people say that's a whole lot of money but do you know what? is still not enough. .. providers that we have to getting out to underserved areas in america. will you work with some of us, with myself, senator harkin and others, to make sure that we adequately fund the national health service core to do debt forgiveness or scholarships for medical school students who want to practice in underserved areas >> this is an issue that throughout the budget you see support for. and whether that's in the issue that you just raised in terms of the national health core, it's also in how we think about not just positions but there are also provisions that are about nurses and other people that are part of the primary care system. >> that's exactly correct. >> i think that's another important piece that we need to work on. >> what i worry about -- thank you. i agree with you. we're looking at the expiration

of a very important program ealled the teaceath >> it is the teaching health undergraduate education program educra allows people to get their graduate -- the doctors tr get their training and community health care centers and etc. are you familiar with that program? >> the graduate medical education program. yes. >> looking to expire. we work to make sure that it does not expire? >> there are a number of not provisions that are attempting to improve and make sure that edey focus on what you just articulated. primary care and whether there are shortages and specialties. that's something that the part of the budget and bringing pieces together that include how weprimary think about the natiol health service corps as well. so yes, that is something that part of this and we look na would ok fororking with you in this completed new role. >> thank you very much. >> have you voted already? >> yes. ree orir.

>> were down to three or fourft minutes left, but we are close to having this and we have foure right?e votes. >> senator, please go had. >> okay. >> i won't take more than five o minutes. allows for 15 or 10 minutes washgton.imes it takes longer. and here is what happens in washington. it's one of the questions that we have asked and one of the th questions is important to us.ng it seems to be a part of be obamacare and another one would be the promises made and not kept and whether you will be the ambassador of obamacare in the secretary of health and humanea services and i voted for you from the omb. friended good friends, i have gt

respect for the intellect and integrity. so i will take this into serious consideration. this focuses specifically on the role that we have seen and the challenge that we have and disml hopefully will be able to bringh some clarity and answer a couple questions as we rush to makefu surelly that we understand the here. >> $1.4 trillion price tag between now and 2015 or 2024 come in fact that we have nearl $1.5 trillion that we will still have have many americans uninsured by 2024. the fact that the aca has five and about $716 billion and somehow that is supposed to improve the outcome ofosed to ir seniors. perhaps one of the more the frustrating things i have seen r is 8 million people have signed up for obamacare. one of my questions would be att the end, how do we account for million people signing up for aa

program, but they don't pay the, premium and yet we count the truenumber is a part of a number that reflects a number of americans are actually eligible for health insurance if they don't pay the premium. it seems to me that the number of a million peoplence if signem when you multiply that by 80% pe that we have actually paid, it brings the number down that h significantly. and when you drill into the numbers of those folks who havec signed up for obamacare,ogni recognizing that about 20% of those folks have actually paid the premium and have represented those under the age of 35 and that brings into question theinh whole notion of the actuallyhat sound ms that we had about 2.5 million young folks buying into a program that they will hopefully not have to use in order to avoid adverse risks question.nsuran and i find that those whoce i s up but don't pay premiums don't have coverage for its. so that doesn't seem to take this into consideration as we have talked about the success of obamacare. so i would love to hear your

perspective on thtoat. and as i think about akamai will simply asked the first questiony if confirmed as our health and human services secretary, will you be willing to be clear and honest with the american people in congress and the committee about the implication ofommitte obamacare regardless of what the administration's policy is? you mentioned during our time you have a lot of experience with this and others and it would be helpful for the american people to have a clear picture of what is, in fact, inf happening with obamacare since we now are relegated to getting our accurate information from "the new york times" and "washington post" are not from m hhs mike senator, you have my commitment that if i amcommit t confirmed, the two pieces of principles or guidethe two me wh tr information and transparency are accuracy. those are the two things and i will work to do that in due. tht course as terms of speed as well. >> thank yurou, ma'am. and the issue of promises not kept, i think about the factot .

that many were promised that if you like your insurance, you can keep it. broken. if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. that promise has been broken. if you're looking for affordable health care, the aca is the way to go. that promise seems to be challenged when you think of the actual cost and the price of health insurance, the cost being higher deductibles, higher out of pocket expenses, and a more limited number of doctors to choose from, fewer hospitals in the system and even fewer specialists. so the actual cost of health care i think we'll see it rise as we see the price tag not affordable to more than 50% of the folks who are eligible for obamacare are not signing up simply because they say they cannot afford it. then having a functioning website, we know how that's

worked out. the most challenging part i see from a backdoor perspective from the website is the insureds themselves are complaining that the backdoor operations are simply not set up yet. while we celebrate the success of the health care exchange and healthcare.gov, obviously if you can't get the inner workings pinned down, it's hard to pay claims and do those things that are necessary for the insurers. i'd ask you simply as secretary of hhs, will you in fact be the health and human services secretary for the american people or will you be, as your pred says sore has been, the ambassador of obamacare. >> senator in my current role and if i am confirmed in this other role it is my objective and as i talked about in my opening statement, i'm here to serve the american people. i am part of the president's administration. i'm honored to be appointed. first an foremost i serve the

american people. i believe that the president and his policies are aligned with that and will work. but i am here to serve the american people. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator scott. i would just say that i must say that it is my opinion, based upon the years of work with kathleen sebelius, that she performed her job ad merably and carried out the law as we wrote it. i request that the -- i have a statement of support from president of the international union and vi a letter from the american public health association, i'd like to include in the record. i request that the record be kept open for ten days for senator statements and that the record stay open until close of business on monday for questions

for the record. ms. burwell, again, thank you very much for you outstanding public service through all of your adult life. thank you for your willingness to take on this very important task. we look forward to your very speedy vote and approval and look forward to working with you as the new secretary of health and human services. >> mr. chairman, thank you. >> thank you. >> serve the committee will need to prove her nomination before can go to the vote.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the house veterans affairs committee called an emergency meeting today to subpoena documents from the veterans affairs department dealing with the va health facilities. whistleblowers from the phoenix, arizona va say that officials kept a secret waiting last of veterans seeking treatment in an effort to hide the backlog of veterans needing medical care.

>> good morning, everybody. i would like to take care of one item of business this morning by hearing a motion for the issuance of a subpoena for the department of veterans affairs to produce e-mails and other correspondence related to the investigation of the phoenix va medical center. it is unfortunate that we have to come to this decision, but we did. we did not do this without some substantial justification in the last few weeks have been a model of va stonewalling which precipitated the need for the peanut. first on april 24 from our staff was briefed and informed on the existence of an alternate waitlist and how that list was subsequently destroyed. we made follow-up phone calls to the va began on the 28 come

asking for additional information about the list. however, we didn't get a response back on the 28th, so we called back on the 29th and got no response on the 29th. as we called again on april 30 and spoke directly to the assistant secretary, but we still got no response. the sillier to provide information led to my first letter to pursue a subpoena if we were not provided with the information that the mini had requested. yesterday, may 7 from i received a response from the va that does not fully answer the very simple questions that i asked. therefore the time for request for this matter is over. today we will vote to issue a subpoena. it is a historic vote in this committee has voted once before

to issue a subpoena the first time ever. the first time in the history. we work with the va and we did not deliver that subpoena but we ultimately got the information that we have been asking for. but i trust that the va will have the good sense to not further ignore the request of the committee and what they have made. the subpoena will cover e-mail us at the ninth of april, 2014, at 8:45 a.m. either to or from eric shinseki, the assistant deputy undersecretary for health and the general counsel or any other representative of the office of general counsel. joe mooney, the assistant secretary for that congressional and legislative affairs and the director of the congressional liaison and mr. michael huff,

congressional relations officer. the scope of this subpoena will encompass all other written correspondence with these parties discussing the disruption of an alternate waitlist pursuant to rule number 11, of the house of representatives of this committee, we have a motion before us that is at the desk. and i'll ask that the court will read the motion. >> ranking member says the committee authorize this to eric shinseki, secretary of the u.s. department of veterans affairs. for the department to produce all e-mails and written correspondence sent between april 9 and may 8 at

6:00 o'clock p.m. which addresses in whole or in part the destruction of disappearance of an alternate or interim waitlist with regard to the veterans affairs medical center located in arizona in which the secretary and the undersecretary for health and thomas lynch for clinical health operations and management, plus the general counsel or any other representative of the office of

>> the chairman sent a letter, the response we have received yesterday was, in my view, was insufficient. this subpoena we've authorize today is limited in scope and it narrowly is constructed in order

not to interfere or impede upon the ongoing investigation. at the end of the day, we all are waiting for the results of the investigation to be provided to us so that we can be in a position to take action and we need to fix the problems not only in phoenix but also across the va system. i was pleased to hear that the veterans administration will complete a nationwide access review to ensure that employees have a full understanding of the va policy and that they will conduct a face-to-face audit at all the clinics in every va medical center. and i understand that ms. kirkpatrick, the ranking member of the subcommittee oversight and investigation recently sent a letter calling for the va to undertake a similar action in light of the numerous problems that broke the system. so i would like to thank you

very much. so with that, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you for your cooperation. i would ask of any other member. and all those opposed, please say no. the motion carries. and we are directing the issuance forth with. and this concludes our business meeting for today. this meeting is adjourned.

>> eric shinseki will testify next week before a committee. he will answer questions about the alleged seeker waiting list at the unix, arizona, va facility in efforts to improve medical care for veterans. >> up next, the kidnapping of the nigerian school girls and the house response. plus the possible consequences of unionizing student athletes. >> let me be clear that i am not defending lois lerner. i wanted to hear what was to say. i have questions about why she was unaware of this for more than a year after they were created. i want to know why she did not

mention the inappropriate criteria and her letters to congress. but i cannot go to violate an individual's fifth amendment is because i want to hear what she has to say. a much greater principle is at stake here today. the sanctity of the fifth amendment rights for all citizens of the united states of america. i think that that is pretty comfortable to understand and they are targeted by somebody who politics was with the president and i think we was trying to overturn the supreme court decisions and citizens united in support of the president's position using her power. and with that, i yield back my time. >> this weekend on c-span, house debate on the former irs

official lois lerner on contempt of congress for refusing to answer a question on targeting conservative groups. saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern and on booktv. the obama administration's foreign policy will harm regional and international safety. sunday at 7:30 p.m. on c-span2. and on american history tv, a look at the newly unveiled restoration of mount vernon's dining room. sunday night at 930 on c-span3. in the house foreign affairs committee will work on a number of those tomorrow on the committee's agenda. this includes the abduction of schoolgirls in human rights abuses as well as combating human traffic will believe. live coverage of the markup starts at 9:45 p.m. eastern on c-span3. the joint space command currently tracks 23,000 objects in orbit around the earth. they house science subcommittee

will look at the challenges managing debris and traffic in outer space. watch live coverage beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. coming up next from a discussion on u.s. efforts to help find the nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped last month by a terrorist groupo minutes.0 >> turning now to nicole, who is the outgoing president of transafrica, to focus on the search for these nigerian girlsd we read in the papers this hel morning the people know the president obama has said the u.s. will help ap, small group from the united states.right th. >> we are trying to figure out what our best opportunity is and i think that we are doing the right thing. i don't think that the people

from nigeria are really calling for the u.s. troops on the ground. that is problematic especially in the context they are discussing and really concernsie about western influence really t make sense for ushe to give technical assistance right now.s and also strong diplomacy to make sure that the nigerian government does fulfill its obligation to its own people. >> it has been weeks. why can they not find these girls? >> a part of the problem is the first opportunities were really in the minutes and hours when the girls were first goingtary h missing. and i think the biggese t problm according to the family was then military on the ground and this is something that people don't understand. there are ref military outpost, nigerian outpost in the area. and they really just refuse to help. and the families are left to figure out what they want to do for themselves versus when they

went to the central government for help and they were told toig keep quiet and hopefully this would be returned so the girls could pray. apostateas the frustration and the fears that really brought utis to the a world's attentiono >> on the grassroots campaign started. when and how we might. >> is that a lot of discussion. i think it is so importantalk because in the agency for peoplt mendously important androm some say the movement began in the united states. but really the origins and others have reported this were a few prominent nigerians started to use this to bring back the k girls and then they knew that the power of social media, they also knew that they were frankly out of options and a lot of these movements and powerful strong movements come from aons. place where people don't have any other options and they turned to the community because they knew that the governmentham and other governments were not paying attention. singapore has been the impact of

this? >> i think it has obviously had a physical impact. when we talk about the 59 boys traf that were killed two months ago, these kidnappings, this is certainly not the first thingnet kidnapping in nigeria. one of the things we that we also need to think about is the fact that leading up to thisetig economic forum there were bombings all over the country specifically targeting theat 300 capital. we know that just a few days agn 300 people -- there were reports that 300 people were killedo by boko haram. so it has an impact on d thechol people who are directly affecten and it also has a psychological impact on the country. people live in fear. i have even by been told that e they want to tell their stories, they want to tell reporters and

they actually fear threetributin and they also feel that thelameo government is angry with him for speaking out. >> the headline this morning, us to 300 massacred with the group that did not those girls. so how did this anti-western movement began in nigeria? >> i think that there's a lot of discussion, as the ambassador said. in a part of this actuallyit way started out with what we would consider to be part of a motorcycle game, if you will. it was young people who had a t major mode of transportation ini nigeria and they felt that they were really being pickeiod on by the local police and the local military for infractions are that were very small. so they really banded together.-

i think the language and the ont ofeology, and nigeria at the west is considered to be problem sometimes part and parcel of the problem of the central, but the government. i'll nigeria is a democracy, thl truth of the matter is that thea oil revenues that come from all of the multinational corporations that are coming in and doing business, we know that is not trickling up to the northeast. so people are living in abject poverty and they see this as really profiting from nigeria. s in some of the major problems nigerians experience. host: bochum iran grew out of an altar -- ultraconservative --ement of islamic

ultraconservative islamic movement of well-educated students. western education was available only to a small amount of elite who traveled to british universities and returned to roll from the capital over the impoverished north. guest: it is a web. we have to understand is those that do leave nigeria and many other countries and go to western universities and realize the imbalance in the world of -- the economic -- economic imbalance and the political imbalance, they often have western criticisms. bochum iran has has anyort --boko haram support. it has the language of the people. i believe that is to hide and

mask terminal activity. what is the transafrica group? by theit was founded congressional black caucus to be the voice for african-americans foreign policy. when nelson mandela was considered a terrorist, transafrica took up the cause and explained to the people what was going on and why the apartheid regime was so evil. work arounda lot of democracy in nigeria. we continue to fight to make sure the voices from the ground in africa, latin america, and even in europe are amplified in the united states. this case in nigeria is the perfect example. people need to have an opportunity to be heard, an opportunity to speak. it is amazing that mothers from

secluded partll of nigeria are being heard all over the world, especially in washington. host: william, arizona, republican caller. did you notice that the parents wanting to look for their children, they were using bow and arrows. i do not think they had any type of gun. host: that was in one of the stories i read today. the initial search was done by parents with bow and arrows, going into this for us today has camps,boko haram trying to find their children. guest: they reported the entire and whenunder siege they came back to the town to go to the school to find their daughters, that is when they found they were missing. they went to the military and said we need your help in finding our daughter's.

-- finding our daughters. these were civilians. it is so important that we understand they were not armed. they had no hope, no one from the central government willing to help them. they went out with rocks and machetes to try to retrieve their daughters, to no avail. host: michael, california, independent color. caller: good morning. i believe until we have women running the world, in charge, which is not going to happen anytime soon, man has a problem. i would almost bet my life there was not one woman involved in the induction of those girls. until we have a mental change in this world that men are the problem and women offer the better hope, things like this are going to happen all over the

world. guest: i think patriarchy and sexism is the problem. be real allies to women and women can exude sexism. shoulda that young women not be educated is a patriarchal idea. i welcome, when i see countries elect women, and we are seeing countries in latin america and africa electing the women at greater rates. the head of the african union is a woman. women have a place in leadership, absolutely. we need to promote women leaders. there are terrorist groups around the world that do have women in their ranks. that scares me. that is quite an issue. i do think that women leadership different aspect. we bring a different focus. men are fathers, but women are mothers.

women bring that perspective that is so important for leadership. host: the world economic forum is this week in nigeria. all of these different countries and heads of states are coming to nigeria and this article -- goodluck jonathan is scheduled to take the conference stage with the chinese premier, talking about the opportunities of his country. investors from companies, including ge, siemens, they say they plan to invest billions of dollars into nigeria's powerplants in the coming decade. guest: part of the conversation has to turn to what corporations are doing in nigeria. we know corporate responsibility campaigns can have a major impact. it is going to be interesting to see whether the "bring back our , if itworldwide campaign

hasn't impact to make sure that the country as a whole is developing. executives that came to nigeria insist its promise out raise its problem. -- outweighs its problem. guest: this has to do with the resources. oil nigeria is the largest producer. there's oil all over the continent of africa. the question remains -- are the country's growing to the benefit of their people or is this benefiting the west or is it

benefiting corporations in a benefiting corporations and a small elite. numbers are not on their side when it comes to human growth, the ability to get a job, have a home, to have the basic needs met. what theirto do with opportunities are. host: peter, republican, connecticut. my heart goes out to these young girls who are being abducted. i have two questions. arst of all, we are sending small force, but apparently, we fight. going to help we are just going to provide method so they can track them. send the pentagon will

fewer than 10 people to help provide information expert takes -- expertise on logistics and communication. there is a lot of concern about u.s. troops on the ground. on the ground in africa have always come with a lot more then just assistance. arele of the continent concerned about a large u.s. contingency. the africa command, which has established -- which was established about six years ago, was met with harsh criticism by the citizens and by government. technical assistance is warranted and is appreciated. the nigerian military needs to be -- needs to take the matter more seriously.

body can be called in. the answer is not always u.s. troops on the ground. now tosmart right provide any and all technical assistance that is needed. even spy drones, not drones that drop bombs, but spy drones are appropriate right now. to go any further, i think creating a situation would foment more conflict than there already is. host: kathy. caller: thank you for taking my call. it seems that the west and its are swapping resources with nigeria and the african people. if we go over there to mind something or get something, we are paying for. officials those utilizing all the money flowing

into that country to build a proper infrastructure, to benefit the citizens, why is there such a disparity between the classes? why aren't these women having to -- those that wanted to retrieve the girls only had bows and arrows. it is it really such an environment of corruption that they do not want to take care of their own people? things,e purchasing taking something, we are flooding them with resources to improve their lives. think i wouldt argue that the swap is equal. u.s. corporations do a lot of business and make a lot of money from the resources that come out of the entire continent. any time you pick up your cell phone, the minerals within your cell phone, from the continent of africa.

what the raw materials, what they buy the raw materials for and what you buy your phone for is a vast difference. there is corruption at work here. times, this is what we have seen historically, corporations have been a part in the corruption. they have worked with government officials or with elites to take land away from people or to use land that is not being properly used. we have to be clear about the history that the u.s., corporations and corporations in .urope from many points of view in -- you mentioned women. the fact of the matter is, they

feel the government is at the behest of governments -- of world governments in the international community then working for the people of nigeria. i have to believe we play a role in that. could this be a precedent that is set, the social media campaign, that allows countries to take this example and use it in other ways, to make change on the economy or whatever other problems they're facing. we have seen an international outcry before. we were talking about the free south africa movement and how that was -- how it ended up being an international movement. it was built by people within south africa first and went globally. social media allows it to happen so much faster.

take the next step, not just say we stand with the people of nigeria and we will send up a hashtag, if we take the time to learn about nigeria and the government and corporations and our own role of what is taking place in nigeria, i think this can impact the country. that brings up education in africa. what is the status of women getting an education in africa. the statistics remain pretty grave. , these know for sure young women were in a catch-22 situation. the context of those girls being at the chibok secondary school was that they only had that one day to have the opportunity to take their exam. meant aics exam

completely different life for them. they could become the dr., the lawyers, the economists of the country. it was such a security problem, there were questions about whether or not they should go to school. they would have had to wait a whole mother year without the next step of education. many women in the continent are put in the situation. .omen have to choose in most countries, you have to pay school fees. you have to choose between your son and your daughter going to school. you have to choose whether or not going to ee or pay the school fees. we were talking about public schools educational for. would radicalize the situation in africa in a positive way.

host: united states sends about $700 million a year. does that go to education? most other goes to the emergency relief for hiv and aids and other infectious diseases. host: tammy, alabama. i want to ask a couple of questions and make a comment. nigeria is a young country and a lot of economical power. it is the most populated country. is part of the problem that they are so young and do not know how to manage and run the country

properly and that they are so very rich, also. they are having trouble there. when young kids going to the draft and they are all of a sudden, they come from poverty to millionaires. do you think the problem is there? that they are so very young is a country and do not have the experience. nigeria is a new democracy. 15 years this month. most countries in africa are coming out of a period of colonialism and are creating infrastructures. there are a couple of things that work that do not have to do the the longevity of country, but the conditions they found themselves. rule was harsh.

not a lot of agency was given to the people in africa. colonial rule was harsh. it did not focus on infrastructure. we have emerging countries. colonialism out of -- 150 50 years ago years ago. what makes democracy is people. what makes infrastructure is the ability for people to use democracy to the benefit of themselves. nott of this has to do with who was young and who was old, but who has the capability to control their own resources? on the most part, the people the continent of africa have not been able to control their resources. when they have, we have seen an impact and a change. the change we see in liberia right now, they are an extremely young country if you do not

county dictatorships, and their leader has taken the resources that she has and create futures for people to make sure people can have jobs, that they are building clean water and infrastructures. there are so many countries you can point to that are in the same situation, but because they have control over the resources or are getting control of the resources, they are able to make change. u.n. in this? the they have produced documents and resolutions. i do not believe peacekeepers have been asked for. there has been both positive and challenging situation with you and peacekeepers. peacekeepers. it is important to push the governing bodies. union, they put out a statement yesterday condemning the kidnappings. she said she is calling upon all

countries to get involved and it's -- and assist nigeria. caller:, goodic morning, you're on the air. the girls that have been kidnapped today is not just an event. terrorized the people of nigeria. the problem we are having is corruption. there is so much corruption in the media, in the congress, in the government. there is corruption everywhere. thatconomy is so corrupt

-- one of the major problems boko haram has with the government is corruption. the government is not doing anything to address corruption. think this is why women and men, starting with the families and the communities and spreading all over the country of nigeria took to social media, to say to the world, this is happening and we need your help. i doi find interesting is see that the people of nigeria knew that if people around the world knew what they were experiencing, knew what they were going through, they would respond and that they would act. it took us a long time to do so. corruption is a problem. one thing being spoken about now is the fact that there is this growing pressure against the government to say boca iran has been target --boko haram has

been targeting citizens for a long time. the government needs to act. if they refuse to act, it is not legitimate. a real call see is for the nigerian government to pivot and prioritize. one of the problems has been that in the fight against boko haram, civilians have been caught in the crossfire. it is not just boko haram killing citizens, it is also the government as well. there will be a lot of pressure brought to bear. nigeria, theyin are looking towards change. i do not think the pressure is going to end anytime soon. i hear a lot of callers calling and making excuses.

there should be no excuses. there should be no talks. woman,e was european that they were caucasian woman, or chinese woman, we would be up in a up oroar. there is no way we should stand for this. these are our sisters. could be gone now and mutilated and dead. then what we going to do? say this is what we should have did? a mother, grandmother, two daughter's, and east. i feel this in my heart. should not be no talking. we could go get any other person -- these are people. sentiment andthe

i truly agree that it took way too long for the international immunity to react. when i first saw this come across, i knew this was something important. brazenok boko haram's activities to a new level. while we did see a few media reports, there were not very many. 73 people were killed and a bus station just because they wanted to go to work. they needed to use bus transportation. they experienced a bombing. there is definitely a bias at work when we talk about what gets covered in the media and what does not. i am glad to see the media covering it now. the sentiment of the caller is something i am hearing from around this country and around the world. we have mothers. care and love women. the fact that this can happen,

and there was not any action, that is disturbing to people on a lot of levels. host: tommy, tennessee, independent caller. aller: i would like to wish of the mothers a happy mother's day and the situation to me is very disturbing. i really cannot say what i want to say. i believe the women of this world need to unite on mother's day and say we are going to ourthe suffering to children by oppressive governments. the women of the world need to stand up and say no. oppressived of governments who continued to mistreat our children and us as well. thank you. have a blessed day. we are seeing that. one of the things i thought was at the rally in

washington, d.c. is that it was not just the nigerians. it was not just policy. it was mom's. -- it was moms. they had their kids, pulling them and widens, strollers, ringing them to the nigerian embassy to protest. you cannot imagine what it would be like to have your child kidnapped from you. wouldou think about what you do if you had no government that came to your aid immediately. in the united states, when there is a kidnapping, we see it on the news. the police come to your house, take a report, say they are investigating. mothers hadt these no one doing anything, i think that is what is hitting people's hearts. host:

what are your are we. and are in pennsylvania and and or his or her or is he and his or is a look at twitter. even if you were accused of being is in chinese we are was injustice and is he or is he is in no and he is over.

advertise it was totally on either under the socialist or the other. are you getting to in some way and in your me is people talking about cells and not any of his or her emotional way that is he is in a way they've no matter what one or one of your view determined to one of his many people we are with you. you can talk about generation, please. was still her house is much as it was in a 100 do is talk about

this, which is family or clan as as he knows that he is as you are economic transformation, people have no choice but to go the and. >> and in cubit. the national labor relations were voting to allow college football players western university union and one from a house or he is and unionizing him now was her or he would hear from you what is the committee will come to me

we appreciate you and your he share your expertise is in value we way to stay told is dead leads leverage their athlete and pursued a different dreams. for others most student-athletes, playing a college sport is a ticket to an education and when that happens institutions must step up

most institutions are doing that in spending by their athlete for the long haul. no athlete injured should be left behind because of the misplaced priorities can we do more to protect students? >> yes, we can give them a greater role as we govern this to help ensure that work entry doesn't harm that student's career and find a responsible solution that will deliver the health care the players may need. promoting change is often difficult. but we have addressed concerns. does that mean that unionizing student athletes is the answer? absolutely not. when we signed the national labor relations act, strengthen roosevelt declared a better relationship between labor and management is a high purpose of this act is hard to imagine president roosevelt up a lot

when they apply to the relationship between student athletes and academic institutions might that is precisely where we are. a regional director recently ruled football players at northwestern our employees of the school for the purpose of collective bargaining and the ballots cast on election have been encountered by the full board. so given the track record, i suspect the board will rubberstamp this, setting a dangerous precedent for those colleges and universities nationwide. ..

i the schools read the mason difficult decisions? finally, how well other politics affect our higher education system? cause campuses prepare for micro union jack r. administers eclipse to bargain with competing unions? will students be able to make an informed decision about joining a union? while attending class and going to practice? these are tough questions that should be discussed before students and administrators are forced to confront a radical departure from longstanding policy.

we should concern the place where of -- the challenges facing student athletes should be addressed in a way that protects the athletic and academic integrity of higher education. the recent decision takes a fundamentally different approach that can make it harder for some students to access to quality education. i strongly urge the obama board to change course and encourage key stakeholders to get to work. i look forward to today's discussion that will now recognize the senior democratic member of the committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i am glad we're having a hearing to better understand what is happening in college athletics air at the very legitimate grievances. the nostalgic days when student athletes really were students first and when college sports was just about learning teamwork, self discipline, and sportsmanship but getting some

exercise with friendly competition. those days are pretty much over. during the last four decades colleges and universities to the n.c.a.a. have perfected the art of monetizing athletic choices other best football and basketball players and teams will steadily encroaching of players' academic opportunities. they have created nothing less than a big sports empire. branding agreements, prime time sports shows and celebrity coaches with seven figure salaries. our nation's talented athletes have become commodities within this empire. there are units of production that are over scheduled and overworked, left without safeguards further help then say becoming tourist to put their education on the back burner in favor of success on the field. some athletes have figured this out and they're starting to ask really silly questions. they want to know what happens to them if they suffer a catastrophic injury on the field

that leaves them with a lifetime disability. will they lose their scholarship ? and with it the chance for education and career? how much of their health care will they and their families need to pay and a pocket? they're reading about new studies, the long term effects of head injuries and want to know of the schools and coaches are doing all they can to prevent congestion and ranger rick perry will be held come first and the decision is being made about whether or not they're fit to play, or will the team's desire to win trump health concerns of the individual player? they're raising questions about the adequacy of the scholarships and the restrictions that leave them with little or no support for out of pocket in incidental expenses that they face. why are some teammates finding themselves unable to afford enough food to eat our books for their glasses while the university makes millions from their effort? it want to know why so many players did not finish their academic programs. they want to discuss the affair transfer policy. how can policies be changed to support the players' success in

academics, not just the athletics. the national labor relations board decision regarding north western university football players documents and of consuming sometimes eye-popping demand of a college football player in today's net profit driven n.c.a.a. horrible. northwest and the daily life of a popular revolt around practice in preparation. commonly a 40 to 50 hour week commitment with any glasses or hallmarks reasons of. you can see that sample sketch is displayed here on these screens. underneath the screen. excuse me. players are expected to report by 615 monday morning for their medical by 7:00 a.m. and then pads and helmets until noon. at night they meet with judges to review game films. and the agility drills, conditioning, weightlifting, workout, playbooks command steady in between. in the beginning of the august

training camp through the grueling 12 weeks season the postseason will play into mid january, warmest the fed you're winning edge we to mandatory spring workouts to high-stakes about preparation done not academic obligations become the focus of these players lives and the obsession of their coaches. meanwhile players worry about the health and safety, financial future and prospects for jobs. the big business empire of college sports is doing well. revenues are up 32% in the last six years, and many universities are hiking tuition and fees by turning to underpaid, over stretched adjunct faculty and cutting student services. so the ncaa and the the ball programs are making more money and the athletes are getting less and less. in the end this a classic labor dispute. the ncaa empire is holding all the cards, making all the rules, capturing all the profits. the hardest working most valuable system, left with little to say, little leverage

domino blocking or tackling but themselves. by banding together and bargaining these athletes in when the kinds of things union workers have demanded and won across the country, a say about avoiding serious injury, medical benefits and security if something goes wrong in a meaningful in foot it -- input fit into how they will balance the work. their academic needs and their other responsibilities. respectful treatment and care they so richly deserve. i look forward to today's hearing in hearing from today's witnesses about how we can do more to help support these hard working employees. >> i think the gentleman. pursuant to committee rule seven see all members will be permitted to submit written statements. without objection the hearing record will remain open for 14 days to allow statements got questions for the record, and other extraneous material reference during a hearing to be submitted in the official hearing record. it is now my pleasure to introduce our distinguished

panel. in light of my failing voice and a very long residents of our witnesses i will be extraordinarily brief thaw. starting to my left we have the hon. can start, president chancellor of baylor university in waco, texas. bradford livingston, a partner juan in chicago annoying me. a partner at a 0skrllc in emeryville, california. mr. bernard is director of athletics for stanford university in stanford, california. mr. patrick tyler's is managing director at madison dearborn partners in chicago illinois and former minnesota vikings. okay. i could not stop. before i recognize you to provide your testimony let me briefly remind everyone of the five men and lighting system. been the system is pretty straightforward. when i recognize you, you will have five minutes to give testimony.

the light will be green. after four minutes they will turn yellow. i would hope that you would be looking to wrapping up the testimony when it turns red please wrap up as expeditiously as you can. we are here to listen to you. you are here to give us the benefit of your expertise. my colleagues, when we get into our five minute questioning session please try to be respectful of the other witnesses and rapid testimony. all right. let's start with one the hon. can start. sir, you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. was an honor to be here to discuss this very important issue. i served as president and chancellor at baylor university. president and ceo since june of 2010. at baylor university we're located in waco, texas.

it is a private christian university. it is ranked as a high research comprehensive university, and it is a vibrant community home to over 15,000 students, including over 600 student-athletes. baylor is a founding member of the big 12 conference and established in 1994 we sponsor 19 varsity teams. we are very blessed at baylor to have student athletes to succeed him, but in the classroom and on the playing field. over the past three years barely university has been the most successful division one program and combined winning percentage is football and men's and women's basketball. but these accomplishments cannot counter ultimately mean in terms of what we emphasize at baylor. as commencement approaches next weekend on our campus we are

celebrating our academic accomplishments. facts, we gathered together among the evening. baylor's federal center to do exactly that, to honor our student athlete performance in the classroom. during the prior academic year, mr. chairman, 86 percent of from seeing a student athletes at baylor receive their undergraduate degrees and many have gone to pursue advanced degrees. this past fall semester to our student athletes to achieve the cumulative gpa of 327. these are remarkable times. the reality is is that even in these best of times college athletics, including at baylor, is not a profit generating

activity. it is not generating profits for baylor, nor for the vast majority of institutions of higher education it. the regional directors recent decision at northwestern university has characterized our student-athletes as employees. this is an unprecedented ruling, as the chairman noted. in our view it is misguided. the term student athlete is real . we would invite members to come to our campus and see for themselves. it is their relationship with her parents, and -- which provides college education. but a student athletes are first and foremost do and stuff but are expected to be and required to be of far removed from professional sports. dedicated to each and every students welfare, including our

student athletes. at baylor and across the nation student athletes benefit from a wide array of services that are specifically designed to maximize their potential as students and then to repair this -- prepare the student athlete for their journeys and life after college. these services and bra rams contribute significantly to their ultimate academic success. they include academic advising, degree planning, career counseling, many institutions, including baylor, provide very high-quality academic support such as tutoring service, computer labs and steady lounges we have study of. student-athletes also receive specific financial benefits which progress to a degree of completion. these traditional benefits are very familiar. tuition, room, board, fees, books, and other related educational expenses.

what is the purpose? the purpose in offering financial assistance is to encourage our student-athletes to carry on and to complete their academic work. the vast majority do. the nlrb has expressed a view through which we agree with. in this instance the regional director hasn't set mechanically and we believe erroneously applied a rigidly would contest not withstanding, as the chairman suggested, the absence of any congressional intent to include college athletics as an employment lynyrd. now, the decision by terms applies only to private institution, but it does create an economy. for example, the decision that northwest university is nonsectarian.

nlrb hester bit -- has been struggling in various dimensions with religious liberty limitations. we should reasonably expect some private religiously affiliated universities to challenge the board's authority to be regulating institutional missions expressly granted in a religious world view. a second and more structurally significant is that decisions implicit exclusion of state institutions and intercollegiate athletics, private universities which compete with state institutions and likely create many discrepancies among the nation's universities. >> thank you, mr. livingston, you are recognized. >> good morning, mr. chairman, members of the committee. as a supreme court has noted, principles cannot be imposed blindly in the academic world. while i fully support the

purposes in allowing employees of freedom to choose other are not to form a library in and bargain collectively the nlrb itself is recognizing the problem of attempting to force the student university relationship into the traditional employer-employee framework. that problem is apparent here. the university's primary mission is to educate its students, including student-athletes. some athletes are neither hired by a college of providing services for compensation. athletes are students who are participating in programs with the dual role as both student and athlete treating these participants as employees can changes them from students who are student athletes to professional athletes who are also students. even if student athletes could be considered employees, and the term is undefined, employees deadest complex with the remaining principles contained in an act. consistent with labor agreements from other industries the

college and the union can initiative of the scheduling and duration of practicing, distribution of playing time, scholarship allocation by dollar value and blair position. with a non bargaining unit player, in this case what conns, they have the right to perform are any work. a broad range of such a stir wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment described. they could likewise negotiate over academic standards including minimum rate pay average, class attendance requirements, the number and form of examinations, grievance procedures to challenge it professors grades, and even potentially graduation requirements. and unlike the statutory requirement to my college cannot refuse to bargain over changes to its own merit conference or ncaa rules guaranteeing competitive and balances. if college football players were

employees in making clear that they may organize. the petition for a unit will be considered appropriate. the remainder of the pop scene shares an overwhelming community of interest delivery in six to represent just the team's offense, perhaps just as quarterbacks. sparks compared to what will happen when college teams compete under different work rules and professional sports every team is a private employer and the nlrb jurisdiction. the major professional sports leagues have their own multi employer collective bargaining agreements that cover the leak.

those agreements provide a relatively level playing field whether there were salary caps, minimum wage for rations, free agency, a drug testing protocols to leave a revenue-sharing. creating rules for student athletes at only 17 schools. fewer than 15%. almost certain that the regime will not apply to the remaining 80% some states expressly regulate. other states have no laws or private public sector bargaining . the bill before ohios house of

representatives clarifies that steven athletes are not employees. conversely to connecticut legislators indicate that they will introduce legislation stating that their public athletes are employees. without a unified agreement to every college team must fend for themselves philippe. institutions are not as robust. pretty competitive and bounces. roman not an appropriate vehicle to address student athlete concerns. this soon athletes as employees

covered by the nlrb is simply unworkable. mr. chairman and members, i thank you for the average it is a share my thoughts. >> thank you. >> chairman, ranking member, thank you for allowing lee to testify i am an economist to specialize in antitrust and the economics of college sports, a partner with the firm 0skr. as the members of the committee know the nlrb authorize an election. cisterna want to provide a few facts to the 40 to 60 hours per week during a five month season. they're not supervised by faculty, and the pa is not a direct part of the curriculum.

and is in this panel is focused on unintended consequences, want to use when the biggest threat to college sports to whether current price-fixing cartel. price-fixing focuses on out to reenter and 51 division was schools stifle healthy economic competition to collision to impose limits on all forms of athletes. an enormously popular consumer product is jerry's passion for fans and billions in revenues from schools for broadcast television networks. a professional sport industry. reporting over 3 billion in revenue. basketball added another one and a half. individual athletic departments regularly generate more revenue than almost all nhl and nba teams.

former mca president explained that maximizing revenue was the only responsible path for college sports. that is exactly how of fiber business should behave. there is an economic dark side to college sports that comes from collection to of collective action. the nlrb in the antitrust laws work together to ensure that when sports leagues and athletes form partnerships negotiations are fair and either choice is valid. unionize collective bargaining pat or more free-market approach . given the one-sided power imposed by collusion it is not surprising that players have turned to labor law and unionization from modicum of countervailing bargaining power. other american sports involve a leak negotiating with the union to achieve a competitive out company believes generally encourage innovation. the nfl players went to court to demand they remain a union.

i focus on the athletes free-market value. they focus on very different things, educational and safety components, better medical coverage, head trauma, improving graduation rates and establishing an educational trust funds to ensure at least in venice degrees. because of time limits will summarize my point. because most athletes to not go on to work in the nfl in see a collision effectively denies 99% or more of college athletes of the floor best sports and years of their entire career. for some the maybe the four best. money that would go to male athletes instead falls to coaches and into labor recruiting palaces. college football coaches can make as much as 7 million a year . it deprives women athletes of title nine matching. collision shifts the burden from a private school to taxpayer

funded pell grants, sometimes even food stamps to buy forcing them to of the school. the current tax-cutting cents from taxation the tuition portion of the athletic scholarships as well as tuition remissions paid to university employees as part of a broader compensation package. nothing should change that. finally, the ncaa limit consumer choice for the centrally planned one-size-fits-all product offering. i also want to say that the term student-athletes was created to dutch legal responsibility and to avoid economic competition. the resources for new tv deals alone is sufficient for an orderly transition from a command-and-control economy to a market-based. until that right is respected for college athletes of course there will seek a collective alternative.

an athlete who has bargained individually or collectively to insure is well fed, given real access and provided with health and safety rules that lower the risk of serious head trauma or lifelong disability will be in a better position to benefit from kutcher education and ivory or concussed athlete forced into a dead-end major hit. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> chairman, ranking member, member of the committee. i am pleased to be a. my comments are specific to stanford. the hotel eliminate some of the larger issues. we offer a 36 sports got 20 for

women : 16 for men. we're very proud of the athletic achievements of our student-athletes, will and i want to emphasize in my testimony as morning, we never lose sight of the universe is larger mission. stanford is a university first and its academic mission comes first. the believe the most important thing for student-athletes walk up the door when they leave stanford is a stanford degree. 97 percent of our student-athletes achieve this goal. the athletic experience is not pursued at the expense of the academic experience or separate and apart from it. each enhances the other. one out of every eight undergraduate students and stanford is a student athlete. this is not a separate group.

simplesse is the laboratories, undergraduate houses, the same exam schedules, even if they need to take a proxy examination on the road. stanford is not admitting anyone saw. standard reviews each graduate holistic we looking at the academic excellence they have an evaluation. our student athletes demonstrate how important they view as stanford education by taking all the steps they need. as to brief examples, andrew lack of the end up -- in annapolis colts, both by passing the opportunity to leave stanford with the year of eligibility left and into the professional sports world. instead they remain at stanford

to complete their degree. fair. the overwhelming majority of our student athletes will not go on to our living in professional sports. there will provide an outstanding success. the academic grounding is solid and it did teach, strategy, team dynamics, problem solving, and other capacities critical to success. i discussed all of these issues more extensively in my written testimony before. i want to address a related question. net revenue, the vast majority are 36 were still not. all of the revenue that the university receives is used to support the overall athletic program including a 7 percent of

student athletes to participate in as of the 34 sports. we use these revenue to support athletic aborigines for the broad cross-section of students, both men and women providing opportunities is important to us. at the close but discussing how we address the needs and concerns of steve netflix. we work hard to ensure about their academic and athletic experiences are excellent and properly supported. issues we are already addressing . we're always open to making improvements that are within our purview temper of the rules on issues such as minimum academic progress as delicious that include interest. i hope to strengthen benefits' of progress such as ours will be considered as a national

discussion continues. melson recognize they're is a variation on these issues and that while i have been speaking today at the stanford and may well be differences of lacerations. stanford stands ready to talk with and work with others who are likewise interested in continually improving experiences. thank you. >> ranking member, members of the committee my views on the ongoing quest. before i do so i would like to make it clear that my comments they are strictly my own. i do not speak for nor do i represent these institutions. i speak only for myself. i graduate from the university

of notre dame in 1989 with a bachelor of science degree in biology while a student i played four years of varsity football and a varsity baseball. that transfer from yale university and head of its years of academic eligibility. so i transferred to another than to pursue excellence in the classroom and on the football field. i felt much of an offer me the opportunity to do well in both. the infrastructure was and remains in place to assist student-athletes. i have a daughter who is currently a collegiate student athlete there and have witnessed even further improvements in the program such as mandatory study alba.

i am here today as a former collegiate student athlete. i am not an attorney. so i will leave the legal argument to the experts to my right. the impetus for today's panel is the and i'll be regional director's ruling says that college athletes are deemed employees. a means to an end, a vehicle to implement improvements to our collegiate athletic system. i believe they're is little debate about necessary logical improvements which i will describe. believe the debate today should be focused on seeking the most effective vehicle to cause the implementation of these improvements. the crux of the problem is that student athletes should be stevenson's first and foremost. i am concerned that calling student-athletes employees will make the system more of a business than it already is.

in my mind we need to gravitate collegiate athletics toward the student center to model, not the other way around. i also worry about the unintended consequences of being deemed an employee and what unionization could bring to college athletics. that said, says that as a former student athlete as support many of the goals for the national college players association and a college athletes players association that the ranking member describes. i favor mandated 4-year scholarships to help in -- health insurance benefits as the weapons. tsks for year scholarships. you should be able to maintain athletic scholarships released for, debatable five years. the goal of obtaining an undergraduate degree. the obligation should be

maintained regardless of your productivity and the athletic field. the sad reality is if the student athlete is not performing their athletic scholarship may not be become moot. this will insensate and athletes only focus on scholarship renewable at all costs rather than striking the right of the performance of a classroom and not feel the place. health and insurance benefits. after sustaining a sports related injury a student at least those in the united be reduced or eliminated. student-athletes that sustain permanent injuries' should be afforded health insurance benefits for life. i also hasten to add that all college athletic programs should enhance their efforts to minimize the risk. stipend, at the very least

transfer, the four year scholarships are mandated. i am okay with current transfer restrictions. i was a product of these transfer restrictions. however, if honoring for year scholarships is not required the onetime no penalty transfer options should be afforded all student-athletes, not just select sports. in conclusion these initiatives are in my mind obvious and necessary improvements. the first three of monetary implications of which i recognize there are more difficult to implement. however i believe they're is plenty of money in the system for necessary improvements that has been highlighted. the national collegiate athletic association is dedicated to

safeguarding the lobbying a student athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field and in the classroom. if this mission statement is true, why then haven't these goals already been implemented? this is simply because of the fact that the ncaa is a driven organization made up of colleges and universities also affiliated groups. ncaa may not have been able to get consensus from its diverse. i don't have a solution to this problem. i question the need to unionize. one final note, it is difficult to maintain that we truly have a student athlete system. this is not an acceptable outcome and i don't see how classifying the student-athletes

as employees is going to improve the situation. finally, i was justin f. leavitt noted and. i was not an employee of the ever see, nor did i want to be. i played six years of professional football. i was an employee and wanted to be. thank you. >> true experts. i will start with you. -from st. paul hood goes on to do all these things. i think you were part of a national championship team. i'm disappointed you could not help the vikings. you mentioned that your daughter

is playing the cross -- across the better than. watching her experience and your experience of wonder if you were discouraged from taking a class or pursuing a major. >> i was not. >> if you -- most of us on this panel, i can speak for everybody, but a lot of issues that could be and should be addressed.

the university's ought to be addressing. a member of the union and my oversimplifying a position? >> bernard, stanford, noted in each of our institutions provide that. for a student athlete not to graduate with the university with a degree in hand it is a total disservice. >> thank you. he mentioned something like 86 percent. could you talk about your graduation rate?

>> did in fact graduate. north did advanced degrees, graduate degrees. here is the key point the university creates a culture that encourages the student to do the best that he/she can. there are obviously important issues. we completely agree with that. we are part of a conversation that is nationwide. with respect to but when stupid if. we know they're are things that can, in fact, be improved in the real question is are we going to, in fact, use the national relations act as the tool for negotiating improvements? and it seems to be exactly the wrong way to go.

for starters if i may make one additional point, the collective bargaining agreement that was recognized for the regional director does not include the entire football team. if you are a walk on, one of the 35 members of the football team of the representative if the union is, in fact, elected, you will be outside the unit. quite apart from the non revenue sports which is a fundamental issue. we are treating all of our student-athletes the same. we want to encourage this culture then we want you to go to school. the one you tearing your degree and be one to help prepare you for your journey in life. thank you. >> you talked about how football and basketball were moneymakers and that money went to the other sports. just remind us of how that goes. >> the resources from our tv

comedian, goes back into supporting 36. one of the larger offerings. the 900 that we support. we think that is very important. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. calling for a larger bargaining unit. >> it does raise the issue. >> i want to thank you very much for your testimony. he testified as straightforward manner about the issues that the students or raising. they are endemic to the football programs around the country. that really was as you pointed out the security of the scholarships at somebody else to

the squad. the insurance benefits or suffered disability as a result. lose your athletic ability and your scholarship. this type in the issue and the transfer issue, these study issues that the students quite necessarily to form a union iran because they were not getting satisfaction. the students fear the air, of. there are not being addressed. i find it interesting that other witnesses until the testimony to that notion which is their belief. here's stephen athletes, what about the athletic side of it.

what about where we spend 50 hours a week. and apparently that can never quite get addressed. that brings me to you. if you read mr. livingston's testimony can tell you why, and trudeau worked between conference's ncaa and conferences, maybe even the media would not be a shield against issues raised by this bargaining unit. they can travel all over. but that same network is used as a weapon against the athletes. that same network is used as a weapon when they want to talk about, is our stipend fair. because they don't have any voice in national. while the school is at the living in a four year -- but that is not every school.

you know, we have to check with the conference. we are bound by the rules. rebar today what conference you been. conferences are like commodities . what other revenues of will be generated midweek weekend playoffs. explain. a handful of students, how you will be aired and how you will get this during your career. fear of -- it distinguishes between scholarship athletes and

other athletes and likely would get a scholarship if the school were actually allowed to exercise individual choice. instead is a cap that prevents it. that -- directly to your point the way i like to think about the claim that schools are poor in their athletic departments is that it is similar to a wall street banker who brings in a million-dollar salary "but but but. once he is done paying for those things there is not a lot of money left. >> at think that is the point. the knight commission, there is not enough money to help the other sports. as they pointed out psst, creating an unsustainable group of athletic expenses.

the $3 million. i recognize that is the exception. more and more people are joining at fraternity. you can't quite take care of your athletic obligations campus wide. i think that we see here the ncaa has constructed a very interesting and overwhelming now work to be used against these kinds of questions being raised even as prominent as the night commission that examined this impact and the relationship of students which is why these students chose to become employees. classic employer employee relationship. >> the gentleman's time has expired. i ask unanimous consent. treating soon athletes as employees whenever range of negative and troubling consequences.

>> both will be entered in the record. >> i wanted thank all of our witnesses search of a. when i am grateful to someone who's been a lot of time and education and higher education, dealing with student-athletes as soon as it were not athletes. i appreciate the information. i understand balers priorities in education. in fact, all of you have talked about that. would you describe how balers athletic programs for both the academic programs to ensure student-athletes can prioritize their studies or loss on meeting the commitments to the team? >> one of the keys is the planning process that goes into developing a major planning, the

schedule, and student athletes to have priority in terms registration, so we do not have a crowding out kind of question at all. and so throughout the academic year they're is a careful monitoring of the students' progress, if she's being identified, then those issues are going to be addressed. that is our real seen a steady increase in recent years, even before my watch, but it is in a point of personal emphasis on my watch that we want this in at least have that entire reservoir of support and is why that gpa, cumulative gpa average is a very labor intensive and very student athletes specifically focused and city. >> as elsewhere, mandatory for first years. and then our abundance study

facilities available. very conveniently located as part of our academic center. >> let me come back to the regional directors opinion. he includes a list of restrictions placed on the athletes and says that they have to obtain permission from the coaches before applying for outside employment composting adams and angina. there are also prohibited from using alcohol and drugs and engaging in gambling. this may sound like a silly question the police tell me why you place these restrictions on steve netflix. >> it is to create a team closer and to ensure as best we can appropriate behavior. when the student athlete arrives he/she is presented with the student athletic and book and the earlier stages say here is

the kind of behavior that is forbidden. it reflects poorly on the university from the poor in the team and frankly destructive of the culture. there are a number prohibitions but there are grounded in human experience, things of the student athletes should not be doing. >> some of those things are things nest in should be doing. >> that is correct. when you go through without shelter nautiluses it is very, very comparable to that of any other student. a community of rules together and other rules that bind us all. >> i would like to ask you this question. and then if mr. muir as an opportunity to respond to my would appreciate it. we know that the -- from -- the decision made by the nlrb move

gentleman has implications beyond. has implications for to one, the education and in a call workers' compensation, fair labor standards could all be implicated. her tell us your thoughts on a possible implication of these laws. >> a very serious issue with respect to the title nine. if the football scholarship student athletes are all employees then it will create a very serious issue with respect to what that requires. there will be a host of other issues. injuries are important. we are sensitive to that. the question will be triggered, does osha have jurisdiction? i think it is going to raise a hornet's nest of issues.

>> i believe if we go down that path students are students first. already covering. i think if we go down the path eventually that we, our student athletes employees and they just become a true working relationship i do think that some of those things will become at risk. pressures become greater. >> digital ladies time has expired. >> thank you very much. i want to thank you for your testimony. you highlighted some of the issues that i want to talk about. you have described the effort at northwestern as a means to an end. i think it is also fair to describe it. i think that we talk a lot

having this student-athletes interest at the center will we do. i used to run a college. the division to school. there is really no one talking for the students. i think what is happening and what question is this is an effort to give somebody to listen. i want to address this. you both represent highly regarded very prestigious institutions that have succeeded of on the athletic field and in the classroom. you are both members of very large conferences. and i wanted just go over what the players at northwestern asking for. they're asking for efforts to minimize college athletes brain trauma rest of, asking to prevent players from being stuck paying sports related medical offenses, asking that graduation rates increase, asking that educational opportunities wasted and athletes in good standing be protected.

asking that universities be prohibited from using a permanent injuries suffered during athletics as a reason to reduce or eliminate a scholarship. as he gibber have with the punishment of college athletes that have not committed a crime. is there anyone on the list that is a reasonable? is there any piece of that and your institution will say, no, i am awfully sorry, we cannot do that. let me phrase it positively. would you each be willing to lead and never in your respective instances to see to it that your fellow member institutions say absolutely. >> i think that that series of questions, they are, in fact, important and legitimate, and we are continually working toward

addressing the. take the concussion policy. the ncaa does have a concussion policy and requires members. we continually monitor that. there are studies under way. the ncaa has personally and directly affected the study. this is involving science. >> here is my question. i don't mean to be rude, but i only have five minutes. should we not -- if unionization is as bad as some many of you think, should we not use this as a catalyst, not just to talk about conversations and, yes, we are looking at it. let's do it. are very powerful institutions in very powerful conferences the people look to. can you not just say we're going to lead an effort to make this happen?

>> briefly, believe it is happening. can we move more quickly, of course. it is, in fact, as serious conversation. under serious review, and it is not just a conversation. >> my question, in these conversations who is speaking for the student athlete? >> i would say their is a multiple of individual speaking for the stephen f. lee. we here, number of our constituencies both on and on campus saying we need is to nephele voice. certainly we are being attentive . they're constantly thinking about this, trying to take roles. athletic directors, again, this is a prominent discussion point. we do want to make sure that the student athlete experience is the best that it can be.

>> let me just say one last thing. i hope that we can collectively to the point where we holstein athletes to the same standards. a coach can break a contract with impunity. i don't understand why is that the coach could break a contract with impunity and a student athlete is penalized if he wants to move from one institution to another. >> i do think -- in bed and understand why we can't get your. peoples should go to college to get degrees. part of their educational experience was participating in this boys related program dislike someone would do drama, speech, debate. it is made me who i am today, a better father, husband, personal business person.

so i would disagree with the characterization. i think it is in trouble. will we need to do is make sure the student athletes have the ability to go to an institution and there it agreed and leave with the degree. if that is the case and would respectfully disagree that there should be some quit pro quo. a person should make a commitment to that coach to give them four years of service. if we don't do that i would submit the you are suggesting we should allow people to then full look around. it should be cool. of what it's to be equal for both parties. ..

they don't make money. a few of the big areas do come to the big schools do but at austin key it's a 9 million-dollar budget, not a 90 million-dollar budget. most schools at that level are startling and i realized unionization of their private university and not a state university but student athletes and i agree totally with you and mr. brush up a couple of things you can transfer now without loss of the time. if you go to one of the divisions or divisio