network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2, created by the cable tv industry in prague as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. .. with the wearable technology, first f all, is this on the market? >> guest: thank you, peter.

actually, we're demonstrating google glass today. it's not currently on the market. we're in the experimental phase. this is one of our earlier models, you're likely to see some models out and about that are a little bit different, but right now we're showing our floor model. we're very much getting this version of google glass in the hands of as many explorers as possible and gathering their feedback or what they think we cannism prove about it. >> host: so what can people do with it? >> guest: you can actually do a lot of things you can do with your phone nowadays. you can send messages, make calls, take pictures and record videos. you can do a lot of the things we're doing in a hands-free way so that you could control google glass with touch and with voice -- [inaudible] in front of our face holding up a camera, just not experiencing the word -- the world fully.

>> host: so if you were to take a picture right now, how would you do that? >> guest: i would tap the glass right here, and then i would say, okay, glass, take a picture. >> host: and where's it stored? where does it go? >> guest: it's stored inside glass, and if i can turn on the screen again, i could share the picture on a social network, i could share the e-mail, or what i could also do is afterwards i could download all the pictures that i take and look at them on my computer, on the go, and you can actually toggle and -- [inaudible] the idea that that way if you're out and about, you can capture what you're seeing at that moment and then go back and actually experience something -- >> host: what are some of the potential policy concerns using google glass? >> guest: i think, i think we had folks submit some very thoughtful questions. people have asked us questions about everything from, you know, what is the right --

[inaudible] you know, how should people -- [inaudible] so right now what we're doing is we're pooling all those questions, adjusting all our policies and really making adjustments based on -- [inaudible] and what we're hoping is to really take the feedback of our explorers as we develop the product. >> host: and one of the concerns here in congress has been privacy, the privacy issue. >> guest: that's right. that's one issue that people raise. the glass -- [inaudible] has been very thoughtful about how we develop. one of the things we've said is we're not going to allow things like facial recognition until we know that that can be done the right way. so that's something that congress talked to us about, and we said that's not something that we allow. likewise, whenever questions arise -- [inaudible] always, always encourage whoever is in glass to --

[inaudible] try to develop etiquette, try to respect rules and be very thoughtful about how they're using it in the environment -- >> if somebody was wearing prescription glasses, could they have google glass with the prescription glasses? >> they can. i mentioned earlier how we have a couple different models. whoever wants to wear glass while using their prescription can do that. i happen to think they look pretty stylish. i like that model quite a lot. >> host: when do you think we'll see these on the market? >> guest: we're still trying to work out the specific timeline. it's been moving along, as i mentioned, we're still currently very much in the prototype stage, so overanything, unfortunately, that i can share are you -- [inaudible] hopefully, we'll have it sometime soon. >> host: jennifer bernal, policy

analyst with google. >> guest: thank you. >> host: and now we'll introduce on "the communicators" to susann dell men ney, and microsoft is one of your constituents, isn't that correct? >> guest: and i used to work for microsoft many years ago. >> host: what did you do there? >> guest: i was the vice president of the mobile communications business as well as worked on many projects, windows 95. which, i guess, dates me. >> host: how do you explain the significance of microsoft to seattle and the state of washington? >> guest: well, you know, microsoft came early on, was a new innovator and really helped create a new industry. and now it's a very large company, a large employer in our region. so it's had an incredible impact not only in the industry overall, but also in in inspirig many new companies in your region. >> host: what are you doing down here at cvs on the hill? >> guest: there's a few company

here from my district, but also, you know, technology so important to policy now, i think it's great that we have members of congress here. we're learning about new technology so we can make sure policy supports this community, but also we understand how technology is impacting the way we live and -- [inaudible] >> host: well, from the other washington to this washington, you've been here two, three years. what's your opinion of the policy making process? >> guest: well, compared to -- as a former fed person, the policy making progress is slow, and we're not good stewards of policy. we don't keep it up-to-date. so we have a lot of things where technology has changed. privacy's a good example, privacy policy where technology has changed a lot, but policy's still in place from 1986 or a copyright law from 1976, and we need to do a better job of keeping policy up-to-date with the way people live and work today.

>> host: howhow do you bring yor expertise as a former tech person to the hill? >> guest: well, i think as we look at policy being a former tax administrator as well as a tech american, things like internet sales tax, marketplace fairness act is important piece of policy, we have issues in privacy, we have issues with intellectual property. the way we shop now has changed a lot, and e-commerce is a big, big player. all of that has changed, but our policy doesn't always reflect that, and we need to make sure we have that ongoing conversation and help make sure we put program policy in place. >> host: as a member of the judiciary committee, are you working on these issues? >> guest: absolutely. we're working on patents, copyrights as well as some tech policy like marketplace fairness act is also judiciary policy. >> host: does the other washington understand this washington and vice versa? >> guest: well, i think that there's, you know, people get the names confused because i

think we're in better washington in washington state, but there is, obviously, an important connection back and fort in terms -- back and forth in terms of understanding how policy impacts all of our business community work, technology community work, and so there is an important dialogue going on back and forth. >> host: suzan delbene of washington state, thank you for your time. >> guest: thank you. >> [inaudible] get on an airplane, very important. most of us travel back and forth who have some -- [inaudible] developed primarily by the space exploration. i really would like to hear about it. >> what we do is we love noaa.

noaa does a fantastic job, but they can't do everything. >> right. and things change. progress comes. >> and so they did a great job of building -- [inaudible] what we did is we supplement with additional -- [inaudible] it's because we don't have enough atmospheric data in our forecast, so we go out and put sensors on commercial aircraft. when those planes fly, they stream realtime day to to us -- data to us through a satellite network, and we take all the noaa data and all the international and then the special data that we capture and put it all together, and it enables us to make higher resolution weather forecasting. >> [inaudible] directed to airlines, or will you be incorporating it with the

satellites that noaa has now? how will all of this -- obviously, we need updating. >> sure. >> tell me how this would work. >> so our goal is to capture a very specific type of weather data, and you're probably familiar with thewet balloons -- weather balloons. when you look at all the data, whether satellite day or -- [inaudible] the most important data still comes from the weather balloon. so we replicate the weather balloon. they only get launched once every 12 hours. you say, well, what if we could capture that day all day and all night long in realtime? we do that by putting these sensors on commercial planes. >> okay. >> and to get that data from our plane in realtime, we put a satellite -- [inaudible] onboard that's global. so as they're flying, they're streaming day up to the satellite, back to our data

center. anywhere in the world we get that data in under saw 15 seconds. and now we can take that supercharged data and add it to the weather balloons and the satellite data and then put that into more advanced weather forecasts, models like the tv. have it be higher resolution, have it present -- [inaudible] so this is an example of our sandy forecast five days out. you can see the green line that matched the actual hurricane. having the data to get a better start on -- >> now, we know that we've come along, that we've been able to save a lot of lives with -- [inaudible] >> sure. >> sometimes it doesn't come soon enough. >> yeah. >> does this speed it up some? and does it more identify the exact line more than just area?

so how much additional -- [inaudible] >> we capture data all over north america x we share that day with the faa and noaa to be studied. so they did a four-year study using the day to determine not just for four weeks, but for four years season to season how much better we make the forecast. and there their conclusion was t putting our data into their model was up to 50% -- [inaudible] you and i don't care about statistics, we care about events, right? we want to know if there's a tornado -- >> there's going to be, what time it's going to strike --

>> yeah. >> and -- [inaudible] is and so this technologying will help with all of that. >> absolutely. you cannot get a better forecast, there's just not enough detail -- [inaudible] but if you don't put good data in, you're not going to get the right answer. >> how often does this need to be updated? if we made a major investment in this technology, how often does it need to be updated? >> well, we capture data 24 hours a day, seven days a week in realtime, and we run mod to els every -- models every six hours, but they go out every five or ten days and some models every hour just going out 24 hours. and so the national weather service can do the same thing,

and they're working -- they have so many pressures and so many needs that it's hard to decipher them all. i'm a firm believer in -- [inaudible] it's not computers. we have great computers, we have plenty of computers, it's putting in more detail at the start of the forecast, more knowledge. more knowledge in gives you another -- [inaudible] >> the reality is, it's a very short -- [inaudible] from the government. and we know that noaa, can you take this technology directly to planes without having noaa to pay for it? and still provide -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> and here's the good news, that as noaa -- [inaudible] the commercial market will come in and work with them to close

the gap. the commercial opportunity, it doesn't have to be left to the government to do it all. >> yeah. >> so we work with -- [inaudible] every day and supplement what we do -- [inaudible] we don't want them to go away. we're not a competitor. >> yes. >> we need what they do. >> no, i though you're not a competitor. well, thank you very much. i appreciate knowing -- [inaudible] thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> host: congresswoman become bernice johnson is the ranking member on the science committee here in the house of representatives. how important is technology to your home district in texas? >> guest: it's extremely important. as a matter of fact, my district is very high-tech, and that's why i focus so much on s.t.e.m. education because we have more

h-1b visas coming into the area than silicon valley. we've got to do a better job on that. but what's exciting about this is how much we're seeing that young developers that are coming along with new innovations -- and that is our economy -- that are ready to go to market, are ready to be available. it's just that we know that until the demand is great, it's very costly. but it's very, very important that we continue to invest in innovation, because that's america's future. i'm always excited to come and see what's on the market. >> host: at&t is near your district or in your district, isn't it? >> guest: yes. i live one block from the headquarters. [laughter] but, yes. at&t is a major exporter, and, you know, we're also a trade hub with many -- texas instruments is a hometown company.

so we're very proud of the products that do come out of there. but we're also very proud to come to something like this and see what the latest technologies are because you might think you have, you know, the latest technology until you come to a show like this and realize that yours might be old. it doesn't take but a few days or sometimes a few weeks for it to move to the next level. and my interest is making sure that we get those young minds ready to move us to the next level. >> host: eddie bernice johnson is, a democrat of texas, thank you. and now joining us is scottwise low. -- scott scott weislow. >> guest: i manage all of our -- [inaudible] services within the company. >> host: how long has that division been in business?

>> guest: our recycling program, we actually piloted it in 2008 and had resounding success with the pilot test. we launched it normally in 2009. so this is year number phi and a half. five and a half. >> host: is there a lot of electrical and technical waste out there? >> guest: it is the fastest growing waste stream on the planet today actually, yes. and unfortunately, much of it still ends up in landfills. many states still allow folks and businesses to just throw it away, and so that's one of the many reasons for having our program, so that we can, we are the biggest retailer of the product, so we want to be responsible and help take care of that, that growing waste stream. >> host: and so what do you do? >> guest: so we have a program in all of our stores, 1400 locations around the country. every day we're open, every minute we're open, we collect 400 pounds on average per minute of electronics. so our customers can come in and bring their old electronics in

and we'll recycle them for free. it could be a tube tv, today's flat panel tvs, dvds, pretty much anything you can think of, cords, and then we'll take -- at no charge. and we also have an in-home program. if you buy a new appliance or tv and they're deliver today your home, we will haul the units out of your house at no cost. >> host: what do you do with them? >> guest: we recycle with them. we have very key partners, three electronic and two appliance partners. they have a national footprint that have processing plants around the country that mirror our distribution network, and they grew up with our program. so we collect the material, it goes reverse logistics through our system, through our stores, through our distribution centers where everything's consolidated, and then it goes out to these various partners, and they process it. what they actually do is follow the three rs, reduce, reuse,

recycle. the first for them is reuse. so everything they get whether it's an appliance or an electronic, they will look at each individual piece and see if they can repair it and then resell it and get it back in the market and give it a second life. always the first job. if they can't, then what happens is they shred everything down to what's called the commodity level, so plastics, metals, precious metals, glass and so on. and then they sell those commodities into the commodities market, and it gets reused. so you'll see the plastic come back in patio furniture, gardening equipment, and the metals will come back, nonprecious in automobiles components and panels to furniture as well. and then you'll see the precious metals get reused in electronics or jewelry or wherever else you find gold and finish. [inaudible] and then plastics, like i said, are used that way, and then

glass off a flat panel tv you might see come back as the face of a digital watch. so they look for very innovative ways to get those commodities back into the manufacturing stream. >> host: that doesn't sound like a cheap process. >> guest: you know, it really isn't expensive overall. i mean, for us as an expense as a company, we actually operate the program as a net neutral or no cost to slightly profitable, and we do that through a variety of levers that we pull with our partners and other things that we do. but from the customer standpoint, no cost. and then for the recyclers, it's a business. so they must be making money at it. and the best part of it is it creates jobs. >> host: scott weislowover best buy regarding the recycling program p. well, we want to introduce you to meg smith who is with to rig go safe company. what are we looking at here?

>> guest: you're looking at the safe device which is this black unit right here, and this orange box simulates the vehicle. so right now this vehicle, if i had my phone in my hand and i tried to turn the vehicle on, you can see you're not going to go anywhere. so this light is red, and your vehicle will not start. once i put my phone in this docking station and know it's an authorized phone of this vehicle, this light turns greenment when i turn the ignition, you're ready to go. so all hand-held cell phone use, it can keep you connected through blue tooth. >> host: and where would this be mounted? >> guest: it can be mounted anywhere, actually. in my vehicle it's in the center console so you never actually see it. in a couple of our colleagues' vehicles it's up op the dash where it's easy access. >> host: what's the point of this? >> guest: to remove the hand-held cell phone use altogether whether it be teach drivers, anything like that. want to keep people safe from themselves. >> host: so kind of a parental

tool maybe -- >> guest: exactly. >> host: or a corporate tool? >> guest: yeah. and it's trying to keep people safe on the road, keep their phones out of their mind. >> host: how long has this been on the market? >> guest: on the market since march of last year. >> host: and? >> guest: and it's going pretty well. we've had an overwhelming response, especially through cea. >> host: how would this be different than, say, having blue tooth already installed in your car? >> guest: sure. >> host: don't they come with it -- >> guest: they do. however, that temptation is still there. if you have that phone physically in your car, 95% of teen drivers whether or not they have blue tooth still text and drive every time they get in the car, so it's something they just can't resist. it's an addiction can nowadays. so this is removing that addiction. >> host: meg smith, where and who developed this? >> guest: clay skelton developed it, we're all based in roanoke, virginia, and it all developed

in the. we actually manufacture most of it in the roanoke valley which we're very proud of. >> host: meg smith is with origosafe out of roanoke, virginia. so one of the companies here at ces on the hill is dish. jenna mcmullen, what's the technology? what are you showing members of congress? >> guest: we're showing them truly the home dvr system, and the brains of it is our hopper. the hopper itself you can record up up to 2,000 hours of television, but we're really showcasing things we've innovated this year including the super joey which adds two more tuners. so for families or tv binge watchers, they now have almost -- [inaudible] unlimited television to watch. >> host: what kind of questions are you getting from members of congress? >> guest: a lot of them are interested in how they can watch

their local shows on the road, stay connect with the their local communities, and that's actually something we do have a solution for, and that's powered with our sling technology. the dish anywhere app on a tablet or iphone, members can stay connected with their local communities by watching their own television but on the go all through the power of the internet. >> host: so if somebody had an ipad or and dish, a dish unis description, they could watch a local colorado channel anywhere in the united states? >> guest: that's correct. and that's very important for staying connected with constituents, different issues. >> host: in five years what are we going to be seeing when it comes to television and what we call satellite companies, cable companies, etc. >> guest: i think it's going to be even more responsive to what the consumer wants. they want to watch tv when they want, where they want. they want to have the choice, perhaps, to skip commercials, the choice of what they want to watch at their veeps, so i think we're going to see more

solutions evolving to those consumer desires. >> host: jenna mcmullen is with dish. this is "the communicators" on the hill. >> c-span2, providing live coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings and key public policy events. and every weekend, booktv. now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2, created by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> a house subcommittee recently looked into the medicare appeals process, a current backlog of about 460,000 medicare appeal claims that are waiting to be heard by administrative law judges. by statute, appeals should be completed within 90 days, but due to the current backlog, some claims are taking up to 28 months to process. this is just under 90 minutes.

>> good afternoon. we apologize for a little bit of delay. we'll have additional delays in the moments ahead. mr. spear and i both were on the floor doing some debate on the current bill that's on the floor, appropriations bill. the votes, we understand, will be called for that in the next 15-20 minutes, so i'm going to try to get us established. when votes are called, we'll revet for a short period of time, then we'll come back and finish up with questions. this is a, the energy policy health care and entitlements hearing on medicare mismanagement part two, exploring medicare appeals reform. chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time. we exist to secure two fundamental principles; first, that americans have the right to know that washington takes from them is well spent. second, americans deserve an efficient and effective government that works for them.

our duty on the committee is to protect these rights. our solemn respondent is to hold government accountable to taxpayers. we will work tirelessly in partnership with citizen watchdogs to deliver the facts to the americanpeople and bring genuine reform to the federal bureaucracy. this is the in mission of the oversight and government reform committee. this is the second part of a two-part conversation about how things are going. we have multiple different entities that have a significant back-up. they're wading through the appeals process, some of them for years. health care providers, hospitals, individuals that do not have a large cash flow and individuals and businesses that do. so the issue today is why duds that exist, how do we actually revolve this, what are the fixes that are needed legislatively, and what can we take care of right now. i'd hike to yield additional time to mr. meadows who's been very involved in this process as

well. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for your leadership on this particular issue. and really this comes down to and boils down to people and what we have to do is make sure that as government agencies, that we do the very best we can to go after waste, fraud and abuse which the chairman has so eloquently articulated. yet at the same time, make sure that the rule of law and fair beness to everyone -- fairness to everyone is upheld. and right now i think there is great question. and not singling you out, ms. griswold, because i've had some great conversations with really folks within the alj. there seem to be a very -- seems to be a very compassionate desire the fix the problem, so that's what we're looking for here today. my other concern, though, and i think the concern of the american people is this whole process of in terms of when we go after waste, fraud and abuse,

if we cast such a wide net, then we're taking the decision making away from doctors, health care providers, hospitals, many people who make their decisions who are trained, who go to years of training to do that. and we're transferring that decision making capability because of reimbursements to, actually, a bureaucrat. for me, i have a lot more trust in the nurse or the doctor that cares for me than i do somebody that works here in washington d.c. i think that polls would show that to be the fact as well. so what i'm looking for specifically, and it will be difficult, i know, because you're all part of an agency, but there's this wall of separation that somehow goes up that the american people don't understand, that they all see you part of hhs or part of cms. and yet you have a