of the epa over the next two years it? >> we have requested significant funds just to take a look cantor research in this area to richer natural gas is done responsibly. i know the first line of defense. . .

because we did that with natural gas. you will see that we are going to be looking at that from will and combined natural-gas and oil wells while. but that -- that is not about different regional issues. it's about what technologies are available and taking a look at moving forward. that is part of the met than strategy and a climate action plan. you will be seeing some white papers, of, but not direct regulation. we will have plenty of time to take a look. >> we certainly have plenty to do hanahan. i would volunteer that this is properly best left to the states i will you back my time. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chair. this @booktv mr. mccarthy and i want to associate myself with

the comments from the chair in our full committee chair on the water issue. it's a big deal in my district in an allen has been dialed up quite a bit. i don't think i need to bring in a penny more. i did have a question. it is my understanding epa is not yet recommended blend requirements. the november proposal to the comments as proposed by setting a mandate to hold biofuel production cost and because consumers and their vehicles just can't handle any more at the now, yet at a january conference of state departments of agriculture press reports quoted u.s. saying i have heard loud and clear that you don't like -- you don't think we get that right and that given all of the feedback the final rule when released will be in the shape to you will see it we have listened to your comments. to meet these comments suggest the epa may reconsider its previous r m s proposal to appease agricultural interest to the detriment of consumers. check your comments be taken to

mean consumers will have to continue using more and more at all regardless of what the vehicles were designed to handle and according to your assessment of the law does epa have the authority to finalize our will on side of the existing november proposal? >> well, that me answer your first question. i believe that if you take a look at my comment is says that clearly in particular the at the mall and the by a diesel industry cannot believe that the proposal represented the full breath of what the agency could or should be doing to achieve a congressionally mandated level. and so i told them that i would be taking a look of commons and they would see that we properly considered those. i would also suggest that if you asked me if it also can fit other opinions and would be considering those my answer would be the same. we will take a look at all, it's coming in.

in terms of the final rule, we are going to do our best to meet requirements under law, but we need to continue to recognize that at the mall, the ethanol levels and mobs, we are not able to see those of us aren't in the market. we want to bring no risk. we don't think we need to or ever would and we're going to make sure we take reasonable approach the recognizes the infrastructure challenges and inability at this point to achieve the levels of the tunnel that aren't off. >> and then going to switch gears a little bit. represent a part of california, kern county, i share that with kevin mccarthy and obviously well correction is a large part of our economy. you said that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely and have agreed with former epa administrator that there have been no confirmed cases of hydraulic fracturing and he impacting drinking water. given the president's climate

action plan relies heavily on the use of natural gas what is your vision for educating the american public that hydraulic fracturing is safe, creates jobs and as lower american energy costs? >> that's a really great question. gives me the ability to a knowledge that natural gases have been a tremendous economic agenda for this country. and our goal is to make sure that it is consistent and unsafe and effectively so that it remains an environmental clean as well. one of the things we are doing is requesting funds to continue to do science around this because the epa would like to be able to say very clearly about natural-gas and how you extracted in a way that remain safe and responsible. that is our goal, and we speak best when we speak to the science. >> okay. as i understand epa plans to release the fracking study to the public at the same time it is submitted to the science advisor board for peer review. is it normal for the epa to

release its scientific studies before the peer review is completed? are you concerned that by releasing the study the peer review completed at the epa setting itself up for a situation in which it may have to backtrack? could net result in a public being unnecessarily scared and misled? >> my understanding is that a draft study is being planned to be released at the end of this year. you're right, we would put that up for public comment and would also make sure that it goes to the science advisor board because we have established a great panel to take a look at that. it is not my understanding now we are trying to confuse anybody. it is actually becoming public as soon as it coast of the science advisory board. so there the ones that are going to be able to be managing all of those signs commons and anything else will be able to consider as a science advisor board completes its peer review. it is, again, it robust process

that will be transparent and in the public purview. who will take a look at those comments, but this will be an ongoing effort to make sure that we understand the science. >> switching gears again, we'd resistance is a problem unique to biotech crops. assuring farmers have access to multiple modes of action to address read resistance is very important. ensure that they have access to new herbicide tolerant crops. i understand usda has not deregulated products will give farmers an additional ammunition against stubborn weeds and that the epa continues to wait for the usda deregulation commission before checking access on her son approval. can you help me a understand why it's taking so long for these crops to get into the marketplace? is your agency required to wait and usda relic to regulation and deregulation? by usda and epa official record in the deregulation of riverside tolerant crops? if so, what coordination has

occurred that can be quantified as an improvement in coordination between agencies? >> again, you are raising a very good and timely issue. it is an active coordination between u.s. ba and epa because it is important for us to respect the decision of the usda that does not mean that we are not doing anything. we are not making this decision in sequence. we are actually coordinating. they are doing there work. we are importing into it. and you will see that that means that we will be getting some decisions out for both agencies quickly. >> is there any requirements you release together or work together? >> probably no requirement that we do it that way. but in my opinion good management means that we coordinate with one another. that's what the industry is asked to do. this is the smartest way to get it done as quickly as possible recognizing that we both have a

decision to make in this process. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank the gentleman. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i was interested in your comment , cellulosic up and all. i do obviously support renewable fuel and renewable fuel standards, but it does seem as though this corn based requirements is a bit of a rip-off to not only the people who pay for gas but to buy food. i mean, it has to be a major contributing element to the fact the cost of food is gone out by 60% above the general rate of inflation. i think it's largely driven by the standard that is artificially raising the price of corn.

i hope we will look ahead that. >> i think congressman, we all agree in the statute is clear that we're really trying to get to advanced. does the goal. >> good. mr. suraya raised this issue of municipal solid waste. we clearly need to find better ways of dealing with municipal solid waste. he has talked about the commercial use of stuff that comes from restaurants and so on which is terribly important. paying an enormous amount of money to dispose of the stuff. we can convert it to something more useful that's great. i'm glad that the issue was raised. let me ask you further about that issue, the larger issue. over the past two years we have

been engaged a lot with a number stakeholders in improving in trying to update the environmental protection agency's characterization report we want to be able to more closely examine the major types of recycling systems and their resulting in markets because it could lead to more informed decision making at the local and state levels where recycling and solid waste programs are chosen and implemented. we understand there are a lot of different ways of measuring it, but the fact you got these materials is not necessarily mean that they are recycled in the new product. currently the report -- all the reports on what is being picked up, not necessarily what is being alternately recycled. so i wonder what your approach might be in terms of reaching

out to those industries that are collecting and processing and sorting and reselling this recyclables collected said that we can gain a better understanding of being -- of the end product of they're recycling systems. >> i don't know if i can tell you the complete work that we do because clearly our office of solid waste as a lot of work with the industry itself. one issue that's on my radar screen related to this is our definition of solid waste is basically an opportunity to encourage this type of commercial recycling. the prior administration did a rule that we have been looking at because it is not effectively generated the kind of interest that the state level that we thought it would generate to advance recycling of materials that would then be reused, genuine recycling. states are a little reluctant to take advantage of the law that was prior written.

we propose to them are looking to finalize the rule. what it does is really set a system of regulation so that you can properly recycle but in no way that the communities themselves know that if these efforts are under way in their community that it will pose a hazard. and so i think there are ways in which we can look at this in a variety of ways, not just technical assistance but really pushing markets by providing, again, is certain regulatory framework that states can take advantage of where we would have the capacity to define it a little bit better than the states so they can take advantage of it. that is what this particular rule is all about. we're trying to do it both individually through technical assistance as well as systemically to provide a more solid foundation for recycling industries to grow. >> well, that's good to here. i know a lot of folks religiously recycle all their stuff and then a year, well,

it's just dumped in the same pile, it just makes the homeowner feel better about it. the end result -- >> its been a consistent problem >> mr. chairman, i have one other issue the want to bring of. this is with regard to catalytic converters and federal standards the epa, you have an aftermarket catalytic converter standard that has not been updated since 1986. as a result, california, the air resources board developed a standard that will take effect in california in 2015. and there is some concern. new york is doing the same thing , putting out their own regulation. our concern is what it might

mean if we have a host of, you know, states coming up with their own standards. there is also a cost factor here if repair facilities have to install the california air resources board certified converter the cost difference can be between 35 and 40 percent more than the one certified by the epa. so i wonder if the epa is working on coming up with the models' standard for the nation so that we don't have 25 or 30 different standards throughout the country. we obviously want to make the converter's more environmentally friendly, but we also need to make sure that they are affordable to the consumer. >> congressman, did not know the answer your question, but we will certainly take it out when we get back to the office. i understand the issue. i was not aware that individual states were moving out and it had been so long since we

revisited this, but we will take a look at it. >> good for you. thank you very much, administrator. chess. >> a thank you for years of service. >> mr. chairman thank you. california on disney's the lead when it comes to clean and. we put out regulations before anyone else does. we have a history of that. >> that was a smooth transition. >> very successful program. senator feinstein, senator boxer and i agree. jerry lewis wrote the original legislation with the california clean air act.

why? because it works. we are removing old diesel engines from the inventories around the country. it especially affects the in two. five. stress and laughs. as i mentioned earlier, $13 of economic benefit per federal dollar. why would you want to remove a program that has such real achievement.

>> a want to respect the budget limitations that i've been given and make the best decisions again. trying to balance a lot of interest year. it has provided a wealth the benefits helping these independent truck drivers changeover to these new modern engines, 90 percent less emissions. it has an incredible effect on air quality. and going to work with mr. marin i suspect you probably knew.

such bipartisan support. >> shuffle my papers. >> my want to come back. apparently 117 million people in herman streams. >> and in streams or line up to support the navigable waters below which is of supporting the surface water and ground water. >> as the science is complete

and is being correlated in double checked and the do know is one of the 17 million people get specific illnesses that are attributable to known elements? >> 170 is simply an indication part of those are the use and german streams. >> are we fixing a problem or just complying? >> i guess what i'm suggesting, one -- designed to the protect drinking water to enter the natural resources are protected. these streams are critical to drinking water supplies.

>> and going to change directions once again on these issues of denying a permit. >> is this the new epa? >> i would not characterize the action. >> and a history of the epa will only use this for 04c process which is what we've just taken a for step to consider.

we have not had a permanent and makes this is the second time. it is a very unique circumstance it is a unique resource. one of the world's largest and most active and producing sockeye salmon fishery where now we should take action, i think it was appropriate to do that. >> this country has -- maybe the acquitted to some, but due process as part of a process. >> it will be thoroughly debated, transparent temple of commons. >> because this unilateral determination without any due

process. there's a trend to this alleged and have a significant effect on our economy. >> according. >> the first thing was a happened to be presiding in the for the house. my phone started barking. it was not preplanned. i want you to know the under chairman calibers direction i went over to spruce things up so there would not have votes in the middle of this. that's the kind of guys we are.

>> was a particular expertise? >> back to the clean water act. saw you have put out a list of agricultural exemptions. and only applies since section 404. >> i have to double check with you. i believe it's an exemption under the waters -- under the clean water act. it may be beyond that. it would not apply to directors charges that would be covered. let me double check. a want to be incorrect. >> the way and understand it. i might be incorrect.

the exemption is only applied to the 404. as i and stand it, engaging in normal activities would have to adhere to the nrc a standard in order to avail him or herself of the exemption. has that always been true? >> actually, this is an expansion of the exemptions we are changing no exemption that currently exists under law. of the current agriculture exemptions continuances. benefits the community which benefits and natural resources and recognizing that it also benefits water quality. it's trying to again provide more certainty. does not mean that all of those 52 prior to would have required a permit.

what is as we are providing certain the they don't need to ask anymore as to whether or not this is normal agricultural practice. redefining it is best we can. one more thing. i really like this proposal. but the other thing we did was we have also put out what we call an interpretive rule. that will allow us to look at the comments the common and continue to work with usda in agriculture to add to that list. as much as we can define agricultural practices and are exempt without question the more that a farmer can do the farming without worrying about whether the doing something wrong. >> the interpretive rule is just that, rule that can be changed it will. can be added to or subtracted from. >> the goal is that we are going to continue to add to those

practices. but the only thing that it would do is to again make the exemption clear so that you don't have to say is this an agricultural practice that is exempt? >> and i understand your interpretation of what is trying to do. but understand the concern that people have that they're just putting this in an interim rule which means it can change any time they want. we think we have these exemptions and a year later they can come back and limit the mall >> the only thing -- >> that's a concern. we will try to work through those. it's clearly an attempt. at least its intent is to do as much as we can to provide certainty to the agricultural community that they can farm the way many different that one

section indicates that all waters within a flood plain would be jurisdictional. we will flood plan now we talking about? one hundred, 200, 500 year flood plain? >> were talking about wetlands and reusing the same definition of our water as the original rule. or not change in and of all. >> one other subject to a different subject so i can find out what the heck did it with my stuff. mr. former chairman, while you're looking -- >> the original rule. >> original rule. >> would you mind yielding for the question? i do want to fully understand. don't 30 states differed to the federal law so that they don't have their own regulations? it rely upon the federal regulation.

there's the difference in the west. the states tend to have their own regulations that are different from the federal court this brings up the question i was just going task. as you know, the state of idaho recently passed legislation that will eventually take the lead in the state. states can do that or they can let the epa do it. idaho is chosen the led the epa do it. i don't know how many states are left that leave it to the epa. tune of? >> well, i'm told is 30. >> thirty is about right. well, they passed this legislation. the state will spend millions on multi-year transitions to privacy. and once it gains promise you will spend millions each year in its own program which is generally why states don't a promising because of cost. i am told that no federal funds

are there to assist states with the transition of the ongoing program. i guess my question is this, invest it is going to spend no lanes to run a program run by the epa as god hired dozens of people to handle program now run by federal employees wise in a savings in your agency or no assistance to the state in running the program were hoping to of this transition the state program? why as the state program grows dozen federal government's shrinking back. >> well, it would certainly work with any state that would want to take primacy on any program that the agency operated. i am, i guess what i would indicate to you is i do not see this rule changing the dynamic between the door government and state. the rule clearly preserves that effective state and federal -- >> this is outside the rule. saw on talking in the state taking primacy over the clean water act which means those

spend millions currently spent by the federal government yet i don't see savings in your budget on the savings that the federal government will save by not having to do that. >> i believe the epa has resources to help with the transition and to support the state in an effort. if we are actually now running a program that they're going to begin to run we would accommodate that. certainly encourage it. the more you can the state level regulation the better off all those like it. provides a better safety net. >> it might be appropriate to point out that the western governors which is a bipartisan group of governors are absolutely opposed to this new proposal. since we are bringing up -- cruxes it is -- it's going to take a lot more discussion and understanding on all sides both from the epa to understand the concerns of the western governors and legislators and also from all of us to understand what this will

actually does. if i could have one more question. >> i now realize. is the in the program the your talking about. they're really only four states that don't have primacy. i'm happy to work with you. the state feels like we are not being responsive. and more than happy to do that. this is a very encouraging step. >> in june 2012 the epa released the integrated municipal storm water and waste water planning approach from mark. that laid out a new model to help communities meet the regulatory obligations in an integrated manner. successfully implemented this month to help communities more affordably manage their clean war obligations. today only a handful of communities have come forward to express an interest in working with the dissing on this initiative. for the most part these

communities are ones that are engaged in consent negotiations or are operating under an epa enforcement action. the true test of this framework will be whether communities that are not facing an enforcement action but have large water quality chances can use the integrated planning as it has come to be known. to meet these challenges more affordable. these communities may need some help to develop plans in order to take advantage of this model. these plans will cost money, upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars. last year we suggested that a small amount money be set aside in the epa budget to support in the 20 pilots communities to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of this model. the appropriations request had broad bipartisan support. in final conference negotiations we were not able to get across the fence line because we could not convince the agency that supporting pilot communities with planning grants without

further their own initiative. we had the support of the agency to undertake this pilot effort nor did mr. and evaluate the effectiveness to help communities me toward quality goals. >> congressman, of the talk to you about it. it was an issue that we knew was on the rear screen, we would have loved to have had significant of resources to be able to accommodate it. and of the integrated planning effort that has been under way has been a successful one. you're right, we want to move beyond enforcement or compliance when you and make this a much more pro-active approach. while the reasons why were looking in their green infrastructure issues and try to have money that, it's working with 100 communities was we thought that that might be a more effective approach to integrating thinking about storm water and wastewater in a collaborative way. and so we do have funding and a budget to address these issues,

perhaps we did not quite agree on the venue or the vehicle for doing that, but i do know that back or has been actively engaged in thinking about these pilots of a been working with us and workshops across the country , and rapid to continue this discussion. >> i appreciate that. thank you very much from mr. simpson. as mr. simpson knows what he was chair last year i strongly supported this. both sides of this subcommittee that wanted this integrated planning initiative. only 2 million box. the cost of compliance can get substantial. of course the water systems pass it right on to the consumer. does seem to be a way of saving money. for what it's worth this is going do something that both sides agree on. i would suspect dickensian again

. thank you. >> thank you. thank you for being here today. thank you for the extra time that i have here said. i look forward to working with you select and understand were coming from on this new rule. >> only the 404 requirements is the exemption for the nrc as. you were bright. >> thank you. >> there's a of a to questions. one last comment. a house committee remains frustrated with the lack of compliance to the civic with a house oversight committee has asked at least to the outstanding subpoenas as well as an outstanding request for

documents. also your office of congressional affairs is preventing the science advisory board from responding to requests for information that was mentioned earlier from the house science committee. so as the committee continues to consider funding we would like to have your commitment to a fully and time the comply with these requests for documents and information from the house. >> you have my full commitment that we will be responding to these issues if you feel that we have not already. we had been producing significant amounts of documents in a timely way and will continue. >> thank you. with that this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations]

>> coming up on c-span2 the secretary of the air force discusses the investigation of cheating among officers in the air force and where core. in a senate hearing on federal transportation programs. and investigators released a report on bridge kate among the closure of george washington bridge lines in new jersey. >> on the next washington journal reverend barry lynn of americans united for separation of church and state and russell more of the southern baptist convention at the chin religious liberty commission. and christian science monitor contributor talks about the widespread use of heroin in the u.s. especially in suburbs. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the

conversation on this book and twitter. >> and socially ortiz, and ahead common and mean and and in the region and our school in phoenix , arizona. threat the year we have encountered a handful of struggles. throughout those years earlier seen how lack of support for treatment can result in devastating results as well as emotional stress for those individuals and their families. >> i look back at the incident that took place, 17 of the people were injured and six people died. >> we've announced the winners of this year's c-span singh can

video competition on what the most important issue congress should address this year. once the top 21 winning videos starting tuesday in every weekday. see all the winning documentary's online. >> responding to reports of rampant cheating in the air force is unclear core a hundred officers were either cheating and a clear weapons proficiency tests or not reporting cheating minor and of. the secretary of the air force and the global strike commander brief reporters about the investigation for 45 minutes. >> good afternoon. thank you for being here. character wherefores. we're going to provide you an

update on for some four to five force improvement programs. we will discuss some of the findings from that investigation as well as on the enhancements that will take place. we will begin the statements. following those remarks we will take your questions. if we have time will take additional questions. also, when you're identified please stay in name and affiliation. if we don't have time to answer all your questions please get in touch. without any further ado harmelin traduced the hon. deliberately james and commander of the air force. >> thank you for joining us today. i promise you periodic updates

about our very important nuclear mission. the incident at the air force base in their efforts to address these matters. and we're grateful you came and spent time with us. if you think back and recall during our last briefing in january we told you that there were 92 bloom -- crewmembers who were under investigation attest compromise of the air force base. this is they have participated or knew something about it without reporting it. also recall back in january the general wilson wants to commander directed the investigation and force improvement program to get to the bottom of the situation and to recommend needed improvements for the secretary of defense ordered the we provide in a plan within 60 days containing a way forward. finally recalled by will be provided on last update i

offered you all seven when i called my observations from my recent visit. so what i'd like to do now is run through these briefly and then we've been some of the top-level actions and up to its real and then i will yield to general wilson who will provide you with more detail. first of all, as i said back in january and indeed as we have confirmed through the subsequent investigations we do have some systemic issues in armas of community. indeed there are cultural issues i certainly picked up on the spot in morale and micromanagement issues. and so those who participated in our follow-on review. this is what led me back then to call for a holistic plan going forward to address this community in some of these issues, not simply a plan to address the cheating alone. indeed the commander directed investigation and forest

improvement program does have a number of recommendations to address the overall climate within the community just in recognition of how important in a clear mission is to earn national security. second i've certainly felt that the testing and training environment was unhealthy. a drive to always score 100 percent on exams when 90 percent was standard in the use of these cores in some cases as the sole differentiator on who got promoted to seemed inappropriate to me. and as you will hear in a few moments we will be changing rather dramatically how we conduct testing and training while at all times keeping the standard and evaluation criteria appropriately high for those who are involved with nuclear matters. third, i told you that there will be accountability goes for the best lawyers involved as well as leaders. first on leaders, nine officers

and positions at no strong were recommended for removal. one officers of but it is recognized to resignation and will retire. this is a total of ten and all. none of these were directly involved in a test compromise. indicated that they failed to provide adequate oversight of their crew fours. the investigation grew 100 officers that were implicated and being investigated as part of a compromise. of the 109 actually were not substantiated and will be returned to duty as soon as practicable. again general wilson will give you more detail on all of the shortly. given that this was a major failure in integrity the fourth thing that i talked about back

in january was talked out we needed to reinvigorate our core values across the force the reason the secretary-general also called upon each of us in services to double down in this effort. as you know, a just appointed a new official, have no peg to coordinate with all of us. our air force core values which are integrity first among service before self and excellence in all that we do, these have to guide us and everything that we do. on and off duty, at home in the office and on the battlefield. integrity means living a life of personal integrity, but it also means taking action when he sees something in your environment does not ride. if it's in your unit, among your peers, your subordinates in your superiors a like your duty is to act. with all this as a backdrop general welch, cheap cuddy in my launched an air force or an

initiative about two weeks ago to reinvigorate our core values across the force. the key components of this will include such things as a stand down they'd to focus every herrmann on the importance of our core values, evaluating the current curriculum and our formal education and training venues to ensure that our airmen receive core values dropped a career and also launching a core values resource center to provide commanders and senior in ceos the tools that they need to reinforce values with our asman at the unit level. finally, i had a fifth, sixth, and seventh observation back in january which had to do with incentives to bunt to really do not need incentives, professional development and when i called other investments. basically my thinking on this was that we say that this was an important mission and yet to be in fact put enough of our money where our mouth is.

to them missileers have career paths and add equipment to worship and training which are commensurate with the importance of this mission. these are all the questions on my mind. the bottom line here is we will need more time to fully fleshed out these areas pick. i can report see in fiscal year 2014 we of $19 million fund it for some other areas within the force improvement program including launch control center refurbishment and infrastructure repairs. furthermore the 20th air force has identified an additional 3 million for quality of life requirements. and in our fiscal 2015 budget we have requested $455 million to sustain our minuteman squadron, icbm helicopter report and soaker communications. finally we have identified a hundred $54 million other requirements associated with their force and permit program

including readiness, training command improvements to launch control facilities to just nephew of the areas. what i can tell you is that as we execute our founding in 2014 or going to seek to rearrange as much as possible to find these important programs. in other words were not going to wait. moreover general wilson has and to promise that was several quick look action teams that will be developing specific recommendations on these other areas like incentives and accolades and these quick action teams and he will report back to the chief with their recommendations by the end of triple. he is confident the war on the right track to improve support to our nuclear forces and ensure the trust and confidence in this vital mission. before turning over the general was not want to of reinforced

with you and our air force nuclear deterrence mission is critical to national security and it's very strong. the reviews that we just conducted confirm this. overall continued have great confidence in this mission as does the secretary of defense and away this mission is being performed. i also have great confidence. for over 50 years our nuclear professionals of fatefully stood watch over america. as in the past today's nuclear herman continued that legacy, taking great pride in their work and performing superbly under difficult conditions. the issues that we have before us today are tough and it did not come overnight. they have been years in the making. that's not going to get solved every night. we have made progress in certain areas in recent years. there's more work to be done. i'm sure that we will get there because we're going to provide the persistent focus and the persistent that this deserves to

be getting this right for people as far as i'm concerned is the number one goal and it is critical for our efforts going forward. we are committed to getting it right. so with that i will turn it over to general wilson. >> thank you, madam secretary. of what took a few moments to up to you. the actions we're taking to old people accountable and more importantly how global strike command is used in a suburb gently to moving forward. discovered this compromise of proficiency testing while investigating several options for a lesser activity. investigation happen to include three missileers. while investigating most personal some funds as part of the drug investigation agents found test material. this sparked a new investigation that implicated officers for

sending, receiving cover requesting more of a knowledge of compromise to as material. four officers were at the center of the ring, to this material. when we briefed this in january the test compromise to place during august and september september 2013. as the investigation continued forensic analysis of the crew members of funds some potential cheating going as far back as november of 2011 and as recently as november of 2013. furthermore analysis included a photograph of a classified test answer. i can't give you additional information for security reasons but i can assure you that at no time did this compromise the test material about the safety

security of the nuclear deterrent force of risk. the 27 to january i signed to conduct a commander investigation. this is of three as well as the air force base. the testing, training, and evaluation. additionally asked general also look at the environment and the oversight of the crew force. as commander provided for of reaching recommendations of the following areas. in powering group commanders, improving the quality and purpose of training and lastly reforming testing and evaluation based on the sea and you can say that across 20 there force focus on perfection led commanders to micromanage people. they sought to ensure that the zero defects and it was not

about personal and monitoring and directing daily operations, imposing an unrelenting testing inspections with the goal of the eliminating all human error. this approach as unrealistic given the icbm mission is built around redundancy the weapon system design standardized procedures and jean marc. we also know the a place to much emphasis on what the test scores although the required testing score is 90 percent crewmembers felt pressured to score 100 percent on each and every test. readers lost sight of the fact of execution in the field is more important what happens in the tests -- classroom. as you said before, none of these needed implementation to pass the test. compelled to cheat to get a perfect score. global strike command strives for a culture of excellence and compliance. over in the icbm requirement there's been an help the overemphasis on perfection in a

march fear of failure which kept enemies from the from identifying weaknesses and working to correct. any error that receives high-level attention and to potentially in a career. the constant oversight, inspection and testing regimen alienating subordinates. a lack of mid-level officers contributed to a gap between squadron leader's and missile crews. development of experienced midlevel leaders is critical to ensuring accountability, closing communication gaps as striking a better balance. so development must be present in all squadron's all levels. it is important of providing opportunities in making them responsible for developing skills and knowledge. our review of the train, testing, and evaluation procedures identified the separation between training and evaluation that facilitates a

healthy and productive training environment was lost. as a result we will place greater emphasis on how we train and feel the valuations that better assess crew performance in the operational environment. this allows the deemphasized the significance of scoring 100 percent while insuring our crew force remains ready to perform a mission. let me briefly discuss accountability. secretary and i have said from the beginning and end and all levels will be held accountable for their actions or inactions than allow this to happen. we briefed you in january and 92 men were involved in this. that number has changed as have the details of who was involved and at what level. lama walked through the evolution of those numbers and where they stand. the general and his team reviewed 88 of 98 cases that were transferred. evidence substantiated cheating in 79 of those cases. it showed various levels of involvement from officers to

send, receive it, solicited test material or this is simply had knowledge but failed to report. allegations against non officers were found to be unsubstantiated you will find these numbers that just mentioned in the cbi report that you will have access to today. even after they concluded the report investigative work continued. cases continue to transition. based on who was involved and want double the number of individuals involved stands at 100 with 91 falling and a command authority. lsi still maintain jurisdiction over nine cases. eight of the nine of for mishandling of classified information and three our investigation for illegal drug activity. at the conclusion of the spring we will provide you a test compromise overview chart which will reflect the current numbers in the categories of all involved.

as commanders we take responsibility for the air man and are charged. we're responsible for ensuring your trained, ready, and able to do the mission. we take care of the peoples of the they can accomplish the mission. commanders are responsible when our people fall short. colonel robert stanley commander of the 341st mizzling has taken responsibility for this bill your. this morning major-general jack weinstein accepted colonel stanley said resignation. he served the nation and the air force with great honor and distinction for the past 25 years. he relinquished command this morning and will retire in the coming weeks. he also relieved nine leaders from the group and squadron level. he removed colonel marc schiller of the 341st operations group commander for loss of confidence in his ability. he also removed a group deputy commander from a position. general 110 removed force squadron commanders, the tenth, 12th, and for 90 of missile

squadron and the commander of the 341st operational support squandered. he also remove the director of operations from the 341st operational support squadron and the tenth missile squadron. finally the group's standardization and evaluation officer was removed. none of these people were directly involved in test compromise, however they all failed adequate supervision and oversight. colonel tom wilcoxson stick and commander of the 341st missile wing as of this morning. a career security force leader reid joined the 341st from our global strike command staff or a previously letter security force division. he previously served as the interim security force group commander from august to september or august to november this year and is absolutely the right leader to move the team for. disappointing action is being taken against the officers who have substantiated cheating from the investigation.

details of those actions were released after all the members of been served and there being served today. ..

after the navy program to address a wide range of issues. the team included a diverse 69 person working group of airmen from operations maintenance security force missions aborted helicopter career fields. also included members from outside the icbm community people like navy submarine is in b-2 and b-52 crewmembers. the purpose of that force improvement program was to create an aggressive action oriented field influence program with the goal of making substantial and lasting changes to the icbm mission. this program about airmen working at the grassroots level to identify the challenges and enable them to them make actions actions -- propose those actions directed to me. the team interviewed 835 people on how we could make rings better. we combined these inputs with the results of commander directed investigation to develop a list of nearly 400 action items that we can act on

it and as i said before i'm ready to implement as many of those items that i can and those that i can't ayman bringing forward to the headquarters in the air force to be able to fix. there's over 25,000 people in air force global strike command you want to focus on the 99.5% of our airmen who do this important mission with excellence every single day and they deter our adversaries. they not only abide by it but they deliver core values. we believe the changes we are going to institute will ensure that all of our people live up to our high standards. let me close by saying the execution of the icbm mission has gone largely unchanged since the first missile airstrike in 1959. wanat is putting a fresh coat of paint on this. we are taking bold action. through -- or weeks and should changes the way rebuild teach trane develop and lead our crew force. the changes we are making will be a turning point for the icbm

community that will improve both the mission as well as our airmen and fostered core values prayer nation demands higher standards of accountability from the force entrusted with the most powerful weapons on the planet and we are committed to living up to those standards. thank you very much. >> manning secretary of burns with ap. you both mention attorney general holden having reviewed the training and testing at the icbm bases and vandenberg. did he specifically ask individuals whether they had cheated on any of the testing in the past and if he didn't how can you be sure it didn't happen elsewhere? >> let me take that. the general went out to each of the bases and talk to the leadership at every base soap from the wing commander squadron commander the chiefs, the supervisors as well as specific focus groups. i also gave out information to list positively potentially

disqualifying information to every crewmember. he went where the investigation took them so when he looked at the evidence he pulled on that string and it didn't lead outside of the air force base. [inaudible] see how can you be sure that didn't happen? >> he asked specific questions to focus groups. i asked every crewmember that they had disqualifying information and we went where the information went and we found no evidence that it existed. >> under potentially disqualifying information what do you mean? >> their responsibility under prp and we asked him specifically are they aware of any tests compromiser material

that it and pass that it and pass it would be potentially disqualifying information and we asked each crew member in the icbm community. and ott. >> we found none of that. >> david martin was cbs. he said you are confident in the ability of the malmstrom wing to carry out its mission. you just fired nine of the leaders. how can you be confident when you have leadership in which you obviously didn't have confidence in because you fire them? >> of course i didn't fire them. they were removed by 20th air force but i have confidence as general wilson said the vast majority people are doing a good job in performing superbly across the missile community. there are new leaders now that are in place at malmstrom and the leadership the global strike

selected this team and i have confidence in them. >> the nine officers what portion of the officers and leadership positions announced did that represent? >> they were removed and i can't give you a specific number but i will tell you the group as well as each of the four squadrons and the three tactical squadrons that group was removed as well as many out rations officers two or three in the tactical squadron as well as the operational support squadron. across the wing there are 200 missile leaders so we have removed nine of them. it's a significant portion of leadership. to be short. i will also tell you the folks that we have gone out across the air force the people we have put in place bring with them great skill set. training in one of the areas as

well as core knowledge of them mission and we looked outside for example one of the groups came in from the defense agency said he's an expert on the mission as well as evaluations. we brought another expert in training as well as having it deep icbm backgrounds every one of the leaders put in place were hand-picked to teach -- take team mouse from forward. >> just a point of clarification. these 10 officers are they all colonels? >> colonels and lieutenant colonels but one of which was a major. >> and 79 officers implicated someone. what will the punishment for them be? is in a reprimand? >> we have the full range of management everything from counseling admonishment reprimand to a call nonjudicial punishment or article xv action up to and including court-martial. >> the question is you talked

about the perfection of the test and you don't have to get 100 anymore. you focus on training and field exercises but they still won't be taking those tests. you just say to them don't worry you don't have to get 100 anymore? >> currently 90% is a passing grade so its pass or fail on the test and we are not keeping the score other than pass or fail. >> the team tests like the navy? >> that is one of the areas we are looking at. >> you will focus more on that than you have in the past? >> right. >> michael hoffman with military.com. six years ago there were similar announcements with firings and wholesale changes being promised within the nuclear community. six years now another major problem has come up. my question is why does it take major problems to come up with in the nuclear world for these changes? why has the air force fail to be proactive in identifying these problems before these problems?

>> this enterprise is something that all of us take seriously every day and we are looking to make sure we are the best we can be. we have had systemic problems on this perfection of standard culture. what we are trying to get through is that we have flawless execution of the field of timor at this perfection is a standard that many people micromanage folks and that's part of the culture we are going after right now to fix. our force improvement program is part of what you just described is how do i change the culture and how do i change it for the better? we have commanders in the field that recognize that they are empowered to be able to fix fixt and move forward. >> it sounds almost like an excuse. you are providing them an excuse. cheating is one of the highest

problems within the honor code and obviously you don't feel that way because you are pushing for those core values. i mean it seems for you to stop confidence even though significant chunk are cheating seems to be major problem. >> 20,0005000 global strike units every day do their job of excellence with confidence with pride in what they do. it's a very small percentage of folks who did not live up to our core values. >> the leadership of the air force though. >> it's a significant portion and certainly at mel stremm air force base. again what i think you'll find at the root of this that there were a few handful of people that were at the crux of this problem and disbelief that i'm going to help somebody when in fact they breached their integrity and that is the thing

the secretary and i have talked about. we will hold people accountable at all levels so from the youngest chairman to the people in charge to make sure the climate exists do we allow our people to do the job they're supposed to do. >> i could have the there are those who apparently actively cheated and another another group the new something about it that said nothing. if one person, if one person had spoken up this could have been very different so that is why we are really focusing on what integrity means. it means the individual acting with integrity that it means seeing something in your environment that is not right. your job is to beat -- speak up and we are making of good point about that. >> appointive clarification. you said i believe this one on for a. period of two years so it's always been multiple test. is that fair? >> that's correct. >> is about the test that the missile leaders were given each month? >> what we found was a range.

of those 729 a few of them one time. a few of them did it many times so we will give you the reits -- results of the cdi to look through. we can tie together the web of who what where when why and how they did this and there were some who only knew about it but didn't say anything. >> turning quickly to bob's question. it does strain credulity to say at this assist systemic rovlin something similar wasn't going on at the other wings. beyond asking missile leaders where they they had, or my sing information did you do in a forensic analysis to test whether that might be the case? >> what i would say is everybody went where the evidence took us. we found that the crux there were four individuals. three other individuals were allowed and -- involved in potentially illegal

drug activity. if we would have removed those this incident probably never would have happened so if those individuals would have been of some other face we might be talking about this at another base that but the individuals at the crux of it, three were involved in illegal drug abuse. >> my question there wasn't any further investigation beyond the questioning of the missile leaders. >> everybody has rights so to be able to do that if they would have found information with a link to another base we would have followed that lead but it did not link there. >> elaine with "the new york times." i think what we are all having trouble following is that it feels like there was a level of provac mouse trumpet there was not at the other bases and i think that is what we are all circling around particularly given so many people have talked about this culture of cheating that has been in place for years.

that is the case but yet you say if you had moved those poor people from all strum out of the equation we wouldn't be having this conversation to begin with. those are two halves that are hard to put together and understand. i'm still having trouble figuring out what is the deal with mel stremm? see what i would say is these four people who i would also say enabled by today's cell phone technology. i can take a cell phone and text answers and send it out to a group of people which is in essence what happened. >> have they been dismissed? >> those four people three of them are under osi investigation and one of them is not only are taking taking command on that individual. we are taking disciplinary action on that person.

>> the question is for you madam secretary. what are you going to do over the next three to five years to ensure people doing this mission know that you are really committed to this mission and that it matters because that seems to be from what we hear when we chat with people a major problem at these bases and it's not thrilling. it's important that it's not thrilling and there's a sense by a lot of people i think that given how long it has taken to do repairs and that sort of thing that there is not a lot of interest. >> colin i would say from my perspective for the period of time that i have this being part of the air force intend to bring to it persistent focus, persistent leadership periodic visits, meeting with commanders and asking how things are done,

going to meet with members of the crew missile crews in the members of the team so that is what i intend to do and ended dish and you heard we are redirecting resources quickly. we are going to take a little bit more time and look at some other issues like national development which i think is terribly important that people see a path to rise to the rank so it will be in fact in perception viewed as a good job. these are the things that i intend to bring with the help of general wilson and his willful strike team. >> can you give us a couple of examples of how you are going tt phrase you guys used the changing the evaluation process? will you use simulators more? >> let me give you an example. today a crewmember takes street test a month and there will be 30 questions on the test and they take what they call an mpt

mission procedural training. these are involved in evaluations. an air crewmember takes a monthly test in his test is something that they have to be able to no matter how stressful the situation in the middle of the night in a bad situation they have to remember this. missile crewmembers on have that so we are going to develop what we called missile -- and in every flying weapons system we will issue a master questioned file which is a series of questions on important angst to operate that missile system. what are the notes and cautions i should should be from iowa to be able to do at? crewmembers are tested quarterly on those though that is a model we also think we can use. a flying crewmembers evaluated on the 17 month cycle. as part of that if i was and there's typically an open book and close but test and tipping the emergency procedure simulator and then they go to the mission. we will do that same model where

we give crewmembers a 17 month time period for an open book includes book test. we will observe them as they do their combat mission in the field and see how they do and from that we will give them an evaluation. we think that's a much more helpful way of doing it. we have been doing it in the aviation business for many years and we will morph the icbm community into that model. >> you can actually launch a missile so how can you do in the field? >> there are lots of things that happen in the field. you can't do the emergency procedures part in the simulator and that is part of what we do. speaking on a quick look action teams you talk -- can you talk about what incentives you look at? when you go and talk to these airmen what do airmen what did they won't? >> let me give a couple of examples. some of it is as simple as they want to be recognized that wearing a badge that says i may

missile maintenance master technician all the way up to some type of pay so we look at a variety of nuclear ops servicemen and things like that. i have a big list of incentives they talk about in the field and a team looking specifically at that. we will bring the recommendations back back to the chief and secretary in a few weeks and say here are the parts that are by the most bang for the buck. >> what precisely are these officers, the senior officers being disciplined for, for not having caught those cheating under their command are fostering a climate that i would assume is probably in thing going on for a long time that they probably inherited from their predecessors? >> more specifically from loss of confidence to leadership really to provide the supervisory role that they should don sowa feinman operations commander i have to

know what my crews are doing. i know enough detail of what they are doing every single day. they weren't aware that this was going on in any way shape or form. >> so you are saying they are being disciplined precisely for -- caught cheating? >> we are going to hold them accountable for the people that work for them and specifically they fail to provide the leadership oversight of a supervisory role for the members of their squadron which a large majority -- and let me give you a break down by squadron rank and position involved in this. >> what you seem to be saying is that systemic in the forest. are you also critical of them for that? >> there's a difference between micromanagement and knowing what's going on in your squadron. i need to know what's going on.

i don't need to be directing individual actions of everybody every day. >> micromanaging is what led to the creation of this cultural need to be perfect so therefore aren't you saying that the micromanagement of the force is what they are being disciplined on? >> let me give an example. today it is certain that normally a lieutenant or captain should be able to make isn't being done until he calls up announces squadron commander of or his crew commander for permission to do something. we have people that won't make a decision until they get approval from higher headquarters. we think that whole paradigm needs to be change and we are pushing the level of responsibility and accountability down to the crew commander in the field. however a squadron commander who has been in charge of many people needs to be able to know what's going on squadron and provide the environment that fosters a healthy relationship and in this case we don't think it was.

>> would you say their there are careers are over? >> all mine are being re-signed and coming to my staff or are headquarters staff for different staff positions. they have been removed from command. they can continue to serve. >> we will just go to the back please. >> can you give me a sense of the range of disciplinary action for those that were implicated either passively or actively? >> up from a letter of counseling to two letters of admonishment to letters of reprimand to in article xv up to and including court-martials. >> was colonel stanley asked to resign or with that he offered his resignation on his own? >> colonel stanley offered his resignation. >> you said the resignation was

accepted today but did he offer today for when this was first found out? >> both. >> so might say by allowing colonel stanley to resign you are sending a mixed messages out and are neutral on whether he is responsible or not. major general kerry who was removed last year but he was not charged during a large period of this time. considering further action against him and will he be allowed to retire as a two-star general? >> i will talk about major general kerry and if you do the other one general wilson. remember bobby was moved from command. he was reassigned and has been on staff with space commander general shelton. my understanding is he has asked to retire and there will be an officer grade determination made on him and there is a system of course.

eventually that will come to me for a judgment. i have not seen the paperwork yet and when i get it i will act upon it and deal with it. >> in reference to colonel stanley. everybody knows colonel stanley served with great honor and distinction. command directed investigation singled out the operations commander in the squadron commanders in failing to provide proper leadership oversight and supervision. colonel stanley accepted responsibility for the actions because all those people worked for him so he said it's my job and my duty to uphold this and i did not live up to that so he elected to resign. >> the security forces airmen to take over the three -- force was that decided specifically? >> i think anyone who knows the

colonel will tell you he is the ringleader. he spent four months at an mouse from early this year after the inspection to bring the sector sector -- security force group up to the right level. he is the right leader at the right time. he is known throughout mall strum and be loved and liked. >> general use of these nine officers will continue to serve and you also said some may face court-martial. >> for the 79 officers involved in the cheating the lieutenants and that captains they will have the range of dishman everything from -- none of the nine leaders that were removed a few of them are getting letters of admonishment a few of them are getting letters of reprimand that they will continue to serve if they elect to.

>> okay. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> for today's purposes let me come to the bottom line of the findings. first in connection with allegations related to the george washington bridge realignment. we found governor christie had no knowledge beforehand of this george washington bridge realignment idea and that he played no role whatsoever in

that decision or the implementation of it. we further found no evidence that anyone in the governor's office besides bridget kelly knew of this idea in advance or played any role in the decision or the implementation of it. what we did find was that after the decision to implement the laying realignment while it was going on and in its aftermath the members of the governor's office, some of them became aware of the laying realignment, inquired of port authority representatives and were told this was a legitimate traffic study and that it was an operational issue for the port authority to deal with.

we further found that as the controversy grew by early december, as there were rumors about potential of others' involvement appropriate steps were taken to try to determine if anyone else in the governor's office, anyone in the governor's office was involved in the laying realignment decision. and when those appropriate inquiries were made bridget kelly lied to her colleagues and even reached out to subordinate and asked them to destroy a potentially incriminating document. and we further found it was not until january the eighth 2014 when documents that had been subpoenaed were first revealed that they showed that david

wildstein and bridget kelly and participated in this act. this decision and the implementation of it to realign the george washington bridge lanes at fort lee. and we further found based on our investigation that david wildstein is the person who originated this idea and orchestrated it that david wildstein went to bridget kelly for approval in the governor's office and that they had an ulterior motive for implementing that decision. to in some way target mayor woods in fort lee. we are not able to answer every question today. we are not able to answer with that ulterior motive was that we can say the evidence does not establish that ulterior motive

was to target mayor sauk alleged because he did not endorse governor christie for re-election and in fact there are substantial contrary evidence and the evidence shows that both the governor's office and the christie campaign was early as march 2013 that mayor sokolich would not be endorsing the governor for re-election yet by his own account he continued to have good relations with the christie administration and indeed was on a list of mayors being considered for honorary appointments by the governor as recently as may 2013. we further find that when the governor became aware that richard kelly in his office had

been involved in the decision to close these lanes he took appropriate action. he fired richard kelly and then he commissioned this investigation and made a public commitment early on before our investigation had progressed beyond this initial stages, that he was going to release their findings to the public before he could have known what they would need and what our recommendations would be. he directed us on that day we were retained which was the first time i ever met governor christie, to find out what the facts are whatever they may be to report them back to the governor's office and to make recommendations as we saw fit to address the problems so that something like this never happens again, and that is what

we have done in our 345 page report. >> one thing that didn't become known until the late 1980s when theo harris the leading fbi scholar found it when he went through some files that he applied for through the freedom of information act and that was something that had taken place from 1940 to 1966 when the fbi for that period of time had a

formal relationship with the american legion and which members 100,880 members of the american legion acted as informers for the fbi and their communities and regularly filed reports with the fbi. americans had no idea that kind of informing was taking place and they were untrained informants. >> at the senate environment and public works hearing committee chairman barbara boxer said she hopes to complete work on any transportation bill by the end of april. the committee heard from state and local officials on the issue

the panel includes transportation officials from rhode island and vermont as well as mayors of indianapolis and oklahoma city. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning. we will come to order in today's hearing will provide the committee the opportunity to hear from state and local officials as transportation stakeholders about the importance of federal transportation funding and their priorities are the reauthorization of map-21. today's panel truly represents a great cross-section of the country. as transportation leaders at the state and local level they know what is at stake.

without sustainable funding and a sound highway trust fund. i'm a former county supervisor in another lifetime and i know how tough that job is and how important maintaining safe and efficient transportation systems are to local communities. when something goes wrong people show up at your door and i know that from personal experience. according to the u.s. department of transportation's recently released 2013 conditions and performance report about 49% of highway miles traveled are on roads that are less than good condition and 18% are on roads in less than acceptable condition. in addition over 21% of the nations bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. of these, over 70,000 bridges are structurally deficient. these stats show that there is a lot of work to be done to maintain our global competitiveness and we must continue to invest in our

transportation for structure and not just for now but for future generations. however in order to make needed investments in our infrastructure congress must ensure the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund. make no mistake, think we all know we are running out of time. last month his committee held a hearing on the devastating impacts of letting the trust fund runs out of funding. are the sobering facts. cbo and u.s. d.o.t. estimate the highway trust fund could run out of funds as early as september 2014 which would create cash flow problems for states during the critical summer season. already states are cutting back on construction projects they plan to go forward within this string -- spring and this trend will continue to get worse. map-21 was a bipartisan bill that included transformational reforms to improve flexibility reduce costs and require accountability for surface transportation programs.

these reforms many of which are still in the rulemaking process winans federal transportation programs and help to build public trust in seeing how her tax dollars are spent. we will continue to track the implementation of these reforms is the d.o.t. makes them and we welcome the opportunity to hear from state's counties perishes in city somehow these reforms are working and what tweaks should be considered for next bill. michael and i know senators vitter shares this goal is to move smoothly to pass a reauthorization bill in the epw committee that provides we hope vi years of hunting certainty. i have begun discussions with chairman wyden and ranking member hatch on funding this bill and addressing the sharp fall in the highway trust fund. this committee has a responsibility to reauthorize map-21. the finance committee has the responsibility to fund it but we are not going to let them just

hang out there by themselves. we are going to work closely with them and others in committees of jurisdiction such as commerce and banking to pass legislation with the same bipartisan support we experience experience with map-21 so we are going to marcus bell up at the end of april. we must move it forward and i know that members on this committee on both sides including senator carper and senator barrasso working with senators vitter and i are all committed to this. i hope hope what you'll do today is speak from the heart about what it means to you if in fact it is as important to you as a think it is. i hope he will tell us it's important. if you don't pick it's important, if you think the federal government could walk away from this tell us that. we need to know from you so this is a very important thing for me because again i have so much respect for folks who implement

what we do here and with that i will turn it to my ranking member senators vitter. >> thank you madam chairman for holding today's hearing. this is really important to get the local and state perspective on our transportation infrastructure. that is critical for us to gain understanding into our work properly. and thanks to all of our witnesses today. you have traveled a long way to be here and you have shown how important surface transportation infrastructure is to all of your communities. collectively you bring a diverse set of perspectives but a common goal of developing a first-class comprehensive transportation that work and i really look forward to hearing your views. i especially want to thank bill fontenot for making the trip from louisiana. mr. fontenot brings to unique and very relevant perspectives. right now he is president of saint landry parish. parishes are words for county in

louisiana and i was very impressed when they use the word parish and listing local jurisdictions. i think we are making leaps and bounds and advancement on this committee. i want to assure everyone we are not sending transportation money to local catholic churches. i would probably be in favor of that but that is not we are talking about. we are talking about counties in louisiana call parishes but pray to being elected parish president 2011 mr. fontenot worked as an engineer at the louisiana department of transportation and development for 38 years in the highway department. 18 of which he served as one of nine regional district administrators. surface transportation infrastructure consists of a lot of different types of rows but together they create a network. in order to have a healthy and efficient network all of those

pieces need to remain strong. this means first investing in the critical rural roads and bridges that we rely on to get so many of our kids to school and to go to work particularly in the ag and energy markets. this means investing in the interstate system to approve learned of commerce between states and investing in the vital quarters that link the two such a network is a fundamental component of our nations economy and essential to our quality of life. however we can't work towards that cohesive network if we don't have a reliable highway trust fund and prioritize proper investment in streamlined, flexible programs. recent actions represent a departure from the intent of the highway trust fund and prolonged economic uncertainty not only into direct investment of barbara structure but also the

type of long-term investment of economic development at home and makes us more competitive abroad. if we are going to be successful at putting such a structure back on a sustainable course, and of course we need to fix the financing piece but to fix the financing piece i think it's crucial that we also get the policy right and restore trust back into the highway trust fund. that means the trust fund needs to be sustainable and transparent. we need to be able to show where taxpayer dollars are going, where future investments will go we must continue to reduce costs and burdens in red tape that is unnecessary. flexible and accessible apportionment programs will also work to restore trust in the trust fund. while other investment tools can play an important role only such an apportionment program has the ability to improve our infrastructure across-the-board,

provided steady revenue to mitigate uncertainty, provide a base for innovative financing structures, empower local and state decision-making and keep the federal government out of the business of picking winners and losers. so we must resist the urge to move back towards small rigid programs that are silos that don't offer that flexibility toward a comprehensive vision that offers flexibility and real local and state empowerment to meet our needs. again i want to thank the chair and the witnesses for all of their hard work and i am genuinely looking forward to your ideas and perspectives. >> thank you senator. senator sanders. >> thank you very much madam chair. this is an enormously important hearing because it's vitally

important that we hear from folks around the country who are struggling with one of the great challenges that we have and that is the crumbling infrastructure and i'm especially delighted by the vermont secretary of transportation could be here with us. sue played a role when the state was hit by tropical storm irene. many of the towns were devastated and she was the recovery officer the recovery officers we attempted to rebuild those houses and she did a great job doing now. i think the bottom line is that i don't know that there is much disagreement among our representrepresent atives who come from all over the country and we are very appreciative that you were here that is a nation we are all aware that something is fundamentally wrong in vermont and i suspect in your states as well your bridges are

crumbling and the roads are in need of repair. in many parts of this country unemployment is much too high and we are sitting here in a situation where the rest of the world is spending significantly more money on rebuilding infrastructure than we are. i will tell you a story madam chair of someone who worked for me and went to china couple of years ago. they left china from a brand-new airport and when they were in china they were traveling on high-speed rail. they came back to the united states influence and overcrowded inadequate airport and he asked himself which was the developing country, which was the first world country and what was the third world country and we see that more and more. the bottom line to me is that we lose efficiency, we lose productivity, god knows how much money is being spent by

individuals whose cars going to potholes and axles break and so on and so forth and people waiting in traffic jams to get to work so we have a crisis. we have waited too long to address it. i was mayor of the largest city in vermont for eight years and i can tell you it takes money to rebuild the infrastructure. if someone can do it without money we would love to hear that suggestion. from what i understand it's a pretty expensive project. we have to figure out a way to fund it and i look forward with you madam chair to do just that so thank you very much. >> thank you. senator fischer. >> thank you madam chair. i'm way down here. hello. >> on the list of said senator inhofe was here. he was here but he is not here. >> thank you very much and thanks to the ranking member as well. i appreciate folks coming from

various states to help us and providing us with information on the many needs that we face across this country. as our committee works to reauthorize the highway bill i have been especially focused on the needs of nebraska's department of roads and that of our cities and counties. these are the folks that are putting our federal dollars to work back home. the overwhelming message that i have heard from these important stakeholders is that the federal process required for building roads is overly burdensome and it needs to be more flexible. we have worked hard in nebraska to prioritize funding for infrastructure needs. as we started to put the spending to use we have further seen the need to provide state and local governments with much assistance and autonomy as possible. states will have greater ability to experiment and address transportation problems with

innovative solutions if they are allowed greater flexibility in the use of those federal dollars. transportation infrastructure is an expensive venture on its own without the federal government adding to the cost. if we cannot give our local and state governments inadequate level of funding we should at the very least get out of their way so their projects can be completed in an efficient and cost-effective manner. we need to work together to pursue a path forward that continues to ensure the use of federal dollars devoted to tasks that truly add value to the projects and are not wasted on piling up paperwork. i hope this highway bill will include the needed policy reforms to streamline the environmental processes and accelerate project delivery. today's hearing is an important step in understanding the flexibility needed for local and state governments and i look forward to working with this committee in achieving those

needed slew shins. think you madam chair. >> thanks a much senator. we will now go to senator markey. >> thank you madam chair. the united states has long been the world's leader and in ingenuity and engineering building america's infrastructure into the best in the world but age has caught up with us. many of our roads and bridges transit and rail are in great need of repair and replacement and the impacts of extreme weather and climate change put aging infrastructure at further risk. more than half of massachusetts 5000 bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. this is an urgent problem that we must address in the next transportation bill. the surface transportation bill we passed in 2012 map-21 included $1.2 billion in federal highway funds from massachusetts

to modernize our highways and bridges. under the law the the of the commonwealth will also receive almost 700 million in transit funding and that is a good start but not enough to deal with the magnitude of the problem. as strong bill will provide the funding and certainty that our state and local governments need to get our roads and transit systems back in excellent condition. our priorities beyond traditional road repair and improvement funds in massachusetts include one, improve her aging bridges and build upon the success of the accelerated rate program in massachusetts that recently fixed over 100 bridges on time and on budget. two invest in transit and promote key projects including the green line extension. three, providing funding for streetscape and important parts of the alternative program that helps revitalize downtowns to attract business to city centers

and four encourage commuter rail by building on the recent success of increasing the numbers of trains serving worcester and making the south coast rail a reality to bring transportation to the south shore. it puts construction workers on the clock in good-paying jobs. it creates infrastructure necessary to efficiently move goods and people around our ever-changing and expanding economy. i know that when we rebuild our of the structure we rebuild our economy so as we quickly up roach map-21's expiration this fall we must keep in mind that most effective way we can create jobs and improve our infrastructures to pass a robust long-term surface transportation bill. thank you madam chair. >> senator thank you. senator booker followed by senator cardin. senator booker.

>> thank you chairman boxer and ranking member vitter. i do know what the parish is because my granddaddy is from louisiana but all the folks here to hear your important testimony and in what is a critically urgent issue in the united states of america. or for structure simply crumbling. as new jersey's most densely populated state in the country new jersey is also among the heavily trafficked roads and extensive public transportation systems. we are critical transportation superstructure in new jersey. unfortunately new jersey is home to 624 structurally deficient bridges as of 2013 meaning that bridges are in deteriorating conditions and urgently need to be repaired. it's unacceptable. across the united states a staggerinstaggerin g 65,000 bridges are classified as structurally deficient and 65,000 bridges in our country

are structurally deficient posing safety threats to our communities across the country. another 1700 new jersey bridges did not meet current standards with regards to lane size efficient shoulder lanes and are described as the department of transportation is functionally obsolete. an astounding 66% of new jersey's roads are poor or booker condition. this cost new jerseyans over $3 billion a year in extra vehicle repaired and operating costs meeting new jerseyans payout of pocket because of these deficiencies another 600-dollar per motorist. states across our the country are struggling with similar infrastructure issues. this enormous challenge demands that we as a nation invest more in our transportation infrastructure. it is a multiplier in terms of the opportunity it creates for our country.

not only will a major investment improve safety and help businesses but will also create jobs and strengthen our entire economy. according to reports by a group of former new jersey government executives new jersey needs at minimum $21.3 billion to invest in short-term transportation infrastructure needs through 2018. the americans society of civil engineers estimates to fix our bridges and united states alone needs an additional $8 billion at annually to keep us at the cutting-edge where we need to be to protect safety and security and promote business growth. while these investment secure roads and bridges every dollar is vital because also that multiplier effect of job creation. as we improve our infrastructure businesses can move goods quicker and cheaper. businesses can export more and reach more customers overseas. this is a critical economic competitiveness issue and all of this also attracts investment

further into our country invest money in infrastructure creates investment in america. and a rapidly changing 21st century america we must prioritize innovative cost-effective sustainable traffic options. map-21 provides funding not just for transportation projects but also it's important to know for certain projects that reduce transportation related air pollution. this to me is critical. in my home city of newark where i was mayor we have seen congestion and heavy air pollution negatively impact vulnerable communities. for instance the port of newark one of her country's most busy ports provides a major national economic benefit but the community surrounding the areas are disproportionately affected by the air pollution caused by the concentration of heavy truck traffic cargo vessels and cargo handling equipment. high asthma rates and other health problems afflict the surrounding communities.

the congestion mitigation and air quality program provides states with the funding to address this problem but it does not go far enough. we need to invest substantially more resources in retrofitting trucks and locomotives in the use of newer more environmentally friendly vehicles and relying more on the movement of freight by rail and make in those rail investments. for the safety for motorists to the error children breathe to the strength of our economy transportation has a strong impact on the lives of all americans. it is essential for our country to continue to be a global leader. it's absolutely critical congress pass a conference of transportation bill and i look forward to working with all my colleagues on the committee of war to the testimony especially the closer we get to jersey and delaware which is -- residents anyways is good to have you here. >> senator cardin. >> madam chair thank you very much or having this hearing and

to senator boxer and senator fetter thank you for the manner in which you conduct this committee on infrastructure advancements. map-21 was passed because of your extraordinary leadership not only getting it through the united states senate but negotiating with the house so we could maintain the integrity of legislation so we are very proud of our leadership on this committee and i particularly want to thank you for today's panel. i look forward to the record being established by our local officials as to the importance of local input in determining priorities for transportation in our nation. to me this is extremely important. i take great pride in the transportation alternative program which is included in map-21 and working with senator cochran we were able to get that program integrity maintained. madam chairman to tell you 1% of total funds it took a lot more than 1% of the total to get that done but i appreciate your

commitment to that issue and i hope that we will not rehash some of the arguments from the past. but looking forward on how we can build the program to make it even more effective as we move forward. of course it comes from the transportation enhancement previous generations of our surface transportation but i think the transportation alternative program is working well in a thank you very much for your help. mayor i particularly appreciate you being here from indianapolis. it's not in maryland. i very much appreciate your use of the transportation alternative program to really get livable space in indianapolis. the way you have used that to help deal with the historic trail, the greenways space, to me this is exactly what we

intended when this legislation was passed and i thank you for being here to tell your story and tell the story of cities all over the country whether smaller cities or larger cities. mayor cornyn in oklahoma city you used this money for transit and for other alternatives and it's good to see that the local input is being done the way that we anticipated it being done. this is a partnership and the federal and state government and these transportation alternative programs to me are critically important. in my city of oldsmar i was able to get federal transportation funds through the surface transportation reauthorization to complete glens falls trail. for those who are familiar with baltimore baltimore was designed by olmsted. he designed the communities connected by greenways. as we became more urban and as time went forward that green space was built over. the glens falls watershed was one of those trails that have

been built over. we have reclaimed the falls nl 30 communities are connected where people can walk and get to know each other. these were communities that were in many cases trapped because of the economic of the circumstances. ..