and she didn't know that. that seems to me to be almost why that would happen and mammals have judiciously asked if she get a bonus for making those changes because the issue is you have employees trying to improve the system and they are such a disconnect there that those things never connected. >> yeah congressman everything we are doing today was an

employee initiative. it was an employee setting up the work. do it according to these ways. >> it's amazing how to compress as they felt and this is my last question. if that panel an anomaly or do you think that's a fair representation? >> congressman i would refrain it does to me that would feel like if i made a comment like that would feel like i was being disingenuous about the real feelings that they have and i won't do that to my employees. >> i'm out there not to say that i would say that's fairly typical. just so you know from my perspective that they expressed concerns were fairly typical of what i hear out there whether they have spoken about whistleblowing or inviting in conversation. i yield back. >> mr. jolly for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. general hickey thank you for your service and incredible career and i appreciate your clear dedication to your comments tonight.

i have a soft spot for the kc-135 so i thank you for your career with that as well. tonight you find yourself representing the va. we can have as many oversight hearings as the day is long. at the end of the day short of major legislative changes its up to the to address the issues. did the legislative affairs office review your testimony tonight? >> yes they did congressman and they do all the time. >> in your testimony you say you appreciate the president's involvement in improving the claims process. what is the president than to show leadership lately on that issue? >> so congressman, the budgets start nba. the budgets come to you while through the omb process and through approval in those processes that exist there so from that perspective absolutely.

i will also tell you that the whole effort on fully developed frames was an effort to bring focus to that. everyday i get up and i have to make decisions i need to have good leadership in front of me. >> i appreciate that and i'm saying this constructively. it's not a gotcha question. we are begging for leadership. everybody's begging for leadership in having a political establishment is too late to identify crisis and too quick to declare result and i'm afraid the present is wednesday that which is why why i asked. he also mentioned in her oral testimony that you would appreciate the support for legislative solutions by this body. your answer to mr. was a fully funded i.t. budget. would that be the number one priority or are there that thinks we should consider as the congress is responsible for doing our job as well? >> congressman one of the things

i would tell you first of all yes it's a holy funded i.t. budget and not just one year but all years fully funded but we are in a world that requires really finches -- efficiency and effectiveness in the thing second thing i would say and i think the chairman for this. the chairman put together roundtable that brought us altogether to have discussions about appeals. in that he brought forth the bso's and the board of veterans appeals and other stakeholders to the table so i thank you chairman for that effort. i will tell you that's what is resulted in that is frankly the disabled veteran leadership sat down with me and said listen if you are having a hard time moving something forward why do you let us take a leadership with the other bso's and we will move forward. my daddy i said there's no limit to the amount of work you do if you don't care who takes credit and i don't care who takes credit. >> do we need legislative initiatives that this body needs

to enact? >> i believe we do and i would like to bpa to take leadership. >> my question is to mr. soto. mr. soto works for the regional offices in my office and he is essentially claim there's an office in my district who has retaliated against him. i'm going to meet with him in the morning and i will get a privacy release. i understand tonight you cannot discuss the circumstances of his case but i think every member and i know i receive them often, received complaints from employees and we try to handle them judiciously. we understand that there are two sides to every story and i understand that in this situation as well. but i cannot go to his supervisor and expect an impartial answer. so once i receive that privacy release tomorrow i'm going to come to you and to legislative affairs and i'm going to ask for an explanation and i hope that

the va is found to be in the right. i will be on us. i don't set up your your hoping the va is thought to be in the wrong. i hope it's in the right. but i need an answer because i can tell you this every member of local 1594 is going to call my office, not the va and they are going to ask what i'm doing in my capacity. i'm sharing that with you on the record tonight simply to let you know how serious it is not that i looks to expect you to have an answer tonight about mr. soto's case but to be telling you that i will be bringing that to you and legislative affairs to you very soon and i need an answer. >> congress and i will provide it with the documentation you told me to. >> i will continue to come each week. >> i will work to make sure it's timely provided congressman. >> otherwise it will come to mind -- your office which has been very effective so i appreciate your understanding.

>> i yield back. >> mr. fitzpatrick for five minutes. >> i want to follow-up on some questions that mr. ticona was asking about performance measures and evaluations and how long it's actually been going on and the federal government. you indicated that the federal government over the last several years have been doing better in providing bonuses pursuant to performance goals and objectives at the beginning of the year and evaluation at the end. you were talking about the va. we talk about federal agencies? >> i'm talking about across federal government. there have been a change to look at performance in terms of results which is different than in the past. years ago it was just if you had a good attitude, if you're trying hard almost like a report card in school that i really think that the government, the federal government wide at opm has made a strong effort to

judge performance on results and it's very important. you could have an outstanding employee in one year and that employee could be a fully satisfactory person the next year they don't produce the results that are defined in their performance plan i think there is than a general improvement in that. >> where is the va going wrong in that? >> i don't have specific information. i know they have problems with their certification of their performance plan. i believe it was last year and a lot of the ratings were actually reassessed after the first and second level review to make sure that they were tied to results. i think that right now there is a strong feeling that senior

executives are getting bonuses for underperforming programs. i think you have to look very carefully at that because in some cases, you are having a senior person come in. i will use general hickey as an example. she took over a tough assignme assignment. you may not be able to turn that assignment immediately into top-performing organization that you can move it forward with each step. i think sometimes you have a leader that actually can produce results but it isn't as immediate as other people want and you have to recognize that and incentivized it. >> general hickey i want to thank you for your incredible service to our nation but as ms. halliday said you have taken on a tough job at the va. you were here earlier when kristen ruell was giving the

testimony by flawed data and duplicate payments within the va and she was was claiming there were duplicate payments and her manager at the regional office for claiming that wasn't the case. would you say now couple of years later that she was more correct than the managers at the philadelphia va office on that question? >> congressman there are duplicate duplicate payments my can tell you we to 10,000 pension claims a month and about 64 of them are duplicate. >> she was calling out a problem that she saw and she deals with these issues every day. she was identifying a problem and she didn't think upper management was concerned about it or understood or was even involved in it. >> congressman i can play the management at the office did raise the issue to us and did have discussion with the pension business line leadership. i think there has been a conversation but i appreciate the situation she found herself in. >> i appreciate you have indicated to this committee and members of congress that your

doors open and you want transparency and you indicated it unacceptable to you that others don't share that same commitment. with respect to this memo that was provided to us midway through the hearing, there has been a lot of talk about the staffers names that are on there and that is very concerning because of our constitutional obligation and oversight that there are two names at the top of the memo with a circle around it. employees of the va both whistleblowers i believe ryan who was here today in the audience and kristen ruell and i was wondering perhaps perhaps ms. reubens if you can indicate to us why is there named -- they knew nothing about the meaning and they were invited to the meeting. why are the two whistleblowers who are doing as a secretary indicated change processes made a huge impact improve the agen

agency. why are these people being singled out? they should be applauded but they are being denigrated and singled out and made an example of. why is there named even on this if you know? >> congressman i would tell you when i got the call that committee staff was on the way. i convey to the folks in the philadelphia regional office a list of things that have had been described to me to make available parking and a room to meet and then claims files. i said i would expect they may want to meet with the ig. >> why is kristen ruell's name on this that? >> in addition to speaking to the ig that committee staff may want to speak to the whistleblowers. i didn't know who they were and i didn't know they were going to be available that day and suggested we need to make sure if they were requested that we make them available to the committee staff. >> thank you. >> mr. mean for five minutes.

>> i'm not sure that i understand that answer. you said you didn't know who they were and get their names were on the top. >> sir the acting director at the time a semior what the employees and wrote down their names to make sure that if they were in the office that day and wanted to be addressed by the committee staff that they be made available. >> you had the philadelphia office in her testimony that there are 96 white boxes of essential return mail and eight small cabinets of military mail some of which were holding claims that had been existing for as much as three years. were there in fact 96 white boxes and eight small cabinets with that kind of male? >> sir i was disappointed to the director's position in philadelphia. my understanding from the airport is one that was initially raised the

undersecretary asked the pension fiduciary director to send staff up there and i would need to review the final report. >> this was raised in february of 2012. >> yes sir. >> it's now 2014. >> yes sir and there is a report. >> where are those boxes and what happened to those boxes? >> my understanding is that those were boxes of mail that needed to be scanned into the system that those claims have been processed and i believe that was the finding from the fiduciary service. >> that is not what was explain. what it said was they were important pieces of mail potentially. do you know how many there were? >> no sir i don't. >> there were 26 boxes and you have no idea how many claims were associated with those boxes? >> my understanding is that those claims have been worked. >> the testimony was that they

were claims that have not been sufficiently identified and therefore they were in complete and as a result of incompleteness those veterans who had made those claims were not being communicated with. some have not been communicated with for months even years with respect to the claims they were making. >> i will be happy upon arrival at the regional office to investigate further and insured that full answer is provided. >> what happened to the 96 boxes of documents? we have heard testimony that they may been shredded. >> sir my understanding is that those were boxes of mail that needed to be scanned into the system at the regional offices continue to make progress in that regard to make sure those documents on on claims have been completed are also part of the electronic virtual va system. >> general do you know more about this? >> congressman eppolito number if i'm recollecting correctly a

68 boxes and i believe it was documents that were in paper. >> this is the document, 96. >> we have a different number that kristen ruell has identified. >> is there different set of boxes? here is triaged a. is there tree are. >> when we went into the philadelphia filipov we identified 68 maldives full of claims. >> are they different than the 96 other male ben's? we might have over 115 male bands of fun -- unresponsive of which we don't know how many hundreds of potentially thousands of pieces of veterans correspondents could be included within them. >> congressman the mail has been used to do the claim already. that claim has been completed. >> no general it has not been completed. the testimony we received is

that document was not able to be appropriately either return mail or other kinds of correspondence which identifiers required further follow-up to be able to identify. am i missing something? >> congressman i will go deeply into this and come back to you personally and meet with you and bring whoever need to to explain it so that it can meet your needs and your understandings so we ensure you are well-informed. >> i need to know how many there were, how many bins and if i'm hearing testimony that there could be as many as 150 separate bins. this is not ambiguous. >> i will look knowledge and get back to you and make sure we bring people that are capable to explain. if you have the opportunity and i know you are very busy i would advise you to come to the regional office where we do this work. >> i have been in a philadelphia hospital and we didn't expect we

were having these troubles on the side of the aisle with benefits and i will be there. >> i will make arrangements. >> thank you general. >> mr. mean i understand the rule talks about the 92 boxes some two years ago in the 68 boxes we are talking about are boxes that were currently undiscovered. mr. lamalfa you are recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman and committee. first, mr. jolly mentioned a few minutes ago to general hickey, we here have the same concerns that people step forward to provide information in the oakland office that have been retaliated against or interviewed were practically harassed about other issues when they thought they were coming forward to help instead they are called in for review hearings on things that they actually were helping on and made to feel like

they were in trouble over that. i would like to have an opportunity to approach it later as mr. jolly mentioned with some of these folks. they were retaliated against and i think one has been under suspension or even let go so i would like to have that opportunity. as well we talked about the bonuses. i think you reward people who are grinding out the work at the ground level making veterans claims be finished and finished accurately and with good quality. that is what we are talking about with bonuses especially catching up on the backlog. when you start getting into the top level executive management there is a little less justification we talk about these backlogs, these veterans living in their cars because they can't get an answer back or waiting years and years and years or heard about 96 boxes or 56 or 58 or 14,000 files in

oakland california. the captain of the ship goes with the ship and if the ship goes down the captain goes down with the ship. at the upper level i think it's highly inappropriate for veterans living in their car or contemplating suicide even why they are saying top-level people receiving bonuses so i would like to consult with the one who's receiving them at the top level and why and how we justify that. i would like to see that reformed as we have done legislatively to limit that. that's a small part of the problem. >> congressman i did not give any bonuses to any vba personnel at the height of the. >> i call them different thing. >> they got a basic salary and they got no bonuses. >> we will investigate that more. currently how many claims are pending at the board of appeals?

>> i have appeals but because they have -- claimed decisions have been made 72% of those are being paid. >> a wrong number. how many have been appeals? >> i don't have it off the top of my head. >> we don't have a lot of time. >> right now i have 276,000 things that the board appeals. in the hole and an process and that includes vba's portion vba's portion, p.s. zero's portion because they have an opportunity to do things and that does not include the court. >> whatever it is that's a huge number. how long do you expect to go through that with veterans that have waited for years in many cases to get from, do the first and to find out that their cases been tossed and perspective of veterans for appeal.

>> congressman i'm not going to blow any smoke on this. we need a better way to do this process, this appeals process. we are not doing the best we can do by veterans in this appeals process. >> 97% of them get remanded back to my understanding to the regional office once again so it's time lost for veterans especially when they are in a bad way. >> first of all vba's part of this is to do three things. the three things we do we have been 25% more than we did 20 years ago but i will sell you this. every man does not necessarily because we made a wrong decision. the re-man can be because the veteran came in a very open process that never ends and brought in a brand-new thing that didn't exist at the time of the initial. >> additional information is a good thing but it shouldn't have been an in appeal board to begin with. >> there should be acclaimed for an increase or a new claim and i

agree with that. >> there is funny business mr. arronte alluded to. we don't believe that dates are maintained. we are getting information on that. once it becomes a new claim it's hard to go backwards. >> we can do that for you congressman and we are working on that right now. i can type those complaints the full complete body of complete body those claims 14,000 of those, 10,000 of which we were able to grant a most professionals that we would not have been able to take care of. just an thousand veterans the way we did by doing that provisional process. that said i understand so that's why we are doing a 100% review. >> thank you. ms. rubin said the oakland office 14,000 claims were found stored in cabinets and 2012. you visited that office and discovered these files were actionable not just stored and what have you. these are actionable plans to need to be taken care. they dated back to the early

90s and you connected, directed the office to process these claims immediately yet we find until recently they have hardly been moved. what was your follow-up on those files in those claims that were stored in the cabinet somewhere dating back to the 90s? >> sir in 2012 when we identified the volume of work that needed to be addressed there were a number of steps undertaken to include a large number of claims to be brokered so they would get immediate attention by some of our highest performing offices. we also provided many help teams to come into oakland to help train them to identify the system issues and to ensure that they continue to work those claims, the oldest claims first. >> we know that some of those are still not done. some of those are still not completed. mr. chairman nye you will yield back.

>> thank you very much mr mr. lamalfa and thank you to the witnesses both the first in the second panel. i think ms. hickey the concern that we have is the american public when you say you have cut the backlog in half, they think that have to veterans have gotten their disability but that's not true because the veteran board of appeals is going to their process. there are other machinations that are being handled so what we are trying to do is get to the bottom of how many veterans are actually receiving a check for their disability claim, not how many you have moved out of the va because we know that you don't have, you don't count them when they go to the court. is that true? >> chairman we have three different processes.

>> yes or no when it goes to the veteran court of appeals. >> the court of appeals is not an va organization. but i understand there are still veterans. >> totally agree with you on that. >> is true just tell the american people that the backlog that veterans are now experiencing is still there. >> chairman i'm so sorry it's late and i'm getting a little flustered with my words to forgive me please. chairman of the backlog is separating claims. that has been the commitment. >> i've got that. will you please admit though that there is still veterans waiting for their disability claims because they have gone to the court? >> i will admit chairman that there are veterans waiting on particular decisions on an initial claim which we are paying. 72% are betting appeals process

or our ticketing resources from the va for any number of medical issues they have claim. >> i apologize. i thought that would be an easy yes or no question. i ask unanimous i ask unanimous consent fl legislators would have five consecutive days. without objection so ordered, this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] in more than five hour hearing

tonight in a series of hearings investigating veterans health care after reports of long wait times at va medical centers. later this week the senate veterans affairs committee will hear from acting dea administrator sloan gibson about the va waiting list. that's alive wednesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern and you can watch that on c-span.org. tonight we have been asking you for your experience with the va claim system and you can weigh in on twitter and facebook. richard tweets, i've been fighting my claim since january 2005. almost 10 years out of waco texas. tens of miles in under expedited appeals one and a half years. this from brian on facebook, fighting the system is causing our vets harm. it's made my depression and ptsd worse. claims are wrongfully denied or rated incorrectly. in your appeal takes an average

of 575 days. put anyone in washington be okay with a wait that long if it was them? another one from bill who writes on facebook about his father who had a series of mini-strokes. he says the pierrepoint va was nothing but helpful. they help me transfer everything to. point immediately and filled out the scripts he needed and didn't have. he goes on to say my dealings with them and the case of my father was nothing short of awesome. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. >> fed chair janet yellen will be on capitol hill tomorrow to testify about u.s. monetary policy in the health of the economy. >> the name of the book is getting smart how digital learning is changing the world.

author tom vander ark. how do you do find digital learning? >> guest: digital learning is really blended learning which is a combination of the best best of face-to-face and on line learning. it also includes on line learning which usually connotes teacher at a distance. and i think most learning for most young people in the very near future will be a combination of blended and on line learning. >> host: when you talk about on line learning what are some of the components of that? >> in a formal setting when it's for credit there's usually on line content and the teacher that you interact with and it's usually done as a cohort so there is a group of students that you are engaging with but it's all at a distance. some students attend full-time on line classes and some

part-time so high school students may take three classes at their high school and take two classes on line. >> host: how expensive right now is on line digital learning in the u.s.? >> guest: in k-12 just in secondary schools high schools primarily there is probably 5 million students that took on line classes so that's a pretty significant percentage of the 50 million u.s. k-12 students that are out there. it's growing very rapidly. most districts reported they are happening or planning to add a nonmime program and it is becoming the norm in higher education. most students report taking at least a portion of their courseload on line. >> you write in your book that we can improve the quality of education in the u.s. without a big increase in investment.

>> guest: reduce that more than just about anybody in the world and i'm very confident that by incorporating new tools that leverage great teaching that we can dramatically increase achievement levels in this country that will require some capital investments. we need to make sure that schools and homes have good access to broadband. we need to make sure that every student has a connected take-home learning device. we need to create great learning opportunities for teachers as well but after we have made those one-time investments to change the nature of the learning environment there is no question that we can operate schools for similar budgets that we have today but with much better outcomes for kids and much better working conditions for teachers. >> host: mr. vander ark how did you get interested in on

line education and on line education generally? >> guest: i had an opportunity to become school superintendent and the seattle area in 1954 and that was the year that wikipedia was launched and www.showed up on the cover of magazines. i was visiting my daughter's classroom in 1994 were she a teacher that understood the shift from 93 to 94 from the shift from information scarcity to information abundance. he created a rich project-based learning environment where kids could take advantage of the research tools and produce really high-quality learning products and just watching that environment was really inspiring to me. it led my district to adopt one to one technology in all of our secondary schools and to launch the first gives global on line school in the country in 1995.

>> host: what is personal digital learning? >> guest: well at the promise of being able to create an individual learning trajectory for every student that we can increasingly help kids learn at their learning level but also in the best learning mortality and the best styles. some kids are going to learn best with games and some will learn best with the cooperative learning experience. really getting to know our kids in being able to customize the experience. i think that level of customization will mean that very soon most students will learn more per hour and the improved motivation of high engagement activities will mean more hours per day. if you put those together more learning per hour in more hours per day and per year i think that's the formula for real breakthroughs in achievement levels. >> host: tom vander ark what is the reaction of school

districts across the country and maybe a couple of examples, to this on line learning wave that has happened? >> guest: let's take houston. it was just called the best urban school district in america by the foundation. a thoughtful approach to improvement based on all that we have learned in the last 20 years about high achieving schools and they have added a component of blended learning so they are combining improvement and innovation to create a really exciting school environment in houston. all at their high schools are becoming one-to-one and that means every student will have a laptop to take home and that is creating an engaging and extended learning environment for every student in houston. i also love many of the charter school networks that are custom designed around the new learning

opportunities that exist, some at public schools in the bay bay area of a network of high schools that combined a playlist which we think of as for music or a playlist of learning experiences that prepare kids for really interesting projects. so that is innate learning environment for kids and it allows teachers instead of just a sole focus on basic skills to really be able to work with groups of students on higher order critical thinking to encourage them to bring their voice to their writing. it allows them to do community connected authentic interesting work. >> so a lot of private investment going into public schools? >> katana private investment. to really exciting how things have changed since about 2008.

i helped launch the first education venture fund in the world called learned capital and since then we have seen other at venture funds launch. we have seen foundations get into the innovation agenda and the combination of private and philanthropic capital is really fueling an explosion of really exciting learning tools for next-generation schools. >> the forward of your book getting smart was written by a former west virginia governor bob wise. why is that? >> guest: bob was a great education governor and he has been an even better education advocate after leaving office. both governor wise and governor jeb bush joined together in 2010 to create digital learning now, a forward-leaning education policy platform for state leaders. both of those ex-governors have

made a terrific impact since leaving office and that men were allowed for digital learning. >> host: what did governor wise do in west virginia? >> guest: of governor wise expanded many digital learning opportunities at the time we thought of it as distance learning and video learning. he connected career education to schools and created dual enrollment opportunity so kids could earn college credit opportunities in high school. he expanded teacher professional development and since leaving governor wise took over the alliance for excellent education and has really been the most important advocate for great high schools and for college and career preparation for young people in america. >> is there a difference between how public schools and private key through 12 schools are approaching digital learning? >> guest: not really. you would think that private

schools would be a source of innovation that by and large they haven't been. most remain relatively traditional although most are beginning to incorporate technology tools so that expensive private schools every kid has a laptop at the learning environments are in most cases relatively traditional. i would say we haven't learned as much as i would have hoped from the private schools face. on the other hand, the radically cost constrained charter networks of california have proven to be a real source of innovation. they were forced to do more with less and as a result of spire and that's the largest elementary network in california and rocketship super far -- super high-performing network

and some schools have produce extraordinary results with these new blended learning environments. >> tom vander ark walk us through how a math course would work on line. >> guest: well it's an exciting blend that personalizes learning. khan academy is an interesting example. we think of kant for his video study ties every student mastering each skill before moving onto the next skill. so in a question that uses khan academy they might also use another visual game-based products like st mouth. students would learn in several different ways and demonstrate that they have mastered a particular skill before they move on to the next skill. the teacher would be able to monitor the progress of students

that are all doing different activities and be able to group students together for small group instruction or to create a project that might apply with what students are learning. the teacher becomes more of a conductor of learning where kids are using tools to build basic skills and for teachers than can intervene as necessary for help kids practice and apply what they are learning. >> host: in fact you write that social networks will replace the classroom. >> what a mean by that is students and a social learning platform like at moto can be in eight different groups during the day. these are i think dynamic grouping will replace h. go or so simply grouping kids by birthday because it was the only way we had to manage school school becomes much more dynamic. kids will be in a level math group and an english group and they might in a reading group.

they will being in a diverse project group that is working on a project in the community. so school becomes much more dynamic and kids will be in groups for periods of time but they shift easily and naturally. so rather than kids being in class where they are either way ahead or way behind the grouping will flow much more dynamically the students progress. >> host: tom vander ark what was the school district and how large was the number was located? >> guest: federal way is a tissue between seattle and tacoma. today it's a high poverty, high challenge district with about 120 languages spoken. >> host: about 22,000 students? and what kind of on line or digital programs did you introduce during that time? >> guest: know so we launch an on line school called internet

academy. still one of the active statewide programs here in washington state but we also have connections academy nk 12 and a number of operators. young people in washington have good full-time access to on line learning. what could be better for washington students and sure in most states they could use better part-time access so their high school experience could be a mixture of blended classes on-site and on line classes. >> host: do you see -- foresee in the future that our current structure of superintendent different principals at of schools and the physical building themselves a go better? >> guest: learning is very relational and education is very communal meaning most of us learn best in a community. parents also find the custodial aspect of school to be really important so for all of those

reasons, for the foreseeable future most students will go to a place called school. although i think as students move into the upper division of high school that for most of them they will spend part of their time learning on line and that's definitely already true in post-secondary. experiences are with multiple providers, some on-site in some on line. what digital learning is doing is particularly for older students it's expanding access to courses. what should be true today is that every high school student in america should have access to every advanced placement course to college credit opportunities to every world language to a range of electives. these all can be offered cost-effectively and with very high-quality for no more than we are spending today.

we will see i think much more, and much bigger change at the high school level than we do the elementary level. >> host: you touched on this earlier but how is the role of the teacher evolving? >> guest: i'm excited about what this means for teachers. the profession has been very difficult and very isolating for individual teachers and what it will mean in a blended environment is that they will work on a team, team of teachers of a different level. they will have access to a mentor teacher that will support their learning. their own learning will be blended. part of what can a team the part of it will be an individual learning plan for they access a playlist of digital resources. the other exciting thing is that there is many new leadership opportunities for teachers within their school and outside of their school. teachers can teach on line. teachers can come even therapist

can teach on line. we are seeing great results and on line speech therapy for example. in the louisiana a math teacher can become a statewide provider so it's opening up these interesting new career paths for teachers, new ways that they can extend their impact and that they can turn more and remained as a teacher if that is what they really want to do. it's an exciting advance for teachers as well as students. >> host: is there a threat to local control with digital learning? >> in many respects digital learning is orthogonal to how we thought about local control because it's silly to limit access to learning. in the past education was limited to the opportunity down the street at the local school but now particularly for high school students they are learning is this bundle of digital learning services, some that are formal and paid for by the state and some that are

informal. the resources that students and parents find on line. so it is becoming important that states make sure that every family has access to a variety of full and part-time on line learning and districts remain open to the possibilities. >> host: the fcc is currently working on the issue of the e.u. rate. how important is that to school districts? >> guest: it's been the important historically. it's been how many districts wired up to provide digital learning opportunities at school area and the regulations have become dated. the process has become bureaucratic and clunky and the funding hasn't kept up with inflation. chairman wheeler and his proposal that he put out last week does a nice job of

addressing those. it increases the amount of funding and it streamlines the regulations and it begins to take into account that we are now in this mobile learning society where where learning isn't just at school but mobile learning is anywhere a student or a family is connected. >> host: where's the recent -- resistance to digital learning? >> guest: well i think that there is resistance and a couple of camps. there are some people that want to keep doing things the way they have done. there are some people that feel threatened by some of the changes that are occurring. some districts don't want to see budget dollars move to an on line provider for example so there there's a bit of parochial thinking when it comes to on line learning. the other problem is that it's

still a bit difficult to transform your school. it's just hard work. the toolset is still a couple of years from being elegantly simple read and i think what we will see a year from now is that it becomes much easier for teachers to adopt a set of tools and create really powerful learning experiences for students. that will really make it i think undeniable for schools. but this isn't a choice. our system is being enveloped by these digital learning opportunities and individual teachers are incorporating them into their classroom at an extraordinary rate. there are 35 million kids and teachers at moto a free learning platform. parents and teachers and kids are blending their own learning and sort of dragging all of us along with them.

>> host: where does the last u.s. stand when it comes to digital learning worldwide? >> guest: we are a leader when it comes to on line learning and that's particularly true in on line education. we are a leader in terms of creating these new interesting i would call them next-generation learning models in high school we are probably lacking when it comes to broadband where the countries like korea that have much better broadband access so we are clearly a leader when it comes to developing new education technologies. we are a leader in many respec respects. i think this can be a very important growth category for the u.s. economy to create and export learning technologies and learning experiences. >> host: what is getting smart mr. bender are? >> guest: an advocacy

organization. we are trying to help people understand what the future looks like and make it happen sooner and better. >> host: this is something you run, correct? >> guest: i do and we are just wrapping up a new book called smart cities that explains what every city should be doing to take advantage of these digital learning opportunities. >> host: when it comes to silicon valley in some larger tech companies are they on board and are they donating donating computers of several? >> guest: i would say they are not on board to the extent that they should be. there are many technology companies selling equipment to schools but unfortunately most of the products that are being sold to schools today are consumer products. if you look at apple the ipad has been extremely popular with schools but it's still a consumer consumption device. it's really not designed well for schools. it doesn't have very good teacher management capacities.

i would say a company like google has made really interesting resources available for free. microsoft has made a number of education resources available for free. neither of them has really stepped into the platform space to help schools integrate this successfully so we are seeing an increased interest and a few companies stepping in that they could do a lot more both paying attention to education of the market and also philanthropic way. >> host: tom vander ark what is the downside of digital learning? >> guest: one that i've just recently written about is as education becomes unbundled and the students assemble learning from many different sources within the school day and outside the school day it's going to become much more

important to provide strong guidance and support for our high school kids. the guidance isn't as good as it should be today and i think as we expand digital learning opportunities we need to make sure there's a sustained adult relationship at school that is helping them make really good digital choices that really prepares them for college and careers. >> host: tom vander ark are there more opportunities for cheating with on line learning? >> guest: not any. >> guest: not any more than there aren't today's classroom. there is lots of cheating that happens in the good old-fashioned way passing papers around. i think the on line providers are pretty smart about this and thinking hard about how they verify student identified. the people doing on line testing are paying close attention to this so i don't think it's an

increased risk. >> host: our textbooks obsolete? >> guest: definitely. district shouldn't buy tests books. they are silly. i was in a texas district last week and help them decide not to make a 10 million-dollar adoption instead to increase student access by using laptops and tablets and then to use open content. there are so much really great free and open content and it's dynamically refreshed and often much more engaging. textbooks really don't make sense. if schools are going to pay for content it should be smart content. it should be adaptive like dream box a seattle area company so that there is embedded assessment and teachers are getting lots of data from it and its game based and highly engaging so if districts pay for content at up to be really smart

content not flat and sequential cont xuan like textbooks. >> host: tom vander ark in your work how important is the federal department of education? >> guest: it became very important in 2001 at with the passage of no child left behind. it's sort of frame to a nationwide approach to school accountability. congress has failed now for 13 years to update and bring it out loud. it has made the federal government and a bit less relevant rate during the recession the federal government invested heavily in a stimulus program which included some grant programs called race to the top that resulted in some significant reforms but without reauthorization of federal legislation states are becoming much more important and as i

described earlier at the rise of digital learning makes authorizing statewide providers a very important role. in u.s. education state government is really important. >> host: so 10 years from now walk us through the dream classroom. >> guest: i will walk you through my dream city. i just finished a book on cities and the way i think city should work is that families ought to have access to a variety of educational opportunities. all of them incorporating technology and all of them blending the best best of face-to-face and on line and then they should have access to a variety of full and part-time on line learning opportunities. they have to be in a city where everybody has access to broadband, rich and poor alike

both at home and in public facilities so broadband is going to be very important and i think students ought to have access to many out of school learning opportunities where they have a chance to make stuff and to be creative to apply their learni learning. young people ought to have access, they really should experience success in college and work and community service before they leave high school so that suggests a highly engaged community where partners are helping schools provide really rich learning opportunities for kids. this is an environment that is highly engaging, very community connected and were kids and families get the support they need to succeed. >> host: tom vander ark is the author of getting smart how digital learning is changing the world. thanks for your time. >> guest: thanks. >> victoria rggi kennedy and

james miller are among president obama's nominees for the u.s. postal service board of governors. >> on the next "washington journal" california congressman jeff denham on the influx of unaccompanied minors at the u.s.-mexico border. and his efforts to get past republicans on immigration legislation. and representative jim mcgovern of massachusetts talks about his resolution to remove troops from iraq by the end of the year in speaker boehner's lawsuit against president obama. later dan ayanna kola over the financial literacy group discusses the financial literacy of teenagers. "washington journal" is live every morning at seven eastern on c-span.

>> the u.s. postal service said earlier this month it will begin shutting down dozens of mail processing centers because of congressional and action on postal reform. up next to senate confirmation hearing on four nominees to the u.s. postal service board of governors including victoria rggi kennedy. senator tom carper cheers as homeland homeland security and governmental affairs committee hearing. ..

>> [inaudible conversations] come to order including the former senator from connecticut. nice to see you. [laughter] it will be a close call. i don't know the time frame you are on senator murky but i will give a statement for the next 45 minutes. [laughter] the be the next five or six minutes then introduce our

witnesses and at some point of time and you can go or later. >> whenever it is most convenient for you. [laughter] >> that was very senatorial. i will give my statement then senator coburn will be around before 330. but we are meeting to fill vacancies on the postal service board of positions it was a very challenging time at the postal service. and over the last several years and it operates to

logistics' industry that employs millions of people and even as first class mail and greeting cards and invitations are lost to other forms of communication the future is bright and a number of ways. advertising mail is still a popular option and we're reminded of that every day when we checked our mail. e-commerce and package delivery makes it them of vital partner for businesses large and small the traditional competitors rely on the last 5 miles or further to the rural communities and to and it has the future and

potentially a very bright one. to continue to prove incapable in the years to come. as important as the board of governors is we hold the key to the future the bin and women on the board should be confirmed have no chance of success of us to do our jobs with postal reform legislation. it barely carries enough cash to make payroll its line of credit is maxed out the 50 million and not capable to make investments including technological advancements to compete with ups or fedex. today they have the letter carriers driving inefficient or unsafe vehicles that break down or because of

gas. that is just not acceptable. and the fact that the postal service makes a profit things they are okay that decisions are not necessary we should be happy with the postal service that just limps along and that is not acceptable. but the postal service is not acceptable to this committee either one recession or one spike of gas prices away from failure. on top of that with the efforts to keep the postal service afloat that it will be closing to further slowdown said kennedy in the country and this comes as

the mail processing at a time when the future holds could potentially devastating blow to further sap the confidence with the ability to remain relevant. free one day postal service that constituents can rely on in the business is can rely on we have seen and package delivery not just any bill but what has been reported with a strong margin. this committee has done its work today than in february we came up with a plan to save the service billions of dollars including taking full advantage of

investments made over the years for medicare paid more into medicare than any employer in the backcountry. there is a serious equity problem there. of legislation with the immediate cash infusion and free to compete in space the business including fed 82 playoff for the time being well the reforms had a chance to bear fruit with the profitable future for the postal service our legislation as a solid realistic response to a very real crisis the only when introduced in recent years to the house or senate and the majority of the committee is interested to fix this problem to work

with the key stakeholders with this issue the postal service has indicated the cash needed to pay event pension and health care obligations and so have $7 billion or more in cash in hand after 10 years and that is a q jeff step forward. especially thinking about a fleet of vehicles i think a couple hundred thousand the average age for is over 20 years they are not configured to carry a lot of packages and parcels. the mail processing centers are 20 years old and not well suited for packages or parcels have that legislation would do that with $30 billion faugh over the next 10 years that we live for two talking with

the nominees to date with what needs to be done with the challenges facing the postal service and what skills they bring to the table it currently doubles the size of the current board with the new injection of talent to make significant progress in the very near future. so i will introduce dr. miller and go first then steven crawford then ms. kennedy you could make some ad libs but thank you for your willingness for this responsibility. currently a senior advisor at the international law firm and a member of the

board for americans for prosperity and a senior fellow at the hoover institution in stanford and earlier the first administrator for the of regulatory affairs. [laughter] he has eight years of prior experience having served on the board of governors to thousand three through 2011 and is itching to get back in the game. steven crawford a research professor at george washington institute of public policy previously served as vice president policy research 2008 through 2009 serves as deputy director at the brookings institution and is the u.s. army veteran receiving it of

star for his service in vietnam and i spent a couple years over there myself. think you for your service. and david michael bennett information officer previously practiced law and an2012 with the washington business journal. and dickey for assuming this responsibility. and my friend and colleague and as senator markey. >> thank you for allowing me to introduce my great friend the incredibly talented

ms. kennedy nominated by president obama to serve from the board of governors a public service powerhouse for our country and if i serve public servant in the standing member of the public service board of governors with intellectual rigor and ideas of leadership and endless energy her career is sync either to the postal service board at a time in aids public-service has created as vicki the postal service has been an integral part of democracy of communication rain or shine. she will bring that same stedfast service to the

board with a wealth of expertise. when she was a partner of a major law firm to help the banks reorganizing and recapitalize with they were issues for the u.s. ps her experience will be invaluable today she helps organizations develop to resolve complex issues with a similar business matters to resolve. like the beloved colleague she believes in the importance at its best to serve the american people that is why she is the president of the board created to educate the public about the unique role of sending in our democracy under her leadership this will open next year mr. did jfk library it will provide

visitors with a high-tech interactive opportunity to learn lessons in new ideas to help shape a better future she can do the same thing for the united states postal service. also a trustee and member of the board of overseers and the board of directors on church management a graduate of tulane university and five beta kappa graduate have from on and on the impressive list of accolades a testament to her character and intelligence and accomplishments the postal service needs vicki kennedy for its talented proven leaders to assess the

problems facing the u.s. ps to help them resolve those challenges that is exactly hugh fet candy -- is rehashed complete confidence in her and vicki kennedy will shine as a board of governors and our country will be better for her service. thank you, mr. chairman. >> all i can say after listening to that introduction if i ever nominated i want senator murky to introduce me. [laughter] anybody can get confirmed with the introduction like that. thank you very much for joining us chris. i feel like you should come sit with us senator dodd. [laughter]

should be done here by 9:00 tonight feel free to do that if you need to leave but before we proceed committee rules require that all witnesses if you the of the other testimony under oath please stand to raise your right handç to swear the testimony will give before this committee will be the truth while vultures have nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >>

[inaudible conversations] if. >> is an did dr. miller? >> your welcome to proceed with your statement but please feel free i am glad you are here. >> mr. jefferson said no higher honor to pay as of may and bantus save mr. and indeed it but mr. chairman i ask my full statement to be included. >> with their favorite jefferson'' his people know the truth they will make

mistakes. >> thank you for holding this hearing and your interest in the postal service the stress brings forth opportunities and the things you can do cover this committee and the senate and house to make the difference between restoring the postal service to a solid footing to see it become a very expensive states and i commend you on the progress that is a very large step forward for the goal to restore the postal service and if you confirm me i will work to attain that and i

hope the house will pass a bill that the conference bill will become law. i want to thank president obama for nominating me majority leader comment minority leader for recommending me. >> you arec- getting ahead of yourself. [laughte&' >> dan did knowledge three distinguished individuals whom i share this table over the last several months and admired to make splendid editions to the board. as budget director for president reagan i did pretty well and i think most members of congress knew me or knew of me but that was over a quarter of a century ago so let me tell you about myself i have pursued for

different careers since graduate school sometimes at the same time. the first was as the academic taught at two major universities full time then part-time as several other universities. i have been associated with major think tank's the hoover institution and the american enterprise institute. i was on the boards of the air force academy and also the board of george mason university in i have written nine books and over 100 articles in professional journals. the second career was the department of transportation contributed to airline regulatory reform at the council of economic advisers wrote the chapter of regulation in the 1974

economic report of the of president and i made transparent cost benefits of regulation. at the beginning of the reagan and administration i co-authored executive order to establish the obligatory review program and went over choose the ftc and shared that for years and put the agency back on the traditional path of law enforcement and came back to be the director of omb with the president's cabinet and help to negotiate to bring the deficit down significantly and other things there as well. i did serve a term at the board of governors that the u.s. postal service where the during the three years of my chairmanship my colleagues and i produced

the forever stamp that i think has been very successful. having a career of elective politics that was not successful iran for the u.s. senate in virginia in 1984 and in 1996 and by a helped my wife's campaign for the house of representatives in 1998 and 2000. i had a career in business and have them on several boards and directors, a consulting practice, i headed a consulting firm for a major law firm i iman the board of clean energy fields with natural gas for vehicles in america. chairman of the audit committee and then designated financial expert for those terms.

the chairman of the executive committee of the tax center and today ask you to confirm me for this post. my wife of more than 50 years asked me why are you doing this? you have been there done that. of the answer is it is unfinished business. when i was at the board of governors i worked very hard trying to obtain the kind of reform you have outlined matter needed but without success and i would like to go back working with you or other members of congress, a management, the stake holders of this institution to make those changes have been and restore the financial integrity and the viability of this organization. thank you, mr. chairman. >> dr. miller i sat here

listening to you talk about what you have been involved and what of life and still going strong. and 84 waddling -- and thank you for what being willing to take this on. now tell us about your service. >> i served three and a quarter years the last in vietnam's as the advisor for the infantry battalion in the delta and lost a good friend in the tet offensive so i think we all have mixed feelings answer in the a of learning experience. >> geithner said a congressional delegation back in '91 to find the truce and senator mccain

was also reported that effort and i feel very good about that and have been back a couple times since and i always talk to people in say have you served in most have not. >> i applaud that my wife and i adopted the child from vietnam's in she is off at summer camp for she would be here and i could introduce her. but we went back to get her then visit with her family when she was nine years old. a good experience. >> think you for your service anybody else you would like to introduce you may proceed. >> good afternoon chairman parker and thank you for the opportunity to testify today and to jim is a hard act to follow >> i would just say skip over may.

[laughter] and for your of leadership on postal reform legislation it has been a long and hard struggle but i am excited with the committee for financing that far. it is an honor to be nominated by president obama to serve on the board of governors and i am pleased to share out if confirmed i would be part of the responsibilities involved it faces enormous challenges and in these dire straits i believe there were three main reasons the growth of electronic communications and the recent recession of the impact and number three and most importantly for you make regulatory environment in which it operates their

heat seems to be broad consensus but some discontented how to fix them some cake -- cut costs or consolidate facilities reducing delivery frequency your changing service standards and in some call for adjusting the price gap many call for changing the requirements of future retirees but i believe that challenges are so severe the postal service should examine all of the above for passing a bill. i believe my prior experience has prepared me to serve well to make significant contributions. to be sure to have never managed an organization of

more than 50,000 employees have a for i have a biased had worked closely with the top leaders especially states' governors but also corporate ceos and university presidents. high also served on various boards and commissions with the standards institute whose nearly 1,000 members in a professional society and consumer organizations and agencies and such companies as apple or exxonmobil the firms and organizations that represent more than 5.1 million professionals it does the member of the transition team fiat exceptional opportunities to get acquainted with the problems in solution in the postal

agency and the inspector general's office and enclosing thank the committee for its efforts over many years to provide the policy framework needed to enable the postal service to accomplish its vital mission it is the difficult task of a rapidly changing environment but i am optimistic of solutions are within reach i of the four word if confirmed to working with you and all postal service's stake holders to craft and implement such solutions i appreciate the opportunity to testify today and will cover your questions. >> that is a very strong resonate as well. you'll bring this drinks to

the board. dated michael bennett? >> i have a the michael bennett here from colorado. his family could only afford one t. [laughter] >> nice to see you thank you for being here and your willingness to serve. >> my son is here. back there. it looks like he might be pretty tall? [laughter] . .!23dhó

and my mom jonny evans is here. >> where? >> right here. >> hi. how are you? nice to see you, ma'am. >> my pleasure. >> and my partner pam jackson is here. >> is it pam? >> yes. >> hi, pam. >> which one is your mom? >> good joke today. >> i'll hear about that when i get home. >> you are both -- thank you for coming in. thank you for being here to have your dad's back. it's great. >> well, i will say good afternoon, chairman carper and also one of your staff said the other day at the end their session with me said, well, we have four very different nominees. and that's true. and all four of us have had a chance to get to know one another. i am the corporate guy. i'm the guy who spent 95% of his

career in corporate america, even in the years i was practicing law, i was inside of a corporation. but let me say good afternoon to you chairman carper and a good afternoon also to dr. coburn when he arrives. so i have a prepared statement i'd like to go through if i may. >> each of your entire statement will be made part of the record. feel free to summarize as you wish. >> it is my pleasure to be here before you this afternoon. i want to thank president obama for his decision to nominate me to become a member of the united states postal service board of governors. i believe that the board of governors is a critical role in our postal service and ultimately to the american people. so with integrity, pride and diligence, will i serve on the board. i'm committed to exercising every aspect of my legal, business and technology experience to help the united states postal service continue to evolve with america. a long time resident of our nation's capital and native

north carolinian, proud -- >> native north carolinian? >> yes. >> where? >> charlotte. >> ever hear of boone? >> yes. >> my wife is from there. >> okay. so i'm a north carolinian, prior graduate of duke university and the george washington university law school, which my colleague is a professor. and most importantly, i'm someone who uses mail services an a very regular basis. i still pay all my bills by mail n send cards out and letters. i believe in the mission of the post service. my previous experience of 100,000 multinational company of course specifically gives me the skills necessary to drive change in our ever-changing world. i'm honored to have an opportunity to serve my fellow citizens through one of the most important institutions in america. some of the changes in our culture have caused many to question the intrinsic value of

the postal service. i believe that our postal service is an essential part of the fabric of our nation. a vital part of our economy and material force in our personal lives. it is sometimes a sole option for businesses in remote areas to receive products that are essential to maintain manufacturing machinery or state a product for resale. postal services have personal impact for many who are unable to travel to a pharmacy, for instance. for various reasons. and essential medications are delivered to their doorsteps by united states postal service carrier. it is the only institution in this country that can touch every single american every day. that's an incredible national asset. and that turns me on for some reason. i find that incredible that you have an institution that can touch 300 million people every single day. there is probably no other country on the planet that has an institution with the capabilities of our united states postal service. unfortunately some take this

200-plus-year-old national treasure for granted. i recognize this treasure and want to be a part of creating even more value in it for the american people. i'm honored, yes, but i'm also excited about what is possible for the postal service. i am eager to explore all of the various ways this institution can serve the american people through a vast network of facilities, distribution networks and most importantly the employees. i think about how many companies have transformed themselves over the past decade to drive eofficieffi efficiency in and solve challenging business problems, i get excited thinking about the possibleities for transformination the united states postal service. transformation is driven by innovation. i look forward to working with the board -- with other board members and challenging management on various innovative ideas to drive value throughout the enterprise. throughout my career i have led

transformational business programs which have led to cost savings, streamlined business processes and ultmaltly greater value to customers, employees and shareholders alike. i look forward to sharing my experience as a result of leading large technology centered innovation initiatives to create greater value for america. and finally, we should continue to look for ways to leverage the knowledge and skills of our incredible workforce. our people are our largest and most valuable asset. when i was growing up, my stepfather was a postal service mail carrier in charlotte, north carolina. there wasn't anything he didn't know about locations and getting around charlotte. we can leverage these human cape ibls to continue transforming the post office to be the business current and future america needs and wants. i want to get started. thank you for this opportunity. i look forward to your questions. >> i like that. i want to get started. that's good. we have a fellow who is a u.s. secretary of department of transportation who is a former mayor of charlotte.

anthony gay fox. fox with two xs. >> i do. in fact, he used to go to the doctor that my mother was the receptionist for when he was a little kid. >> no kidding. >> so he knows my mother well. >> so your mom was a director of first impressions at that office? >> absolutely. >> that's great. so thanks for your testimony. ms. kennedy, great to see you. thank you for your willingness to serve and please proceed. your entire statement will be made part of the record. >> i'm pleased to join james mill esteven crawford and michael bennet to appear before you this afternoon as president obama's nominees to the board of governors of the united states postal service. and i am honored and humbled by the confidence and trust that president obama has placed in me. i look forward to answering your questions and hearing firsthand your thoughts and concerns about the postal service. and if confirmed, i look forward to working with the committee and with other members of congress to strengthen the postal service in a long-term

and comprehensive way. i would also like to thank my family for their support. and some of them are here today. my mother doris reggie, my son -- >> your mom is here? >> my mom is here. doris reggie. my son kern rackland. my son patrick kennedy and his wife amy and their two little ones were also here but they've stepped out for a few minutes. they are very tiny. >> do they realize they are missing your testimony? >> yes, i think that food has won out. and my daughter caroline rackland is working in the philippines and ted kennedy jr. has a campaign in connecticut but they are here in spirit. >> i call those excused absences. >> i want to thank in a very personal way, my senator ed markey for such a gracious and warm introduction and my friend senator chris dodd for being here. it really means the world to me that they are here. and i have other dear friends in the audience. >> let the record show, i can barely see chris dodd's lips

moving when senator markey was speaking. >> so the postal service is a vital public asset. as my friend michael bennett said it has near daily contact with every american household and business. there are more than 31,000 post offices, stations and branches across this country, many of which serve as a focal point of local identity. and a center of community interaction. with 500,000 hard-working and dedicated employees earning a solid middle class income, the postal service is an essential part of the fabric of american life. because of the governing principle of universal severance, no matter where you live in the united states, you are entitled to the same postal service as every other american. and without a doubt, as our founding fathers understood when they included the postal clause in article 1 of the constitution, universal service unifies us as a nation.

as we meet today, however, and as we've been discussing, the postal service is facing a serious financial crisis. if confirmed, i would work with my fellow board members to look at comprehensive ways to address this crisis. i would likewise work with them to listen to the concerns and ideas of key constituency groups to craft long-term solutions to long-term problems. to position the postal service to be nimble and ready to take advantage of opportunities for growth in its core business, letter and package delivery, and not to undermine its essential strengths. i think it also important to look at the possibility of expanding and into related business lines while always maintaining timely, universal service and protecting and nurturing the core business of the postal service. the mailing industry in this country generates $800 billion in economic activity and the postal service is a key part of the distribution network for

that activity. its comtet pors even rely on its exceptional distribution infrastructure for the key last mile delivery to connect the smallest towns and rural areas to e-commerce. a recent inspector general report has concluded that preserving that infrastructure could allow the postal service to reap as much as $500 million of additional revenue in the near future because of private sector manufacturing innovations such as 3d printing that will need the sophisticated full-service delivery infrastructure that the postal service has in place. i believe that the postal service can and should be at the leading edge of innovation and envisioning the new ways that americans communicate with each other and with the rest of the world. i also believe it should have the regulatory flexibility to take advantage of opportunity and innovation when it is in the public interest. if confirmed, i believe that my skills and experience can make a

positive contribution. i would keep always paramount if confirmed a focus on the public interest, the board of governors should set policy to ensure the long-term financial well-being of the postal service and it should assure that senior management follows and executes that policy. i believe in a full airing of the issues and a robust dialogue with all interested parties. as we seek in the public interest the best way to return the postal service to a safe and secure financial footing. i look ford discussing these and other issues with this committee today and, if confirmed, with the committee and congress in the future. in closing, i again want to thank you for considering my nomination, and i look forward to answering your questions. thank you. >> you know, you used exactly five minutes. that doesn't happen every day. >> thank you. >> it was good. >> thank you. thank you all. now i am supposed to start, i usually forget this, but i'm supposed to start my questioning with three standard questions that we ask of all nominees.

and i am going to ask if you would just please answer after each question. is there anything that you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you've been nominated. dr. miller? >> nothing other than what i indicated in response to the questions to this committee. >> thank you, mr. crawford. >> nothing. >> mr. bennett? >> no, mr. chairman. >> mr. kennedy? >> no, mr. chairman, i'm not aware of anything. >> number two, do you know of anything personal or otherwise that would prevent you from fully and honorably discharging your responsibilities of the office to which you've been nominated? dr. miller? >> no, sir. >> no, sir, mr. chairman. >> no, mr. chairman. >> ms. kennedy? >> no, mr. chairman. >> and do you agree with our reservation to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee if you are confirmed? dr. miller? >> absolutely. >> i do. >> yes, i will. >> yes, i will.

>> great. thank you. thanks for your testimony. interesting testimony. very well prepared. well presented. i just want to start off by saying, mr. bennett said about he still sends, pays his bills by mail. he still sends out cards and letters. so do i. and you are probably better at technology than i am. but i'm not bad and i have two sons, 24 and 25 who coach me so i can get even better over time. but i was reminded of the service, the u.s. postal service on saturday. i was home for a bit. and the post -- the letter carrier delivers our mail. delivered our mail just a little before 5:00 p.m. sometimes it's later if he has a whole lot to deliver and sometimes not quite that late. but it's 95 degrees outside and he was delivering mail,

cheerful, going about his work. and he's there when it's 95 degrees. he's there when it's 5 degrees. he's there when the sun is shining as it was on saturday and he's there when it's raining, sleeting, snowing and we're grateful for his service and those of hundreds of thousands of postal employees across the country who have served us for years, served us today and will serve us for a whole lot longer time to come. we had sitting right here, i think, ms. kennedy, where you were sitting, a couple years ooh was a fellow from -- was it wisconsin, john? a very successful business person from wisconsin. he runs a company called quad graphics. and he sat before us that day and he talked about his business which was -- is it a paper business? or printing business? paper and printing business, if you will. and he talked about how they ou

when a lot of businesses in that industry had closed, had fallen and eventually been ended and how he talked about his business sort of just the opposite and instead of failing, faltering, going out of business, they've gotten stronger over time. and what has happened is they've taken a legacy business, paper, printing business, and figured out how to be successful in the digital age. that's what they've done. and what i've been hoping for with respect to the postal service is the ability to do something like that. find that intersect between maybe one of the longest lived organizations, living organizations in our country, that's our postal service, and how to make an operation like that not just relevant in the digital age but significant.

it's not that we'll make them successful but we'll enable them to be successful. i think we can do that. we've had testimony here before when folks have come in from different stakeholders, people like you, and they said to us in terms of the things we need to do, one of the things we need to do is to focus on the main thing. an old methodist minister in a town called seaford, passed away a couple of years ago. when i was governor, before that congressman, now later in the senate, he's always given me great advice when i was down in sussex county. let me be a lay speaker in his church. it was a special treat. he used to say this. he used to say the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. that's what he would say. the main thing is to keep the

main thing the main thing. for some of the folks that have testified before us, they've said in terms of -- i don't know if it's a main thing, but a big thing for us to consider is health care costs of retirees. when we worked on legislation in 2006-2007 senator collins and i and others, one of the requirements, if you will, from the administration, president george w. bush was to not only recognize there's a large liability that's owed by the postal service and the liability is for retired health care costs. some people think that's not liability, something we don't need to be mindful of. when i was elected state treasurer at the age of 29, just a pup, the state of delaware had the worst credit rating in the country. we were the best at over estimating revenues and

underestimating spending. think about that. we were the best in the country in overestimating revenues and underestimating spending. we had no cash management system. we had no pension fund. and we had a lot of state banks about to go under. we were the lowest startup of new businesses of any state in the country. and in fact we used to sell revenue anticipation notes. revenue anticipation notes in order to meet payroll and pay pension checks. we were not a model of financial respectability. and nobody else wanted to run for straight treasurer. we won. pete dupont was elected governor. he did a great job. mike cassill after him and i succeeded mike cassill. we started off with the worst credit rating in the country in 1977 and we ended up in my second term as governor with aaas across the board, aaas. i'll never forget that.

the rating agencies told us what they had done and why. they said, you've got a big liability out there that you've not recognized, you've not addressed at all. we said, what is that? they said you have a lot of pensioners. i said, well, we have a strong pension fund. it's admired for how fully invested it is. they said, no, no, that's not it. they said, your problem is all the pension ners out there, they have enormous health care costs attached to it, each of them, and you've not recognized that and you've not set money aside for that. they still gave us an aaa rating. we addressed that. we acknowledged it as a liability and we started to address that. the problem from our 2006-2007 legislation is we agreed with george w. bush in order to get the president to sign the bill we had to agree to i think a very aggressive schedule to pay down debt liability for retired

health care costs. what we found out in the years since then is that the postal service pays more into medicare than any employer in the country. nobody else. my wife retired from dupont. hard to believe to look at it. she just turned 65 and when she turned 65 the dupont company said to her, martha, we love you but for now on you have to sign up for medicare, part a, part b, maybe part d and we'll provide wrap-around coverage for you. they expected that for all employees -- retirees, rather. there are thousands of companies in this country who say that's what we expect. they'll do the wrap-around but they expect retirees to sign up for a, b, maybe part d. medicare, postal service competes with fedex, ups. postal service pays more money to medicare than anybody else. they don't get equal value and it's not fair.

it's not fair. and as one of the chief provisions in our bill is we call it medicare integration. medicare integration. it's -- it enables the postal service to pay down this obligation in a more timely way. let me just ask, we'll start off with dr. miller. this probably sounds familiar to you. may or may not sound familiar to our other nominees. in terms of the main thing, if we don't do this, if we somehow don't do this, i think we're going to be very disappointed in our inability to get anything done. dr. miller. >> mr. chairman, i -- actually i thought maybe mr. marky might say a few words on my behalf. i need that kind of help. mr. chairman, i am not surprised at your insightful analysis because i know you have a degree in economics from the ohio state -- >> i tell people i studied economics at ohio state.

my professors would say not nearly enough. >> you're spot on in my judgment. >> thank you. mr. cart wright. >> yes, i wholeheartedly endorse the plan in s 1486 to have -- require postal retirees once they reach 65 and are eligible for medicare to make medicare their primary coverage. as you say, it's almost universal in the corporate world and my understanding is that 10% of postal retirees who are eligible don't take part a and 24% don't take part b and i haven't done the numbers to figure out sort of what the cost implications are but those are especially that second number, that's huge. >> all right. thank you. mr. bennett? >> senator, i agree. i think, one, you're right. the main thing needs to stay the main thing. in my company and in the previous company i was with, norfolk grummond that's the

route we've done. there's no way you can continue on this path. the postal service can't continue on this path. large companies have decided to do that a long time ago. i would agree completely. >> miss kennedy, please, will you react to this? >> yes, certainly. obviously the issue of health care and health care costs is something that's a great concern. it's my understanding that there's widespread support, both with the collective bargaining units and with management at the postal service, for the plan that you describe and it's something that i look forward to learning a lot more about. it seems to make a lot of sense but i'd like to understand it in more depth as we go forward. >> fair enough. let's talk a little bit about this intersection between the, if you will, analog -- i'll use analog as an example of what we do at the postal service today, we deliver packages, parcels,

pieces of mail. we do it door to door, five to six days a week, do it all over the country. use vehicles to do it. meanwhile, you have a lot of folks that are ordering stuff today as we speak that they want to have delivered tomorrow. they'll look for somebody to deliver it, there are some good business opportunities there, including on sundays. and the postal service is starting to take advantage of this. i don't know if it's miss kennedy, somebody mentioned innovation in our legislation. ironically one of the provisions in the legislation that we have is it was legislation lifted from senator bernie sanders and most people wouldn't think of bernie as the chief innovation officer or the guy to be the most entrepreneurial guy in the senate. marky, you're smiling. he's right on -- spot on when it comes to the postal service. how do you figure out, how do we help enable the postal service to use this legacy organization to find new ways to generate

revenues and provide a service that's needed without stepping on the toes in an inappropriate way in the private sector? there's a call in our legislation the creation of what i'll call a chief innovation officer. we call for a summit with all kinds of people, including people from the digital world to come in and say to the postal service, have you ever thought of doing this or that or the other? we're going to do a similar kind of approach with the census. the next time we do the census we won't be doing it with a pen and paper, smarter, less expensively and hopefully more effectively. talk to us about innovation and things that you'd like to see the post office or you think might be good ways for them to provide a service and make some money while they're doing it. again, i'll ask dr. miller if you would just lead off with this please. >> mr. chairman, the movement to the digital -- the digital revolution has cost the postal service inasmuch as first class mail has diminished. on the other hand, it's created opportunities as well. that's the major reason you see

the growth in the packaging. people ordering through ebay and other ways, that has generated a great deal of increase in mail volume. i think that mr. bennett's becoming a member of the board would be a very positive thing to stimulate a lot of thinking at the postal service because he has the kinds of -- those kinds of responsibilities at bae. and there are other opportunities, i think steve has talked about it and vicky have talked about it as well. i think there are many opportunities there that need to be explored -- that are being explored, frankly, at the postal service but i think there are many opportunities as you have identified. >> thank you. mr. crawford? >> mr. chairman, i'm -- i enjoy reading the white papers at that the inspector general's office produces. some of them are simply stimulating. i'm not sure that they're

politically or otherwise always going to survive and be implemented, but i would like to see the postal service have the flexibility to run pilots and experiments and tryout. let's take non-bank financial services. we see a lot of foreign postal services make some money on that. whether it makes sense for the u.s. postal service to get into that is a huge question. the issue though it seems to me is to have the opportunity to experiment, whether it's that, whether it's the implications for 3-d printing. there is just so much in the world of technology that's unfolding now. and this can't be all or nothing. we're now going to implement this. now the postal service, to be

fair, already does do some studies and trials. i just -- i -- if i were on the board, that's an area that i would give special attention to. >> what about the -- well, let me let you finish and i'll throw out a couple of ideas and let you react to them. thank you. mr. bennett? >> this is really, mr. chairman, my sweet spot. i have led a number of innovation initiatives in my company, particularly from a technology perspective, but i really get excited thinking about the different things that you can do with this incredible infrastructure that we have, with all these people, with all this logistics that we deal with as a postal service every single day that nobody else knows how to do. imagine if you start partnering with a company like sysco and take the kinds of things that they do from a networking perspective and connect those to our postal infrastructure. we've talked about 3-d printing.

imagine being able to have the companies who produce these 3-d printers, at no cost to the postal service, put those printers in various locations in the postal service and have opportunities where they're able to fax, if you will, the model of a shoe and they want that to get to a particular customer in an hour. the postal service says, great, we'll get that there within an hour. there are so many different things and opportunities. the moment i was nominated i had the coo of sysco, senior executive at microsoft, various people from different technology companies talk to me about things they would like to consider and to talk to the u.s. postal service about but haven't had an opportunity to get in. this is -- i mean, this is just right in the area that i would love to have an opportunity to help the postal service evolve and do a number of different innovative things over the course of the next