investigating the problem we found that's caused by the chelation of trash. use a prototype of a semi automatic vacuum cleaner. >> i heard about this. this is to take the trash. >> there you go. go ahead, get me to steal your thunder. >> it's all good. so you can put this on of flatbed and vacuum up all the trash. >> have you tested this yet? >> not yet. we have only have only been able to do simulation test like this to simulate. >> sore we think about going for the ping-pong balls? , do you feel confident? >> yeah. >> let's do it. >> will ask you to turn it on. >> are you sure, i don't want to break it.

>> you just have to move it up. [inaudible] >> i think you could also use this for powerball at the same time. >> it also has the sensors with ambient light inside the station so when you vacuum enters it will have the light and turn on automatically. >> excellent. >> the sensors in the chamber detect how much trash is in it. so once once it reaches a certain amount it stop working

and it turns off. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] how long did it take to put this together? >> last year when we first came that's my first started doing prototypes and then this year the students help us improve and made it remote. >> so the idea if it were to fully develop is that you can actually have this set on the tracks and it would be time to properly so it would run into a train and it would go up and down and make sure we cleared off the tracks which would make it safer and more consistent ride. >> our vision was to attach it to the bed of a train so while

the train is moving its can vacuum. so we have the centers so you have sufficient light in the station. so most of the track is in the station so you can turn on and pick up the trash. once you get in the tunnel were starker it won't the light. working and conserve energy. >> i'm very proud of you guys. let's move over over here to get a picture. >> is so nice to meet you. are you sisters? >> i thought you might be sisters. i seal little resemblance. where you from? >> seattle, washington. >> a beautiful city. it rained sometimes. what is your idea? >> we built a space craft we sent it up to 70000 feet. >> that's that's crazy.

this thing right here? 78000 feet. is that it, right there? >> this is maybe 60,000 feet or so. so when so when higher than that? >> it was in space. almost in space. right at the edge. >> so like in the superman movies when their flight out and suddenly it starts getting colder. how did you do that and why did you do that? >> is powered by a weather balloon. >> where you get that? >> you can find weather balloons online. we got the parachute. >> zika get it back. >> yes. >> otherwise it float away. >> no because it is a lack of

pressure the molecules inside and the balloon will pop. >> so your attitude was we're just going to send it up and keep on going until the bloom tops. see how high you could get it. and it just kept on going. that is unbelievable. so why did you want to do this? just to see what would happen or did you have an objective involved in the launch? >> we did did want to see what happened but we also wanted to see -- we also want to retrieve data from the flight computer which records latitude,

longitude, altitude, speed, temperature, direction. we direction. we put them in the graphs. these are two favorite graphs we made. >> one thing we learned about the first layer of the atmosphere got a lot colder and when it went through the second layer, the stratosphere, got warmer which was surprising to us. we thought it would just get colder and colder. >> that's interesting. >> when it burst it got warmer and colder again. >> why is that? >> we don't know. it. it might be a change in temperature. it's definitely a change in the atmosphere. >> but we did more research and discovered that we got to the third layer it got colder again and the fourth layer it got

warmer again so it would keep on rotating. >> is that affected at all because the atmospheres capturing some radiation as you go faster. >> may be, we not sure. >> you're working on hypotheses. >> hopefully we do a second lunch sometime soon when i put a solar panel on it and see throughout the different layers of the atmosphere whether there's more power and one layer or not. our hypothesis is that there will be more sun as you get closer to the sun but were not sure. >> when did you launch? >> labor day weekend. >> how long did it take before it reached its pinnacle? >> three hours up in one hour down. >> even with the parachute.

>> it there is very little air resistance so it went at 110 kilometers per hour during two of the layers. >> it's still there. >> used to be screwed on and it fell off during impact when it landed. >> it's too much for popsicle stick. >> landing is too much for popsicle stick. it makes sense to me. one last question, say send it up in the balloon, there must've been some movement right, and you get some sort of tracking device but how hard did it land somewhere you lance? >> 51 miles. >> so were you driving a tracking it?

>> we're tracking it with the gps device and then we'll look at the signal atlanta we joke there and it was maybe 30 minutes to walk there from the street. >> worded it land? where did atlanta? >> in it landed in a field with cow poop. >> you are amazing. i am so proud of you. let's take a good picture. we have to make sure, should we hold this up so people can see it properly?

look at this guy right here. i know your parents must be very proud. >> how are you. what's your name? >> sydney. >> nice to see you. >> juliana, christina, where you from? >> st. louis. >> what we have here? tell me about what you have been doing. >> we are the block heads and we did it while creating a product. >> let's hold this up.

eco-dashmac so originally your goal was to figure out how to break this down so you did not have all of this, stuff that set in dumpsters forever were landfills forever. so how did you decide he could break it down? >> at a retirement community in st. louis we asked what their biggest problem was with trash and they said it was styrofoam. we wanted to help them. so we did more research. >> every month they throw away 20000 styrofoam cups. that's about 200 pounds. that takes over 500 over 500 years to decompose. we went to a landfill and as their biggest problem and they said styroam. and they took us -- so we started doing research to figure out what we could do to reduce the amount of styrofoam that ended up in landfill. after a lot of searching we

found a video online that said, non-toxic chemical which is made of orange peels can be used to dissolve styrofoam. so we ended up taking a six by six by 3-foot amount of styrofoam which is about the size of a refrigerator and compressed it down to about two cups. >> how long did it take to break down. >> about 30 minutes. >> so that brought us to the first product, the eco- ben is a kit that we can give to homes and businesses and you can mix it with water to make it more effective and then they can put them in the eco- ben so we can collected afterwards. >> without we're done but it turns out the residue left over from the dissolving the styrofoam can be used as a glue. it's really sticky. so our glue glucan glue down all of these

materials and it's completely non-toxic, we tested in a chemical at. >> so now you have a new, outstanding glue, eco- glue. >> should we glue something? what we have to glue? >> one of your cards. let's just test the glue. it'll be fine, were just going to test this out make sure it works. very go let's put the card, and a small dab of eco- glue, there it is. the blockheads, this is outstanding.

so you did this put it in the bin, melted down any see this scum at the bottom, it's all gooey and yankee, so how did you decide that might be a glue. did you put your hand in it or something? >> we're just experimenting with it and we figured out that it was sticky and gooey when we're mixing it. so we decided to test it. at first we glued two spoons together and it works really well. >> you might be onto something here. this is outstanding. of course it has to dry. i knows it doesn't look exactly the same, they pretty much the same?

>> there approximately the same. >> so have we talked to, have you figured out how to expand what you have discovered? so that landfills around the country and individuals as well can start getting rid of styrofoam? >> were thinking of getting a patent on the product. and also sent it to her teacher. >> that is outstanding. let's take a picture. >> what is your name.

>> jacob. >> it's good to see you. you look sharp and that bowtie. >> where you from. >> a baltimore. >> okay so you're close by. what greater un. >> third. >> jacob, it looks like you have an entire product line here, explain to me what you been doing. >> [inaudible conversation] i put gelatin in there and wait a few hours and then there out. so these are all your designs here. the question is, how did you get into the 3d printing business? >> last year i went road to a

place i went to a place to a summer camp and they got me interested in 3d printing because they help me make the 3d printer phone. and the 3d printer cookie-cutter >> so that is what started it all. >> so then you got your own 3d printer. >> i wrote a letter to the company called printer bot and they gave me a free printer if i gave them feedback up i did. >> so what they wanted to find out is how well kids could use their 3-d printer. >> yes, sir. >> so your testing stuff out and then give recommendations. what were your findings. what did you discover when you got your original 3d printer. >> i found out that sometimes the printer jammed inside.

>> and so it calibrated every time you take it apart. >> okay. so they're taking some of your suggestions. in the meantime meantime he took advantage of having a 3d printer to do all of the stuff. >> yes, sir. >> are you designing these things on the computer? and it connects to the 3-d printer. >> your. i take a picture i have to write a sketch out of it and then transferred to a computer. >> so these were some of your original designs that you ended up drawing on the computer and then transmitting to the 3d printer. >> yes, sir. >> excellent. do they work? do you want to try one? what you think we got some bubbles going on? this is soapy water which one do

you think works best, which and should i use? it's been a while since i have done this. i may need some help. >> there you go. that's kind of fun. the that was a good one. i think i blew too hard. you know what, clearly i am out of practice. but i did get one, did you catch that. i wanted to make sure. do you want do think you will

continue this business as you go on. >> yes, sir. >> this is something that you decide you're interested in. >> yes, sir. >> excellent,. >> have a question. do you have a child science advisor? >> you should. a child science advisor can give you feedback on how kids like science. >> you know what, i think that's a great idea. how about how about we put together a child advisory committee so as opposed to just one child, because the put a lot of pressure on one person, they have school and homework and all that, maybe we would have a committee. what you think? >> yes, sir. >> then we that we can people of different ages. >> that be great of you mr. president.

>> originally what we did last year's we started working with prosthetics as a challenge so we just work on designing basic prosthetics and one of our classmates said that we should make one for a veteran. so then we started talking to kyle and asking him what he would like to have in a prosthetic. we started designing it and then redesigned. then we started researching organic products. at this point we didn't know how much of the leg was cut off so we studied the leg, the tiny parts of the foot.

>> so you have an understanding of the basic mechanics of an organic leg. >> and artificial. so i researched different prosthetics. >> so and i have the research and what did you conclude in terms of what kyle or others might want that were not being produced in the current prosthetics? >> will the current prosthetic he had was -- it was painful. also when you're walking around to sometimes it would fail. >> that's terrible. so we designed over 20 and we

have some prototypes. >> did you use a 3d printer? >> yes. >> so we focused on the fee because the foot is a complicated part of the body. and also with dynamics because of balance. so for this foot it would. >> is this viable immovable? >> because of the plastic in a way. >> ultimately be designed one it would have more groups. >> exactly.

we were gonna make it is a rubber toe. >> we actually got pretty close but we have not been able to try it on kyle yet. what we did was took away -- so when they amputated all he has is the remaining part of that bone. and he stands on that all day long. so it's extremely painful. we completely got rid of hooks or straps so it uses extension which means this will have another sleeve that goes inside and down here we have memory

foam and all of these pieces come apart in case he wants to upgrade or change them. this works as in artificial tendon and ankle control. >> so we designed it from scratch so we made the final sketches. but we also had idea before and when he puts pressure it locks it. when you release the pressure comes back. >> that's good. to test things out. some work, some don't.

>> in this class we have 35 other people working on the project. >> you're doing a great job. >> is it inspiring you to go into engineering, medicine? >> actually i've designed a lot of these prototypes. >> let's get a good picture. >> where you from? >> san diego. >> what grade are you in? >> were all sr.

>> you look like you're ready to get out of high school. what you have here? >> our project is an app called spectrum. we've been developing it for about a year. it seeks to fill bridges within the career community. >> in terms of the app, once i download the app, and my now in a place where i am communicating with my peers, or is it just given me resources that i can plug into it. >> ..

and events you might otherwise miss, less well-known centers. >> so what is involved in creating an app? did you guys write all the code for it? >> we started a year ago. women with hansen code. commander at studio supplement directly.

click interested? >> a lot of us through the women in computer science club. >> let's get a project going. so once your finished it's on the platform you expect the people just downloaded? >> it's in the development phase. it should be able to be downloaded by anyone. >> this mean you guys want to continue? >> for sure. i learned a lot more.

applications that. >> the human genome. visualizing all of this data is coming through. this is outstanding. >> right here. >> republican presidential candidate, senator ted crews the new york gop fund-raising dinner tomorrow 45:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> madam secretary, 72 on delegate votes to the next president of the united states.

>> there are conversation on politics and entertainment. mark warren of esquire magazine, part of our spotlight on magazine series from washington journal. "washi" continues. host: up next, we are going to go to our spotlight on magazines segment we do every wednesday. >> up next ouron spotlight on magazine segment that we do every wednesday. today we are talking to mark warren of these and to have executive editor esquire magazine but a piece in the

latest issue called the inevitable takeover of politics. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. good morning. >> thank you for joining us from new york. this peace is talking about pop politics. what are they and why did you think this was an important issue to explore in the magazine? se thisr have been suspended. producing some of the worst presidential punditry that we've ever seen. lastingaw donald trump as long as he has. no one saw bernie sanders coming at all. to the fact that pundits have been using the old rules or playing by a different understanding of the political landscape. somehow, 2016 has been the coleman nation of a process that

has been long in the works of the insinuation of celebrity culture into political culture. -- culmination of a process. the line between those things is gone. we are seeing cheaply through the avatar of donald trump -- chiefly through the avatar of donald trump's years of celebrity in the political world. host: politics has always had parliaments of entertainment and entertainment has always had a political dimension. means?lain what that guest: they've always drawn from each other. kennedyhe power of john , the hollywood glamour of the reagans. governor clinton playing a saxophone on arsenio hall.

we have these political figures trended humanize themselves -- trying to humanize themselves by making us laugh, disarming us and making us think better of them. that is not new, exactly. we've seen element of that this year as well. larry david making a more perfect bernie sanders on snl, hillary clinton making fun of herself also on snl. taperuz and his audition for the simpsons. the degree to which we are seeing it is perhaps new. pernicious and a bit , this very famous person that a lot of voters have known their entire adult lives or entire lives, sometimes, testing the value of his fame, his raw fame in the mark -- the political marketplace.

$2 billion worth of free media attention based upon that fame. seencome it we have never before. host: we are talking with mark warren, the executive editor at "esquire magazine." we are talking about the article about pop politics in the latest issue as part of our spotlight on magazines, which we do every wednesday. republicans can call in 202-748-8001. democrats can call in at 202-748-8000. independents can call in at 202-748-8002. on that last point you talked about, the attention these candidates are getting, you think the changes in media, including social media come is one of the driving points behind this boom in pop politics? guest: no question about that.

of democratization information by technology is historic, one of the great things about the increasing involvement in the political process. increased -- the , he wrote congress -- the future would be dominated by events that exist only to be covered by the media. something be news was happened and a journalist would cover it. these events would exist only to be covered. his forecast has more than come true, i would say. enabled, in part, by the social media that we have now. it has me pining for a good event.shioned pseudo-

they take the shape of a twitter at three clock and by a candidate or the re-tweaking of an unflattering picture of an opponent's spouse. to dominatehe power the media cycles and maybe even turn elections. it is not that they are not powerful. we've lost sight of the difference, sometimes. host: you are referring to a republican presidential candidate, donald trump. we can take a look at what he himself said in his "art of the deal." "i played to people's fantasies. people may not always think big themselves, but they can still get excited by those who do. that's why a little hyperbole never hurts.

people want to believe that something is the biggest and greatest and most spectacular. i call it truthful hyperbole. it is a very effective form of promotion." is that what he is doing in his presidential race? guest: i think we had the first presidential campaign -- the culmination of a long progression of celebrity culture leaping into political culture. we have the first presidential campaign, i would say, that has been run by a reality tv producer where you introduce conflict -- once you do that on reality tv, you have to continually escalate it. that has to do with his hyperbole, i think that is consonant with who he is and who he has been. i think we will probably see more of this in the future. host: what factors do you think

-- you talked a bit about media. what other factors are contributing to this era of pop politics, this convergence of politics and entertainment? not casting dispersionsi think it can incree participation in the system. a great deal of the interest and excitement around not just the trunk campaign but that presidential campaign in general viewers and of consumers who have feasted on kind of a generation of reality television, who are looking for the same in the conduct of the campaign.

hopefully, they will be informed and stay for better reasons than perhaps they came for. host: we are talking to mark warren, the executive editor at "esquire magazine," about the inevitable takeover of pop politics: the entertainers and politicians who are now selling the same thing." on our democratic line, we have a caller from austin, texas. you are on with mark warren. caller: hi, mark warren. magazine, itthe supports the wealth. when you support the wealth, the little bitty guy gets kind of kicked out of the way. -- thisthis culture of

culture attends to wealth. if you have plenty of money, like donald trump has plenty of gety, then the poor do not in on popo fall culture. host: let's give mark warren a chance to respond to that. what role do you think wealth plays in this phenomenon? mean, it is kind of indivisible from fame, in this instance, i think. the caller's point is a good one, is a fair one. .nd it has been a paradox because of his fame, he came into the campaign. avatar of thishe phenomenon we are talking about.

because of his fame, he comes into the political marketplace and immediately prospers and gets a terrific amount of free publicity. that benefits him in the polls. when someone is the front runner or a real contender for the nomination or one of the only two major political parties that we have, that must be covered. it is a paradox because fame begets more fame. faire caller's point is a one, that someone without means, without fame, without those advantages coming into the political system does not get , and probably would not prosper as mr. trump has. fame and theth the notoriety, does it always automatically serve as a benefit? re piece itself points to

apper kanye west, and it says -- host: he stood up at the video music awards and acknowledged that nobody had the courage to , andrupt, that he was high then announced his bid for the presidency in 2020. no one was entirely sure if he was getting." is that part of the same phenomenon fueling donald trump? because think so, whenever the political marketplace is viewed as just another venue in which to play with the power of fame, then that is what we are seeing with kanye west, who may or may not be serious about running for president.

i am assuming -- i do not know anything about him -- but i assume he does not know the first thing about governing or running for president or what that might even mean. fact, it could be said that donald trump is a fairly low-information candidate. it is not exactly what he is in it for either. i do think that sometimes it can be confusing. it is not just the $2 billion of free media and counting that he has gotten so far. it is the power of 35 years of , to confuse people. ,s it his views on immigration or is this that he fired all those people on tv week after week for so many years, and that we have known him forever with best-selling books and all of that? it is confusing.

it has the power to be pernicious in that way. host: we are talking to mark warren, the executive editor of "esquire magazine," about pop politics. ,p next on our republican line from california. what is your question for mark warren about pop politics? caller: there are a couple of things being missed here. instead of referring to donald trump is a famous person and his entertainment part, i think a lot of what is being lost is his ability as an entrepreneur and a businessman, with the empire that he has built, that he is a very successful man. man, notnowledgeable some idiot on tv. the reason he is getting a lot of criticism that is negative,

half the stuff they are saying about him is not even true. so it is really not to his advantage. but the point is it is not just about his popularity. look at the businesses he has been able to achieve all these years. he employs 10,000 people. some not just some icon or popular person, like mr. warren is saying. host: let's hit -- let's give him a chance to respond. caller.air enough, i would say there are a great and successful businessman women who you never hear about. the reason for that is that they have not cultivated their fame and have not had interest in that. it is a fact -- and leaving aside any argument about how successful or not mr. trump has been in business -- i am not knowledgeable enough to argue that point and will not -- but he has meant to be famous,

otherwise he would not be. he had fame before this political chapter of his life, culminated in a very successful reality television show. are a great many wonderful and successful men and women of business who you never hear of because they do not want to be famous. host: on the issue of -- go ahead. do you have more? guest: another part of this phenomenon, you asked the question earlier about what else is this owed to. a great deal of this is owed to how long these campaigns are, and the total saturation of image that has turned american politics into a celebrity business. we are seeing the culmination of that this year. the question is, what happens ,fter this year, after trump when politics -- a cardinal rule

is, just study what works. this has certainly worked. this court over by a lot of political professionals. we have gotten that he will see pored-- you will see this over by a lot of political professionals. in "theere was a piece washington post" by charles lane that points out this is not exactly a new phenomenon. he says the debate between abraham lincoln and stephen douglas is remembered for the ,eriousness of its subjects slavery, king at the lincoln douglas debates were also a traveling circus. thousands of spectators, playing hooky from their monotonous farms, flocked to each small-town venue from this running countryside. bands played. what is so different about today? hasn't entertainment always become par for the course in politics?

the lincoln douglas debates live tweeted, i am not sure. had somehas always very kind of commercial and celebrity appeal, there is no question about it. events that draw people. the politics of today has taken celebrityppings of and the affect of celebrity. even the debate that we see on the networks, the introductions look like game shows. they even come with commercial breaks now. they did not used to do that. so it is just orders of magnitude different, i would say. and certainly since the arrival of the internet and the rise of twitter, that is where the major political battles and new cycles are turned.

we will see if those either attacks or mistakes made on twitter can have the effect of actually turning elections for or against someone. t -- up next on our independent line, vivian, you are on with mark warren. caller: hello, mark. ism so happy that someone talking about pop culture, because i agree with you totally . who started it was clinton, bill clinton. back to abraham lincoln because i can only go back to eisenhower. that was my first vote but i have seen clinton change pop happy whend i was so we got a black president and i said now it is going to change. but he also became -- people

were calling him a rockstar because that is how he acted all the time. host: let's give him a chance to respond to that. do you think ill clinton was a major driver of this phenomenon, -- do you think bill clinton was a major driver of this phenomenon, mark? guest: he may terrible mistake in 1988 when he gave his speech for michael dukakis. he went on longer than he was supposed to and governor dukakis missed prime time, and was roundly panned in the culture for doing so. how did he prepare himself? shownt on the "tonight" and apologized and made from himself -- and made fun of himself. during the 1992 campaign, he went and played his saxophone on the arsenio hall show. he was very comfortable in that setting. no one probably in our lifetime

is as comfortable in that setting as bill clinton. but again, this is before the internet or twitter. orders of magnitude different, still. i think that pop politics plays in the realm of extreme love or extreme hate, kind of like a reality television show. that cannot be a good thing in the long term. republicanxt on our line is don calling from south carolina. your own with mark warren and our discussion about pop politics. caller: i take my hat off to you for addressing this issue. i do not agree that it is so much the politicians driving it as it is the social news media. objectivity, the good of the country, the truth is all being put aside by the pundits just because they are trying to and it is making lots

of money for the news media. i think the phenomenon of donald trump and bernie sanders is greatly supported by that social more because it causes coverage, people with jobs. an example would be, how many of your fellow newsman and reporters are trying to get on their own television shows now? i have really lost a lot of pundits.or the i would tell you that that is cbs, the president said it all when he said that what is going on might not be good for the country, but it is certainly good for the bottom line of cbs. host: let's let mark warren respond to that. caller, right on

-- bingo, caller, right on. saying, being in the media as well, we are all complicit. a realforces to play role here. there's no question about it. it is a vicious circle. but again, once you have something, a campaign like no , aer, when you have someone candidate like no other, trump entering into this realm, testing the value of his fame in the marketplace, and becomes the front runner, what choice do you have but to cover him? of course it is the quality and nature of the coverage itself where you have a real point, because for the first several months, i would argue, and i think it is borne out by facts, that the covers -- that the coverage was very soft. you saw him as an entertainment figure rather than a candidate,

until well into the fall when it started not being a joke anymore . as he is perilously close to candidate in one of the two parties, we must test his ideas to see what a from presidency would look like for the united states and the world. we are all complicit. after trump?t i don't know. host: as part of our spotlight on magazine series, we are talking to mark warren, the executive editor at "esquire magazine," about this month's story on pop politics. we have a tweet from dana who says -- host: this echoes several folks on twitter, who pointed out that

our current president has been a celebrity since his campaign. do you have to be part celebrity in order to launch an effective campaign now? probably. it seems as if that is the way, doesn't it yet go i think part of the -- doesn't it? inwas a very fresh face president obama seems to be leading some sort of movement, showing a new face of the country to the world. a new sense of political ome confused bec with celebrity culture and can confuse the issues and maybe even drive interest in the candidate beyond even issues. i think we're seeing some of that was senator sanders and the enormous crowds that he has been getting. that has to do with that kind of system of popular movement,

which can become confused in the celebrity culture. but they drive each other, i would say. host: up next on our republican line, we have peter calling in from spokane, washington. you are on with mark warren. go ahead. what is your question for mark warren? is, when isuestion our social security going to become important? and part of the spotlight of a magazine? they say they need money terribly bad host:. wrong topic there. sandy is calling in from howard, kansas. you are on with mark warren, discussing pop politics. sandy, are you there? ok, it appears we ve lost

sandy. back to our discussion. politics,mes to pop how does that fit in, in terms of political ideology? have we seen more of the happen on the left or on the right? how does it fit into ideology? i think that we have almost a religious relationship, there is a religiosity to our idea of fame. fame is almost its own ideology. -- i mean, when you have a candidate like donald trump coming into the political marketplace, testing his fame, then he has to adapt positions that would help him succeed. those positions have been extremely different from some of his earlier positions. he would say that that is just a

matter of political evolution, which is fair enough. but i also think he has been responding to the marketplace. i do think that fame is its own ideology in a way. fame is more powerful than money sometimes, i think. think it is still a serious problem, but our great fear was that a system awash in would overwhelm and compromise our democracy, but if you hate money in politics, wait until you see celebrity in politics. isause again, i think this likely a phenomenon that is not going to go away, because it has upended the establishment of both parties. it has upended the way our politics and our nominating processes normally work. so people are going to study it because it has worked.

we are talking about pop politics with mark warren, executive editor of "esquire magazine." republicans can call in at 202-7 48-8001. 202-748-8000. , 202-7 48-8002. "usa today" points out that facebook chief mark zuckerberg has stepped into the political fray. it says he has laid out a 10-year plan to connect the world that sounded as much like a political cause as a grab for potential billions of dollars. and in doing so he took direct aim at those who would limit free trade and immigration as well as donald trump. he says they plan to bring people together, with an

ambitious strategy of technology, crossing borders, crossing cultures -- it sounded like a political statement. are we going to see more of that , celebrities using politics as opposed to just politicians becoming more like celebrities? great i think absolutely in mark zuckerberg's case, when you have established something that has not been done before, established a global network that has instant connectivity from one point on the globe to another with one billion people involved, that is power. so i think that he is using that power and his increasing profile as he wants told see it. this seems as if he is taking direct aim at some of the higher

profile positions taken by some of the candidates in this presidential cycle, especially on the republican side. so i think there is no question about that. again, it is not anything entirely new, that you see celebrities trying to parlay into a political profile as well. usually, i think that can be to good effect if they mean well and they act in good faith and they look for issues that are worth the -- that are worthy. many of those types of -- it was written that when amy schumer is on , her cousin charles schumer is onstage talking about gun control. -- who has more power?

i think it is the actual celebrity, who has more power in that moment. we will always begin to see the furtherance of that kind of -- the melding of political and civil liberty -- the political and celebrity culture. host: president reagan was an actor. al franken is in the senate now. might we see other politicians, other celebrities enter the fray ? who might they be? george clooney? he certainly has taken political positions. darfur, in work in africa. it is a very intoxicating kind of forum, and if you have a profile, by one means, you might want to use it in the political realm as well. kanye west, whether it is

deranged or not, he is talking about it for a reason. though.teresting, when al franken entered the toate, he assiduously tried tamp down his celebrity profile, and to stop acting like a celebrity, like a comedian. he became studious and serious and took his place in the back of the line of the u.s. senate, which is a strict seniority system. i do not know that that is what celebrities have in mind, to gain political power. i do not know that that is what they would be doing it for, to become someone other than themselves. draw, is a very powerful so i would not be surprised to see more going forward. on our republican line, we have lisa calling in from new york. you're on with mark warren. guest: i actually --

caller: good morning. i think it is the 24-hour news cycle that caused this. i was watching a movie yesterday with ronald reagan, and it hit me. he was very presidential and the all american boy. i did not know him as an actor, i only knew him as a politician, so for me it was and lightning about how people started to go towards this guy that they saw on the big screen. for me, i also feel that you are a little slanted with the donald trump attacks. trump,rrified by donald but i think that what he is saying and doing he is doing for the country in a very strange way. is a lot to unpack. let's let mark warman respond to that. go ahead. guest: again, i do not mean to attack mr. trump. i am just saying there has never been a candidate like him before, and there is no one else like him in this field. there are not that many who have

those skills. the 24-hour news cycle, i think absolutely that plays into it as well. the 24-hour news cycle can combined with a 24 month campaign, results in this total saturation of image. if you have money to do it -- which is what has turned american politics into a celebrity business -- i think you are absolutely right about that. with ronald reagan, he did not go directly from being a celebrity to parlay his allywood celebrity into political profile. total of 20er a years. governor of-term california. he studied issues. compared to a lot of candidates that we talk about here, he was very studious of the issues and had some mastery. rationaleell-defined

politically, compared to certainly mr. trump, i would say. host: on our independent line, we have mike calling in from lebanon, new jersey. good morning. very much.nk you sir, i do not think donald trump is a pop-culture type. he actually is serving the purpose of the middle class of being the billionaire that we usn't have representing against the billionaire establishment. the people that they call uneducated, who voted for him, are people who are no longer fooled. he has defined the establishment as the billionaires who own the congress, who owned the government financially, who own the news media, and when he goes after megyn kelly, that is simply a case of being symbolic for the middle class. host: i want to make sure that mark warren has a chance to respond to you. go ahead. guest: a couple of things.

i would say it is hard to argue that he is not a celebrity, or that that is what he is -- or that that is what he has been about before the political process. as far as your assertion that he is -- he describes the problems of the middle class well -- you are absolutely right about that. he has described the pain and uncertainty about the global economy, of a sense that their future is not in their hands anymore, to be determined by them. that they do not know where their jobs are going, or if they will come back. i think you are absolutely correct about that. effective -- he is very, very effective at channel the anger, rage, uncertainty, fear, and less well-known is whether he has prescriptions for those problems , or ideas about how to solve those problems or to ease that pain.

but, no, i agree with you completely. that is part of his power. that is why he has succeeded, because he has described real problems that real people and real pain that they are experiencing. host: mark warren, thank you for joining us. for this segment about pop politics. good morning to you. guest: thank you very much. good morning. host: that is all

>> >> if you want me to appear

to give you good news this is why i am here. >> where is the 18 billion? if you want to get testy about it. let me just say. i have the numbers. if you were looking at increasing the operating revenues you look at the most expensive operating system then chicago and new york and pennsylvania why would you have the highest operating cost? what justifies that? we'll get numbers spirit with the second largest transit system in america. >> new york chicago is higher. >> if we have the opportunity to travel the

world moscow beijing london to see a world class system this has become an embarrassment in the nation's capital we are in this together. >> those are all communist countries. >> london? >> he said beijing and shanghai and moscow. >> and paris and london their capital cities. the federal government in those countries pay for the system all i'm asking for you is $300 million which is your fair share given the fact we transport 50 percent of your work force every day. you want them to be safe and reliable but if you want to leave here like we did in 2005 and do nothing that i am blaming it on you because we need your help. >> you are on the board so how can you believe must?

>>. >> it is not operating well now with their resources with the wherewithal to bring to the table. >> when can you give this committee a full breakdown of how this is spent? >> within one week. >> let me say this you will never have a better chance we have a chairman who has done this for years with the general manager who is as capable as anybody has ever been if we leave here today and do nothing, mr. chairman you will not give us one time? raleigh? we need resources. this is your system this is my system nuclear kids and parents on this system? like it is today? give me a break we have to step up by have reports year from 2010 and 20112005 where

we have done nothing we can all leave here and do nothing against

>> and above all was to get to receive alabama away from the party school to head in a new direction to become a viable institution first in

the south then nationally and it took awhile to do that first to have to hire faculty only one-third had terminal screens in 58 but in the '60s they had two-thirds and that made as competitive today we have our fair share. we're also attracting students did it to go to harvard or yale. we the the country in national merit scholars that come here. >> welcome to the archeological park this was the largest city north of mexico and contains the remains of about 30 flattop bounds.

>> we're staying at the largest mountain alabama containing 112,000 cubic yards of dirt this would have been the structure for the highest ranking leader of the highest-ranking clinton would have been. a racially we thought they were completely built one at a time recently research indicates the base and possibly the sides were initially built with a solid block then filled in with klay this would give a lot more stability to the structure as they were building it and then periodically it would be capped over with different colors of klay to resemble a layer cake

watch c-span's "washington journal" beginning live at seven eastern on thursday morning. join the discussion. >> now elite at waist and efficiency and duplication in the federal government. hear from the head of the government accountability office along with irs, pentagon and medicare and medicaid services officials. congressman from utah chairs the oversight committee.

>> the government is so big, so why, so expensive so expansive were talking about trillions of dollars in expenditures. were always seeking ways to have government dollars be more

effective and more efficient. this morning the government accountability office has released its sixth annual report on opportunities to reduce fragmentation overlap and duplication in the federal government to achieve financial and other benefits. over the course of the six years the gao has highlighted over 250 areas and recommended more than more than 600 corrective actions. we cannot thank enough the men and women who serve on the gao and the good work that they do. doing hard work, looking under the hood and really coming up with important recommendation that we as members of congress desperately need in order to do our jobs properly. 41%% of the recommended corrective actions have been fully addressed to a address inefficiencies and

resolve wasteful spending can provide significant benefit to the public. with only 41% of actions address more obviously needs to be done. and taking action at just three agencies, the department of defense, the department of health and human services and the internal revenue service, if we did just those three would save it literally billions upon billions of dollars. come by these agencies account for more than half of all federal spending in fiscal year 2015. more more than half of all corrective actions in the g owes reports is in this agencies. yet all three agencies have more than 60% of the recommended actions still open. for example, the gao estimates the irs can save hundreds of millions of dollars and increase revenue by enhancing its online services. the 2013 gao recommend the irs develop a methodology for its allocation of enforcement reports resources. the irs developed a a methodology that has trojan not to implement it.

it cost taxpayers time and money. they need to explain their refusal to take the corrective action. in an area highlighted an issues highlighted in issues report the irs is using a paper-based system to receive and track tips on tac non- compliance in nine different offices. gao estimates the coronation of information sharing could help the irs identify and collect billions of dollars in tax revenue. it should not take a gao report to point out that correlating investigation prevent duplicative work and ensures taxpayer resources are used efficiently and effectively. in 2015 gao recommended centers for medicare and medicaid services should answer states report accurate and complete data on state sources of funds. it seems fairly reasonable. gao estimates they could save hundreds of millions of dollars with gms they have not taken this action. in in 2013, the gao

recommended the department of defense implement joint abasing meeting multiple military services using a single basic to achieve efficiency. the dod has yet to complete this action, even though it could save as much as $2.3 billion over 20 or. why do we need to come back year after year to discuss the same actions? that's in part what we will be discussing today. i'm usually the federal government has an obligation not to waste a taxpayer dollars. were pulling money out of somebody's pocket on the tried to give it to someone else and use that, we need to be very cognizant of this wasteful tax taxpayers spending. we should all consider part of the job description of preventing waste, this it agreement over policy can lead to disagreements over appropriate spending but imperative to prevent ways is something we can all agree on a both sides of the aisle. when we

know know it is about waste and inefficiency we have to act. the gao annual report provides roadmap to tackling known ways waste and inefficiency that is out there. so so we have a lot of questions. and we do look forward to it. i want to maximize time for matt member input. i will recognize the ranking member mr. cummings of maryland for his opening statement. >> thank you very much mr. jimmy. thank you for holding what has become a tradition for our committee and for making sure that gao's report it wants. the oversight is one of the core functions of our committee. today we'll we'll focus on that gao's fixed annual report and duplicative programs and opportunities for cost savings and the federal government. this report allows the executive branch and congress to work together to identify critical

areas where we can reduce waste and make federal programs more efficient and effective. this is interesting because it focuses on both the executive branch and congress. since 2011 gao's report have consistently shown that congress has been doing far worse than the executive branch in implementing gao's recommendation. today's report is no different. it shows that congress could be doing much more to foster a more efficient and effective, and accountable government. but into the gao the executive branch is fully completed 81% of gao's recommendations. 81%. that is an impressive success rate strictly in light of the budget and what it has endured in recent years. congress on the other hand has

implemented only about 46% of g owes recommendations. even that 46% it's kinda generous because gao is giving credit for taking partial action by just moving a bill through committee even if it has not been passed, at the house or the senate. during during lester's hearing you thanked gao for" providing congress and the executive branch with a roadmap to achieve needed savings. according to gao the administration has done a much better job of following that roadmap then we here in congress. specifically gao 459 recommendations for the executive branch and 372 have now been fully or partially completed. in contrast, gao has made 85

recommendations to congress but only 37 of those have been fully or partially completed. gao's new's new report highlights where congress could legislate right now to eliminate waste and duplication. for example gao recommended to congress passed legislation to prevent private citizens who report tax fraud to the irs from retaliation by their employers. this this is vital that we protect these whistleblowers and reward them for their service. that is why in february senator baldwin and i introduce the warren act. our bill would would increase incentives for people who blow the whistle on financial -- including misrepresentation of tax liabilities and public filings. the bill bill has been endorsed by many organizations including

americans for financial reform, and communication workers of america. i hope that congress will pass the bill this year. gao also recommend that congress lowered the threshold requiring employers to electronically file of u2's to help detect fraudulent refund claims. gao 2016 report also recognizes improvements by federal agencies and includes a number of recommendations for federal agencies going forward. for example, gao highlighted a number of success stories at the centers for medicare and medicaid services. including eliminating duplicative contracts and improving processes for identifying improper payments. two improvements to mitigate the program cms helped recover

nearly 65 $7 million of improper medicaid payments in fiscal year 2015 according to gao. on the flipside, they found the department of defense still has 79 major programs of a total acquisition cost of over $14 trillion. dod spends $100 billion each year on the systems but has failed to strategically manage those in investments resulting in inefficiency and waste. taxpayers and our troops deserve better than that. i i want to thank all of our witnesses today , i think you free you and your talented staff are providing critical critical service to congress and the american people with this annual report.

as well as with the work that you do every day. you help ensure our tax dollars are spent wisely, hope that you will share with all of your employees how grateful we are for their pursuit of excellence and for them helping to provide us with roadmaps to make a difference. with that i yelled back. >> inc. you. i will hold the record open for five legislative dates for any members would like to summit a written statement. i'll now recognize our panel of witnesses. we have quite a few people to swear in but we are first pleased to welcome the honorable jean, the controller for the united states that the united states government account ability office. sir, sir, we're pleased to have you come before committee. again, you are one of the more important people we have come here even your insight and your commitment to these issues. again i can't thank your staff enough for the great work that they do behind the scene. a number of the key staff people

are here, we want to maximize the opportunity for members to dive deeper into some of these issues and pursuant to committee rules we will swear these people and as well. these experts that are here include ms. kathleen barrett, managing director for defense capability of the management team, mr. paul france it, managing director and acquisition and sourcing management team, mr. chris mem managing director, ms. nikki clower's the managing director healthcare team, ms. soares williams brown managing director of financial investment team. mr. philip , ms. barbara, managing director director and education workforce and income security team, our forensic team

my apologies if and i did not get all of those things proper. we also have mr. john, deputy commissioner for services for the internal revenue service at the united states department of treasury, mr. david tillotson, deputy director of defense and chief management officer of the management of defense. and doctor patrick conway, doctor you have a title here, acting principal director, deputy minister, deputy chief administrator for innovation and quality and chief officer at medicare and medicaid services i thank you for all your good work and for being here, pursuant to all witnesses, please rise in racy right hand.

>> do solemnly swear and affirm the testimony you are about to hear it will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. >> thank you. you may all all be seated please let the record be seated let the record show that all members responded in the affirmative. we ask that all seated at the table please limit your oral testimony to five minutes. members should should have ample time to ask questions. it is your discretion if you want to yield time to a particular individual as we get into the question. we will have a seat there if need be. but you are now recognize for five minutes. >> thank you much mr. chairman, good money to you, members of the committee. we are very pleased to be here today to discuss gao's sixth annual report on overlapped application of duplication. and also other ways to reduce

cost savings. we introduced 92 new two new actions that the congress and executive branch can take in 37 different areas. to give you some example, in the, in the overlap duplication fragmentation area we highlight 12 areas, for example we found the defense department is procuring commercial services for satellite and in the billion dollars that they spent, about 30% of that was spent outside of their central procurement agency. that was by the different services and other agencies throughout the department. as a result of essential agency the costs were about 15% less then purchasing it outside the central offices. we think there is better, money to be safe there. tens there. tens of billions of dollars. we also found nine referral programs that irs for whistleblowers and others to

report improper activities that would give irs some tips to follow up for tax enforcement purposes and potentially produce billions of dollars in revenue. the systems were manually operated, there are fragmented fragmented and not coordinated. there were opportunities to streamline and provide better communication for the people providing tips. also we found there is potential for duplicative healthcare spending between people on medicaid or on the state exchanges. there are some amount of transfer time that could be made if people's income level change or they become eligible for medicaid or other services. we find activities outside the normal transition. and we recommend that in order to minimize any duplicate fund spending that coronation would need to take place in better oversight by cms over the medicaid programs at the state level and with the exchanges.

in areas of cost savings and revenue enhancements we have a number of they shoot that are new. we have opportunities to save a lot of money in overpayments for the social security administration. there are billions to be saved and we are revamping some of the payment policies that guide medicare spending. there is greater need for oversight, you could save hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions by greater oversight of cms over medicaid spending in the states activities. there is also millions that could be saved by the federal agencies have a better access to access personal property at dod and ammunition that is discarded but could be used by other federal agencies. so we don't have to buy it twice in that process. there are some fees that could be raised that have not been raised in over 20 years to help provide more

resources, in particular to deal with for maintenance in our national parks. to date, as mr. chairman mentioned in mr. cummings in their opening statements, congress and the ministration have acted on many of our recommendations, of the 544 may previously 41% implement it, 31% implement it, 31% partially, 21% not yet implemented at all. there are tens of billions of dollars in additional savings to be had and if those recommendations are fully acted upon. today, as you mentioned mr. chairman in your opening statement about one to 5,000,000,000 dollars dollars have been saved or will be saved over the coming years. we are please congress is taken actions dollar savings have come from congressional action. also in a number of areas where the agencies have taken actions it

is because of congressional urging as well. there is a lot more that could be done. i'm very pleased to be here today to talk about this opportunities and in addition to the areas that we have added to the list. thank you for holding this annual hearing, it makes a big difference. i will pass on to our staff your thanks and appreciation for their hard work. thank you for your comments and i'll be happy to answer questions at the appropriate point. >> thank you. >> thank you. chairman and ranking members and members of the committee, i am here to discuss findings of the government accountability office, gao related to its sixth annual duplicative programs. we appreciate the studies of the irs and its programs, their findings, insights and, insights and recommendations are invaluable to us as they help

assure that we are successful in accomplishing our mission of collecting over 3,000,000,000,000 dollars annually. without independent auditors any valuators we simply could not be as effective. since fiscal year 2013, the irs has taken to address the recommendations made including those highlighted in this report. between fiscal year 2011 and 2015 the irs received more than 2100 recommendations for gao and our inspector general auditors. with gao recommendations accounted for roughly 30% of those. even the sheer number and scope of recommendations the irs receives on a wide variety of areas the reality of resource and budget limitations precludes us from taking every action recommended as quickly as we might prefer. the irs has to look at total universe recommendations across

the enterprise through a larger lens make strategic decision about actions most important to address those audit findings. to that end, we very much appreciate the initiative gao started this year where they review and prioritize the open recommendations. this helps us to better understand what they think are the most critical. overwhelmingly, gao and irs are on the same page. our top priorities top priorities are generally the same as theirs. this increases our confidence that we are acting on the most important recommendations first. the two irs programs highlighted in this year's gao duplicative program study, referrals and identity theft are illustrative of the value we get to of what

we get and the actions we take. irs referral program which involves individual and business is reporting alleged noncompliance of tax laws, gao study reports in several areas needing improvement. we got right to work. we now have a team in place test with parts of the referral process to be more streamlined and effective. in fiscal year 2012 through 2015, they would not lead to audit this is a much higher overall rate which is hovering around seven tenths% of the general population. what is more, the audits audits are based on those referrals yielded over 209,000,000 dollars in additional tax assistance recommendations. these figures reveal. these figures reveal that are screening processes effectively identify the productive referrals for audit. it is making an important contribution of this administration. with improvements trying to make as a

result of the gao recommendation our referral process are being streamlined and will be more efficient and effective. while unique, relative relative to other referrals the gao report on irs whistleblower program offers a snapshot in time for a program under constant scrutiny for its process that it continually refined. even before gao began its most recent evaluation of the whistleblower program we have begun addressing the major issues that have been identified. the gao findings confirm that we are taking the right action and streamlining the process for claims, making dramatic reductions to the inventory of cases in particular phases of the process and instilling new leadership with a strong background in bringing about operational deficiencies. another irs program highlighted in this year's gao click it if report is our identity theft program which gao has all most continually reviewed in recent years and prompted important program improvement. as confront the growing problem is still an

identity refund fraud, the irs is using a multipronged approach to protect taxpayers and their information. the irs has made this a high priority and has been making steady progress. the additional 290,000,000 dollars in fiscal year 2015 funds reported to the rs by the to the irs by the congress had allowed us to allocate more resources to combating this insidious crime. about 2000 individuals have been convicted on federal charges related to refund fraud involving identity theft over the past few years. using our filters our filters we stopped 1.4 million returns last year and prevented criminals from collecting about a $.7 billion in fraudulent refunds. gao has been helpful in identifying areas where proven to this program can be made. we have acted on those recommended improvements and continue to look for ways to strengthen our defenses against this crime and stop the victimization of taxpayers in the entire system.

i'll be happy to take questions at the proper time. thank you. >> thank you so much for your testimony. >> thank you mr. chairman. verse well, good morning to the chair, ranking member. >> and you pulled the mic a little closer to you. >> certainly. thank you to the chair, the ranking member cummings, the members of the community, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the progress on addressing the general accountability's office findings related to duplication, fragmentation and overlap the department. i wanted my thanks to the chair and ranking member to the honorable mr. jean and the da of the work that they do candidly, while one is not as happy to hear that we could be doing things better, the truth is we all know full well that we can do things better. in fact as the acting deputy that is actually my description to find those things. to be perfectly honest, having assistance in identifying opportunities bothers me not at

all. we look forward to continued work with the government accountability office. as the 80 cmo or assistant deputy chief officer i provide direction advice and improvements to business processes and practices in the department with evidences on finding efficiencies in overhead and mission support. clearly, our intent of my office and align very well. last year the deputy secular asked to put together a series of initiatives that would help free up needed funds to meet emerging needs in the top line of the department. initiatives relating include high court's reduction, service contract reviews, information technology optimization and to include exchanges and commissaries. we have been working on slick business processes to include the hiring process, conference approvals process for ordinary ding dod issues.

>> .. a >> identified a total of 101 recommendations in the first four annual reports from 2011-2014 and we have fully or partially addressed 80 of thechl. -- them. we have more to do and will continue to make progress. one specific area we make significant progress is in the area of dod contract management for broad acquisitions. in the report published in 2015,

the doa recognized the progress made in oversight of contracts and noted significant steps to plan and monitoring progress over the last several years has been made. as a result, the decision to remove contracting and scopes of the highrisk areas. another example of the department's progress and aligned with the recommendation in the 2016 report involves the management of leased space. we set out to reduce the space. our initial plan calls for reduction of 1.2 million square feet prior to 2020. we have eliminated space by making better use of government space and intend to get an additional 886,000 square feet out by 2020 saving $340 million

a year. we will look broadly across the entirety of dod property and broadly across the country and i anticipate more progress in that area. mr. chairman, ranking member, the department looks forward to working with this committee and joa to implement actions. we look forward to continuing to work on the opportunities identified in the 2016 report. thank you. >> thank you for your testimony. dr. conaway, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. chairman chaffetz, ranking members cummings, and the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the medicare and medicaid programs. we are skewereds of medicaid and medicare marketplace, cms is serving almost 140 million americans and we want the programs to be as efficient and

effective as possible. we review the recommendations and take them seriously. we are making progress to reduce duplication and reduce tax dollars by providing beneficiary with high level care. one of our driving forces at cms is changing the way health care is delivered moving paying providers for quality rather than quantity of care. as a practicing physician i know how important this is. an estimated 30% of medicare patients are tide to alternative models and many are benefiting from better coordinated. our work to reduce trauma

represents lives saved and lower cost. we have seen less hospital stays and medicare isn't facing expenses for extra care. cms has taken several steps to improve transparency and payments in medicaid around section 1115 research and demonstration programs used by states to pursue innovation. we are collecting upper payment data including provider-specific information and reviewing statutory compliance. all section 1115 demonstrations are available publically and include terms that must be followed as a result of the demonstration. we identified and made available the criteria we are using. more states are using manage care to serve medicaid recipients. recognizing the change in the

work, we proposed changes to the care aligning with private coverage, promoting care, and strengthening integrity and enhance the beneficiary experience. the commitment to integrity underlies all of our work. we are utilizing analyting technology, fraud preventions to identify leads to further protect the program from inappropriate billing. in the first three years, 820 million was identified and stopped in inappropriate payments and a 10-1 return in 2015 alone. using risk-base screening enhances ability to screen providers on enrollment and identify those at heightened

risk for creating fraud. this saved the program 2.4 million. we have deactivated 540,000 providers and suppliers that don't meet requirements. perhaps most importantly, increased screening efforts have allowed 7,000 applications to be denied preventing claims from ever being submitted. cms is dedicating to better care, protecting patient safety, reducing health care cost, and providing people access to the right care at the right time when and where they need it including continually strengthening medicare and medicaid programs that provide vital services to millions of americans. we look forward to working the goa and this committee.

thank you. >> thank you, dr. conaway. i will recognize the gentlemen from tennessee for a series of question before that i think it is important as we look at these issue to recognize one of the greatest assets the federal government has and that is its federal employees. in doing that, it is easy to look at the inefficiency and problems and underline the federal workforce. i want to go on record and say thank you to the 99.5% of the federal workforce that does an outstanding job each and every day. sometimes we focus on the .5% and paint a broad brush. i don't want this hearing to do that as we really look at meaningful ways to make sure we have a cost savings. with that, i would recognize the

gentlemen from tennessee, my good friend, mr. duncan for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you chairman chaffetz for calling one of the most important annual hearings we hold. mr. dodaro, the work your agency does is extremely important and valuable for us. i have several different questions and i will not have time to get into all of them. we have background information saying the department of defense has weapon acquisitions programs that total 1.3 trillion spending over a 100 billion annually on web system acquisition. i know you have put out several recommendations over the years and especially in 2011 a report saying it was very inefficient and there were duplications and so forth.

do you think the department of defense has done enough in regard to your recommendations you have made on that in the past? or could there be additional savings in that area? >> i think they could definitely do more. we have appreciated what they have done. they have adopted some of the best-practice recommendations we have suggested. they have begun looking at things but i am concerned reforms haven't been implemented consistently. i will ask mr. francis who is the expert in this area to give a more thorough answer but there is more that could be done. >> all right. >> good morning, mr. duncan. i think one of things we talked about is portfolio management which is an approach for the department to look at. it is a weapon system portfolio as a whole because one of the looming problems for defense is when you get beyond the next five-year plan there is much more demand for money for weapon systems than money available.

so the department has to take a look across weapon systems to see what the best mix of investments are for them. right now the department has multiple processes that are fragments for budgeting, requirements, and acquisitions through the services. we pretty much have a process that optimizes for individual weapon systems but we need to look more across the board. >> thank you very much. week before last i was on a trip with three senators and another member of the house and we met with admiral harris, the head of the pacific command, and we were talking about the problems the defense department is facing in acquiring some of the more expensive weapons and things they need. we talked about how the costs have been shooting up within the pay and benefits and so forth.

many top leaders have talked about that cutting into the buying the equipment they want and admiral harris thought we needed to have another brat. do you have any opinion on that, mr. tillis? and mr. dodaro, have you looked into that? >> it is the department's opinion another round of bracket would be appropriate. it relates to making better use of the space we have and we agree we should do that but having said that there is a large amounts of space that is more industrial and involves a lot of bases that are largely underutilized and we believe there is extra capacity that could be used so we will endorse another round. >> there is definitely access property. our work focuses on reviewing

past rounds as shown that the department needs to make additional improvements in the methods of estimating the savings and bringing them to realization. tay are far in access of what dod eventually achieves through the rounds and the continual changes and requirements in other things. our opinion, if congress decides to grand them their request for another round of recommendations, or brak, they need to implement a recommendation so congress has assurance they are really, at the end of the day, will be the savings achieved through any process. we have outstanding recommendations the department hasn't implemented. >> you mentioned saving billions own social security payments. will you tell us what needs to be done in that area?

>> yes. right now people can receive full disability benefits and unemployment benefits at the same time. there is some ability -- if somebody is on disability they can get permission to work because we want them to be back to work. if they take a job and are eventually laid off from that position they can collect both benefits and we don't think this as a prudent use of the federal government benefits to get full disability and unemployment benefits at the same time. cbo estimated we can save 1.3 billion ever a period of time if the changes are made. >> the chair recognizes the gentlemen from pennsylvania mr. cartwright for five minutes. >> i thank chairman meadows, and thank chairman chaffetz for calling this important hearing. mr. tillotson,