did when he found out what his people did about the traffic jam. he fired them. and he got up in front of the whole world and said i'm embarrassed, it's my fault. i'm going to fire the people who did this bad thing. name one person that has been name one person that has been i. name one fern that the state department who has been fired for ignoring repeated request for additional security on the conflict coming from people in libya. and, by the way, the accountability review board. what if i learn in my interview with a survivor? i found out for the first time that bill b. and c the places attacked the state department consulate, had been renewed in july for an entire year.