washing somethinwashing machine. isn't it through this extreme weather was predicted in the u.n. reports and in many other reports? mr. whitehouse: absolutely. and indeed years ago one expert in this area wrote that in terms of the experience that people would have, yes, the planet is warming. but the experience that people would have wouldn't be just of warming, it would be of weird weather. and truly the better name wouldn't be global warming but it would be global weirding. and that's because very simple when you add energy, heat energy in this case, to a closed system by trapping it with more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, you speed things up. you make storms stronger, you change weather patterns, and you see things that you haven't seen before. and so the things people are

seeing now -- not specifically, not that storm, that -- but the pattern that people would see more extreme weather of various kinds was, indeed, predicted. and the fact that it's happening is exactly consistent with what the scientists have been warning us. mrs. boxer: it is. because it was year ago when i took the panel. i think it was seven years ago that i took the gavel. i don't even remember. time go goes so fast when you're having fun. and i took that gavel and the first thing we did is we had a hearing on climate. by the way, i would urge my colleague, you should see, we put together a green book of all my colleagues' statements, how many republicans were with us then. olympia snowe had a great piece in there, john mccain had a great piece in there, judd gregg had a great piece, john warner had a great piece in there and others. and it was -- it made me so proud. and at that hearing, we had all these experts talk about the

fact that over time, temperatures would go up, but inbetween -- as you say, it's not a matter of the weather that day, it's the pattern over time, what happens over time. you have these extremes. but over time, the warmth kicks in. and we see it happening. the american people are smart and they get it. and we're just not going to let up. and as calm as we sound now, that belies what we feel inside and the obligation that we feel to act. and so i guess this is as good a time as any to tell the american people they'll see more of us and more colleagues will work on this. i want to thank senator reid because senator reid has elevated this issue in our caucus and is devoting more time to this issue. he cares about this. he's -- he's a wonderful family man with a lot of grandchildren

and -- and he wants to give them what so many of us have had, the beauty of this country, the liveability of this country. and there will be more of this to follow. so with that, i would ask my colleague if he wants to close and yield back to him. mr. whitehouse: i thank the chairman for her staunch leadership. she is such an ally and leader for us. it really is very exciting. and, yes, you will see considerable more activity. you know, i'll close by telling one personal story because very often you're dealing with statistics and you're dealing with figures and you're dealing with things that are happening on kind of a large scale when you talk about climate change. but i remember this day. i remember this day walking along and meeting with these homeowners whose houses these were. and i remember talking to the lady whose house i think this

one was right here that the governor is looking into. and she remembers as a child being in that house. and in front of this house she had a lawn, > a lawn that they could throw frisbees on and play whifflel ball on. and on the other side of the lawn was a road that gave access along the shoreline, a sand road. and on the other side of the road was a parking lot where people would come and bring their cars. and on the other side of the parking lot was the beach that was so long down to the water that she could remember running as a little kid, you know, in the summer sun beating down on the beach and the sand gets so hot that it hurts your feet? and you've got to dash to get your feet into the water because they're hot, hot, hot as you run as you're a little kid. and she would make that long-run and think what a lon long-run tt

was to get out of the hot sand and into the cool, clear waters of narragansett bay. that beach is gone. that parking lot is gone. that road is gone. her lawn is gone. and this is what has happened to her house. so if people want to know why we are not going to give up -- yeah, i'm sick of it. i'm sick of having to come here and do this. this is tiresome to have no progress and people not listen and have it be because of, frankly, scandalous polluter-paid interference and influence in this building. yeah, i'm sick of it. but i'm not going to -- i am not going to stop, not while this is happening to my home state of rhode island. i yield the floor. mrs. boxer: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the pending quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks on thursday, january 30, the gentleman resume -- the senate resume consideration of s. 1926, with the time until 11:15 a.m. equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with the final ten minutes equally divided between senator menendez or his designee and senator toomey or his designee, with senator toomey controlling the final five minutes, that at 11:15 a.m., the senate proceed to votes in relation to the

following amendments -- toomey number 2707 as modified, coburn number 2697, merkley number 2709 as modified and heller number 2700. further, that upon disposition of the heller amendment, the senate recess until 2:00 p.m. at 2:00 p.m. when the senate reconvenes, the senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill as amended. finally, there be two minutes of debate prior to each vote equally divided in the usual form and that all after the first votes be ten-minute votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. whitehouse: let me now ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: and further, ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 282, s. 1417. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: calendar number 282, s. 1417, a bill to amend the public health service act to reauthorize programs under part a of title 11 of such act. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. whitehouse: i further ask that the committee-reported substitute be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i now ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of h.r. 2860, which was received from the houseoned is now at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2860, an act to amend title 5, united states code, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. whitehouse: i now ask unanimous consent that the rules committee be discharged from further consideration of s.j. res. 28 and s.j. res. 29 and the senate proceed to their consideration en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged. and the measure will be considered en bloc. mr. whitehouse: i ask now unanimous consent that the joint resolutions be read a third time and passed en bloc and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i now ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. con. res. 31 which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate concurrent

resolution 31, designating january, 2014, as national blood donor month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. whitehouse: let me ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: and finally, let me ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, january 30, 2014, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of s. 1926, the flood insurance bill, under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i am advised to

inform my colleagues that there will be up to four roll call votes beginning at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow in order to complete action on the flood insurance bill. the vote on final passage of the bill will occur at approximately 2:00 p.m. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m..

senators will be notified when these votes are scheduled. mr. president, for the last 45 months america's private sector added more than eight million jobs. we heard that from the president last night. the stock market soared. productivity has never in the history of our country been higher and americans have even started building and buying homes again. but while the economy is gaining momentum, for far too many americans the hopeful headlines don't match the grim reality. for the last few decades middle-class americans have seen their paychecks shrink even at corporate, as corporate profits climb and the wealthy are doing better and better. mr. president, as the president said last night, there's nothing wrong with people making money, and we're all happy they're doing well. but the average c.e.o.'s income multiplied 250 times. the people who work for that c.e.o. is making less and less every year.

that's happened during the last 30 years. the richest 1% have had their wealth increased by three times while during that same period of time middle class' earning capacity dropped 10%. average americans are working longer and harder than they were 30 years ago and doing less in the way of remuneration. the difference is this, their hard work isn't paying off the way it used to. we must change that, and we can change that. it's not too late to ensure that americans success are determined by the strength of their spirits instead of the the size of their bank accounts. 50 years ago in his first state of the union address lyndon johnson declared unconditional war on poverty. we've seen a lot of news accounts on that anniversary during the last month or so. but here's what lyndon johnson said 50 years ago -- quote -- "unfortunately many americans

live on the outskirts of hope because of their poverty. our task is to help replace their despair with opportunity." end of quote. thanks to these innovative programs created five decades ago including medicare and school lunch programs, the poverty rate has fallen 40% since the 1960's. mr. president, there's so much work to do. the 67 richest americans, their net worth increased $2 billion on average last year, every one of them. you know what happened? during that same time a million more american children dropped into poverty. so there's much more to do. too many american families still live on the outskirts of hope, struggling to survive and falling well short of the american dream. last night president obama laid out a plan to breathe new life into this country's struggling middle class. the president charted a course to build on the economic

progress we made over the last 45 months and to guarantee progress is felt by every hardworking american. he challenged us, congress, to work with him to replace despair with opportunity. president obama called for commonsense investments in our future, investments that have been deferred for too long. if america hopes to rebuild and maintain a world-class economy, we must build the 21st century infrastructure to support that economy and a cutting edge energy supply of power. we must prepare today's students for tomorrow's jobs by ensuring a higher education is within reach of every promising student. we must give small businesses and manufacturers the support they need to drive. and we must ensure every american earns a living wage during their working years and the opportunity to retire comfortably. i support the president's action to raise the wage for private contractors who work for the government. janitors, food servers,

dishwashers, construction workers. no american working a full-time job should live in poverty and congress must act to raise the minimum wage for all of our nation's workers. a strong middle class and an opportunity for everycan opportunity for everycan a strong middle-class and opportunity for every american to enter the middle class. let's let the president as to renew our commitment. the principal is great. fairness, basic fairness. make certain that every american , regardless of gender, sexual orientation, as the opportunity to have a full color equals work force. and no guarantees in life. that everyone succeeds, but every american deserves a fair shot at that success.

>> update. republican leader. >> i would just like to say a word this morning about the present state of the union speech. congresswoman mcmorris rogers did a great job representing our party and the people of washington state's district last night. frankly, i wish the president has laid out an agenda half the supple as the one she did because the state of the union address has always been an important moment for our country it is enough opportunity for the two parties to come together with the president, members of the supreme court and other government officials to show a kind of unity even in the midst

of the great debates that we have here every single day. it is a worthy tradition. last let the president had a real chance to unite the nation around a forward looking agenda. he had a huge opportunity to reach to the middle and chart a new path at a time when nearly 70 percent of americans say the country is either stagnant or worse of no that when the president took office. but we are of the wrong path. it could have been a legacy making moment. instead it was the same tired boilerplate we hear a year after year after year. and when you peel back all the adjectives in the activists, all the platitudes and not still left, what remains of the middle class? wisely the same tired policies

that led us to this point. the same failed agenda with its legacy of stagnant and employment, lower income, growing inequality, and crumbling pathways to the future the only difference is that members the president was to keep doing the same old thing just without as much input from the people's elected representatives in congress. basically all the same policies. president to not talk about embracing a positive, a new agenda last night spirited enough talk about reforming our tax code in a way that would try private sector growth and job creation. he did not talk about finding serious ways to start reducing the massive $17 trillion debt that threatens to suffocate our economy and cursed the dreams of our children. he did not talk about saving

social security and medicare or about streamlining and growing government or sitting america's entrepreneurs and small businesses free to dream and to succeed. as for energy, the president's plan seems to boil them to more regulation and new taxes on energy production. for all of this talk he did not even mention using his pen to sign off on the keystone pipeline. it is a single, simplest action he could have taken to create jobs soon. and it is a project that would not have created thousands -- it is actually a project, as i indicated, that would create jobs turn away. it still can if the president would just leave union supporters, powerful members of his own party supported. the american people overwhelmingly support it.

but there is one small group that is not supported, special-interest on the far left well, the special-interest on the far left one last night. the middle-class lost. you know, there is another big issue when the president turned his back on the middle-class, and that, of course to is obamacare. the state of the union was the president's opportunity to finally admit his mistakes in the painful consequences that have affected so many in kentucky and around the country. it was his chance to call for a fresh bipartisan beginning to start over with true health reform that can really help middle-class families. instead he simply double them on failed policies. i know we tried to paint a picture of life under this law. i suppose that is natural, but it is not a picture that reflects reality. you must know that americans

suffering under this law are not going to buy this them. he must know that trying to sell kentucky's obamacare bureaucracy as some kind of success story is to the thousands and thousands of kentucky is being heard by a it -- well, it is frankly insulting. it is insulting to a quarter million kentucky and to have had their plans canceled because of this law. it is insulting to the families struggling to afford premiums that have on average increased by almost half across kentucky, and it is insulting to taxpayers who have been forced to subsidize to the tune of about two under and $50 million in kentucky alone. obamacare as restricted access to doctors and hospitals, crushing effect on families, and is skyrocketing cost. so look, it is clear president obama missed the mark last night on some issues he actually said the right thing, like on trade

promotion the party, that is a place where we can work together to create more american jobs as long as the president can convince his own party to work constructively with us to do at. because what he did not say last night is that the only thing stopping us from creating more trade jobs is his own party. so we will see if he actually follows through on trade. but overall the president mostly refused to budge from his failed policies. he refused to reach across the aisle in a way that would lead to immediate job growth opportunities it is especially disheartening for the middle-class, and it was disappointing to those of us to actually want to get big things done for our constituents. for those of you really do want to work with the president, who want to collaborate on the smart, but partisan policies that can finally, finally get americans back to work after years of this failed obama economy, but we cannot do it

with the president obama. he has to lead on trade, jobs, energy, the economy, whenever the issue. we are not going to give up, not going to stop trying to help him see that americans are calling for a new direction for a forward leaning agenda that puts the middle class first and leaves tired left-wing ideals where they belong in the history books. and when the president is ready to work with us should know that we will be there waiting for him always been here, actually. member -- many members of this party with other helpful ideas have been here waiting for him. democrats with smart ideas the president's ability consider so far. all he needs to do about his to do is pick. he is willing to actually work in this series with members of both parties we will send him some things to side with the pen. mr. president, you for.

>> also today on capitol hill, the house of representatives passed the farm belt on a vote of 251-1 under 66. the legislation cuts in direct payments to farmers but expands crop insurance, and it does the food stamp program by $40 billion over a decade. the senate is expected to take up the bill this week. here is a look in some of today's house debate on the bill . >> thank you very much. yes. i guess for some people, you know, you just can't do enough. i would argue respectfully to one of my colleagues that the work that has gone on both sides of the aisle the last two years has actually been exemplary. the farm bill is always a difficult bill to pass. i believe the last one was vetoed a couple times and had to be overridden. this bill, we are not at that point, we have had a lot of bumps along road. it could be better.

it could be better, but i have never yet seen legislation for that is exactly what i would perfectly like to the voting of the and the date. we made huge strides in this bill. there were draconian cuts to this step in food stamp program that are no longer in year. there are onerous requirements and incentives to get people off food stamps pattern along rainier. for those that say people will be cut as a result, that is not accurate. if the states step up and put $20 toward the heating assistance for these low-income folks that hopefully mean that, they don't get a reduced benefit. guesstimate is a reduced benefit. they still qualify for their base benefit in this bill. moreover, if it would bring there heating cooling bills and they can still get the expanded benefits. it just requires a little more diligence, hopefully put some faith in america that the food stamp and stamp program is going to those in the it. as far as the subsidies go, maybe we should change that, work on us more. it will be another farm bill and for five years.

we made huge strides to get rid of the direct payment program. that is monumental. been trying to do that for 20 years. the subsidies, the milk program is totally new. we're on a martian insurance program. america understands that type of thing. we have made huge strides, and there are so many good things. for some of my colleagues in the democratic side of the aisle. tune of the day it's apparent that we have made huge strides. ben gray with market access to a promotion programs. we have made it so that american farmers continue to produce the best food and fiber with the safety net to make sure that the people in this country get the food they need and deserve and can do the best economically on the global trade scene. at this is a great opportunity. people here should be voting yes on this bill after all large bipartisan work. thank you and the yield. >> the gym, has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. >> i yield two minutes.

>> the july from oregon is recognized for two minutes. >> i deeply respect my friend and colleague from oregon. ameslan the different perspective because i think the bill that is before us today is absolutely the least that can be done end get the bill passed. as a number of items i do support like specialty crops. i am pleased that there will be organics and have an opportunity to get to crop insurance, but this bill, as i say, takes allegedly this savings from direct payments that have been opposed for years but takes the savings and ploughs them back in 2n in rich crop insurance program. it cuts $6 billion for conservation. yes, there are some improvements in terms of administration, but if when the end of the day you cut $6 billion when land and water is under pressure in

needs, at the most, this is shortsighted. is very likely going to cost a lot more in the long run for the reasons my friend from wisconsin pointed out in terms of setting new star is tired. it is more generous in terms of rejecting a provision that was included in both the house and the senate version to limit payments to individual farms to $50,000. the conference committee increases the limit to $125,000 reopens the loophole closed in both the house and senate bills allowing the payments to be collected by multiple people. it is just one more example of where the conference committee that i think had one meeting and sort of massage these things to put the pieces together to secure a majority on the floor but is not by any stretch of the imagination in the best interest of most farmers, certainly not for the environment and for the american taxpayers.

i respectfully urge its rejection. >> as we said earlier, the house ended up passing the farm bill on a vote of 251-1 under 66. it is expected to pass in the senate later this week. and then the bill goes to the white house where president obama was cited. >> in bringing attention to what women do or how women have contributed always returns to the question of the body. so for one thing, many people object to bringing women's studies are well as history into a middle school, high-school classroom because there is an assumption that women studies is only about sex, birth control, abortion. actually it's also about women in politics, women in law, women working on farms, queens, prime ministers and my job is to break

down the fear many people have. what goes on in a women's studies class from. >> sunday women's history, feminist movements, and the entire feminist backlash. women's studies professor and author will take your questions in-depth live for three hours starting in noon eastern. book tv on a c-span2. and on line, you still have a few days to weigh in on this month's book club. the liberty amendment and join the conversation. go to booktv.org and click on book club to enter the chat room. >> the secretary of the air force says their is a systemic problem with the forces that protect and maintain the nation's nuclear arsenal. secretary deborah lee james spoke before the air force association for 40 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning, i have been

beating high size of people in the room that have to get back to the nursing home, so i have to get this program started. i am referring to john connally, of course. the only a year-old guy in the crowd. good morning. i am greg mckinley, the presidents of the air force association. on behalf of our chairman of the board welcome to our first secretary of the air force breakfast in 2014. happy new year to everybody. thank you for being here. [applause] madam secretary, normally we have to go through a buffet line and it takes forever, but for some reason when your ear we get plated. thank you for that. the help -- we even have dick cody here. what is an army guy doing in the air for association? welcome a just order to make sure that we were taking care of . so it's good to see dick cody, former army air corps. that's right.

we have a wonderful group of senior, corporate executives, industry leaders, at issue is from around the world. we have a lot of patriotic americans in the audience. we could not have a better kenya speaker today for our first breakfast series the 90 secretary of the air force. secretary deborah james is the 23rd secretary of the air force. she came into the job, i was talking to check, probably the most unique requalify secretary of iran had. vast amounts of experience in industry, and the pentagon, and in government. and i can't think of a better person to lead the world's greatest airforce then secretary james. you all have read her biography, so i don't need to take up much time, and did not come in they hear me speak. without further ado of like to bring secretary james to the podium. think you for being with us and

is very cold in brisk morning. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. if i could also add, what a pleasure for me to be back into a position like a work so closely with you going ford. and i also want to start up by saying thanks to the entire force association team that i know work very hard to put this breakfast together. i am told there are about 250 of us here today which apparently is a very high number, perhaps a record-breaking number for this first of the breakfast series of the year 2014. of course, that is just the extra pressure on me. i only hope on with the. you have to be the judge of that if you what i have to say, but thanks to all team for putting this together and for all the work they do throughout the year i am sure that in addition to braving the cold today we might have some sleepyheads in the audience. a little tired of having stayed up late, as i imagine many in

this room did to listen to this id of the union address. doubly glad to see this morning. you made the effort to convince. i don't know about you all, but my favorite part of the address last night was the recognition for a member of our army, army ranger sergeant first class koreans for who after ten deployments overseas was very seriously wounded by a roadside bomb. he has been through many surgery's and grace troubles, but he is coming back, and you will come back, including come back and serve actively in a very active way on active duty with the army. and his mother is never give up. so that actually brought a tear to my right. it was very inspiring, and i'm sure there are many other americans who felt that way about sergeant first class corey. the air force association without doubt is at the very top

of the list when it comes to our services and our men the strongest advocates. truly a rallying point for innovative air-minded thinkers. and so it is no wonder that we have such a long standing, a positive relationship between our air force and the air force association. and when it is coming very next to our dod military and civilian work force which are so terribly important to us, the other part of the team that i want to recognize that is extremely important in our military capability which is our industry partners. have enjoyed talking with some of you today. a look around and see people that i have no from all walks of life professionally from the hell, from the pentagon and my earlier days, from my days in the industry. it's great to see so many of you again as well as to me some new colleagues. i want you to know that because i just finished working in issues, many industries use, i

understand how important it is to have that open communication line and to make sure that people in government and people in industry are cross talking all the time. i also get how difficult it is ben not only in government, but also an industry with all of the recent stops and starts and uncertainties with the budget that we've been through in recent years. so my point is, i understand that. of what in your shoes come in and going to work hard as the secretary of the air force to make sure that we keep the communication lines open because there is no question about it, we can't get our job done without your active support to make sure that we are fulfilling our national security requirements as quickly as possible and at the best possible cost to the taxpayer. lastly, i would like to thank the members of our defense attache court, many of whom are here in the audience. i very much look forward to working with all of you as we go

forward. is he was of you in your zero countries, but more in the immediate future and looking for to an event at the weather the next few weeks. so thank you all very much for coming as well. and with your indulgence there are really three topics like to touch upon this morning. what like to share with you number one some of what i have been up to in my first for five weeks. as a secretary of the air force, the second single of like to talk to you about is the priorities that i have laid out for the air force that we will be tracking and going forward. third, i would like to offer up some comments about our nuclear forces in the air force. so, as you said coming general mckinley, and the 23rd secretary of the air force and it is to believe you me, the honor and the privilege of a lifetime. was actually sworn in on december 20th, but only last friday i had a wonderful, ceremonial swearing-in.

it was a re-enactment by the secretary of defense. some of you actually were there. of course all of this came on the heels of that lightning quick senate confirmation process that i so very much enjoyed going through. been seriously, when you raise your right hand as i did last friday in the presence of the secretary of defense and the chief of staff and all of the bands and the honor guard and the flags, you really know that the deal is the sealed. and so i am just so delighted to be here. what a wonderful event that was for my family and me. as everybody in this audience knows, this is a very, very exciting time to be serving, to be serving in of the capacities of reserve. the strategic environment that we face is dynamic, and the threats to our national security both overseas and here home continue to evolve and come from state actors and come from non stay actors. the fiscal environment that we face is also extremely

challenging, and even when we are thankful and take into account the budget agreement which was recently passed and the fact that we will have some relief and some certainty, at least for the immediate future going forward, it nonetheless remains a challenging environment and will for the foreseeable future. so when i put all of that together it is clear to me that maintaining and in some ways shaping and growing a capable airforce not only for today's needs, but also for tomorrow's challenges, this is of paramount importance in we have to always keep in mind both the strategy element of what it is that the nation might as to do, we'll set to keep in mind that budget element because without consideration of both of those things mean they will come up the place that is simply not realistic, and that is not helpful to anybody. so this is why as the in the air force look to the future i feel quite certain that we will become a smaller force.

but it will be a force that will remain highly capable and on the cutting edge of technology so that we can always stepup to the plate and meet the country's needs. it will be very long before general welch and i go to capitol hill with the posture hearing on the fy15 budget proposal. of course i get some practice for that were testified during my confirmation hearing and got similar practice just a few weeks ago when i testified before the national commission on the structure of the air force. this was just an early january. i did that. i made the point to the commissioner would like to make the point here again today that going forward there is no doubt in my mind that our air force is going to rely more, not less, on our national guard and reserve forces. not only does this make good sense from the admission standpoint but it makes good sense from an economics import. by the way, the commission is due to report in the next year

to, and i don't certainly have all the details, but i think we will find that there is a great deal set the asymmetry between many of the recommendations of the commission, and i think this will be an excellent body of work to inform us in the future, and with the way that the air force's proposal to go forward. at think there will be a lot that we can agree on common and i certainly look forward to getting that report and digging into the details. so i've been working on budget, working on force structure, but beyond those issues i am also very pleased to tell you that i have had a chance to get beyond the beltway and see some of our air minute work. in december, while i happen to be in california vacation and dropped by to visit the air tran at the los angeles are for space which is part of our space commission. believe unique way is office secretary of the air force to drop by or pop in and anybody because it's kind of a big deal. i did my best to try to keep it low key. i had a wonderful visit with

them, albeit way to short. i have also been to dover air force base three times in the last month. two times i'm sorry to say it was welcoming home fallen airman . on an occasion known as the dignified transferred when i also had the opportunity to meet and try to provide at least some small, small measure of comfort to grieving spouses and family members. of course, this was extremely sobering in humble to of humbling experience. the third time i went to dover it was to meet with our airmen who, of course, are involved with the number of things including the ability mission. last week have visited our intercontinental ballistic missile bases in wyoming and north dakota and munster airforce base in montana. and then i finished that the trip that the global strike command at barksdale air force base, also saw some bombers as well as the missile teams in the

web more to say about that in just a few minutes. and then later this week and going to be able to congratulate some of our newest chairman as they graduate from basic military training in san antonio and then later on in the month and headed to the air force academy in colorado springs. so my point is, i'm trying to mind the important work here in washington that needs to be done, getting ready for the budget, but also trying to get out and about because i am learning as this audience already knows in great detail, that our airmen, active, guard and reserve, and civilian underpin everything, everything that we do. we are extremely, extremely fortunate to have the. all right. now let me shift to the three priorities that i have laid out for the air force. in the first which is probably no surprise commensurately has been a key part of my career, and that is people and taking care of people is going to be job number one for me going for a. what does that mean to me?

well, it means that we need to continue our focus, if anything, kick it up a notch when it comes to making sure that we recruit and retain the right people into the force, that we shape the forestall or reshape the force, you might say, as we go forward, not only for our immediate needs, but with the longer term in mind. and also compensating people fairly. it would probably -- in fact and i am quite certain that we will not see the types of compass -- compensation increases in the next decade as we saw in the last decade. still, we need to make sure that we keep pace and that we compensate people fairly. taking care of people also means growing leaders and developing what i call diversity of thought protecting the most important family programs. means balancing our talents so that we make the most of each of those components.

means that we ensure our climate where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. a need to keep on working the issues of sexual assault and sexual-harassment very, very hard just as we have been doing. so keeping that people close and taking care people is certainly job one, and we need to keep on communicating what we're doing because people want to know what is going on. as i travel around, but to all calls are town hall meetings era go and answer questions and do my best to keep people informed. and mentioned that we will become smaller. this is to be done correctly because we have of ridges and certain skills. we need to get to the right balance through both voluntary and involuntary means, doing as much voluntary as we can and involuntary we can't get to where we need to be.

a with the release we'll be receiving in fy14 and' 15 through the budget agreement and the listing of sequestration and the numbers going up a bit, certainly readiness will be the top priority for placing those resources going forward. that's the readiness of today. the readiness of tomorrow. what, i mean, by that is our modernization program. making sure we're looking out.

where are threats going. where are the key technologies we need to be in front of. the objective is that we continue to control the skies just as we have for decades in the past that we continue to able to project power like no one else, extend our global reach for many years to come. so that's the point and we need to make sure we're modernizing as we are also protecting the readiness of today. as everybody knows, we have the three top programs. the f35 joint strike fighter, the new tanker program, the long range strike bomber. these are top priorities for us. there are others as well. the readiness of today and the future is tomorrow. the readiness of tomorrow. third priority make every dollar count and make sure that everything we do adds value to the taxpayer. and i'm really, really determined on this one that the air force needs to deliver capability at the very best price tag to the consumer, which is the taxpayer and our military

members. as good stewards of this responsibility, we have to deliver this value to the taxpayer with programs that are on budget budget, on schedule, and of course coming out of industry as i do. i'm hoping those skills and that knowledge brought to the table of the air force will help us do even better on this. we also deserve -- we owe it to the american people to be able to audit our book. it's striking to many people, i think in america, we are not able to deliver a clean audit. we're marging down the path trying to get there. we need to stay on that path. it's actually our vice chief of staff, larry who lead the "every dollar count campaign." i told him i want to throw in big time with him and work it hard. the details -- the precise details about how we advance the three items, of course, will be forthcoming when the president's budget rolls out in march. but please know as i said earlier despite the budget

release which we're grateful for, the budget still will remain tight and this budget, you'll see it when it rolls out. we've had to make some tough choices. and there will be decisions in there some of which you may like, and some of which you will not like. and i guarantee you will will be some that congress will like and others that congress will not like. we've had everything on the table. retirement of some fleet of aircraft. obviously the force shaping initiatives we'll be reducing headquarter. there's going to be at lough detail in there and hard decisions had to be made. i'm hoping as we go forward that we can count on everyone in air force association to help us tell the story when the time comes because it's a story of needing to make savings and achieve savings in certain areas so we can reinvest in other areas. it's quite simple in that regard. but it becomes more difficult when you get down to the details. but again, i certainly hope that

we can work together on that and we'll look forward to doing so. all right. let me turn, if i might, to the nuclear world. while the air force is responsible for many incredible and important missions. early on i knew at the top of my list i wanted to visit the nuclear enterprise bases as soon as possible to meet with our airmen and learn more. as i mentioned, i did visit last week continuing to strengthen is top priority. no mission is important than safe guarding and maintaining deterrence. after all, our airmen aren't trusted with the most powerful weapons on earth. and this mission is essential to our security. and the security of our allies and partners. two weeks ago the general and i held a press conference and we

didn't have very good news to report. it was at that time that we brought forward and disclosed that illegal drug investigation had uncovered a certain amount of cheating on the icb force monthly proficiency test. now the general and i tried to be clear as we know how to be clear. by making the statement that this behavior is completely unacceptable and it is contrary to our number one core value, which is integrity. and i want to say again, we'll get to the bottom of this. it is an ongoing investigation. but i also want to say, again, and reassure everyone here that this was a failure of integrity on the part of certain airmen. it was not a failure of the mission. the mission is strong. it remains safe, secure, and reliable. i'm confident about that. so we are continuing to investigate and when the whole thing first came to the light, the media -- top immediate action i took was

to direct our office of specials investigations to put full resources on this to get the to the bottom of it as soon as possible. we took some other immediate corrective actions as well. we retested 100% of the crewmembers across the 20th air force on the very task in which this cheating occurred. and that was completed quite quickly. and the entirety of the missile force past at the 95.5% rate. that's is to say 95.5% of the people took that exam and passed it. so that's, to me, another indication of great confidence. that pass rate is very much in line with our historical averages. we took tighter a, to put in place administration procedures. basically it's better proctoring

proceed youring during the exam taking. there are ongoing nuclear inspection of our missile crew proficiency with what is called nuclear assurety inspections or nsis. the missile wing went through demonstrated a 100% pass rate and the simulator environment and the other wings will be going through this and complete by the end of february. mission is strong. i want to say we'll get to the bottom of this and do it with transparency. and those who don't meet our standards will be held appropriately accountable. the people involved with this, it also means we're assessing leadership to try to understand what went wrong. secretary hague is committed. he issued a memo of deterrent forces which will involve key stakeholders within ofd, the air force, we're bringing in the

navy to see what we can learn from navy practices and we'll be sharing that practices and developing an action plan over the next 60 days. there's going to be an independent panel that focus on personnel issues related to our nuclear forces. so now what i would like to do is like to share with all of you some of my impression from the trip i took last week. , by the way, on the trip i not only had command brief and learned about the mission, and talked to the leaders, i also did town halls and i also did small focus groups. just me and airmen. i did it with enlisted, i did it with officers, i did it at the variety of levels. i found the focus groups to be enlightening. so i've come up with a list of seven i call them on vases. they're sort of focus area. they'll be discussed at greater

length and we'll have a way forward in the seven areas when we develop the action plan i talked about a little bit earlier. here is my plies of seven observations. my first is my opinion, really, we likely do have -- we do have a systemic problem in this. the need for perfection has created way too much stress and way too much fear about the future. i heard repeatedly especially think in the focus groups. system feels punitive. it doesn't feel like you're incentivized for good but punished severely if anything bad should happen. i heard repeat think there's a level of micromanagement within the force that should be transformed to empowerment. and i also heard repeatedly that the airmen here that the mission is important but we don't necessarily put our money or

attention or mouth is. it's the difference between what we say and what they feel we do. it's my first observation. we probably do have something systemic going on here. i serve we may have lost within this team the distinction -- i think it's an important distinction between training and testing. in the current environment. there's no room for error. no room for error all the time. when you're talking about training. the idea of training is learning and mistakes happen and you get better. that's what training is all about inspect this environment it sounded lying everything was a test and that perfect test scores had become an important gauge. in some cases i heard the only gauge allowing commanders to differentiate among airmen to promote them. i think this is wrong. we need to address it. rather than making 100% test be

the make it or break it for the young people and the future of their career, we need to look at the whole person concept and the totality of what they're doing with the tests being an element but not a make it or break it element all the time. looking at training and testing is my second observation. third, we clearly have to have accountability at all levels. i already mentioned that. for those involved, some of whom actually cheated and knew about it but didn't stop it. there needs to be accountable and there will be. we're also looking at the leadership as i mentioned earlier. that's the third element is accountability. the fourth is we need to look at professional and leadership development. because within the career field we may not be doing the best we can do. we call it human dimension. we take a look at the human dimension. it's an area where the independent panel may be able to give thought and advice.

i think we need to look how we commission the officers from a different commissioning forces. we need to look at the training that goes on and ask ourselves where they getting the right leadership training. are they being professionally mentored the way our young leaders elsewhere are mentored. what about their career path opportunities? go they understand what they are. are they appropriately laid out? in short, we need to work to make the career fact in fact and perception something that young airmen want to do and aspire to do. fifth, we need to re invigorate our campaign on core values. airmen need to understand that understand that being a good wingman doesn't mean protecting others who lack integrity. and nay have a responsibility but also to report wrongdoing they see going on. and somehow that got a bit lost

here. we need to go back to the basics here, look at the core values, and remind people there are ways to report things both directly and through anonymous sources. i heard over and over again airmen don't want to be perceived as reporting on their buddies. that's not good. when it comes to matter of integrity. six, this is back to the people part of the equation, we need tow exam the incentive, the ak clades, the recognition that is available to the nuclear force. we need to ask ourselves should we take steps to make this career field more attractive. by the way, that's note just only on the enlisted -- on the officer side. i'm talking about the enlisted ranks here as well. so this gets in the world of should we consider some sort of incentive pay. or, you know, citizenship for certain type of work. it's looking at those sort of incentives and accolades. should we do a medal or rhythm. we need to look at that. and lastly, seventh, we need to

look at other type of investment. are they appropriate for our nuclear force? and this is sort of our -- very important we need to put our money with our mouth is. it's everything from perhaps additional fund for levels to get them up. perhaps high priority military construction. i saw some leaky roofs. things of this nature. there might be some quality of life things. should we redirect some of our investment toward this force? that's my seventh observation. so these are all the areas we're going looking at over the next 60 days. and whether he have more to say in an action plan to address the entirety of the force. i want to close by reminding you that although we certainly face lots of challenges be fore structure or budget or people challenges that out of every challenge comes also an opportunity.

that's the way i look at it. sergeant first class, nothing, nothing in life that is worth anything is easy. or free. i was inspired by the those words. i think he's right. i'm proud of our air force and our military can't operate without the air force. the air force is embedded in any every operation that is important around the world. and capabilities that we bring to the table the military can't get by without us. it tells us the future is bright. whether they are launching from the facility in florida or guarding a missile silo in the great north or refueling an air lifter over the pacific or providing close air support in afghanistan oar facilitating personnel and budget decisions right here at home in the pentagon. our city simply depends on our airmen.

i know, that. i believe that. i'm going to be working hard to protect them throughout the next several years. i would like to thank the air force association for one more time for being a strong advocate. we need you more than ever as we go forward. please keep it up. thank you for your support of our airmen. [applause] [applause] well, they stood up. that's a good sign. that's a good start. >> we have time for a couple of questions. the secretary has a -- [inaudible] we're going try to get as many as we can. [inaudible] please identify yourself. >> hi, secretary.

amy with air force magazine. you spent quite a bit of your speech talking about the nuclear issues in the air force. i was wondering for you can give us your insight in to how the five year after the air force started air force global strike command brought a new leadership to reinvigorate the nuclear enterprise how the issues are still so prominent. the take on that amy, is that although the nuclear enterprise is certainly gotten focused through the years, i think we tend to focus pretty heavily when something goes wrong. we tend to focus very heavily on that element where it went wrong. and perhaps, perhaps what we haven't done as well is persistent focus. meaning persistent and broad focus. so that is to say even when there's nothing going wrong, are we still focusing? and when things do going wrong, are we taking broad look or a

narrow look at the one element that went wrong. that's my take on it. and going forward, of course, we have to deal with the immediate issue before us. and we have to look at what went wrong there. but i think and believe and hope that the seven observations or the seven areas of focus i outline that this, indeed, will be sort of a broad view that we can try to come up with a plan to go forward and look at the overall enterprise not just what went wrong in this particular instance. and that out of that, we will also come up with a way to provide more persistent focus. not only just when there is something going wrong but constantly every day. just a question on the number of

airmen under investigation. we've heard now it's probably doubled. how many people are under investigation. how many are for cheating or actually said those additional people are how many of those people are for now reporting on the cheating they do is going on. and lastly, do you have a sense when it comes to accountability people who knew about cheating but didn't report it were also removed from these? thanks. i don't have a specific update on the informations and the numbers to be able to share today. i prompts, i commend we'll have an update on that in the not too distant future. part of this, you may recall, we actually brought this to the american public. so i promised transparency then and i meant it. i just don't have that today. i can tell you the numbers are up. the investigation is ongoing and we're going let that investigation take us whenever

it takes us. whatever the facts are, those are what we will share with you. as i mentioned, the secretary of defense is also very committed. so there is a number of us that will be actually later today will be meeting the joint group where we will sit down with the osd and the navy and beginning the sessions later today as a matter of fact. please standby and we won't be too much longer before we do have an update on the specifics of the number. >> last question right in the middle of the room. >> welcome, secretary. i'm johnson control we've heard your important message about every dollar should count. what are your thoughts in relation to making every dollar count for energy efficiency for both your facilities and your weapons systems? this gentleman gave me a heads up he was going ask the question. i hope i do all right. i've had a little time think

about it. my answer to that is obviously we spend a lot of money on energy. and we're in a tight budget environment. number one, in our best interest to look for ways to spend less on energy and be energy efficient and do what we have to do by spending less. saints an obvious thing. we get that. there's also the obligation that we have to the planet and doing our best for the environment. that's another reason to do it. so we are working on it. we are working ton hard. it's everything from looking at how we purchase energy to alternative energy that maybe can give us a help. i believe we're running pilot program at military bases to see what we can learn. there's a variety of initiatives going on. i'm looking at delving in a little bit more deeply as time goes by. >> thank you, secretary.

[applause] i know or air force is in great hands. we couldn't have a greater opening speaker than our very own secretary. and i know you and mark are going to do a great job for our air force. we're proud to be part of that with the air force association. george wanted me to remind everybody that we couldn't do it without the people who have attended today. but we very much appreciate the leadership you have. this coin was minted for our team of the year award this year. because you're on our team, we wanted you to have one. and even though it's a very large coin, it's not as large as some of our officers have made for themselves. [laughter] no names. no names. we wanted do you have this for great, great speech today. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much! [applause]

these are the native. this is the 05 steer that the industry was based on up until about the 19 20s and, you know, 30s and '40s when overharvest and pollution knocked the population back. we have been farming them for a long time. we're one of the few companies that is still produces them in hatchery today. and farms them. they are wonderful. delicious 05 steers. they stay small and have a wonderful copper i are flavor to them. we work closely with the non-profit to do a large scale restoration fund. and they weren't really initially thinking about environmental concerns so much

as professionals. so the oysters were in decline and not the main staple of the oyster anymore. this remained an exotic, high-end specialty item. >> the name olympia -- olympia was part of our history of washington state. the -- there was a debate where the capital of washington should be. and the olympia and spokane were competing against one another to have the capitol in their city. and it was olympia oyster was sent around to the delegate. that renamed it the limp -- olympia to sway the political conversation. we ended up getting the capitol here was of the oyster. booktv and american history tv explore the history and literary life of olympia, washington.

saturday afternoon. and sunday at 5:00 p.m. on american history tv on c-span 3. the state of the. an grew of national school choice week on his group's work to promote charter schools, private school vouchers, and other alternatives to traditional public schools. "washington journal" is live on c-span every morning at 7:00 early.astern. we'll continue to get yourn thoughts on the state of the union but we will also go up to capitol hthill where congressman tom price is joining us from thn joining us from the rotunda were -- where he is vice president of the budget committee and sits on the ways and means committee, the tax writing committee.

mr. price, what did you think of the speech? >> i was really disappointed. seems that the president, instead of understanding we have divided government, we've got to work together and got to come together to solve the remarkable challenges we have as a country, and decided no, he's going to double down on his policies and he's going to use his pen, as he says. that's not the way our system works, so it's troubling to me that we have a executive, chief executive officer of the land who refuses to utilize the appropriate processes of governance. i think it's disappointing. i'm not sure where it will lead. hopefully what he'll do is wake up and have his advisors say look, you've got to work with congress. it's an important thing to do and there's common ground we can find. host: what can republicans do to a response to a president that uses executive orders. >> there's multiple areas of checks and balances in our system. the first check is the attorney general, he should say to the president when he is doing

things that are a, unconstitutional, or out of the norm, mr. president, that's not an appropriate thing to do. that's the executive check. and we haven't had attorney general holder do that. he hasn't fulfilled his responsibility. on the legislative side, our responsibility here in congress is to provide oversight. we do that through committees but also to put forth positive pieces of legislation that are contrasting and demonstrate to the president, look, there are other ways to solve this and we can find a solution. and the third way in our system is through the courts. and there are many, many cases that the american people are going to hear about over the next year or two that are challenging the president's authority in what he has done already. and if he continues down this road of it's my way or the highway and i'm just going to use my pen and my phone and get out of the way, there will be huge challenges in the courts and the courts, i believe, as they've already done at lower courts, decided, mr. president, that's a step too far. you can't do that. you've got to work within the system and the constitution. host: "the new york times"

editorial board agrees with the president on this strategy saying that the diminished state of the union, the congress a dead end for good policy, mr. obama is forced to govern by executive order. >> it doesn't surprise me coming from "the new york times" because they haven't been the objective arbiter. many in the press have not been objective about their assessment of this administration. it's not a prerogative. there's nothing in the constitution that says if the president and congress, if the legislative branch and executive branch don't get along then the executive branch can do what it wants. it's not a part of our testimony. it never has been a part of our system of governance. there's wonderful ways to solve the challenges if we sit down and work together and find the common sense solution. the problem is the president refuses to do that. >> one of the issues -- host: one of the issues coming up for the congress to work with the president on is this issue of raising the debt ceiling. what will the republicans want

from the president in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. >> it's important to step back and realize where we are now, e're $17 trillion in debt. our gross domestic product is held as debt. that's a problem the nations get into they have to solve that problem in order to make it economic vitality and opportunity for their citizens. we believe in the process of recognizing that debts need to be paid, there's no doubt about it, but if we're going to move forward with the policies we have, we need positive reform. we need to save and strengthen and secure medicare, not let it go broke which is under current law. we need to save and strengthen medicaid and not let it go broke which will happen under current law. we need to save and strengthen social security which is what is going to go broke and will occur under current law. so again, there are solutions we ought to be working together on. the president refuses to negotiate. again, he says it's my way or the highway. that's not our system of

governance. host: congressman, the president addressed this last night saying the differences between the two sides shouldn't be used to not govern this country. here's what he had to say. [video clip] host: we'll get that ready in a second and get your response to it. in the meantime, let me go to a phone call. howard has been waiting to talk to you in los angeles, independent caller. hi, howard. caller: how is it going? i listen to your show and never seen your show until just recently. there's a caller that said something about college, people not going to school. i have four degrees and i had the worst time finding a job or even getting a job, and i got a degree from a state university and i have to leave my country now to get even decent pay because i heard somebody talk about minimum wage. that's garbage. obviously you don't live in

california and gas here is expensive, rent is out of control. you're never going to get people to come back here and build any businesses when you have to pay people $15 to $16 when i can go to china, buy a factory and get something made for $2 or $1 and not even care about health benefits. that's a joke. host: congressman? >> howard, listen to the concern in his voice and angst in his voice. this is really troubling because the kinds of issues howard raises there are exactly the kind of things we ought to be correcting. we ought to be working together. there's no reason we can't work together and figure out how to make certain we create jobs in this country, that we have economic vitality, that we decrease the regulatory oppression going on. instead, the president says economic instability is increasing and he's been in charge for over five years and wonders why the american people at the rate of 63% don't trust him to do the right thing.

it's because he refuses to make the right diagnosis and that's because governmental policies have been put in place that make it virtually impossible for the howards of this country to be able to find a job that fits with their expertise and their area of study. host: let's go back to what we were talking about, congressman, about the issue of raising the debt ceiling, the next debate for congress. here's what the president had to say. [video clip] >> for several years now this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the size of the federal government. it's an important debate, one that dates back to our very founding. when that debate prevents us from carrying out even the most basic functions of our democracy, when our differences shut down government or threaten the full faith and credit of the united states, then we are not doing right by the american people. host: congressman tom price, your reaction? guest: i couldn't agree more. so often this president says exactly the right thing but does exactly the wrong thing.

the house has passed a bill and would provide and make certain we always fulfilled the full faith and credit of the united states, make certain we always pay our debts. the president refused to sign. in fact, i think he issued a veto threat on that piece of legislation. so instead of doing the right thing, he says the right thing. and that's why this is so very, very troubling for the american people. the challenge that happened last october with the shutdown of the government, the president actually wanted that. he wanted it because he thought benefit and re his it did and i'll tell you why i believe it so strongly is because what was ultimately agreed to was essentially what was offered to him two days before the government shutdown. so this president needs to listen to his own message and needs to make certain he follows his own message and does the right thing as opposed to just talk about the right thing. host: congressman price, are you saying the republicans did not want the shutdown? guest: absolutely not.

we went over and over and over on the policies we thought needed to be addressed and make certain the government didn't shut down. in fact, we passed bill after bill after bill to make certain the government didn't shut down. with the kinds of changes this president is now already put in place on obamacare, the things he's pushed to the side but done with his pen instead of the appropriate way through the legislative process. so that's where we ought to be able to come together. if we'd just talk together and find that common ground and that commonsense solution, we'd be able to get much more done. host: here's a tweet from one of our viewers who wants to know what did you agree with from last night's speech? guest: i think what i agreed with, again, the president says many, many right things but the problem is that his policies don't follow-up. so income equality, is it a challenge? you bet. is economic mobility being threatened in this country? you bet it is. but the solution isn't to have the president double down on the policies that put those things in place. what we need to do is decrease taxes.

the president talked about decreasing taxes at the business level so we are competitive in the international environment and global economy. he's absolutely right. but we also need to make certain the american people can keep more of their hard earned money so we can get this economy rolling, so there are common ground sense solutions to come forward with. in order for that to happen you have to have communication and sit down and talk and the president refuses to do that. host: hank tweets in about tax reform and ties it debt saying we can't reduce the debt without tax reform. g.o.p. and dems claim they want to do that. why not start there? guest: she's absolutely right. on the ways and means we're working on fundamental tax reform to make certain we are competitive from a business standpoint that allow individuals to keep more of their hard-earned money and that allows american companies that are domiciled here but do business overseas and make a profit overseas, right now we punish them if they bring their

profits back home from a tax standpoint. what do they do? they leave their profits over there so they can't be used back here for research and development and creating new jobs and expanding businesses. she's absolutely right. tax reform is vital. and we hope and pray that the president listens to his words and then engages, not just picks up his pen, but engages and talks to republicans and democrats in congress to come forward with that positive solution. host: congressman tom price, do you think any sort of legislation on taxes could include an expansion of the child tax credit, could both sides agree to that? guest: it's absolutely what's on the table. in fact, everything is on the table from a tax reform standpoint. the important thing about tax reform is when you begin tinkering in one place, you have to make certain in other places it's not having an adverse effect. so it's an overall discussion that has to be had and we'd love to have that conversation with the president but haven't been able to because the president won't engage and that's, again, why the american

people by 63% at this point don't trust the president to do the right thing because he's down in the house on pennsylvania avenue just doing his own thing, not participating in the process, the normal process of governance in this country which means to engage with the legislative branch. host: joe in fort worth, texas, democratic caller. you're on the air with republican tom price, republican of georgia. caller: good morning to you, get w a and tom. guest: hi, joe. caller: i agree with everything tom is saying about the president. he made a good speech. he always makes good speeches. and following up on what he needs to do, and that is to connect with the business in this country. business run this is country. anything you do to affect them, and obamacare will affect them in a very disadvantaged way because when the business men that run this country and have to pay their people and insurance, and you're coming at them with something that's

crippling them, really, if you look at it, it's crippling the business in this country and you won't communicate with them. and our president has this. he just doesn't communicate with the people that he needs to communicate with. he's surrounded by the people that give him the wrong advice. guest: you're spot on. my job before coming to congress was as a physician and i spent time taking care of patients on the north side of atlanta and i know as my former colleagues do, that this law in place right now is harmful to health care for the american people and the president got up there last night and doubled down on a bill that the majority of the american people do not support and don't support because it's increasing price for the american people and decreasing access and quality. and instead of saying -- have a throw-away line to work with

others but instead of saying, look, we've got to fix the things that are wrong in this, the fact of the matter is he's increasing the challenge for the american people, especially in the area of health care. we've asked now for over four years, four years, multiple times, multiple times, hundreds of times to sit down with the president and talk about a positive solution we put forward on health care, the empowering patients first act that puts families and patients and doctors in charge of health care, not washington, d.c. and been rebutted at every single turn. host: how does that legislation differ from what we heard on the senate side from three senate republicans, senator co-burns, senator but and senator hatch have their own proposal. guest: i think it is a step in the right direction, h.r. 2300, we have support in the house and the third piece of legislation we put forward and addresses all the challenges in health care and gets folks covered with insurance they want, not that the government forces them to buy. every american is able to have the financial feasibility to

purchase coverage, solves the insurance challenges of portability and pre-existing insurance, and not to lose it if you change or lose your job. you ought not ever lose your insurance if you have an awful diagnosis and be priced out of the market. we have a plan to save hundreds of billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars through appropriate lawsuit abuse reform so we're able to finance the rest of the bill and end the practice of defensive medicine. so we've got a lot of ideas. in fact, there are over 160 pieces of legislation in the house of representatives on health care, on the republican side, over 160. you'd think listening to the president that there wasn't one. that's the kind of deceit he puts forward to the american people. host: back to taxes. woody on twitter says this, why did g.e. pay no taxes and get $40 million in a refund? what about corporate tax -- what some people call subsidies? guest: she's absolutely right. g.e. ought to be paying taxes. what they did is follow the law right now and clearly get credits for certain things and

deductions for certain things. what we believe ought to be done is remove the vast majority of those credits and deductions, lower the rates that utilize those resources to lower the rates and again we become competitive in the world from a business standpoint for taxes. you and your listeners likely know we have the highest business tax rate in the industrialized world, the highest, not second, third or fourth, the highest. what that means is that when businesses look to either begin or expand in this country and go to the line that says taxes in their business plan and says the united states, the next word is no, go somewhere else. that's what howard talked about earlier from california. this is a challenging time in the global economy and what we're doing as public policy in washington now are the wrong things. and the president oftentimes says the right things but never follows through on the right things to do so that we become more competitive. host: gregory says create a true tear tore tall taxation system instead of encouraging this behavior, tax havens are

worth than north korea or cuba. go ahead, congressman. guest: in fact creating that territorial, a modern tax system is part of what we've been working on in the ways and means in the house. there are wonderful ways to solve all of this without making it more difficult for individuals to either get a job or create jobs out there. we've got to get our economy back on track and that's what i think maybe was most distressing last night is i didn't hear the kinds of thought from the president that recognizes and makes the right diagnosis so we can get our economy back on track with important policy. host: rehoboth beach, delaware. charlotte is on the air with the congressman. caller: hello, representative price. i'm so over the top with listening to that man in the white house and the stuff that he has to say. i have yet to hear truth come out of them when they're in front of the cameras, any of

the democrats. people need to be listening to c-span and see and actually watching the house and the senate when they are in session. only then do you hear any truth coming out in the public. they just lie to us because they're steering us down the road to socialism. guest: charlotte, i'm really concerned about this deceit that's kind of become the norm from the executive branch from washington in so many ways now, and it creates a cynicism on the part of the american people. and cynicism in a free society, in a democratic society is the enemy of democracy. so this is really troubling. and i agree, that what we need to do is to, again, sit down. we've got to have the communication. and where we have differences, you bet we'll have differences but we ought to have honest differences and ought not be deceitful about what messages we're putting before the american people. again, the president of the

united states, this is troubling, greta. the president of the united states has a 63% disapproval rating on the individuals who believe he will do the right thing, that they can trust him to do the right thing. this is a remarkable time in our nation's history. so what the american people need to do is to demand the democrats in the senate and the president work with all of government right now. but also to be honest with the american people. to quit the spinning. this is a very troubling time in our nation's history. and what's happening from an executive standpoint is that we're not addressing the issues that need to be addressed in a responsible way. host: congressman, is it appropriate to go as far as calling this president a socialistic dictator like your colleague did, randy webber, last night in a tweet? guest: i don't think those kind of labels are helpful to the discussion. regardless of that, if you look at the policies, what the policies are the president put in place and continues to recommend to be put in place is

that the government knows best and that the size of government isn't big enough, that we haven't taxed people enough and we don't have enough regulation. if you believe that, then you believe the president's policies are the appropriate things but i would suggest and as the american people are saying over and over again, that they believe no government is too large, that it's too ex- pansive and too oppressive and too many regulations, that we're clamping down on the job creators and therefore not able to expand the economy in positive ways. i think throwing names back and forth is not helpful on either side. again, what we need to do is to do what we were elected to do, sit down with each other, be responsible, communicate, advocate for our position as aggressively as we know how but come together on the common ground, commonsense solutions and we urge and call on the president to come that. he has yet to do that in his administration. we're now over five years in his administration and he refuses to do the kinds of things you and i and everybody learned in our civics class in middle school and high school

what the normal process of government ought to be. host: congressman, if it's not helpful to call each other names, should congressman weber apologize for this tweet? guest: again, those kinds of questions -- that's inside baseball. that gets folks pitted against each other. i'm here to try to solve problems. i'm looking forward and try to make certain that what we do is specifically and appropriately and honest define the challenges we have and agree to that definition and move forward with positive solutions. host: tonya is next in carlton, texas, democratic caller. caller: good morning, i'm a first-time caller. good morning, congressman. guest: how are you this morning? caller: i'm doing great. i observed the speech, both of them, and looking at the point of view, i'm just thinking that as far as providing opportunities for people, you know, we see every day that there are so much inequality in everything. and looking at the arguments

and stuff back and forth and everything, it just seems like nothing is getting done and every time you turn on the tv, all you see is arguments about things that's really not helping the situation at all. i would like to see more of our artisanship instead of he-said, she-said reporting. guest: so would i, i tell you. that's precisely what we're trying to do as republicans in the house of representatives. we had a hearing yesterday in our budget committee about inequality and about the economy and about how to have people be able to be lifted up to be able to have the opportunity that was just referred to by that caller. and sadly, what the president does is says the right thing, says that there is less opportunity and less equality and less economic mobility, but then makes absolutely the wrong diagnosis and that is that the government isn't big enough and isn't dictating enough to people. what we believe ought to be done is sit down, have that conversation, hammer it out. i believe if we did that in an honest way, in a forthright

way, in a way that virtually all of us did in the endeavors we were involved in before we came to washington. each one of your representatives and united states senators by and large was successful in whatever they did in their community but they didn't get there by the kind of activities we have here in washington, d.c. with battling with each other in a way that's absolutely nonconstructive and productive. so harken back to what we -- the kinds of things we were doing before we got to washington, use those talents to solve the challenges that we have. again, i'll urge and call on the president to sit down with republicans, sit down with democrats and work through these challenges because they're huge and the american people deserve our best. host: congressman, tell us one or a few of the items that the president talked about last night that you think can happen this year, that congress and the president can work on and get it done this year? >> well -- guest: the president mentioned the importance of tax policy, being right, getting the

economy growing and again he says the right things but we want to go to the next step and have that conversation so we pullly -- actually put in place policies that bring about tax reform so we allow businesses to compete in the global economy, that we allow the hard-working american taxpayers to keep more of their money to get the economy running there and the tear tore tall tax system the individual that tweeted in talked about. and then he talked about expanding trade. again, this is a global economy. it's important that americans and american businesses be able to compete globally on a level playing field and what that means is trade policy to expand. this administration, the president has refused to engage on expanding trade promotion authority and expanding trade policy as a nation. and again, he says the right things but doesn't engage politically, he doesn't engage with his colleagues on the democratic side. he has to engage for these things to be solved. we urge and call on him to do

so. host: so trade, tax reform, what about immigration? this year in 2014? guest: our immigration system is broken, no doubt about it. but i'll tell you the one thing that's absolutely broken and that's what i mentioned earlier and that's the trust of the american people in this administration to do the right thing or to follow the law. again, 63% don't believe the president is capable of doing the right thing right now or trust him to follow the law. one of the principles we have in the area of immigration and solving immigration is make certain we have a president, that the american people and that we can trust and who will enforce and follow the law. the president refuses to do that. until he does, i'm not certain there's any way we can move forward on this and it's not because we don't want to move forward, it's because the president refuses to enforce the law of the land. host: debbie is up next in virginia, independent caller. hi, debbie. caller: hi, how are you doing? host: good morning. caller: first of all, i'd like to say i'm no longer recognize this country. it has turned so liberal to the

point we're allowing gay marriages, we're allowing pot to be smoked openly in the street. and cocaine and other drugs will be next. and that just blows my mind. and i'd like to say our president should be called king obama instead of president obama. he is doing things, he's trampled all over the constitution. just trampled on it. he has lied to us. he said he was not going to raise our taxes. did when he raised what you can claim medical on your insurance on the taxes. you have to now have 10 -- more than 10% and it was 7.5% before. host: debbie, i'll have the

congressman respond. guest: greta, it's important to hear what debbie is saying. i hear it when i go to my district and around this country to visit other districts and that's a huge concern about the honesty of this president and this administration and we never heard this kind of vitriol before and it's passionate belief, it's patriotism that is rising up and saying why is the executive branch, why is this administration ignoring the law of the land and not seeming to follow the normal processes. it's what gives me huge concern about the ability to solve the challenges that we have, of what we need to do and we call on the president. and recognize the duties of the president of this land and make sure you enforce the law of the land, be honest with the american people about the problems and challenges we have and let's get together and solve those challenges. host: congressman, a few callers brought up the executive authority issue. "the christian science monitor" put this graphic together i

want to show our viewers that show that so far president obama has used the executive authority 167 times. compare that to george w. bush at 291. so is he doing anything different than previous presidents? >> i think he is and i can't see that graphic but i think he is, both in the number and the volume of them in his first five years, and in the magnitude of them. these aren't small little changes. what he's doing with executive orders oftentimes is actually attempting to -- or changing law. the obamacare is a classic example. the law of the land is his health care bill. but when he doesn't think that it's doing what needs to be done or it's reached too far, he simply says we're not going to enforce that, we're not going to do that. that's not the way our system works and why you get the debbies of the country being concerned about this imperial presidency. what the president needs to do when there are problems with this law and problems with the health care law or anything

else is to come to okay and say look, we've got a problem here and let's solve it together with congress. that's not occurring now and why you hear the kind of disgust and anger and fear out of the american people we heard on our calls this morning. host: on the issue of trade, independence day tweets in, if by "trade" you mean the t.p.p., we'll fight you at every opportunity on that one. what is the t.p.p. and do you support it? >> trade promotion authority is what we're talking about and what we need to do is make certain from a trade standpoint we have a fair and level playing field. we ought not punish our businesses for exporting to other countries. by the same token if other countries are punishing our businesses when they export to other countries -- to that -- then we ought to make certain they are not treated in a equal manner here.equal this is a global economy.

is mrs. don't have to stay here. they can go anywhere they want. what we are doing as a matter of public policy is preventing businesses to expand and preventing the growth of businesses that want to do trade in the world because of our public lse. --t's night -- not the right because of our public policy. that's not the right to head. caller: greetings from the snow-covered hills of georgia. guest: thank you so much. good to hear from you. was disappointed when you did not elect to run for the senate position that was vacated by saxby chambliss. i think you would have taken that position. i'm glad that it is removing three of your less than stellar colleagues from the ranks of congress. i think we are getting rid of some people that really needed to be replaced.

that kind of stole my thunder. it sounds awful hypocritical to be talking about barack obama when george w. bush had so many -- practiced the same type of imperial presidency. i'm realwn standpoint, concerned. you talk about the death of -- if you are a saver who saved all the republicans and democrats of their are making war on us. they have used us to recapitalize the banks. it is all about the banks. will come toou your senses before you completely destroy the party with this nonsense about the highest tax rates in the world. everybody knows these corporations are not paying any taxes. it makes you look idiotic. guest: i appreciate that, but the fact of the matter is we do have the highest business tax rate in the industrialized

world. there are loopholes where businesses are not paying. that is wrong. that's why we need to do away with those kinds of things. that's why we support positive tax reform, to make sure that everybody -- everybody is paying their fair share. there are wonderful ways to do it. the tax code is so complex and internally contradictory. it doesn't work for anybody. the only person it works for, i guess, is the irs, and we've seen what happens with the irs. which reminds me the president didn't even mention the challenges with the irs, under his watch, under his administration, having used the irs in a political manner unseen ever before. those are the kinds of things i think the american people want to see addressed. william in connecticut, democratic caller, you are next for congressman tom price. thank you.

many people are demanding a new investigation into why the building fell in september when it wasn't hit by a plane. data thata limited invalidates the fire-only collapse explanation. despite misconceptions by some public officials, the scientific evidence says there is more to the 9-11 crime -- the 9/11 crime than we thought. studies that were done afterwards and the investigation that was done and the real-life -- the real-life experience of individuals who were there and saw what happened , tragically, the events that occurred, i think it corroborates what the general witness is about this. this is a very dangerous world. the fact of the matter is that individuals who sought the distraction of the united states flew planes into the world trade center towers on september 11,

2001, and into the pentagon, and had another plane aimed at either the white house or the united states capital. that is not a myth or that israel. if we are not honest about making the diagnosis that this is a dangerous world and there are people who seek to do us home -- harm, then we will abrogate our responsibility in a reckless attorney general eric holder took questions on an investigation looking in whether the irs improperly targeted conservative groups. that's next on c-span2. then the air force secretary talks about a report on officers who oversee america's nuclear missile systems. and later senate majority leader, harry reid, and minority leader, mitch mcconnell talk about the federal minimum wage. on the next "washington

journal." attorney general eric holder testified before a senate panel on a number of topics including the nsa data collection program, sex trafficking around the super bowl, and the ongoing investigation of the irs. he was also asked about the legalization of marijuana in several states. the senate judiciary committee hearing is chaired by patrick leahy. [inaudible conversations]